JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



63 



Btr^ motes. 



THE EDITOR'S VISIT TO SEGUIN. 



During the middle of May, the as- 

 sociate editor spent a most enjoyable 

 and profitable vacation at Seguin 

 Island, the guest of our worthy presi- 

 dent, Capt. H. L. Spinney, and was 

 fortunate in adding many fine speci- 

 mens of sea fowl to his collection. 

 The Captain proved himself a most 

 bospitaljle host, as well as an expert 

 surfman and crack shot, being at 

 all times perfectly "at home" in his 

 dory among the surf covered rocks of 

 this dangerous locality. 



One of the Capt's. many accom- 

 plishments is the surprising ability to 

 "call" with an unearthly screech, 

 the flight Loons in from sea and over 

 the decoys, a feat never before wit- 

 nessed by "ye editor," and although 

 he had heard of such a thing, never 

 really believed it possible^the Capt. 

 can do the trick however. 



The Captain's home is a veritable 

 museum and his mounted collection 

 of New England birds (very rich of 

 course in sea fowl) is the pride not 

 only of himself, but of his estimable 

 wife and charming daughter. 



Long may he remain in his faithful 

 care of this grand and famous light, 

 whose beacon has guided so many 

 toilers of the sea to a safe harbor. 



AN UNUSUAL NEST OF THE 

 OLIVE BACKED THRUSH. 



I would note the finding of a rather 

 unusual nest of the Olive Backed 

 Thrush — 'J'nrdus iistnldfiis s'toni iisoiiii — 

 (Cab.) at Solon, Maine, May 29, 1904. 

 The nest was in the upper limbs of 

 one of a small grove of pine saplings 

 near the bank of the Kennebec river. 

 It was located close to the trunk at 

 the junction of two limbs and was 

 nearly thirteen feet from the ground. 



It was a very bulky affair and meas- 

 ured ten inches over all, the longest 

 way, by 5 inches, and was composed 

 of dry twigs and grape vine bark, and 

 old grass and weed stalks. Various 

 kinds of dry, last year leaves were 

 worked in among the other material 

 as the nest was being constructed. A 

 few pine needles and some horse hair 

 were used in both the outer and inner 

 parts, but no attempt appears to have 

 been made at a lining. The entire 



outside of the nest is covered with 

 large, dry oak leaves. The nest 

 proper was located at one end of the 

 mass and handsomely finished for so 

 careless a builder. The eggs were 

 four in number of the usual pale 

 greenish blue, but were entirely free 

 fro/n spois^ not One of them showing 

 the slightest trace of markings of any 

 kind. They were nearly uniform in 

 size, measuring as follows: 93x68, 

 90x69, 89x69, 88x68. The height at 

 which the nest was placed and the 

 absence of spots or blotches on the 

 eggs make this set decidedly at vari- 

 riance with those usually found and 

 described. There is no question as 

 to the identity of the bird. 



Frank T. Noble. 

 Augusta, Me., June 10, 1904. 



BOBWHITE. 



Poor Bobwhite, the past winter 

 has without doubt proved a Waterloo 

 for them in this state and doubtless 

 the mortality has been severe. 



From the meager accounts that 

 came to the Journal from corre- 

 spondents within our borders it is 

 pittiably plain that nearly all of the 

 few coveys which were striving for 

 an existence here have perished from 

 starvation and the extreme cold. 



It was the hope of all lovers of 

 these interesting and beautiful game 

 birds that the little fellows who had 

 ventured over our borders might 

 thrive but at this writing it would 

 seem otherwise. 



In the vicinity of North Bridgton 

 where some stray birds were seen 

 last year none have appeared thus 

 far that we can learn of. 



From Kennebunk comes the sad 

 tale from a local observer that a 

 small flock endeavoi-ed to winter 

 near his home, that they appeared to 

 be suffering from lack of food, and 

 that like a good Samaritan he fed 

 them. One morning two of the covey 

 were missing and from the footprints 

 in the snow it was plain that a fox 

 had captured them. A day or two 

 later during an unusually cold spell 

 he reports finding the rest of the 

 flock all dead under a tree, where 

 they had apparently frozen to death, 

 their end being doubtless hastened by 

 lack of proper food. 



In examining reports from other 

 states more favorably situated as to 



