150 



THE OOLOGIST 



Nesting- Materials* 



The Flycatchers present wider varia- 

 tions in their nesting habits than do any 

 other families of birds of my acquaint- 

 ance, for some build in holes, making a 

 nest of all kinds of rubbish, others nest 

 high in trees, some building in crotches 

 while others, as the Wood Pewee sad- 

 dle the nest on a branch as do the Hum- 

 mers. Then again we have Flycatch- 

 ers which build of mud and rubbish 

 and stick their nest to the side of a raf- 

 ter, the interior of sheds or under 

 bridges, as the common Pewee. The 

 Acadian Flycatcher nests in the deep- 

 est woods, attaching its delicate, shal- 

 low nest to the ends of long branches, 

 while the Traill's Flycatcher, a species 

 of the same genus, nests in the marsh 

 or along streams, where it selects al- 

 ders or willows and other small trees 

 or bushes for its home and young. 

 This latter bird builds a nest much like 

 the nest of the warbler, while that well- 

 known species, the Kingbird, constructs 

 a large and compact nest in a tree. 



But the strangest of all the Flycatch- 

 ers, the family of wide variation in nest 

 construction, is the nest of the Great- 

 crested Flycatcher. In truth, this bird 

 offers the oddest contribution of all the 

 specialists, for it almost invariably in- 

 corporates a snake's skin in the nest 

 which it constructs in a hollow in a 

 telegraph pole, fence rail or limb of a 

 tree in the forest or orchard. All other 

 Flycatchers in my neighborhood build 

 their nests openly, unless we except the 

 common Pewee, which has modified its 

 habit through the influence of man; 

 but the Great-crested differs from all 

 others by selecting a hollow in which 

 to rear its young. The chosen cavity 

 is often very capacious, and the striv- 

 ing pair usually fill up the space with 

 rubbish, after the manner of the Nut- 



*In 1900, (March, April and June) we pub- 

 lished three papers on this subject by Dr. 

 Gibbs and this, the concluding one has been 

 delayed until the present time. The 1900 issues 

 •can be furnished at 5c each, or the 3 for 10c. 



hatch and that pertinacious hustler, 

 the European House Sparrow. Into 

 the cavity is carried a great variety of 

 material, including grass, twigs, string, 

 leaves, and strangely enough, the cast- 

 off skin of a snake is generally found. 

 Occasionally the skin is absent, but 

 more often there are two or more 

 pieces, and I have seen five separate 

 sections in one cavity: quite probably 

 from one skin, but torn in removal. 

 The water snake, garter snake and blue 

 racer's sloughs are used as I have 

 proven by identifying the masks, for if 

 the head portion of the discarded skin 

 is in the nest it is easy for one versed 

 in snakes to tell the species. The long- 

 est section . that has been found in a 

 nest was one which was nearly three 

 feet long, and it is not rare to And en- 

 tire skins of the smaller snakes. These 

 shed skins are very light and are no 

 hindrance to the birds. Someone has 

 suggested that the birds select these 

 snake-holes for nesting, and that the 

 skins are already there. This is not 

 reasonable, for if it were true, then the 

 nests -of Wrens, Bluebirds and other 

 hole-builders would contain them, and 

 moreover there are skins selected of 

 some snakes which never climb. 



It will be difficult to tell on what this 

 almost invariable rule depends, and 

 -why these specialists select snake skins 

 to adorn their nests. 



M. Gibbs, Kalamazoo, Mich. 



The Nesting of Birds. 



When we consider the dates of nest- 

 ing birds and flowering plants we find 

 that the limit is in favor of the birds, 

 though it is not generallv understood 

 so. Let us see. The first species of 

 flowers to appear in the spring, north 

 of the 42d parallel is acknowledged by 

 all observers to be the skunk cabbage, 

 which blooms, as a rule, in early April, 

 but not rarely in March, while the latest 

 flower, to my finding is the witch hazel 

 which sends forth its inconspicuous 



