THE OOLOGIST 



283 



dead limb of a lajrge Oak ..nejar the 

 house. These seemed to be the only 

 English Sparrows on the place. Saw 

 a pair ol' White-bellied Nuthatches 

 feeding young in what appeared to 

 be a natural cavity about 30 feet up 

 in a large dead oak. The birds were 

 not at all shy and made several visits 

 to the nest while I stood at the foot 

 of the tree. They were usually gone 

 about five minutes in search of food, 

 then both would appear at once on 

 the tree, each with a large insect in 

 its bill, and one at a time would slip 

 into the cavity whereui)on a great 

 chirping would begin in the nest. 

 This tree stood at the edge of the 

 woods where they were bordered by 

 a pasture. Farther along in the edge 

 of the woods by tlie same pasture I 

 noted a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers on 

 a dead oak stump. While I was 

 watching them one fiew away and the 

 other entered a hole about twelve 

 feet from the ground where it remain- 

 ed. 



At two different spots in the timber 

 I flushed Whip-poor-Wills from the 

 dead leaves on the ground under 

 some hazel-brush but in both cases a 

 careful search failed to reveal the 

 nest. Found two Red-headed Wood- 

 peckers' nests, both situated about 

 twelve feet up in dead oak stumps 

 which stood in partly cleared tim- 

 ber, a bird being on each nest when 

 found. In an open spot among some 

 hazel-brush in the woods I flushed a 

 female Golden-crowned Thrush from 

 among the dead leaves lying on the 

 ground. After a short search I found 

 the nest placed at the foot of a small 

 wild rose shoot. The opening was in 

 the side of the nest, the roof of which 

 was barely raised above the level of 

 the leaves around it. The nest was 

 composed of dead grass and leaves 

 and held three eggs of the owner and 

 two of the Cowbird. 



Found a nest which seemed- to ; be a 

 Blue Jay's, 25 feet up in an oak tree. 

 Saw a pair of Robins building a nest 

 twelve feet up in a "pig-hickory" tree 

 near Mr. M's. house, probably the 

 same i)air which owned the nest in 

 which I found the two dead young, as 

 the trees containing the two nests 

 were not over 100 feet apart. Found 

 a Brown Thrasher's nest v.ith four 

 eggs, three feet up in an osage 

 hedge. The eggs were cold and the 

 nest was over-run with small ants so 

 I sup))Ose that it was deserted. Shot 

 a Blue Racer fifty inches in length as 

 it was sunning itself in the edge of 

 the cornfield next to the woods. Kill- 

 ed a Milk Snake about a foot long and 

 saw another about twice as long, both 

 being hidden under old logs in the 

 woods. During the day I saw 42 dif- 

 ferent species of birds, as well as a 

 number of rabbits and squirrels. Mr. 

 M. says that there are still a few 

 Ruffed Grouse to be found among the 

 hazel-brush in the timber and that oc- 

 casionally one may be heard drum- 

 ming between the hours of six and 

 seven p. m. 



May 31st — It began raining during 

 the night and continued until morning. 

 Warm all day, threatening showers: 

 brisk southerly wind. Found a Red- 

 eyed Vireo's nest with the bird on it, 

 eighteen feet up and six feet out from 

 the trunk, on an oalv tree. Located 

 a Beebird's nest with the bird on it 

 forty feet up in the top of another 

 oak. Mr. M. showed me the nest of a 

 pair of Lark Finches which he had 

 found while harrowing on the pre- 

 vious day. It was situated on the 

 ground among some young oats three 

 feet from the edge of the cornfield and 

 contained three eggs. Lark Finches 

 were very abundant everjrwhere I 

 went, especially the borders of the 

 open timber. They did not appear t<^ 

 be mated but were usually seen in 



