154 



THE OOLOGIST. 



three or four days. In about a week's 

 time the nest is completed. 



During this time they are very fear- 

 less and unsuspicious and much time I 

 have spent sitting almost directly under 

 their nests while they worked away ap- 

 parently heedless of everything. In 

 the meanwhile they are every now and 

 then uttering their peculiar chirping 

 notes, which so far as I have observed, 

 no other bird closely imitates. 



On entering a piece of woods at the 

 right time in May you will very soon 

 hear the familiar note. It is not very 

 loud at any distance, but can be heard 

 distinctly from twelve to fifteen rods. 

 As one searches for the source of the 

 sound the birds may be seen flitting 

 about gathering nest material or feed- 

 ing. In a few minutes they have select- 

 ed some lichens or down and fly away 

 to the nest. If it is not already in 

 sight, its position is betrayed by the tell 

 tale note. 1 know of no other bird 

 where one is so certain of finding every 

 nest as this, but if the search is delayed 

 a week or until the nest is completed, 

 the search is practically useless; the 

 bird is quiet now, and the nest, like the 

 Hummer's, seems a part of the mossy 

 branch. 



Probably 60 per cent, or more of the 

 nests are built in saplings, mostly oak, 

 from ten to forty feet up and generally 

 in a crotch next to the body, though 

 some are built on horizontal limbs a 

 few feet from the body. Some nests 

 are inacessable, being far out on the 

 small branches of large trees and I have 

 found one nest in an apple orchard near 

 a house. 



The number of eggs varies from three 

 to five, usually four or five. I have 

 never found as few as three except when 

 Cowbirds had laid in. Have taken one 

 nest this year with a Cowbird's egg, 

 covered over in the bottom. 



The ground color of the egg is bluish- 

 white, speckled with brownish and the 

 average measurement is about .58 x .44. 



During incubation the birds are very 

 plucky, though some will leave the nest 

 by simply jarring the tree, but usually 

 the reverse. I have had to resort to 

 pulling the bill or tail before the bird 

 could be induced to leave. In one ex- 

 traordinary instance the bird kept the 

 nest till it was detached from the tree, 

 carried to the ground and handed to 

 my companion. 



I am positive that the birds return to 

 their old haunts, year after year, as one 

 can almost invariably find a nest each 

 year within a few rods of the site of the 

 previous year. 



The number of pairs inhabiting each 

 piece of wouds, varies little, though 

 there seems to be a gradual increase. 



A great many nests are destroyed 

 each year, but the birds speedily set 

 about rebuilding, generally using a con- 

 siderable part of the old nest in the con- 

 struction of the new one. 



Harry L. Cutler, 

 Saranac, Mich. 



A Day on the Marsh. 



One pleasant August morning Tad 

 came after me to go collecting on the 

 marsh. We armed ourselves with a 

 twelve guage shotgun apiece and plenty 

 of shells loaded with 12's and 6's. Nor 

 did we forget a good lunch, including a 

 dozen apples and two bottles of Pilsen- 

 er. 



The marsh is some two or three miles 

 from Palo Alto and as we were in no 

 hurry we tramped along leisurely, fol- 

 lowing the windings of the San Francis- 

 quito Creek. Along this creek bed, 

 dry except during a few woeks in win- 

 ter, we always find something in the 

 way of Warblers, Sparrows or Thrush- 

 es and an occasional Owl or Hawk. 



We first visited a live-oak where we 

 once droye a California Screech Owl 

 from his roosting hole; however no 

 Owls were at home today. The first 

 bird taken was a California Jay in worn 

 breeding plumage. 



