52 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 4 



August 22(1, wind northwest to southwest, 

 very fresh ; weatlier fair. Did not see many 

 birds about to-day. A small number of Wil- 

 lets seen. A flock of Black Ducks numbering 

 about eight seen flying over the meadows, and 

 some four or five flocks of Black-bellied 

 Plover noticed flying to the high beach. 



August 2od, wind northwest, fresli. Saw 

 several Black Terns, young i)lumage, out in 

 the bay. 



August 24th, wind southwest, very fresh; 

 weather fair. Several flocks of young Red- 

 breasted Sandpipers and a small number of 

 Black Terns, young, were seen. 



August 25tli, wind west to southwest; 

 weather fair. New arrivals to-day were a 

 small number of Pectoral Sandpii)ers. Sev- 

 eral each of Hudsonian Curlew, Black Tern 

 and Willets noticed. A flock of about thirty 

 Bed-breasted Sandpipers seen flying over the 

 island. 



August 2(Jth, wind southwest, very fresli. 

 Several small flocks of Pectorals seen on the 

 meadows. 



August 27tli, wind west, very fresli with 

 tempest and light rain in the afternoon. Birds 

 remain about the same. Several flocks of 

 Bed-breasted Snipe seen. Several Bonaparte's 

 or White-rumped Sandpipers seen and one 

 taken. An adult Black Tern seen. 



August 2Sth, wind mn-thwest, very fresh, 

 moderating to north in the afternoon ; weather 

 .fair. New arrivals seen were a large flock of 

 (lolden Plover seen flying over the island, and 

 four found on the meadows; a Black-billed 

 Cuckoo shot by Mr. J. F. Whiting. 



August 29tli, wind northwest to southwest, 

 very fresh ; weather fair. 'I'wo (iolden Plover 

 taken (Hi the meadows. Sanderlings, young, 

 abundant. Several Pe(;torals seen on llie 

 meadows. A Titlark taken by ".1. F. \V.," 

 which is very early for this bird to arrive at 

 the island. 



August oOtli, wind southwest, very fresh all 

 day; weather fair. A Solitary Saiidjdper taken 

 on the meadow. Other birds remain the same. 



August :Ilst, wind southwest, very fresh, 

 changing to south in the afternoon. A young 

 $ Baird's Sandjiiiier was taken by a, New 

 Haven gentleman as recorded in t lie (). A.' <)., 

 December, 1<SS8. Jo/ui C'. CaliDoii. 



The Eggs I Didn't Take. 



We have received the Transactions of tlie 

 New York Academy of Science, Vol. IN'. \os. 

 1 and 2, October and November, 1889. 



While reading Mr. C. S. Brimley's article on 

 the nesting of the Euby-throated Hum- 

 mingbird, in the February O. & O. my mind 

 wandered back to the circumstances attending 

 my first find of the eggs of that species. \t 

 was on the oOth day of May, 1885. At that 

 time I was just beginning to study the lessons 

 that all lovers of natural history must learn 

 sooner or later, and my mind and interests 

 were being slowly centered on the study of 

 oology and its inseparable companion orni- 

 thology. No one of all the memorable events 

 in my varied experience at collecting has 

 made such a deej) impression upon my mind 

 as the finding of my first Hummingbird's 

 nest. Aimlessly I wandered the familiar 

 wood paths on that bright Memorial day morn- 

 ing, and a moniing such as only the queen of 

 all months can furnish, paying no special at- 

 tention to anything and yet taking in, in one 

 grasp tlie whole of nature from the modest 

 violet to the showy box; from the iiKpiisitive 

 mos([uito to the "thousand legs" that 1 dis- 

 tuibed by kicking away the stick under which 

 he was hidden ; from the sidiinx-like Humming- 

 bird to the majestic Bed-tail soaring high over 

 head, trying in some way to satisfy that vague 

 longing for something, 1 hardly knew wliat; 

 that longing which causes all boys who liave 

 reached the age of sixteen to take the road to 

 usefulness and manhood or rice versa. 



This was one of those mornings whiili had 

 been so common lately in which nature, robed 

 as .she was in her vesture of emerald, and 

 holding forth all the charms of vernal beauty, 

 was swiftly and silently encircling me with 

 b.iiids which should hold for years, and giv- 

 ing me desires which should have their eflect 

 upon my whole life. But I am getting away 

 from my subject, and yet the picture of that 

 moiniiig comes up so vividly before me that I 

 cannot but describe it. Are not the majority 

 of us led into the study of nature in something 

 the same way? "There is a divinity that 

 shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may." 

 Now to that Hummingbird's nest. As I was 

 passing along a well-worn cart path my atten- 

 tion was attracted by a nummingbird which 

 darted by my head, and Hying to an old ash 

 tree alighted directly upon a lichen covered 

 kiiot(':'). I stood watching the bird for a mo- 

 ment, when it suddenly flashed through my 

 mind that, that selfsame knot was no knot at 

 all, but a nest. Some of you who remember 

 your first find can jierhaps iniagine my feel- 



