84 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 8-No. 11 



flown and then felled the tree. This nest, 

 also, is pensile but not exactly like the 

 other. It is suspended from small twigs 

 and connected to the stem by small fibers 

 caught to the rough bark. It is of moss, 

 fine grass, plant fiber, very small rootlets, 

 and a few feathers loosely woven and lined 

 with soft feathers. Outer diameter 3^ 

 inches, height 4^ inches, inner diameter 2 

 inches, depth 2^ inches. 



It is amusing to note their antics when a 

 Jay happens in the vicinity of their nest. 

 I have often been attracted some distance 

 by their constant chirp, and find them flut- 

 tering around some sedate looking Jay, 

 bent on obtaining its breakfast, and at 

 short intervals pouncing down on its back 

 as if to impress upon him their importance. 

 In a corner of the timber near my shanty 

 I have witnessed these proceedings several 

 times, anditisa strong indication thattlieir 

 nest is not far away. — D. D. /Stone, Han- 

 cock, Colorado. 



Short-eared Owl. 



This little owl, so far as my observation 

 has extended, seems peculiar to the coast, 

 where among the reeds and thick marshes 

 of the shores and neighboring islands it 

 finds a covert from the noisy world. Hav- 

 ing found such a place they, unlike all 

 other New England owls, build in colo- 

 nies. A locality not far from here has been 

 from my earliest recollection a breeding 

 place for these owls. The situation is 

 most desirable, being a meadow or flat 

 level with the coast, over which the tide 

 completely flows, but leaves it entirely dry 

 when it recedes. This meadow is covered 

 with a coarse grass and surrounded by tall 

 brakes and reeds. In these latter they 

 gather together the remains of last year's 

 frost-bitten reeds and place them in a 

 promiscuous heap on a tussock. This is 

 afterward hollowed out and the set of 

 eggs is then laid. Six is the largest num- 

 ber I ever found, with the exception of one 

 nest, in which I found ten ; but these were 



laid by two females who sat together on 

 the same nest in perfect harmony. Incu- 

 bation was difficult to determine, but I 

 cannot make it out to be more than twenty- 

 one days. If any of your readers would 

 be kind enough to give me the exact time 

 it would be gratefully received. No owl 

 is more interesting to watch. Take some 

 dark, cloudy day in May or June, repair to 

 their haunts and they will be found lightly 

 skimming over the surface of the ground 

 seeking for food left by the receding tide, 

 or again diligently searching the immediate 

 upland for any unwary mouse. Or watch 

 them again in the deepening twilight, as 

 silently, without a single note, they flit 

 past, seeming but a passing thought or 

 fanciful vision, until you hear from the 

 shore the shrill cry of a Tern or Sandpiper 

 in his talons ; then you awaken to the fact 

 that it is a rapacious bird acting well its 

 part in nature's great drama, "The Survi- 

 val of the Fittest." — F. H. Carpenter y 

 Rehobeth, Mass. 



Clakke's Grow in Southeastern Dakota. 

 A few days ago a farmer called my atten- 

 tion to two, to him, strange birds eating 

 com in his hog pasture. I borrowed his 

 gun loaded with buckshot, and to my sur- 

 prise found the victim to be a Clarke's 

 crow. Now the question is, what did 

 these two strangers want here in a coiuitry 

 so unsuited to their wants and habits? 

 Their nearest habitat from here is 400 

 miles off in a bee line in the Black Hills, 

 where they are not uncommon. — G. Ayers- 

 horg, Vermillion, Dakota. 



August 0. and O. J. N. Clark is a little 

 incredulous about the nesting of the 

 Greater Yellow Legs in New Jersey, say- 

 ing they are abundant during migration at 

 Saybrook, Conn. The Pigeon Hawk's nest 

 in Delaware and the cross-bills on Long 

 Island are equally surprising to him. 



Correction. In Mr. F. H. C.'s article on 

 the Great-horned Owl, in place of two lit- 

 tle " Buteos " read two little Bubos, &c. 



