July 1, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



19 



It will be noticed that the positions assigned 

 by the students of Nos. 2, 3, 13 and 14 differ 

 considerably from those assigned by me. But 

 if these students were omitted from the table 

 altogether the relative positions assigned to 

 the other thirteen by the students themselves 

 on the streng-th of the ten-minute tests would 

 always come within one place of that assigned 

 by me on the strength of the hour-tests. Nos. 

 2 and 3, who stand high with me but low with 

 their classmates, impressed me during the 

 term as distinctly intelligent and appreciative. 

 They did much to make the class interesting. 

 But they did not take the daily tests seriously. 

 No. 2 handed in four blank papers, and No. 3 

 handed in three. They were also absent 

 oftener than any one else in the class, though 

 this did not count in their scores. The papers 

 handed to me by Nos. 12 and 14 were marked 

 low (as I discover on looking at them again) 

 mainly because their treatment of the more 

 comprehensive questions was slight and rather 

 undiscriminating. Their classmates tell me 

 that these two students always learned their 

 daily summaries by heart. Nos. 1 and 4, who 

 stand so far above the others in the students' 

 score, were undoubtedly the most reliable stu- 

 dents in the class. 



The conclusions which I am disposed to 

 draw from the experiment are that both I and 

 my students can give juster marks than I had 

 dared to hope, but that in my occasional ex- 

 aminations intelligence counts for more than 

 persistent industry, while the reverse is true 

 with short daily tests marked by students. 



I may add that the young women were very 

 glad to undertake this work of marking the 

 papers, though they grew tired of the writing. 

 Another year I should probably vary the sum- 

 maries with questions. 



H. Austin Aikins 



Western Reserve University, 

 June 7, 1910 



AN UNUSLUL NESTING SITE OF THE MOCKING 

 BIRD 



The nest of the mocking bird, Mimus poly- 

 glottus Boie, is usually built in hedges, thick- 



ets or low bushes. At Thompson's Mills, 

 north Georgia, where this bird is very com- 

 mon, solitary thorn bushes found everywhere 

 in pastures in this locality are favorite nest- 

 ing sites. The nest is usually placed five or 

 six feet from the ground. It is a rather bulky 

 structure of twigs, stems and weeds, with an 

 abundant lining of fine roots, etc. In early 

 May, 1910, the writer found a mocking bird's 

 nest placed in a rather unusual situation at 

 Thompson's Mills, north Georgia. 



This nest was placed about five feet from 

 the ground at the bottom of a roomy hollow 

 in a large, dead tree standing in a pasture. 

 Two round entrances on opposite sides of the 

 trunk led down to the nest, so that the sitting 

 bird could readily escape from the back or 

 front door. The nest, which was constructed 

 of the usual materials, was situated about six 

 inches below these lateral openings and con- 

 tained four eggs. Although mocking birds 

 very rarely utilize hollow trees for nesting 

 sites, it is evident that a nest placed like the 

 one described has many advantages. It is 

 perfectly sheltered from severe weather, and 

 receives the usual amount of illumination in 

 keeping with a mocking bird's nesting in- . 

 stincts. 



Eecords of mocking birds nesting in hollow 

 trees are very rare. Oliver Davie in " Nests 

 and Eggs of North American Birds," men- 

 tions a single instance where a mocking bird's 

 nest was found in a hollow of a live-oak tree 

 in 1898. 



In a study of the nesting habits of birds it 

 soon becomes evident that the nesting sites 

 and raaterial chosen show more or less adap- 

 tation to local conditions. Strong hereditary 

 trends of habit are characteristic of the dif- 

 ferent species of birds, but a visible expression 

 of some of these must depend upon the limita- 

 tions of environment. It occasionally hap- 

 pens that some individuals among birds seem 

 to have lost entirely the normal nesting in- 

 stincts of their kind, but such instances have 

 no ready explanation. 



H. A. Allaed 



Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 Washington, D. C, 

 June, 1910 



