54 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. W-No. 4 



white, speckled witli cinnamon-rufous and 

 lilac-gray. Near the larger ends the markings 

 increase in number and intensity, where they 

 form heavy wreaths: .72 x .02; .74 x .61 ; .7o x .61 ; 

 .71X.60; .70x.60. 



Set YII. April 29, 1889. Wake County, 

 iSr. C. Nest in steep bank of small stream, 

 four feet above water, the nest being com- 

 pletely sheltered from above by the overhang- 

 ing bank. The nest is a bulky structure of 

 dead leaves outside, but inside it is composed 

 of grass and weed stems. Five eggs, fresh. 

 Pinkish-white, speckled and spotted witli 

 cinnamon-rufous .and lilac-gray. Near the 

 larger ends the markings are much heavier, 

 and tlie lilac-gray is especially noticeable on 

 tliis set: .7<ix.59; .76x.r)9; .80x.60: .78x.")8: 

 .76X.60. 



Set VUl. May 24, 1886. Saybrook, Conn. 

 Nest built among the roots of a maple tree, 

 prostrated in a thick swamp, about one foot 

 from the water. Composed outwardly of 

 muddy leaves, lined with fine roots, grass and 

 hair. Six eggs, fresh. White, tliickly speckled 

 all over with russet and lilac-gray. The mark- 

 ings are iieaviernear tiie larger ends: .77x.r)7; 

 .77X.60; .77X.60; .81x.6:]; .7.") x .61 ; .73 x.59. 

 Set IX. May 2, 1889. Wake County, N. C. 

 Nest three feet up, under roots on perpendic- 

 ulai' bank, over running water. Made of 

 rotten leaves, lined witii wee<l and grass stems. 

 Five eggs, fresh. White, heavily speckled and 

 si>()tted with hazel, chestnut and lilac-giay. 

 The markings are very heavy near the largei' 

 ends: .76x.()5; .74x.64; .76x.()4; .76x.64; 

 .7") x .6:1. 



Set X. April 24, 18SS. Iredell County, X.C. 

 Nest in bank of a small stream. Five eggs. 

 fresh. White, with :i pinkish tinge, profusely 

 speckled all over with russet. Near the larger 

 ends tliere are a number of si)ots of russet and 

 lilac-gray of a larger size: .72x.")9: .72x.59; 

 .69 x ..">9; .m X .58 ; .73 x .59. 



Set XI. May 1, ISSS. Iredell County, N. C. 

 Nest in bank of a streani. Five eggs, incuba- 

 tion begun. White, heavily spotted with 

 chestnut. Tliere are also a few spots of lilac- 

 gray, and the markings are much larger and 

 heavier at the greater ends: .82 x .62: .Sf) x .61 : 

 .84X.60; .78X.61; .80x.60. 



Set XII. April :]0, I88S. Iredell ('.unity, 

 N. C. Nest in side of biuik of a smnll stream. 

 Five eggs, incubation begun. White, tinged 

 with pinkish; si)otted with lilac-gray and 

 chestnut. Tlie markings are heavier near the 

 larger ends: .76x.<>l; .75x.(iO; .75x.61; 

 .75 X .61 ; .77X.61. J. P. .V. 



Wanderings, No. 7. 



I.OST. 



Some time ago, I said I would tell you liow 

 I got lost, and so to commence at the begin- 

 ning, I was spending a week in my old haunt 

 at Plymouth, Mass., in the month of July, 

 1889, and busily engaged in recruiting my 

 health, which had become somewhat damaged, 

 and on the last day but one before returning 

 to the city, i ventured to start on a walk of 

 about six miles to Ship Pond, which lies just 

 at the seashore, although I had been forbidden 

 by my physician to take any tramps. 



My friend and myself started early in the 

 morning that we might go leisurely along, so 

 as not to weary me too much, and give us a 

 chance to sto]) and view the ever-varying scen- 

 ery and rest ourselves in the numerous sliady 

 dells which till this region. 



To exi)laiu the wherefore of our mishap it 

 will, perhaps, be well to explain something of 

 the character of the country, that our rei)uta- 

 tion for woodcraft may not suffer too severely. 

 The soil of this region is almost entirely a 

 light (piiutz sand, the tail end of the drift of 

 the Glacial Period in Massachusetts, an«l the 

 grass is very scanty, and its footing in the soil 

 r.ather precarious. There being very little 

 travel through this section, excei)t on one or 

 two main roads, which connect Plymouth vil- 

 lage with the Cape towns, the ways soon be- 

 come more or less grown up wilh grass, if left 

 untravelled for a few weeks, and much re- 

 semble the iuimer(Uis "Wood roads" which, 

 if much used soon liecome to look like veritable 

 highways. 



We left the main road after a bit to follow 

 up sonu^ bird, whose familiar notes excited 

 our curiosity, and chasing it about wandered 

 deeper and deeper into the wood. 



We halt, and then move on from one charm- 

 ing spot to another, till we know not north 

 from south, and care but little. 



"Well," you say, "you are two pretty 

 fellows, what are you way off here for'.*"" 



But, stranger, if you had ever been permitted 

 to rest your eye on one of the dainty palaces 

 of nitiin', which lieic rise uj* at every turn, 

 you would not ask. 



A glen with steej) hills rising from the very 

 edge of the brook which ri])iiles ah»ng its 

 depths, shadc<l by noble trees whose trunks 

 are covered with the most beautiful lichens, 

 and from whose branches hang masses of 

 moss, which cover the giiarlcti and rugged 

 surface with a drapery so soft and beautiful 



I 



