THE OOLOQIST 



143 



ern State Hospital, Augusta Co,, Va., 

 states he has witnesed it. Does tlie 

 Robin also do this? 



Gilbert Pearson who used to write 

 so charmingly for The Oologist has a 

 recent article in the "Review of Re- 

 views" on "The Case of the Brown 

 Pelican." 



J. W. Daniels, Jr. 



An Outing 



On June 24, I took my lunch beside 

 a litle stream spring surrounded by 

 a very small piece of woods but a 

 favorite place for birds to come and 

 bathe. Had been there only a few 

 minutes when a Wood Thrush came 

 with a worm in its bill and fed a 

 young bird several times as it sat on 

 a small bush. She then flew down to 

 the stream and took a bath within 

 twenty feet of me. Soon a female 

 Redstart did the same. Just over the 

 wall a Field Sparrow was singing. 

 Back on the hillside in the shrubbery, 

 I could hear the Catbird performing. 

 Over in the orchard was a Baltimore 

 Oriole singing. I heard a noise in the 

 stream and on looking saw a Phoebe 

 and Red-eyed Vireo having a bath. 

 Out in the sun the Phoebe did his 

 best to sing, while the distant call of 

 the Blue Jay and Crow sounded musi- 

 cal. A Hummingbird flew by to her 

 nest a little way from where I sat. The 

 Towhee and Indigo were keeping up 

 their part in the pasture yonder, and 

 as I was listening to all these sounds 

 I heard a faint rustle and in looking 

 around I spied an Oven Bird, walking 

 quietly along. A Chipmunk chased 

 another around a tree and a Red 

 Squirrel sat on a limb and scolded me. 

 Too bad we could not have lingered 

 there a while longer, but we had work 

 to do that would not wait. 



Adelbert Temple, 

 Hopkington, Mass. 



Nesting of Canada Spruce Grouse 

 Near Wolfvilie, Nova Scotia. 



On June 9th (1918) ariving at my 

 home about 11:30 p. m. I found a note 

 which stated that "central" wanted 

 me to call up at once. On doing so I 

 learned that Edward Long had been 

 trying to get me for two hours and 

 was still waiting 



Instantly a thrill of expectation 

 came over me, — for does not Edward 

 Long live at Sunken Lake, which is 

 three lonely miles through the woods 

 from the nearest 'phone, and did he 

 not tell me last April that he was 

 keeping watch over a pair of "Spruce 

 Partridges ! " 



He had told me then, how they had 

 nested near his place for years and 

 never a season but he had seen the 

 young birds with the old hen; and 

 some six or eight years ago he even 

 found the nest with eggs. These he 

 saw frequently, till they were hatched. 



I had offered, at this time, what 

 seemed to him a generous reward 

 for a nest with eggs, (a little money 

 goes far in the back-woods) and all 

 through May I waited anxiously for 

 some word from him. When June 

 came in I lost hope, for, in Nova 

 Scotia these birds lay their first set- 

 ting about the middle of May. 



But to come back to the point, — 

 here was Edward Long, three miles 

 from home and it was nearing mid- 

 night — an ungodly hour in that remote 

 region. His business must be urgent, 

 so it's no wonder that I was a bit ex- 

 cited. 



Well, just as I had hoped, he had 

 at last found the nest of the Spruce 

 Grouse. To my frenzied inquiry as 

 to what it contained he leisurely 

 drawled out "four eggs." Now this 

 bird normally lays six eggs. At least 

 I have three authentic records for 

 Nova Scotia and all contained six 

 eggs and all were partially incubated, 



