THE OOLOGIST. 



Ill 



One morning when tlie young birds 

 were only two or three daj's old, I 

 dime d(nvn to tind my worst fears 

 realized. One of the parent birds had 

 been killed and the gourd turned over, 

 but the little ones were uninjured. 

 The remaining pai'ent .sat disconso- 

 lately on a limb near \)y for a wjiile, 

 but the pitiful cries in the nest soon 

 aroused it to a sense of the- responsi- 

 bility that rested upon it. >So it set 

 hercncally to work to care for the iialf 

 famished nestlings witliin. 



This was too much for me lo endure 

 (for I hate a cat at best) and I deter- 

 mined to have revenge. I waited 

 patiently until after dark, and the 

 famil}- had gathered in the house so I 

 would not be observed. I covered the 

 goiud with mosquito bar, took it down 

 carefully and hung it in an unoccupied 

 i"oom in the house. Then I placed a 

 stout steel trap in the place where the 

 nest had been and was rtnvarded next 

 morning Ijy tinding a big cat in the 

 trap. A member of the familj' that 

 was always first up in the mornings 

 agreed to dispose of the cats for me> 

 so I set the trap each night and suc- 

 ceeded in catching three. I still took 

 the nest in every night until the Ijirds 

 W(Me old enough to tiy. When I would 

 put them out in the morning and take 

 off the cover the old bird would hop 

 out and, perching scarcely a foot from 

 my hand, would warble out its morn- 

 ing song as though thanking me for my 

 care. 



I would like to hear from some of the 

 readers of The Oologist if they have 

 ever met with an incident like this of 

 the Sparrows and the Wrens. Doubt- 

 less what I thought a veryodd freak of 

 nature, is something not so strange 

 after all. 



LiLLIE I. CONLEY, 



Wayne Co., Ind. 



Our Question Box. 

 Queries tfl be fto-swerod In these columns should 

 be written on a Doatal o» slljp of paper— never mix 

 them In your litter wtian wrtttn^ about other 

 matters. 



T. M. B., ]S'atchez, Miss.— The eggs 

 of the Hermit Thrush are greenish-blue, 

 unspotted' and average about .8(5 x .6.") 

 and clo.sely resemble those of the Wil- 

 son's Thrush. 



M. S. H., Portland. Mich.— 1. The 

 American Peregrine Falcon or Uuck 

 Hawk is frequently called the "Bullet 

 Hawk." 



2. Will not the answer to "B. S. 

 B's." query in the May Oologist apply 

 as well in Micliigan as in New York 

 State? 



C. T., Los Angeles, Cala. — The ori- 

 ginal data should always accompany 

 the set. 



H. C. H., Cincinnatus, N. Y.,— The 

 Prairie Horned Lark (O. a. pralicola) is 

 not an uncommon breeder in the lake 

 counties ot Western New York. The 

 true alpe.itris (Otocoris alpestris, — 

 Horned Lark) breeds in Labrador and 

 those npper regions and may be a win- 

 ter visitant to this section. It does not 

 breed in New York. 



G. B. E., Kansas City. Mo. — Your 

 gregarious birds having a light-ljrown 

 topknot, strip of Ijlack about the eye. 

 yellowish-white breast, lavendor rumi), 

 tips of .secondaries, red and tail fea- 

 thers tipped with yellow; are Cedar 

 Wax wings. 



W. M., Charlie Hope, Va.— Ycnir 

 "lead-colored Ijird, with a lilack throat 

 and white In-east," nesting in a hole in 

 a dead stump, whose eggs are six in 

 numlier, small and white with brfjwu 

 specks; is tlie White-breasted Nut- 

 hatch. 



Name mislaid.— The Belted Kingfisher 

 nests in this locality from the '.^Oth of 

 May into June. The Woodpeckers 

 nest about the same time. 



A. O., Brocton, N. Y.— Your sand is 

 garnet sand. The shells which you 

 call penny winkles (pen winkles'/) "are 

 doubtless Lilloriuds. 



R. H. B., Chuemont, N. H.— Is not 

 the egg y(ni describe, a runt egg of the 

 Cliff Swallow? Jt rt'scmljles a Cliff' 



