THE OOLOGIST 



81 



two eggs. In this case the nest was 

 completed by the last day of April. 



The nest is placed in a small bush or 

 reed, all the way from six inches to five 

 feet high Swampy ground is often 

 chosen as the nesting site, but as often 

 will the nest be found on high ground- 

 The nest is a neat cup-shaped structure, 

 nicely placed in the crotch of some bush 

 or reed, made of fine bark, from a cedar 

 or cypress, leaves and grass, lined with 

 a kind of very tine black moss that is 

 found r)n the trunks of trees, or the lin- 

 ing may be of hair, some times of grass 

 only. 



Three, four and some times five eggs 

 are laid, but only two completes the set 

 some times; this I think must be caused 

 by the first nest having been destroyed. 

 Only one set of five have come under 

 my observation, although that number 

 may be deposited much oftener than we 

 think. 



During the incubating season the 

 male is nearly always to be found near 

 the nest, but never have I seen him feed 

 his mate. The female during incuba- 

 tion may be found to be absent from her 

 nest quite often. When off in search of 

 food she utters at regular intervals a 

 chipping that is particularly her own, 

 but which is identical to the call notes, 

 but is not so harsh and quick. The 

 notes of the male cannot be distinguish- 

 ed from those of the female, but usually 

 they are louder, though often low. 



Two or more broods are reared in a 

 season. In June nests are as numerous 

 as in May, but the number of eggs are 

 seldom more than three and sometimes 

 only two. 



The Hooded Warbler takes its depar- 

 ture in September. 



The Pine Warbler; different from the 

 Hooded, the Pine Warbler is a resident, 

 being if anything, more numerous in 

 winter than in summer. 



The Pine Warbler begins to build its 

 nest by the latter part of March, or the 

 first half of April. The nest is placed 



in a pine from twenty to ninety feet 

 high. Made of almost any material that 

 the bird finds and likes 



The following will be found a de- 

 scription of nests taken in 1898. 



No. one. Nest placed in a pine 45 

 feet from the ground; made of grape- 

 vine and other bark, cotton string, fine 

 roots and strawberry yines, moss, feath- 

 ers, grass, weed stalks, leaf stems and 

 spider webs; lined with feathers and 

 hair. Taken April 6th. 



No. two. Nest placed in a pine 60 

 feet high; made of bark, weed stalks, 

 wool, spider webs, grass and fine roots; 

 lined with hair and feathers. Taken on 

 April 23d. 



No. three. Nest placed in a pine 55 

 feet high; made of grape vine bark, 

 skeleton leaves ane spider webs; lined 

 with hair and feathers. Taken May 

 4th. 



No. four. Taken on May 7th from a 

 nest placed in a pine 65 feet high; made 

 of bark, weed stalks, fine roots, cotton 

 string and spider webs. 



No. five. Taken on May 14th from a 

 nest in a pine 40 feet high; nest made of 

 grass, weed stalks, string, fine roots 

 and moss; lined with feathers and hair. 



Of the five nests above described, 

 neither of them was more than two 

 hundred yards from the house where I 

 was living at that time. 



Most of them were found by cautious- 

 ly watching the female as she went to 

 the barnyard after material to line the 

 nest. Even then it sometimes took a 

 good while to find the nest, but once 

 found it was easily found again. 



R. P. Smithwick. 



The Study of Ornitholog-y. 



The more we learn about birds the 

 more we like them; there is something 

 fascinating in their flight, and even in 

 their most common habits, which is 

 hard to resist; and in their plumage 

 there is also much to admire, such beau- 



