AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 23 



was a light colored hound, and he was the author of the following deed. 

 I was not more than forty feet from the Veery's nest, and was trying 

 to photograph the Chestnut-side, which has been mentioned before. 

 The gray hound was beating about the bush, throughout the woods 

 and occasionally I would catch sight of him as he stopped and sniffed 

 the air. Soon he uttered a short joyful bark, and then all was still once 

 more. Evidently he left the woods at once, for I soon heard him bay- 

 ing farther off. I understood the meaning of his bark, when I left the 

 woods about ten minutes later. When I passed the Thrush's nest it 

 was upside down and every little one had disappeared. Why the old 

 birds had created no noticable disturbance, I cannot say, but before me 

 was the evidence firmly fastening the guilt upon the dog. The parent 

 birds must have left the locality at once, for they were neither seen nor 

 heard there again. Let this be a warning to those who own a dog of 

 any variety. Do not allow him to roam the woods alone, under the 

 impression that he is only following the scent of some squirrel or rab- 

 bit. Chester A. Reed. 



THE OVEN BIRD. 



A. O. U. No. 674. (Seiurus aurocapillns.) 



RANGE. 



Eastern North America generally, from the gulf to the arctic regions, 

 apparently common and breeding everywhere throughout its range, 

 wintering sparingly along the gulf coast, but mostly in the sub-tropical 

 regions beyond. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, 6 to 6.5 inches; extent, 9.5 in.; tail, 2.5 in. Eye, brown. 

 General color above, brownish or yellowish olive, with an ochreous yel- 

 low crown margined with black. The under parts and a line over the 

 eye, white. The breast is streaked with arrow shaped spots of black, 

 thus resembling very especially the thrushes in color, in which group, it 

 was formally classed merely from anology, but it is now regarded as a 

 sort of a wagtail Warbler. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



The nest, which is on the ground in the woods, is a very marked 

 structure, generally substantial and roofed over, with an entrance on 

 the side. This bears such a striking resemblance in miniature to the 

 old fashioned out-door oven, that the builder has been quite generally, 

 in fact almost universally christened, the "Oven Bird." The nest is 

 mainly built of leaves compounded with dried grasses, shreds of bark. 



