124 



THE OOLOGI'ST. 



to a stciy creek, wei-e a number of 

 posts. Cften had I detected a Plover 

 eyeing me from this elevated posi- 

 tion, but he manifested no uneasiness 

 and was net at all demonstrative. I 

 decided to examine this field, which 

 was sowed to timothy, but was very 

 weedy, containing a number of Cana- 

 dian thistles. I had not been in the 

 field ten minutes, when a Quaily 

 sprang from the grass almost at my 

 feet, and revealed the most cleverly 

 hidden nest I had discovered, since 

 chancing upon one found indirectly, 

 through- flushing the Bobolink. The 

 last set was fresh, and the female 

 must have been preparing her domi- 

 cile at the time I spied her mate on 

 the fence post. These eggs rested not 

 only with the small ends together, 

 but practically on their points, in a 

 cavity five and one-half inches deep 

 and only three inches in diameter. It 

 would have been possible for a mow- 

 ing machine to have passed complete- 

 ly over the nest and eggs without dis- 

 turbing either. 



The result of my discoveries this 

 year while studying the nidification of 

 this large Sand piper, only tends to 

 bear out the statement which is so 

 applicable to the searcher of ground 

 birds' nests, viz. that a restricted area 

 systematically searched, invariably 

 yields more than a vast tract contain- 

 ing an unlimited assortment of 

 growths, both wild and cultivated. 



The three sets of Bartram found 

 during by '09 trailing were within a 

 radius of one-half mile. These birds 

 frequently ranged on the opposite side 

 of a creek. In previous years, when 

 they bred in the same pastures, that 

 contained the '09 nests, I have notic- 

 ed the parents approaching me when 

 I was fully a mile from their offspring. 

 GERARD ALAN ABBOTT, 



Chicago, 111. 



From The Isle of Pines. 



The Red-legged Thrush (Mimocichla 

 rubripes rubripes) better known here 

 in Cuba among the Americans as 

 "Robin" is slightly larger than Mer- 

 ula migratoria. Both in actions, voice 

 and in markings, it reminds one of 

 our northern Robin. The general col- 

 or above is bluegray; also the breast. 

 The rest of the underparts are rufous. 

 The throat is white margined with 

 black and the iris and legs bright red. 

 This is one of our most common birds, 

 generally nesting in trees about 

 twelve feet from the ground, but 

 sometimes it nests in and about 

 houses, sheds, etc. When we were 

 building our house a pair of those 

 birds built their nest in one of the 

 front rooms. As the work progressed 

 and we become too noisy there, they 

 tore the nest to pieces and moved the 

 same material and built another nest 

 behind an unhung door in the kitchen, 

 but as the door had to be hung, the 

 nest was destroyed. 



This is the first time I have known 

 of a bird moving and taking the house 

 along. The nest is very similar to 

 that of a Robin, but lacks the mud 

 lining (at least in this section) being 

 composed of grass, strings, bits of pa- 

 per, and rags, and in fact almost any- 

 thing. It begins nesting in April and 

 continues through May. 



I also wish to add several birds to 

 my list of birds seen here; making a 

 total of 72 species identified to date. 



American Egret; one. 



Woodpecker (Ciphiopicus percus- 

 sus) ; common. 



Giant Flycatcher (Tyrannus cuben- 

 sis) ; several. 



Whip-poor-will?; two. 



Palm Swift (Tachorius phoenisco- 

 bia) ; only seen just before or just 

 after a Kain and then only one to 

 three at a time. 



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