THE OOLOGIST. 



183 



aud spend the pfivater part of that 

 month di.si)ortiDg in the sunshine and 

 searching for food among the flowers of 

 our fields and gardens, in some instan- 

 ces even entering houses through open 

 Nvindows to search among tlie flowers 

 of house plants. 



They are very familiar with man and 

 do not seem to regard him as a dangei'- 

 ous enemy, although they frequently 

 liave occasion to do so. 



They begin nesting about the 1st of 

 June, and fresh eggs may be found by 

 the 10th. 



They nest in orchards, shade trees 

 and woods. 



When in the latter trees that stand 

 along the borders of openings and road- 

 ways are usually, though not always, 

 selected. 



The nest is built upon a crotch near 

 the extremity of a drooping branch, 

 from eight to forty feet from the 

 ground. 



It is a felted cup-shaped structure, 

 composed of plant down and the nests 

 of insects, covered externally with lich- 

 ens bound on with cobwebs. 



In beauty and workmanship the nest 

 of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is 

 surpassed by that of no other bird found 

 in this locality. 



It is so soft and pliable that it may be 

 crushed between the fingers and then 

 restored to its original shape. 



We can readily comprehend the ne- 

 cessity of this quality of the nest when 

 we rememl)er that it is the cradle of as 

 frail a creature as a young Humming- 

 bird. 



The lichens are usually fastened with 

 their scalloped edges upward. 



The cavity measures about .90 in 

 diameter by .75 in depth. 



The nest is diflicult to see, appearing 

 as a moss covered kuot upon the branch 

 when viewed from below, but the habit 

 the bird has of leaving the nest at the 

 approach of an intruder, and the i)ecu- 

 liur humming of her wings as she hov- 



ers around it lead to its easy discovery. 



All a person has to do when he hears 

 the buzz of the bird's wings is to locate 

 her, then remain motionless a few sec- 

 onds and he will see her settle upon the 

 nest. 



The eggs are elliptical-oval, two in 

 number, pure white aud measure about 

 .50 by from .30 to .35. 



They are deposited l)efore the nest is 

 complete. 



Soon after incubation has commenced 

 the male bird leaves his little mate to 

 fight the battle of life alone, which she 

 does in a manner to be despised by 

 none. 



This bird has not the power of song, 

 but utters a few rather feeble squeaky 

 notes. 



It makes its music with its wings. 

 W. H. Olney, 

 Poland, Ohio. 



Of Interest to Oologists- 



In June, 1890, I had the rare luck to 

 find a set of Albino eggs of the Blue- 

 bird which were most perfect in shape, 

 color and size, the set averaging .75 x 

 .62. The nest was built in an old wil- 

 low stub which was in height nearly 

 five feet, leaning out over the river at 

 angle of about forty-live degrees. 



One day in June, 1889, while in a 

 thick, secluded mountainous piece of 

 woods, I observed a Brown Thrasher 

 sitting on her nest and on going to it 

 she flew otf, but imagine my surprise 

 when on looking into the nest to see 

 two Catbirds and two Cowbird's eggs, 

 but no sign of the Thrasher's eggs. At 

 first I thought perhaps some one had 

 played a trick on the Thrashers, but 

 then again I thought that it could not 

 be for it was a lonely secluded spot 

 hardly ever visited by anyone. Incu- 

 bation was aljout seven days advan- 

 ced. 



Some years ago (in 1HS6) a pair of 

 Chipping Si)arrovvs l)uilt a nest in one 



