Jan. 18i)0.J 



AND OOLOUryT. 



9 



we proceeded to the otiier end of tlie pines, 

 and my brotlier i)nt on the irons and i)ro- 

 ceeded to collect a coui)le of sets of the IMne 

 Warbler (/>. piivts) which awaited ns there. 

 The first nest was only twenty feet hifjh, and 

 seemed easy to take, hut the nest was firmly 

 hound to the linih and the reed only tore ont the 

 lininj;' of the nest, whicii however proved 

 cpiite snfticient to convey fonr egfi^s safely to 

 liand. The other nest twent.\-five feet hifili 

 furnished an incubated set of three. 



Ilavinj;' no furtiier business in that locality 

 we packed u]» our eygs. and leaving the pines 

 went on to a tract of mixed woods, and pas- 

 sin<;' thr(uiyii them came to an old cow 

 pasture near a house. Here my brother went 

 up a dead pine to look for a IJrown-headed 

 Nuthatch's {Siftn ptisillK) nest which wasn't 

 there, while I examined a hole in an apple 

 tree which some Tufted Tits (LojiJiop/KdU's 

 hicolor) had been buildinji" in. Here we were 

 more successful as six fresh eji^ns rewarded 

 our trouble. The bird Hew off the nest ri<;ht 

 away when I started up the tree and presently 

 came back with a hu,i;e bunch of ho<>' bristles 

 to cover the e5j,<;s with. The hole was only 

 seven feethis;h and was lined with hoi>' bristles, 

 ••leen moss, and root strips. 



A further tramp of about a mile brought 

 ns to a small tract of pines, and a foity-two 

 feet climb gave my brother a third set of Pine 

 Warbler's ctmsisting once more of four eggs. 



Having been all the morning on the up- 

 1 inds we now turned info the creek valley to 

 come back, and soon came to a nest of the 

 ]>lue-gray (Jnatcatcher (Po</op^(7'r r(enile(() in a 

 dead jnue. The nest was twelve feet high and 

 not reachable from the trunk of the tree, so 

 the grappling hooks were tied on the leed, and 

 after considerable manipulation the set of foui' 

 eggs was landed in safety. The female did not 

 a]»pear during all the performances, but the 

 male showed c<uisiderable anxiety. 



After this we started ujt tlie creek, wading 

 the various channels, often knee de^^j) and more, 

 in water or worse in mud or sand, till we came 

 to a dead willow stub whicli was used by a 

 pair of Tufted Tits. 'I'hc stub was rotten and 

 the hole fifteen feet u]), so we tied the shaky 

 concern to another one a trifle less shaky, and 

 also propped it \ip with sticks of wood and 

 stntfed the hole up with cotton. .My brother 

 then stirted nj) the stub, and after several en- 

 deavors got the nest and all that was therein 

 and came down again. (I forgot to say we broke 

 the top of the stub off at the h<de). This guve 

 US seven fresh eggs to pack u]> just as the fe- 



male came up with a bunch of cotton to see 

 what was the matter. 



Hightat this point we .separated, my brother 

 keeping on up the creek while I waded across 

 and went up a branch to inspect a nest of Lou- 

 isiana Water Thrush (Seiiirit.s innfarilht). On 

 ai>proachiug it the female came from her nest, 

 l)laced under the bank some thiee feet above the 

 water, and flew off in alarm. Five fresh eggs 

 were my reward this time. Packing them up 

 r tramped across a neighboring field to a tract 

 of tall pines and then sat down and waited for 

 my brother, amusing myself by knocking a 

 Flying Squirrel out of his liole in the 

 meanwhile. On my brother joining me I 

 showed him a Pine Warbler's nest seventy feet 

 high in a tall pine. 



Fonr incubated eggs lewarded his climb and 

 we then rested a while. Once more crossing 

 the creek I walked up a small sweet gum and 

 got a set of four Brown-headed Nuthatch from 

 a hole twelve feet high in the dead top. The 

 nest was composed chiefly of pine seed leaves 

 and a few bark strips, and the Nuthatches 

 showed more anxiety than usual. 



As it was now about three o'clock we turned 

 our faces homeward by way of the creek bot- 

 tom, and impelled by hunger and weariness s()on 

 reached our destination, calling on a Blue-gray 

 (ruatcatcher by the way, but as she had only 

 two eggs we did not molest her, and that 

 finished our day's work. We had taken forty- 

 one eggs and three biids, the latter a ^ Prairie 

 Warbler (D. discolor), a House Wren (7'. (eilon) 

 and a Water Thrush (Short-billed .s. mevhis). 



Just as I had nearly finished my share of the 

 day's work, a boy came along with the an- 

 nouncement that he found the nest of a very re- 

 markable bird which I couldn't make head or 

 tail of from his description, so as I had a little 

 leisure time I went with him to look at it, and 

 was introduced to a Yellow-billed Cuckof) with- 

 out a tail sitting on one egg in a stick nest in a 

 brier patch. The nest was six feet high and 

 lined with roots. Some days later she laid a 

 second egg, and on my final visit I found both 

 eggs broken in the nest. I was rather sur- 

 prised to see a nest so early in the year, especi- 

 ally as I had not seen or heard a single Cuckoo 

 previously this si)ring. ('. s. ]}flmh]/. 



P.;ileij;li, X. ('. 



Begin the New Year by sending in your sub- 

 scription to the O. it O. The price, .$1.00 per 

 ye.ar, is so low that it is hardly woith men- 

 tioning. 



