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THE MUSEUM. 



hole only one inch in diameter — which 

 enables the Wrens to enter but ex- 

 cludes the Sparrows, although they 

 will try a long time to evict the Wrens 

 after they have their nests nearly com- 

 pleted. Two years ago an old male 

 Sparrow after trying a long time to 

 get into the box occupied by a pair of 

 Wrens stationed himself on the wire 

 clothes line about two feet from the 

 box and when the Wrens came he 

 would drive them away. I watched 

 the operation for some time, and then 

 took the little collecting gun and put- 

 ting in a number 12 shot shell, and 

 getting him in line of the end of my 

 neighbor's barn, I soon put an end to 

 that dispute, and the Wrens lived in 

 peace the rest of the season. 



Last year I put up two new boxes 

 for the Wrens on top of the giape 

 trellis, leaving an old one on one end 

 and placing a new one on the other 

 end, the other in the middle. When 

 the Wrens came they examined them 

 all and decided on occupying the mid- 

 dle one. As usual the Sparrows tried 

 to drive them away, and right here I 

 want to say that it is not because the 

 Sparrows want to use the box them- 

 selves for I have never known them to 

 occupy a box after driving the Wrens 

 out. I think it is merely P. (ure) do- 

 mesticus(sedness). 



When the first brood was three days 

 old, the female turned them over to 

 the care of the male, and commenced 

 building another nest in the other new 

 box. This box had a partition through 

 the center, and a hole in each end. 

 The second day after the female com- 

 menced building I noticed that she 

 carried material in both holes, and I 

 thought that I would investigate, when 

 I found that she was building two 



nests, and the condition of them were 

 about the same. Thinking it was on- 

 ly a waste of time and labor for her I 

 took the material out of one side and 

 laid it on top ot the box and closed the 

 entrance — this was done during the ab- 

 sence of the bird — on her first return 

 she went to the hole that was closed 

 and being unable to get in, she went 

 to the other entrance with the mater- 

 ial she had and immediatel carried in 

 all that I had put on top of the box. 

 Afterward I regretted that I did not 

 let her go on with both nests, and see 

 if she would deposit eggs in each, and 

 the usual number six, which would 

 have answered my querry of a few 

 years ago in Forest atid Stream, ' 'Can 

 Birds Count .''" which was suggested by 

 finding an Ovenbird nest containing 

 three young of the Ovenbird and one 

 young Cowbird, and on the ground 

 near the nest an egg of the Ovenbird. 

 The building of the two nests by the 

 Wren goes to show that it did not rea- 

 son in the matter, but was instinct. 

 Will the readers of The Museum give 

 views on the Ovenbird, nest of young 

 and egg outside.' I would like to 

 know how they correspond with mine, 

 which I will enclose with this, but will 

 not be published until answers are re- 

 ceived from others. 



J. L. Davison, 

 Lockport, N. Y. , 



Notes from the Fulton County 

 Natural History Society. 



Not long since a lad brought us a 

 a female Saw Whet Owl. {Nyctala 

 acadica.) He found it perched in an 

 old shed on Big Creek a tributary of 

 Spoon River, three miles from Lewis- 

 town. He had stunned it with a stone 



