THE OOLOGIST. 5?'^(8') ) ^0\ 



125 



The birds I mistook for Cliimney 

 Swifts (Chactora pelagica) were prob- 

 ably Chpsel.iides miger, but of course 

 can't tell as no specimens were taken. 

 A. C. READ. 



The Osprey in Old Virginia. 



As the Osprey, or Fish Hawlv, as it 

 is called by some people, breeds on 

 the West coast as well as the East, 

 I thought a word from this section 

 might be of interest to some of THE 

 OOLOGIST'S readers. 



Every now and then I receive a let- 

 ter asking for sets of this bird, gener- 

 ally stating "that as they are so easy 

 to get on the East coast," I must have 

 a large supply on hand. Quite the 

 contrary. 



The days of the Osprey colonies on 

 the beaches have gone, with those of 

 the Royal and Least Terns, Black 

 Skimmers and Oyster-catchers. Now 

 days one must be a good climber to 

 reach them. 



The nest shown in the photo I send 

 you was in a dead pine on an island, 

 between one hundred and twenty-five 

 and fifty feet above ground. The thick 

 of the tree bark has decayed and drop- 

 ped off in places. All the way up, it is 

 hang on for dear life, as trusting the 

 climbers in this sort of a foot hold 

 would be sheer suicide. 



Years ago when first visiting this 

 island, there must have been two hun- 

 dred pairs of Great Blue Heron and 

 Ospreys breeding in the dead tree 

 tops. When last visiting there, there 

 were no Herons' nests and the photo 

 shows the last of the Mohicans. Thus 

 for the pot hunters and millinery 

 trade — Ospreys now seek the tallest 

 tree they can find. 



H. H. BAILEY, 

 Newport News, Va. 



The Bittern. 



I noticed by the July issue of the 

 "OOLOGIST" that Dr. W. A. Hart re- 

 quests some information as to the 

 American Bittern laying second sets 

 if the nesting site is disturbed or if 

 the first set of eggs is destroyed or 

 taken. 



I think it may safely be taken for 

 granted that this bird lays second 

 sets, provided, of course, the females 

 has not been sitting on the eggs for 



ten days or two weeks. Should incu- 

 bation be well advanced, it is unlikely 

 the bird will lay a second time. I 

 will give you a few records of second 

 layings of the American Bittern in 

 this locality: 



On May 29, 1908, 1-5, 2-5, Amer. Bit- 

 tern were taken out of a large area of 

 bullrush marsh, the eggs being fresh. 

 On or about June 21st while looking 

 for warblers in the same locality, a 

 Bittern was flushed off her nest con- 

 taining three fresh eggs. This was 

 no doubt a second laying of one of the 

 birds mentioned above. 



On May 24, 1909, while wading 

 through a small area of reeds and 

 rushes — this swamp was about 75 

 yards long by 30 in width — a Bittern 

 was flushed off her nest containing 

 4 olive green eggs, which were quite 

 fresh. This bird always laid eggs en- 

 tirely different from other Bitterns in 

 so far as the shade of the specimens 

 are concerned and consequently was 

 much sought after. On June 12th 

 while walking through a meadow 

 where Meadowlarks and Bobolinks 

 were nesting, I was somewhat sur- 

 prised to flush this same bird from a 

 nest containing 4 more fresh eggs. 

 This bird had departed from the usual 

 custom of her tribe and built a nest 

 in a dry field where the grass was two 

 feet high. The eggs were exactly the 

 same as the previous sets taken. The 

 site of this nest was about one mile 

 from the other locality where the 

 bird nested, but there is not the slight- 

 est doubt but that it was the same 

 bird. 



I have noticed time and again nests 

 containing eggs of this species which 

 had been destroyed by muskrats and 

 there can be no doubt but that the 

 bird lays again. 



Yours truly, 



W. J. BROWN. 



P. S. — The tone and new life put in- 

 to the "Oologist" is just what we 

 wanted. W.J.B. 



Notes From Southern Connecticut 



"Alder Swamp" is a small triangu- 

 lar piece of wet ground on the lower 

 part of our property. The growth is 

 mostly Black alder (Alnus serulata), 

 with a Swamp maple (Acer rubrum) 

 and a White oak (Quercus bicolor) 

 sprinkled here and there about the 



