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THE OOLOGIST. 



THE CAT BIRD. 



This is one of our common, every- 

 day birds, and is found distributed 

 over the greater portion of North 

 America throughout the United States 

 and the Canadian provinces, more 

 generally towards the East. The Cat- 

 bird comes of good company, stand- 

 ing between the Mocking Bird and 

 the Brown Thrasher in the A. O. U. 

 list and ranks among our best vocal- 

 ists. But for reasons largely unex- 

 plainable, he seems to have acquir- 

 ed a bad reputation and is looked up- 

 on either with suspicion or dislike 

 in nearly every community; all of 

 which is clearly wrong, for the catbird 

 lives largely upon the larva of large 

 insects, and in that way well earns 

 our good will. 



Where he is undisturbed, he will 

 make himself very much at home and 

 nest almost in the door yard. It is 

 a nervous, jerky, excitable species, 

 brave in the defense of its nest and 

 young; a devoted parent, and a bird 

 that makes the greatest fuss in the 

 world when finally it abandons its 

 courageous defense, and seeks to pro- 

 tect its own, by piteous appeals. 



This bird is peculiar for another 

 thing in that it is apt to turn up in the 

 most unexpected places, and under the 

 most unexpected circumstances; be- 

 ing found as a stragler in many whol- 

 ly unlocked for situations. Its nest is 

 almost uniformly placed in a thick tan- 

 gle of brush or vines at no very great 

 elevation from the ground, and may 

 be found in the most silent, seclud- 

 ed places; or as before stated, in the 

 very midst of civilization. One pair 

 is now nesting within twelve feet of 

 the dining room window of the edi- 

 tor. 



We present herewith a plate show- 

 ing a nest and five/ eggs of this spe- 

 cies which well illustrates the typi- 

 cal situation of the home of this bird. 

 The photo was made by William E. 

 Loucks, formerly of Peoria, Illinois; 

 now of San Francisco, California. 



The eggs are uniformly deep green- 

 ish blue, rather rounded in shape, and 

 a trifle larger than those of the Blue 

 Bird; rarely other than five in numb- 

 er, and the bird breeds over practi- 

 cally all of North America East of 

 the Rocky ^Mountains and South of an 



East and West line drawn through 

 the Southernmost point of James Bay. 

 Likewise it breeds in Montana, Wash- 

 ington and some other of the North- 

 westerly portions of the United States. 

 The bird is noted for its mimicry 

 of the notes of other birds, and while 

 its song is neither loud, boisterous, 

 round nor full as a rule, yet for qual- 

 ity, expression and range, it is ex- 

 ceeded by that of few of our song- 

 sters. Indeed any bird fit to keep 

 company with the Mocking Birds and 

 Thrashers, must needs be qualified 

 for Grand Opera in birddom. 



KILLING THE BIRDS. 



The enormous destruction of bird 

 life by the sportsmen and so-called 

 sportsmen of the country is something 

 appalling. Thousands upon thousands 

 of innocent victims to this alleged 

 sportsmanship fall every week. 



In the little county where THE 

 OOLOGIST now lives, over one hun- 

 dred hunting licenses to each of the 

 Congressional six-mile square town- 

 ships were issued. In Illinois, it av- 

 erages over four to each square mile. 

 Think of it! four men and boys tramp- 

 ing every section of land, looking for 

 something to kill. If they cannot find 

 game birds, most of them shoot at 

 anything else that flies. 



The Illinois River extends about 

 thirteen miles from Northeast to 

 Southwest across this county. In 

 the towns along this river, 711 li- 

 censes were issued. This means that 

 there were over fifty-six men and 

 over twenty-eight on each bank of 

 the river to each mile, waiting to 

 slaughter the wild fowl as they pass- 

 ed ; more than one gunner to every 

 two hundred feet! Is is any wonder 

 that the river now has less than one- 

 fourth of these birds, that it did form- 

 erly? How long can such slaughter 

 continue? 



A LARGE SET. 



While collecting Coot's eggs at Nig- 

 ger Slough, May 22, 1909, I found what 

 I think to be an exceptionally large 

 set of Mourning Dove's eggs; a set of 

 four. The nest was the usual type, 

 but rather large. The incubation was 

 the same in all four eggs; the dove 

 being on the nest when I discovered 

 it. DUMO I. SHEPARDSON. 



