THE OOLOGIST 



197 



nest he was not to be seen at all. 

 This was not in order, but still, as I 

 climbed the tree I expected to find 

 one egg at least. Imagine my sur- 

 prise at finding the nest just as I 

 had left it and still only one bird 

 about the grove. I went home in a 

 "brown study." My theory was this: 

 — The bird is an unmated male and 

 the nest an old one. Still I was far 

 from satisfied, for why this regular 

 show of alarm when I come near (half 

 hearted tho it was) and why was he 

 always about this one little clump 

 of spruces? The feeding was not bet- 

 ter there than elsewhere. No, he 

 had some special interest in this 

 grove and the fate had decreed that 

 I was soon to know what that in- 

 terest really was. 



About five hundred yards away 

 from these spruces in question there 

 is an old estate. The house occu- 

 pied by Mr is surrounded by 



tall graceful elms and some maples, 

 but no coniferous trees. 



On June 20th while playing tennis 

 I happened to meet the daughter of 



Mr who called my attention to 



an Olive Sided Flycatcher perched on 

 the top of a nearby flag-pole. Point- 

 ing to the pole she asked what kind 

 of bird that was which made that 

 peculiar note. I told her and she 

 then said that a short time ago one 

 of these birds had been a frequent 

 visitor at her home, coming at an 

 unrighteously early hour in the morn- 

 ing. So annoyed had the family 

 become at its loud and persistent 

 calling that her father had finally 

 shot the "nuisance" as she termed it. 

 Immediately the thought flashed 

 through my mind that here was an 

 explanation for the widowed state of 

 my solitary friend of the grove. Giv- 

 ing some casual excuse for my in- 

 terest, I asked as to the date of this 

 occurrence, and was told that it hap- 



pened about three weeks before, 

 which date would tend to confirm my 

 theory as above stated. 



On June 27th I happened to be in 

 the vicinity of this grove of spruces 

 and being curious to know whether 

 the male was still holding out there, 

 I decided to "call around." When 

 still some distance off I was agree- 

 ably surprised to hear the familiar 

 call and to see him perched on the 

 tall dead tree. I was about to con- 

 sole with him on the untimely loss of 

 his mate when I was delighted to 

 find that now, he was not alone. He 

 had found a new mate and she was 

 indeed busy going from tree to tree 

 and branch to branch, settling down 

 among the twigs, twining and twist- 

 ing about; unmistakably looking for 

 a nesting site. Two days later I 

 returned and had the pleasure and 

 interesting satisfaction of discover- 

 ing that she had chosen for the nest- 

 ing site the same tree as had her 

 predecessor. At first I thought she 

 was going to complete the old half 

 finished nest, for she flew and lit be- 

 side it. But I soon saw that she was 

 removing it, twig by twig to the other 

 side of the tree, at the same eleva- 

 tion — (about fifteen feet) and about 

 half way out on the limb. I watched 

 her for nearly an hour binoculars, 

 from a distance of about one hundred 

 yards. During this time she made 

 about one dozen trips to the new nest, 

 stopping between times to feed. She 

 was apparently in no hurry. Only 

 about once in every three would she 

 make a trip to the old nest, (about 

 six feet away) for material, but I 

 noticed later that no trace of the old 

 one was left. Once I saw her fly to 

 the dead tree, near her mate and at- 

 tempt to break off a twig. It wouldn't 

 come, so she hovered by it in the 

 air and then grasping it firmly in her 

 beak, she let herself fall and in this 

 way secured the twig she wanted. 



While I was thus watching these 



