6 Massachusetts Audubon Society 



RANDOM NOTES 



A nest of a phoebe was found in a quarry about fifteen feet from 

 the point where blasting was going on daily. Yet the bird continued 

 nesting, brought out her first brood, relined the nest, and later sat on 

 five eggs of the second brood. The workmen carefully put a board in front 

 of the nest just before they fire a blast, 



Prairie horned larks sometimes nest in plowed fields. One of these 

 birds was seen in great distress, when harrowing was going on. The 

 farmer investigated and found that a clod of earth had been turned over 

 the nest by the harrow. The bird was putting its shoulder against the 

 clod and pushing with all its little might to move that clod. The farmer 

 marked the spot and guarded the nest carefully. 



An observer has been investigating complaints of birds eating straw- 

 berries. He finds chipmunks more destructive than birds. Among the 

 culprits are crickets, field mice, a fox and a "wood turtle." This gentle- 

 man also writes that his tame crow is likely to get him into trouble. The 

 bird hid a decayed fish head on the seat of a buggy, so that a neighbor 

 sat on it all the way to town before he found it. In this case the victim 

 blamed the boys! 



Two odd robins' nests have been reported; one about eighteen inches 

 high, the other ordinary, except that the string of a shipping-tag was 

 very neatly woven into it, with the tag hanging from the string, and inside 

 were two layers of dried grass, with three eggs beneath the upper layer 

 and above it four more eggs. In a wood thrush's nest was incorporated 

 a slip of paper in position, in which was printed "Use M,....'s Food for 

 the Babies." 



A young lady saw a young downy spotted sandpiper with three 

 adult sandpipers fussing about. She assumed that these were mother, 

 grandmother and great-grandmother — assumption unwarranted. 



Three much-reported swans were killed recently near Plymouth, Mass. 

 As anticipated, they were escaped European mute swans. A bird recently 

 reported from Essex County, Mass., resembled the gull-billed tern. 



Two marbled godwits were taken August 19 on the coast of Virginia; 

 a godwit was caught alive August 29 at Yarmouthport, and brought to 

 this office; an enormous flock of Wilson's petrels on August 3 was off the 

 Long Island coast — "thousands and thousands, like a low black cloud 

 about a mile in length"; and on the same day a horned grebe in full 

 plumage was seen. 



Regarding the one-legged sandpipers reported recently, two observers 

 send in a plausible explanation. One reports an entire flock of semi- 

 palmated sandpipers hopping about, each on its one leg. While the ob- 

 servers were regarding this pitiful sight with great commiseration, every 

 last one of the "little frauds" put down its other leg. which had been 

 concealed in the feathers, and ran like a sprinter. The other observer gives 

 an almost identical occurrence. 



E. H. FORBUSH, State Ornithologist. 



GIFTS. 



Mr. George C. Warren, recently returned from a trip around the world, 

 collected while in Hawaii some rare and valuable pamphlets on the Hawaiian 

 Feather Work. These are fully illustrated and of much interest. Mr. War- 

 ren has had them bound and presents them to the Reference Library of the 

 Society. 



