112 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 12-Ko. 7 



fortunate in securing a good series of eggs and 

 some notes on their nesting lialiits. 



On May 20th. I found them nesting, flitting 

 and c'hiri)ing among the bushes in a ver_v ener- 

 getic manner. They liave little fear and allow 

 one to approach very near. 



On Maj- 29th I succeeded in finding in all 

 nine nests, three containing three eggs each; 

 no more were laid three days later. Five had 

 four eggs each and one contained five. All 

 were perfectly fresh. They much resembled 

 eggs of the "■Chippy"*, {S. domestica) though 

 rather more delicate in color. In most exam- 

 ples the reddish-brown markings tend to wreath 

 about the larger end while others are almost 

 unmarked, or with few straggling lines and 

 specks. 



The nests were composed of fine, round grass 

 stalks, with a few grass blades, lined with long 

 horse hairs. One had few hairs, but a heavy 

 inner wall of tops of a delicate seed-bearing 

 grass instead. The nests with one exception 

 were on the ground in grass, at the foot of 

 some low sapling or bunch of bushes. The ex- 

 ception was in the branches of a low hazel. 

 Some were in short grass on a ridge in bushy 

 pastures, otliers were in tall tufts of grass at 

 the edge of grassy sloughs, the nest being neat- 

 ly built into the tojjs of the grass. 



The bird seldom will leave its nest until com- 

 pelled by the too near approach of the intruder, 

 and then slips out tlirough the grass noiselessly 

 to avoid detection. The song is a rattling 

 cheer-r-r, uttered twice in quick succession, 

 after which a short pause and then the same 

 note over again. The male will sit singing 

 thus by the hour, from the top of a favorite 

 low tree or sapling. Another note is a dry da- 

 da-da-ila, sung as the former. The call note is 

 an energetic fect-feet-feet, protracted or short- 

 ened as the birds incline, and much resembles 

 the sound made by some insects, and is heard 

 at mating time and when the male carries food, 

 which latter is very frequently. When he 

 nears the nest his sharp feet is immediately an- 

 swered by the female, who comes hurrying to 

 him. Both contiime the note for a short time 

 when the male vanishes, and the female makes 

 her waj- cautiously back to the nest. This 

 proved a sure guide to the nest if one could 

 only succeed in following the quick hops and 

 flights which the bird made, but it is tedious 

 work. I have traced them thus and stood di- 

 rectly over the nest when the innocent little 

 creatuie sat regardless of my presence. More 

 than once have I taken them in my hand as 

 thej' slipped away. A gentle tap on the grass, 



and the bird will hop up onto some low twig 

 but a few feet away, sitting unconcerned while 

 nest and eggs are being removed, though they 

 often chirp inipatiently. This neat species re- 

 places the ''Chippy"' and is a lively feature of 

 the regions where its song is constantlv heard. 



Night Heron's Nest. 



BY J. M. W., NORWICH, COXX. 



Max 17th, I made my annual visit to the 

 heronrj' at the east end of Fisher's Island, and 

 two small fish baskets full of sets were taken, 

 which was a small per cent of the eggs noted 

 and will uot cripple the usefulness of the col- 

 ony. This heronry is uot regularly harried 

 and some seasons gets ott" scot f lee. 



Fisher's Island is in Sutt'olk County, X. Y., is 

 not commonly accessible from Greenport, and 

 is an hour and a half's sail from the Connecti- 

 cut shore. Formerl}- large, its population has 

 fluctuated greatly of late years. In 1877 I 

 found it reduced to fifteen pairs, but persecu- 

 tion ceasiug for a few years, it rapidly increased 

 and in 1882 it was at its maximum. The enor- 

 mous nests then fringed even the low bushes 

 on the outside of the circular swamp, and on 

 being suddenly disturbed the birds rose like a 

 great cloud. That year it was impossible to 

 tell the number of birds, but this season, on 

 coming out from the swamp I counted one 

 hundred and fifty i'ldividuals perching on the 

 tree tops and with those flying and covering 

 eggs, and by a close computation of the nests, 

 the colony is not less than six hundred to-day. 



Entering the swamp, no nests are now found 

 till one penetrates three rods from the outside, 

 none at present can be reached from the ground 

 but they are all in the tops of swamp maples 

 and a few red cedars at an average height of 

 sixteen feet. No empty nests were seen, May 

 17th, and no foot-prints or abrasions on ti-ees, 

 so this was the first visit this year. Though 

 single eggs and pairs were found, yet there 

 were manj- young at this early date. It was 

 easy to tell the nests which held squabs by the 

 broken egg shells below, and not ditficult to 

 pick out fresh sets by the spare lining of the 

 tree trunks, and by the small quantitj' of ordure 

 beneath the nests. Four was the average set, 

 but five were not scarce, the proportion of large 

 sets being about one in nine. No clutch of six 

 was seen, no suspicion of markings, and owing 

 to the long dry spell, the eggs were free from 

 nest-washings. Incubation ran evenlj' through 



