90 



THE OOLOGIST 



flew out of the standing hay directly 

 in front of the mower blade. I stop- 

 ped the horses and was soon down on 

 my hands and knees looking for the 

 nest. A slight search brought to light 

 a beautiful set of four at the base of 

 a bunch of plantine and not more 

 than six inches from the mower blade. 

 Nest arched over and composed of 

 dead grass. 



Later on the 5th of August 1 found 

 a set of three Grasshopper Sparrow 

 placed under a small parcel of hay 

 left at haying time. Nest typical. In- 

 cubation about three or four days. 



In 1913 my first nest came to hand 

 on the 17th of July, when I had an 

 occasion to carry a neighbor's wagon 

 home and in crossing a recently cut 

 hay field, I noticed several tufts of 

 hay left at haying time. As I drove 

 past one of these, I observed a Grass- 

 hopper Sparrow sneaking off in a 

 mouse-like fashion — doing her best to 

 get away unobserved. 1 knew by her 

 actions that there must be "something 

 doing" and likewise investigated. A 

 slight search revealed a beautiful set 

 of four eggs, placed in a slight de- 

 pression, arched over with exit on 

 side. Made very compactly of dead 

 grass and lined with new paverly 

 grass. This field was cut on the 7th 

 inst. and the hay hauled the next day. 

 On the 17th inst. I collected a set of 

 four with incubation slight. Rather 

 quick work! 



A nest found on the 23rd of June, 

 1914, by means of a rope drag, contain- 

 ed five eggs, so heavily incubated 

 that I was unable to save same. 



Another nest found on the 7th of 

 July, 1914, was placed on the ground 

 in clover field containing four slight- 

 ly incubated eggs. Nest typical and 

 arched over. 



June 29, 1915, is the date upon which 

 I found my first set of five fresh eggs 

 and placed in a plant of standing tim- 



othy. Nest typical. The manner of 

 placing this nest reminded me very 

 much of the way Field Sparrows place 

 their nest in clumps of weeds. This 

 nest was not arched over and did not 

 touch the ground by an inch — the only 

 case I have ever come across. 



On the same day I found a second 

 set of three fresh eggs, and which I 

 knew was an incomplete set, but as 

 this was rush season we could not 

 leave the hay for the completion of 

 the clutch. The next day I was rak- 

 ing and to my utter astonishment, 

 about 100 yards from the original nest 

 I found laying on the top of the hay an 

 egg which was the exact counterpart 

 of the three collected the day previ- 

 ous. I could swear to the identity of 

 this egg belonging to the set as there 

 were only three pairs of this species 

 in the field; one had young, another 

 I took a set of five from and this egg 

 naturally belonged to the other pair. 

 Thus ends my collection of this very 

 interesting species. 



Ralph W. Jackson. 

 Cambridge, Maryland. 



"They Didn't Scrap." 

 On May 18th, 1915, while out on a 

 field trip, I noticed a tall dead tree di- 

 rectly ahead of me. It was about 

 forty feet high and upon closer exam- 

 ination, proved to contain many like- 

 ly looking holes. Upon rapping, out 

 flew a female Red Shafted Flicker 

 from a hole about 18 feet up. Upon 

 ascending and about two feet below 

 lady flicker's residence, what should 

 I stick my nose into, but a California 

 Screech Owl's nest. The old lady was 

 at home but sound asleep. Even after 

 tickling her in the ribs she wouldn't 

 wake up so I imagined she must have 

 been out on a spree the night before. 

 Upon picking her up, I discovered 

 four little balls of cotton that had 

 not taken a glimpse of this "cruel, 



