THE OOLOGIST 



■ In front of the Leake house there 

 is a broad stretch of meadow and in 

 the rear, a beautiful rolling woodland 

 of pines, tulips, sycamores, beeches, 

 hickories, oaks, dogwoods and lesser 

 species. A pretty little stream winds 

 its meandering way through the cen- 

 ter of this woodland, at certain points 

 on which the banks are several feet 

 high and festooned with ferns and 

 mosses. One would expect, therefore, 

 in this latitude to find the Louisiana 

 Water-Thrush and the Acadian Ply- 

 catcher, and so I did. The former un- 

 doubtedly nested there early in the 

 spring and a nest of the latter with 

 three incubated eggs, I found on the 

 14th, situated as often is the case near 

 the end of a slender horizontal dog- 

 wood limb extending over the stream 

 and about eight feet up. In the dis- 

 tance were extensive woodlands where, 

 I was told. Wild Turkeys are killed 

 each fall. This section of the County 

 is sparsely settled and I am not sur- 

 prised that even such wild and wary 

 birds as these are to be found there in 

 comparative abundance. But I was 

 astonished and very much vexed to 

 see no Hawks or Owls of any species 

 and to be told with something like 

 fiendish satisfaction that the County 

 Commissioners were paying bounties 

 upon their dead bodies! Apparently 

 the reports of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture on the eco- 

 nomic status of the Hawks and Owls 

 are unknown to these commissioners 

 or, if known, are discredited. In either 

 event, the discredit is on the County 

 Commissioners. 



Early in the spring a pair of Kill- 

 deers had reared a brood in the 

 meadow but they had left before I ar- 

 rived. 



A pair of Swifts had lost their first 

 nest in the chimney of the little office 

 a few yards from the main house. But 

 they had promptly begun reconstruc- 

 tion and had Just completed the second 



nest when I left. 



Whippoorwills were abundant and 

 their calls were almost incessant 

 throughout the nights. I listened in 

 vain for any evidence of the Chuck- 

 wills-widow, the Whippoorswills' big 

 southern cousin, and am persuaded 

 that it either does not occur in that lo- 

 cality, or if it does, it is quite rare. 



The Flycatchers were very well rep- 

 resented by five species— Kingbird, 

 Crested Flycatcher, Phoebe, Wood 

 Pewee, and Acadian Flycatcher. I 

 have already -spoken of the nest found 

 of the last species. A pair of Phoebes 

 had their nest under the eaves of the 

 office shed early in the spring and the 

 day I left I discovered a Pewee's nest 

 near the end of a horizontal limb of 

 an oak close to the house and about 

 twenty feet up, but I had no time to 

 climb the tree for an examination, so 

 do not know what the nest contained. 



The Warblers were also fairly well 

 represented by seven species— Parula, 

 Pine, Oven-bird, Louisiana Water- 

 Thrush, Maryland Yellow-throat, Yel- 

 low-breasted Chat, and Redstart. The 

 Pine Warblers were singing very 

 sweetly during the heat of the days 

 in the woods back of the house 



Of the Sparrows, I saw only fiva 

 species— Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, 

 Field Sparrow, Cardinal and Indigo 

 Bunting. The Song Sparrow was con- 

 spicuous by its absence. 



Three Woodpeckers fell under my 

 observation. Downy, Red-bellied, and 

 Flicker. 



Of course, the ubiquitous Blue Jay 

 and Crow were there, and in fair 

 abundance. 



Of the Oriole family there were the 

 Red-winged Blackbird, Meadowlark, 

 Orchard Oriole, and Purple Crackle. 

 The Meadowlarks were in evidence 

 throughout the days, calling from the 

 meadow and field in their wonted way, 

 and the Orchard Orioles sang their 

 pretty little songs from the higher 



