THE OOLOGllST. 



165 



with a dense second-growth, with 

 large trees scattered here and there 

 over the landscape. Behind me the 

 Wallenpaupack swirled, and rushed 

 and roared over the rocks and between 

 banks densely fringed with rhododen- 

 dron, and disappeared into the "Prim- 

 eval Forest," which towered on my 

 right. 



At this point the timber was mainly 

 hemlock, with a few birches and ma- 

 ples. But it was not in the solid bank 

 of green that I expected to find any 

 nests, but in the solita:ry hemloclvs 

 which were scattered along the edge 

 of the forest, as they had been bold 

 enough to venture forth from their 

 comrades, but which, in truth, were 

 only the few survivors of the fateful 

 axe. 



Here at the edge of the wood was a 

 brood of Winter Wrens, the second 

 one seen that day. But soon I saw a 

 Scarlet Tanager fly to a nest about 

 forty feet up in a hemlock. It was a 

 pretty tough climb, but up I went. 

 The nest was a handsome affair for a 

 Tanager to build, and contained four 

 large young. This disgusted me a lit- 

 tle, and I sat dangling my feet into 

 space, watching the animated life be- 

 low and beside me. 



It was an excellent post from which 

 to observe the birds, and the birds 

 themselves were worth watching. 

 Tanagers, Grosbeaks, Black, Blue and 

 Green Warblers, Magnolia, Chestnut- 

 sided, Canadian, Black and White, and 

 Blackburnian Warblers. The top of a 

 dead tree served an Olive-sided Fly- 

 catcher as his lookout. 



The actions of a pair of Blackbur- 

 nians led me to believe that they had 

 a nest nearby, and after a fifteen min- 

 ute watch, I thought I had the nest 

 limited to a certain tree. 



I descended and after more waiting, 

 was sure I had at last located the nest 

 in a thick clump of foliage about 



thirty feet up in a tremendous hem- 

 lock. This clump was formed of the 

 first branches, and there were only a 

 few stubs between them and the 

 ground. I hesitated, but finally start- 

 ed up. The bark was extremely slip- 

 pery and my arms did not go halfway 

 around the great trunk. 



How I reached the first stub about 

 twenty feet up I don't know, but I did 

 it, and was soon just below the nest, 

 which I could now dimly see through 

 the thick foliage of the hemlock. I 

 grabbed a limb and raised my head 

 above the nest to see — four naked, lit- 

 tle Blackburnians ! Of course it did 

 not affect the scientific value of a 

 find that the eggs had hatched, but I 

 did not think of that just them. 



The nest was composed of hemlock 

 twigs, with a few rootlets and grasses. 

 It was lined with fine grasses and root- 

 lets and a few hairs. 



The foliage was so dense here that 

 both the parents lay with outspread 

 wings and tail on the deep green need- 

 les within three feet of me much after 

 the manner of the Ovenbird. You 

 could not beat the male for beauty! 

 David B. Harrower. 



From The Isle of Pines. 



The Water Turkey or Snake-bird 

 as it is commonly known to general 

 observers and the Anhigna anhigna of ' 

 the scientists is to be found sparing- 

 ly along the rivers of the Isle of Pines, 

 Cuba. It is a very seclusive and wary 

 bird. One morning I had the good 

 fortune to watch a female Anhigna 

 fishing. The first knowledge of her 

 presence that I had, was when look- 

 ing down stream, I saw what I took 

 to be a strick rise out of water and 

 sink again. This was repeated sev- 

 eral times, each time nearer, until 

 she was almost directly underneath 

 me. 



