198 



THE OOLOGIST. 



bird are verj' interesting. It arrives 

 very early in tlie spring and about the 

 first indication of its presence is a great 

 scratching among tlie leaves and 

 brush. 



It is very vivacious and active. It is 

 found in most woodhmds, but seems to 

 prefer hilly woodlands, wooded slopes, 

 and especially where the woods slopes 

 toward some stream or lake. It moves 

 about with a series of quick jumps, sud- 

 denly pausing now and then and caus- 

 ing its feet to make a series of very rap- 

 id movements, throwing the dead leaves 

 about in a lively manner. In the pres- 

 ence of man it is very familiar, all the 

 while peeping jnst out of reach, its 

 sharp eyes regarding every movement 

 of the intruder, now and then crying 

 out "Cheewink." Like most of the 

 Thrush tribe, it is very inquisitive and 

 a good singer. 



1 would miss few birds more than 

 this jolly, good-natured felllow. When- 

 ever I hear a sudden and very lively 

 stirring of the leaves, I always know 

 the Chewink is about. When passing 

 through a still woods, this sudden rust- 

 ling among the leaves is decidedly start, 

 ling to the uninitiated. 



Will some Michigan correspondence 

 tell me our northern breeding limit for 

 this i;ir(l V 



WlLFKED A. BkOTHERLON, 



Rochester, Mich. 



Notes at Random. 



Mr. H. L. Spinney, a taxidermist 

 living aj Georgetown, Me., has a Least 

 Bittern taken near his ])lace March 4, 

 ISDl. The bird is veiy rare in this loc- 

 ;i!ity: it weighed only li ounce. 



The same gentleman has a curiosity 

 in the nest of a Chickadee. The nest 

 was liuilt in a hollow apple tree limb 

 and five eggs were laid. Another nest 

 wa.s then built over these eggs and 

 seven more eggs laid. He sawed the 

 limb off so tliat the lower eggs were vis- 

 ible from I'ne i)otto!n of the nest. 



While camping near Mr. Spinney's 

 this summer, I took a Marjdand Yellow 

 throat's nest built in a juniper bush 

 about two feet from the ground. The 

 nest contained four fresh eggs. I have 

 never before heard of the Marj-land 

 Yellow - throat building above the 

 ground. Who has? 



This summer Mr. Spinney and I took 

 several sets of eggs of the Artie and 

 Common Terns on the rocky islands at 

 the mouth of Kennebec River. We 

 shot fine specimens of both birds whea 

 flying above the eggs. I know that 1 have 

 these two kinds of Tern's eggs, but I 

 am unable to distinguish them. The 

 birds were very wild and we could de- 

 vise no method of capturing them ou 

 their eggs. 



The nests were of a great variety. 

 There were a few nests made of haj' 

 and weeds. Others were simplj' a hand 

 full of small stones, while a majority of 

 the eggs were laid upon the bare rock or 

 upon a little turf collected in the hoi- 

 loAvs of the rock. We found two sets of 

 six eggs each and several of five, four, 

 three and two. The eggs in the largest 

 sets were appai'ently laid by two birds. 



In these sets two or three were of the 

 same shape and cokn* and the others of 

 another shape and color, Avhile the in- 

 cubation of the one kind was in neai'ly 

 ever3^ case very mwih different fr()m the 

 incubation of the other kind. These 

 facts together with Davie's statement 

 that the birds lay only from two to four 

 eggs, very rarely five, have led me to 

 the conclusion that the eggs in the 

 largest sets were laid by two l)irds and 

 perhaps hy two species. The eggs were 

 taken June 28 and July 27. 



Davie, in his Nests and Eggs of Noi't^ 

 American Birds, under the hea<Hng, 

 Common Tern, says: "Mr. VVorthing- 

 ton informs me that he never saw but 

 one set of moi'e than four eggs in the 

 thousands he has collected." Let us 

 hear from others in regard to the Com- 

 mon and Artie Terns. 



A. B. C.Aix. 

 Townshend, Vt' 



