56 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Thushes. The nest had been repaired 

 and lined with a new lining of bits of 

 hair and feathers of a thickness to make 

 the inside diameter not more than an 

 inch and three quarters, while that of 

 the outside was the same as in the aver- 

 age nest of the Wood Thrush. 



The three eggs that the nest contain- 

 ed were so far advanced in incubation 

 that they could not be saved. The nest 

 was also destroy d, an act that I regret 

 very much. R P Smithwick, 



LaGrange, N. Car. 



Seeing several articles in the Ooiogist 

 on the subject of ' Queer Nesting Sites" 

 I will tell you my experience. One 

 day I noticed a House Wren working 

 very busily carrying nest materials. 

 As I had no eggs of this species in my 

 collection, I watched her to find where 

 the nest was, but do my best I could 

 not find it Well, that night mother 

 went to take in the clothes from the 

 line and we then found the wren's nest 

 in a shirt sleeve. How is that for a 

 queer site* 



Last year on going to the machine 

 shed I discovered that a Robin had 

 built her nest on the reel lever of the 

 binder and this year she has built one 

 in the same place. 



My mother tells me of finding a nest 

 and a youDg bird in a sheep's skull. 

 The bird had carried the nest material 

 in at the eye holes of the skull. 



Czar S Goodell, 



Fostoria, Mich. 



Notes on the Mourning Dove. 



One day last spring (1901) while col- 

 lecting in Oakland County with a 

 friend he suddenly explained "here's a 

 Ground Dove's nest! ' It was that he 

 was excited rather than ignorant that 

 made him make this statement, for the 

 bi d he shid, rose up but a couple of 

 feet in front of him As I was watching 

 a distant hawk I did not see the parent 

 bird rise up, but soon arrived at the 



spot to find two young of the Zenaidura 

 macroura about three days old. This 

 is the first time we ever found this 

 species nesting on the ground. 



The nest, if there was enough of it to 

 call it by that name, was composed of a 

 few straws and was placed between 

 two rows of black-berry bushes. What 

 setms peculiar to me is, why this pair 

 should nest on the ground in this local- 

 it . when there were woods of all de- 

 scriptions on every side. Besides there 

 are marshes in the locality which con- 

 tain many snakes, of which the young 

 were apt to fall prey. The Mourning 

 Dove is a common summer resident in 

 this part of Michigan, a few stay with 

 us during the winter, at which time 

 they stay in flocks and are quite wild. 

 A. W. Blain, Detr .it, Mich. 



First Takes of the Season. 



From a recent letter from the Hon- 

 John Lewis Childs, we take the follow, 

 ing: 



During a short hunting trip in the 

 vicinity of the Miakka river, in the 

 southern portion of Manatee county ( 

 Florida, I was fortunate in securing the 

 following prime sels: 



Feb. 14th. 1-3 Ward's Heron; 2-4 

 Ward's Heron; 3-4 Ward's Heron. 



Feb 15th. 1-2 Sandhill Crane; 1-2 

 Florida Barred Owl. 



The latter set I particularly desired, 

 as I have never been able to procure it 

 through any dealer or collector. I was 

 also fortunate in getting both of the 

 parent birds, the female being upon the 

 nest and -the male in a tree near by. 



The set of Sandhill Crane was taken 

 from a nest in the middle of a small, 

 clear-water pond, surrounded by a 

 small quantity of dead grass. The 

 water was not more than 18 inches deep, 

 and the grass nearby had been broken 

 off for constructing the nest. The eggs 

 were completely exposed and could be 

 seen for considerable distance. 



