20 



ORXITHOLOGTST 



[Vol. 12-Xo. 2 



Nesting of the Blue-headed Vireo. 



1?Y O. M. .I*>NK<, KASTFORP. CONX. 



The«;e vireos. I7>V(> solt'tan's. are ooiuiuou 

 Spring migrants iu the Nortli Eastorn part of 

 Comuvticut. Xot so uuinoroii:* in the Fall, aud 

 ai-e rare a? Sunnnor ivsident*. During the 

 pro>ent ;;t\iii«ui of ISSit 1 have lHH:'onie more 

 familiar with their uej^ting habits than ever 

 before. 



The first nest whieli 1 ever saw. I discovered 

 quite aoeiilentally. by seeing the pai-ent bird 

 fetHliug lier young. This was on tlie last day 

 of May. 1S80. Tlie nest containeil one addleii 

 egg. and four young birds so large that they 

 completely filleii the nest. I did not see another 

 nest until the sixth of June. ISSo. This, like 

 the prei'etling one. was in a I^iurel bush, aud 

 about eight feet from the ground. The male 

 biiil was on the nest, and a brave little fellow 

 he was. I jarred the bush quite violently sev- 

 eral times, but he refuseii to lecive. I then 

 picket! up a short piece of a tree top, to which 

 the bnuiches were attachtni, and stootl it ag:unst 

 the Laurel, forming a sort of rude ladder up 

 which I dimbetl. But in spile of all the shak- 

 ing which this caustnl, the bird stuck to his 

 post, and I actually ttx^k hold of his bill with 

 my thumb and fingers and tipped him ofi" the 

 nest. On lov^king into the nest I found it con- 

 taineil two eggs of the Vireo and one of the 

 Cow Bunting. They were nearly ready to 

 hatch, a^ their dark color plainly indicateii. 



On May 14ih, 1SS(», 1 dis«.>overed one of these 

 hinis just l»egiuning to build a nest, in a I-aurvl, 

 and alHHit seven feet frt>m the ground. On the 

 27th it containeii four eggs, and incubation had 

 iHimmenciHl. The s;»me day 1 found another 

 nest nearly tinisheil. This was also in a L;»urel. 

 The birvls were near by, and the male was sing- 

 ing loudly, but I think they s,iw me examining 

 the nest, for they did no more to it, though I 

 heanl the male singing thert^ for several days 

 after. 



On the ±?'th of May 1 found another nest coi>- 

 taining thr»"e eggs, with incuMtiou advaucetl 

 ft»ur or five days. It w.as about five ft^et from 

 the grr>und. and susi^endetl near tlie end of a 

 long, horizontal br:inch of a Hendock tree. I 

 did not notitv it until the binl fiew off, though I 

 was not a yanl f roni it. The mou»ent she left 

 the nest she l>ei>ame very demonstrative, flutter- 

 ing close up to me, aud uttering loud cries : iu 

 this resi>ei-t U'haviug quite differently fr\>m the 

 tUher bird, doubtless owing to tlie fact that incu- 

 bation was more advanced. 



Again, on the lOrh of June, 1 found still 

 another nest from which the young had al- 

 ready down. 



From this somewhat brief experience with 

 these birds. I conclude that they habitually 

 nest quite early, sometimes having the young 

 hatched before the Red-cyeil Vireos begin to 

 build. The nests, as compared with those of 

 the lietl-eytnl Vin^o, appear rather more bulky, 

 having thicker walls. This i? espiM.Mally the 

 case with the one which I took on the 2Sth of 

 May. if being heavily lintni on the outside with 

 some wooly substance, pie<-es of lichen and 

 strips of rhin white bark which 1 think were 

 taken from the White Birch. The eggs from 

 this nest are somewhat snialler than those taken 

 before; are not so clear white, but with a 

 somewhat rosy flush. The spots are much 

 larger and the eggs taper less toward the small 

 end. 



In The Tupelo Swamp. 



BY WAl.TKR HOXIE. FR«H;M01;E, S. C. 



It was on our lirst r\^al scorching hot day, 

 the fourteenth day of May, 1885, — that I pen- 

 etrated to the depths of the TuixMo Swamp 

 away back iu the middle of St. Helena. I had 

 often dabbUni anmnd the outside of the swamp 

 Ix^fore, but had never veutureii so far within its 

 treacherous depths. But on that day I was in 

 its heart, and was rewardeti for my trouble at 

 every step. How well I rememl^er that gloomy 

 little corner whei\» tlie remnants of an oKl live 

 ixik stretchetl out its s<'niggy, moss-hung limbs 

 over a piK>l of foul smelling, inky water, sur- 

 rt>undtHi by towering flags ! 



It was a dim twilight in there even at noon- 

 day, and very hot. steaming with vapt>r like a 

 Turkish Ivilh. I s;»i literally as still as a stat- 

 ue, and bi^rv :Ul the discomforts with jwtience, 

 for I wanteii to know exactly who were the 

 owners of the five herons" nests on the limbs of 

 that old tr*«. Befon» I had begun to gn»w im- 

 paifient a female Green Heron yBntori'les riim- 

 «>wjs> flew up anvi settletl u^x^u one of the nests. 

 Her sclf-s:ttisfieil *".*ily"ir, strovr," seemed to 

 reassun» a In^autiful Snowy Heron yli>irzetta 

 C'lHtiulisima) that was circling widely over- 

 head, for after a few more ttims she pitched 

 down to a low willow tree. Here, after a great 

 deal of cro;»kiug and balancing alx^ut, she was 

 joined by her mate, who i-ime down with a 

 magnificent arrowy swooj>: and br fits and 

 starts, and with apparently many misgivings. 



