THE OOLOQI8T 



137 



his mailing address to Gallipolis, Ohio, 

 He is sure some mover. Since leaving 

 Chicago, we have mailed "The Oolo- 

 gist" to him in five different states. 

 He should become acquainted with 

 bird life in widely different sections. 

 — R. M. B. 



W. OTTO EMERSON 



This veteran ornithologist (one of 

 the very first with whom we ever ex- 

 changed a bird's egg) has turned his 

 splendid collection of 5500 bird skins 

 over to the California Academy of Sci- 

 ences, in the Golden Gate park at San 

 Francisco. He writes us: 



"1 don't want to miss any of the 

 Oologists. I never shall loose my bird 

 interest. How could 1? After forty 

 yeaTs of watchful observations of 

 them here on the home place, "Palm 

 Cottage," 1 have grown up with since 

 coming to California from Illinois in 

 1870. I shall devote more of my time 

 to camera work in collecting facts of 

 the bird habits than by the specimens 

 of the individual birds themselves. I 

 have them at all times, living their 

 home habits on the place where I can 

 count them as dally friends, of my 

 door yard. Winter residents from the 

 high Sierrias, are very abundant this 

 winter, on account of the early snows 

 on the mountains. Wishing you well 

 and much of the joys of the coming 

 Christmas month, 1 am in spirit of the 

 olden days." 



NESTING HOLES 



Many times the thoughts have come 

 to my mind of finding some hole nest- 

 ing bird, of just how long that hole 

 had been occupied, and how many 

 species of birds had previously nested 

 there. It is a well known fact that 

 some birds will use the same nesting 

 cavity year after year for a long period 

 if they are not disturbed. 



Could the venerable oaks, beeches 



and maples of our woodlands tell all 

 they had witnessed in this regard, 

 many interesting facts would be re- 

 vealed A little limb is broken from 

 a young oak by a' storm and in a few 

 years a cavity has formed. It is dis- 

 covered by a pair of Chickadees, who 

 at once begin nest building. After a 

 few more years the cavity has become 

 enlarged and is perhaps taken over by 

 a pair of Crested Flycatchers. Year 

 after year the cavity enlarges and is 

 taken up by Owls who hold it for 

 many years. Later a racoon or an 

 opposum may take up a home there. 

 Interesting indeed would be the ac- 

 count of such a knot hole, if one could 

 tell of its occupants for a period of 

 twenty years or longer. No doubt 

 many of the older readers of the 

 Oologist could give us some such ac- 

 count. 



The particular knot-hole I had in 

 mind, when in response to the Edi- 

 tor's plea for "copy" was a small orch- 

 ard tree at my home at Cherry Hill 

 farm. The tree was an Indian peach 

 situated at the corner of the orchard 

 about ten yards from the corner of 

 the house. The knot hole was in the 

 trunk at about five feet from the 

 ground. The entrance was about 

 eight inches high and four inches wide. 

 In 1908 the cavity was only a few 

 inches deep but year after year it be- 

 came deeper. A few times prior to 

 1912 I had seen Bewicks Wrens, Chick- 

 adees, Titmice, and Bluebirds inspect- 

 ing the knot hole. Once I found a few 

 sticks and leaves that had been put 

 there by a Wren. 



It was in 1915 that the cavity was 

 first used as a nesting site. In May 

 of that year a Titmouse built a nest 

 and reared its young there. The eggs 

 hatched about the 18th of May and it 

 was a short while before the young- 

 sters left the nest. On June 13th of 

 the same year a pair of Crested Fly- 



