m 



THB OOLOOIST 



others in the vicinity and in order to 

 reach the first limb a 35 foot scale 

 was necessary. I tried it but the body 

 of the tree was too large to get any 

 hold on. I then went back back to 

 Petersburg and the next day, Easter 

 Monday, went back with a supply of 

 spikes and ropes. I tried the spikes 

 and then the ropes but both failed. 

 It looked like the nest was safe as 

 far as I was concerned but after go- 

 ing home and thinking the thing over 

 1 decided to try a rope ladder. So I 

 got a plentiful supply of plow line 

 and sticks and in about an hour, with 

 the aid of my brother, I had complet- 

 ed a very credible rope ladder. 



We decided to have another try the 

 next morning and so set out in a Ford 

 with daylight. On arriving at the 

 tree the bird left the nest and circled 

 high in the aid to see what was going 

 to happen. We threw a small cord 

 over the first limb and secured a rope 

 to that. Then we pulled our ladder 

 up to the limb and fastened the rope 

 securely to another tree. 



While my brother held the end of 

 the ladder 1 went up and I was sure- 

 ly glad to get my hands on the first 

 limb. The ladder gave about six 

 inches for every foot I went up so 1 

 climbed about 50 feet to reach a 35 

 foot limb. There was only one egg 

 but I didn't suppose the bird would 

 come back to the nest after seeing it 

 molested, so I took it. 



This is the first Cooper Hawk to 

 be found in this section for sometime. 

 Irving C. Lunsford, 

 Petersburg, Virginia. 



A Days Outing In South West 

 Missouri 



An account of a days outing in the 

 Southwest Missouri. A word is neces- 

 sary first about the locality. Situat- 

 ed between the sources of the James 

 River and Flat Creek it is only an 18 



mile drive to a very good camp site 

 on the Flat Creek. Early in the morn- 

 ing of May 15th I jumped in my car 

 and tore out for the creek. Being 

 down the head water of the creek, 

 the road is in an excellent bird path 

 and many rare birds have I seen 

 along it. Of course 1 saw many birds 

 along the road, and I suppose I saw 

 almost a hundred Red-headed Wood- 

 peckers' and Flickers' nest holes. 



When I arrived at the creek my 

 first sight of bird life was several 

 Phoebes under a bridge and a lot of 

 Rough-winged Swallows and a King- 

 fisher along a high bank. I did not 

 disturb them but went up on the 

 stream about three miles, fishing, then 

 put up my fishing tackle and began to 

 hunt birds. I did not have very good 

 luck finding many nests. My first 

 find was a Cardinal's nest with one 

 bird and a pipped egg, built in the 

 overhanging roots about four feet 

 above the water. I located this nest 

 while searching for a Louisiana Water 

 Thrush or a Marsh Wren's nest, both 

 of whom I had seen enter the same 

 roots from which I flushed the Cardi- 

 nal. 1 found Phoebe nests with three 

 to five eggs or young under nearly 

 every ledge, seeing about twenty nests 

 in the three miles. One ledge near 

 the creek is a bare table of rock ris- 

 ing out of the water, and is one of my 

 favorite fishing places, and in climb- 

 ing down the weather-beaten side of 

 the rock I found a nearly concealed 

 nest of Louisiana Waterthrush con- 

 taining one young bird and a fresh 

 Cowbird's egg. 



Along the creek are numerous fire- 

 killed sycamore tres which are veri- 

 table tenant houses for Woodpeckers, 

 Flickers, and I found one Sparrow 

 Hawk and one Schreech Owl inhabi- 

 tating holes in these trees but it is 

 almost impossible to climb them so I 



