66 



JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



On Aug. 4th, while waiting for a 

 train at No. Jay, Me. in Franklin Co. 

 I heard Barn Swallows under the pa- 

 villion of the R. R. station. On in- 

 vestigation I found they had built two 

 nests and both nests contained young. 

 I watched the parents feed the young, 

 and as the train came rolling into the 

 station, I watched the young draw 

 themselves down into the nest, but 

 after the train stopped, I saw them 

 from the car window peeping up over 

 the side of the nest at the big puffing, 

 snorting monster that had several 

 times each day run in along side of 

 their home, to disturb their quiet life. 

 Two weeks later, (Aug. 18), I observ- 

 ed both nests still contained young. 

 This is rather an odd place for a Barn 

 Swallow to rear its young, when we 

 considered there are many barns near 

 by, but these two pairs of swallows 

 doubtless chose this noisy place to 

 rear their young but just why they 

 made this digression, I am unable to 

 say. J. M. S. 



Mr. Chas. H. Danforth of Norway, 

 Me., one of our members, writes us: 

 White winged crossbills have been 

 present here this summer which is 

 somewhat unusual. I observed a 

 flock of about fifty, July 3rd. They 

 were feeding in fir trees and were as 

 tame and unsuspicious as in winter. 



The males were in excellent plum- 

 age but were not in song. I failed to 

 find any immature birds in the flock. 

 Since then I have observed adult 

 birds on several occasions. — Ed 



NOTES ON NESTING. 



THE BLACK CAPPED TITMOU.SE. 

 Unmindful of the cold and falling snow 



The black capped titmouse sang his win- 

 tery lay, 

 Undaunted by the chilly winds that blow. 

 He piped a cheery The a-day-day-day ! 

 Trilling saucy notes, seeming free from care. 

 He fluttered from hedge to fence, from 

 fence to tree 

 Looking o'er mossy bark for his morning fare 



Within crack or crevice, or bole to see 

 A grub or worm, to quiet hunger's call 



With a The-a-day-day-day ! devoid of fear 

 He sang again from an old stone wall. 

 Viewing my lingering presence near 

 Ere he fluttered down to the tangles of weeds. 

 Peering through the snows, waving pre- 

 cious seeds, 

 .Scattering tbeir treasures, for the Titmouse's 

 needs. 



Alice R. Waite, 

 South Lyme, Conn. 



A Bluebird's Nest. 



Last spring a pair of Bluebirds built 

 a nest in a gatepost at the corner of 

 our house. This was the first Blue- 

 bird's nest I had known to be built 

 near the house, and I was very much 

 pleased with my new neighbors. 



They commenced building the nest 

 April 14. By this time all the other 

 Bluebirds had left, and these were 

 the only ones that remained in the 

 vicinity. 



I found two eggs in the nest April 

 21, and two more April 24. 



I couldn't quite see the gatepost 

 from my sleeping room upstairs, but 

 every morning as I awaked, I would 

 hear one of the birds on a dead maple 

 limb in front of my windows singing 

 a cheery song to its mate on the nest 

 down in the gatepost. 



Maj' 8, I looked into the nest again 

 and found five young birds. 



May 17, when I awoke in the morn- 

 ing I heard the usual sweet song of 

 the Bluebird in the maple outside. I 

 arose and went to the stable, and as I 

 was leading the horse out to water, I 

 heard a commotion near the Blue- 

 bird's nest, and looking in that direc- 

 tion I saw some robins flying about 

 the gatepost. A moment later a red 

 squirrel came up out of the hole in 

 the post. I then noticed one of the 

 Bluebirds fl.ying in short circles above 

 the nest. The robins, uttering fierce 

 screams, darted one after another at 

 the squirrel. 



I got the horse back into the stall 

 as quickly as possible and ran to the 

 rescue. The old birds were sitting 

 side by side on a maple limb just 

 above the nest, and there was but 

 one young bird in the nest. After a 

 short search I found the squirrel sit- 

 ting on a stone and holding in its 

 front paws a baby Bluebird and eat- 

 ing it. I threw rocks at the scamp 

 but wasn't lucky enough to hit him. 

 After this the nest was never left un- 

 guarded, but one of the birds always 

 remained on the limb over the nest. 



The next morning I rose very early 

 and taking a revolver with me, de- 

 cided to help the birds in protecting 

 their little home. Whenever I had 

 looked into the nest previously, the 

 bird on the nest had never stirred, 

 but this morning she gave a quick 



