42 



THE OOLOGIST 



through in a regular tide. You will 

 find him anywhere and everywhere, in 

 brush-piles, hedges or groves. He re- 

 mains long but does not breed. I have 

 often heard his well-defined but tremu- 

 lous Avhistle on a clear Spring morning 

 from the top of some tree in the midst 

 of the city. 



The Clay-colored Sparrow is not so 

 well known about here as it might be, 

 though quite common. Il resembles 

 very much the Chipping Sparrow. It 

 lacks the chestnut on the head and has 

 a little longer tail, but when one has 

 once taken a specimen he will not fail 

 to recognize it at some distance. Un- 

 like the Chipping Sparrow he does not 

 show that confidence in humanity, but 

 inhabits the fields such as contain 

 weeds, as milk weed and mullen, or he 

 may often be found about brush-piles. 



A nest that I found was placed in a 

 tussock of grass and raised about half a 

 foot from the ground. It was compos- 

 ed of grass, but did not contain, as 

 a Chipping Sparrow's does, a lining of 

 hair. 



The Swamp Sparrow can be found in 

 large numbers in the bushes, flags and 

 grass that skirt the edge of our marsh- 

 es, and I have even seen it in high dry 

 woods in the migraitons. I would list 

 them as being as abundant as the Song 

 Sparrow, but not so veil known on ac- 

 count of their habits. Although on 

 long acquaintance with them I have 

 never yet heard a song that I positively 

 knew was a Swamp Sparrow. 



Their nests are built in the long grass 

 and weeds, generally where it is damp 

 or on that line where the water begins 

 to creep up in the grass. It is placed 

 in some tussock and raised a few inches 

 from the ground and is composed of 

 grass and weeds. The birds do not 

 often fly from the nest, but jump down - 

 and creep along for some distance, and 

 so swiftly do they go that at first glance 

 at one running through the grass in 

 this manner I often get the impression 



that it is a mouse. Sometimes several 

 nests are found within a few yards of 

 each other. 



The Fox Sparrow, that handsomest . 

 of Sparrows, is a tolerably common 

 migrant here. . You will find him in 

 the thickest of groves, and you may see 

 him on some April day flitting across, 

 the road, here and there, from thicket 

 to thicket. He is not so sociable as 

 other birds and although he may come 

 North with a few companions he loves, 

 solitude better. No song that I have 

 yet. heard from any bird throat has 

 given me so entrancing an effect. He 

 sings but seldom and then, from the 

 top of some tree, with head thrown 

 back and swelling throat, as if for his 

 own happiness alone. He gives utter- 

 ance to notes, remarkable for their 

 sweetness, harmony and variety. 



H. M. Guilford, 

 Minneapolis, Minn.. 



Collecting in Chicago. 



When an oologist sets out for a trip,, 

 when he finds himself face to face with 

 nature, I doubt whether there is room 

 in his heart for ought but the purest 

 feelings. He is filled with exultant 

 hope his step is buoyant, and life seems 

 a pleasant song. He strays through 

 shady depth, over sun-kissed fields, he 

 stoops to drink from whispering brooks 

 or cool springs, and again he waddles 

 through mud cheerfully. And his time 

 is well spent. 



Whenever I pick up theOoLOGiST and 

 follow the writers through the various 

 scenes and events a host of pleasant 

 memories crowd upon me, and I always 

 feel like joining the circle and take my 

 turn, so here it goes. 



In the Calumet reigon, within the 

 limits of the World's Fair City there is 

 a stretch of wet prairie you might call 

 it, bounded by railroads, woody ridges 

 and manufacturing suburbs. There 

 are patches of rushes connected by 



