THE OOLOGIST 



157 



placed some boards ou a barrel in the 

 most sheltered corner of the yard, on 

 the sunny side of some evei'green trees, 

 which the birds were in the habit of fre- 

 quenting. I then prepared for the feast 

 by strewing the table with bread 

 crumbs, crushed hickory nuts, bits of 

 cooked meat chopped fine, and various 

 kinds of seeds, "borrowed" fi-om moth- 

 er's store of gai'den seeds. The next 

 thing was to await the coming of the 

 tliners; and it did not take them long to 

 begin to put in an appearance, for cold 

 and hunger had made them very brave. 

 Black-capped Chickadees, Crested Tit- 

 mice, White-bellied Nuthatches and 

 Snow Buntings were about all that 

 came, for very few birds had been able 

 to live through those dreary weeks of 

 ice and snow. 



The next winter I prepared for them 

 before the cold weather had fairly set 

 in. I fixed their table under shelter of 

 some evergreens near the house, Avhere 

 I could Avatch them from a window, 

 myself unseen. It was a delightful 

 past-time, to listen to their chatter of 

 delight, and watch their cunning move- 

 ments as they Hew from table to branch, 

 for they prefered carrying their food up 

 to a limb before eating it. The table 

 was replenished almost daily, thus their 

 food was always fresh. It seemed as 

 though all that had l)een there the prev- 

 ious year, had returned, bringing all 

 their friends with them. There were 

 Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, Snow 

 Birds, three or four kinds of Wood- 

 peckers, Blue Jays and a few Cardinal 

 Grosbeaks, and Robins that were 

 brave enough to face our winter winds. 

 The Nuthatches were especially fond of 

 pumpkin and sunllower seeds, and 

 greedy little fellows tiiey proved them- 

 selves to be. They would not only eat 

 what they wanted there, but would car- 

 ry awa}' what they could not eat, and 

 by spring every crack and crevice about 

 the trees was tilled with seeds, .securely I 

 wedged in by the busy little Nuthatch- \ 

 es. 



A piece of fresh meat placed in a tree, 

 out of reach of the cats and dogs, was a 

 source of never failing delight for the 

 Chickadees and Titmice. Many a noisy 

 quarrel arose among them, but they 

 were of short duration, and soon for- 

 gotten. 



The Ciiipping Sparrows were my tam- 

 est friends during the summer, coming 

 daily for their allowence of crumbs. 

 Tliey grew so tame they would readily 

 come into the house to pick up crumbs 

 that were strewn on the floor for them. 



I feel that I was a thousand times re- 

 paid for mj' trouble, for many, many 

 hours were spent in watciiing their 

 m<!rry actions. I think any of the read- 

 ers who will take the troul)le to feed 

 the little feathered jewels, will be amp- 

 ly repaid, by the pleasure thus aflorded, 

 and the knowledge gained of their hab- 

 its. 



Mrs. Lillie Pleas, 

 Clinton, Arkansas. 



Nest and Eggs of the Rufous Hummingbird. 

 ( Trochilus rufus.) 



On the morning of May 1, '!)1, I 

 awoke early and was soon on my way 

 for a collecting trip. A cloudless sky, 

 a refreshing atmosphere and an ap- 

 proaching ray of sunshine, together 

 with a well tilled basket of edibles, were 

 a few of the features that foretold an 

 eventful and pleasant expeiience in 

 oology, and .sure enough my days out- 

 ing was successful in its entirely. 



My tirst tind was the sul)je(;t of this 

 article, and my delight was at a prem- 

 ium. 



I had not gone far into the woods 

 when a female Rufous Hummer flew by 

 with a buzz, which told me there was a 

 nest near at hand. Upon looking 

 around, I at once discovered its nest. 

 It was at the end of a branch, in a small 

 oak, tive feet up. Upon investigating 

 clo.sely I found it contained two eggs 

 which were almost fresh. Their sizes 

 are .50 x .31 and M x .32. Eggs of this 

 Hummingbird like the rest of the fam- 



