78 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 8-No. 10 



obtained the set of four, fresh, ciystal, clear 

 and white. This nest was about twenty 

 feet up. Four would apj)ear to be the 

 usual number laid, as each of these sets 

 contained just that number when com- 

 pleted. 



As this set appears to be a fair average 

 for size, I have measured them with this 

 result respectively in 32nds of an inch : 

 31 X 22, 30 X 22, 30 X 22, 30 X 20. In all the 

 nests I observed a good degree of uni- 

 formity in form of entrance, size and 

 depth; the entrance curving upward at 

 first, then gracefully turning downward 

 with plenty of room below to the depth of 

 13|- inches in this one which I measured. 

 The diameter of the entrance was 1^ inches 

 very nearly round, so that I could find no 

 perceptible difference either way measured. 

 I know of no bird more deserving of en- 

 couragement than this, though I cannot 

 claim that they got much encouragement 

 this spring from me. They are the only 

 Woodpeckers that I ever saw dig out the 

 Apple tree borer from his intrenchment in 

 the green trunk. It seemed fitted with a 

 veiy powerful beak and knows how to use 

 it and where. — eT! JV. Clark, Sayhrook. 



Nesting Notes from Connecticut. 



Curious Nesting Place. I found a Blue 

 Jay's nest this Spring among the roots of 

 a large tree that had been prostrated by 

 the wind, turning up a large mass of roots 

 with the adhering soil. Near the top of 

 this mass, some eight feet high, under the 

 border of the turf, which had curved over 

 making a screen for the nest, which with its 

 five eggs was hid from view. — J. N. Clark. 



Blue Jays Tame. Last Spring I took a 

 brood of young Blue Jays and have two 

 of them matured and perfectly tame and 

 interesting pets. They have their freedom, 

 going in and out at will, spending a good 

 deal of time hunting through the orchard. 

 They have greatly increased my respect 

 for the species, which I considered my duty 

 to kill at sight, for their weakness of rob- 

 bing other birds. — J. N. Clark, Sayhrook. 



I found a Chipping Sparrow's nest on 

 the limb of an apple tree containing one 

 egg and a Cowbird's egg. I took the 

 Cowbird's egg and in a few days after I 

 noticed a pair of Robins building on the 

 top of the Chipping Sparrow's nest, and 

 when they had completed their set of four 

 eggs I took both nests by cutting off the 

 limb. On removing the Robin's nest it 

 exposed two eggs which were in the Chip- 

 ping Sparrow's nest. June 10th found 

 Black and White Creeper's nest containing 

 three young ones and a young Cow Bird 

 and an addled egg. The nest was under 

 an old chestnut stump in a crevice between 

 two roots, about the same as the one you 

 described in the O. and O. for June, 1881. 

 June 16th I found the nest of an Indigo 

 Bird containing four eggs. The bird that 

 was on the nest looked like a Field Spar- 

 row, so I shot it and it proved to be a male 

 Field Sparrow. I saw only a female Indigo 

 Bird. June 16th found a Black-billed 

 Cuckoo's nest with six eggs. June 17th 

 found set of six Long -billed Marsh Wrens 

 that were white, spotted Avith brown on the 

 large end. June 10th found a Blue Yel 

 low-backed Warbler's nest containing three 

 young. I cut the limb off to get at the 

 nest. I then pulled the nest from the 

 limb and tied it to another limb with a 

 piece of fish line. Ten days later W. W. 

 Coe and his hired boy found the nest. 

 The boy climbed to the nest, and when he 

 saw it he said : " By gosh : this nest has 

 been blown down and the old bird has tied 

 it on again with a piece of twine, just as 

 good as any one could." But about that 

 time Coe picked up the barrel of a fish 

 line reel with some line on it, when he 

 solved the mystery at once. — J. Ij. Goff, 

 Gildersleeve, Conn. 



Monkey-faced Owtls. We are having a 

 pair of these birds engraved from a johoto- 

 graph taken in the South kindly sent by 

 W. P. Tarrant of Saratoga. 



