THE O0LOO1ST. 



ia 



decided to be the most valuable, instruc- 

 tive arid interesting in this number of 

 OoLOGiST and mail to us. Number the 

 articles in the order which you think 

 the prizes should be awarded. 



While we can hardly afford to com- 

 pensate our Judges, we have thought 

 it advisable to give three prizes one to 

 each of the three whose decisions are 

 nearest the final award of prizes and in 

 the January competition the Judge 

 whose list of five articles is the nearest 

 the awarded list, we will give a copy of 

 Davie's Key to the Nests and Eggs of N. 

 A. Birds, paper. Second a set of Nod- 

 dy. Third, a copy of "Natural History 

 Plays." In case of a tie, the earliest 

 mailed list takes the prize. 



Send in your MSS. also your deci- 

 sions. Address all to 



The Publisher of the Oologist, 



Albion, N. Y. 



Are Nesting Cavities Occupied More Than 

 Once? 



During the last season I have noticed 

 a large number of cavities occupied by 

 different birds and while many were 

 newly excavated I think that the maj- 

 ority were not. It is well known that 

 Sparrow Hawks if undisturbed will oc- 

 cupy the same cavity for years in suc- 

 cession. One pair of the above occup- 

 ied a cavity excavatedby a pair of Flick- 

 ers in an elm tree by the roadside for 

 three years, One summer I took two 

 sets from them on which they left and 

 occupied a tree nearly half a mile away. 

 This year I took a set from them on 

 which they left and occupied the old 

 nest in the elm stub. I also know of a 

 Flicker that has occupied the same tree 

 for several years. 



A Red-headed Woodpecker built in a 

 walnut tree near here four years ago, 

 the next year they returned but excav- 

 ated a new hole although the old one 

 was not out of repair. The next year 

 she repeated the performance but last 

 year she began again and left on strik- 

 ing an old hole. 



I have noticed several Chickadee's 

 nests but never found eggs in an old 



one, so I think that although Sparrow 

 Hawks, Flickers and possibly other var - 

 ities of large woodpeckers occupy old 

 holes, Chickadees and Red-headed 

 Woodpeckers almost invariably excav- 

 ate new ones. 



Now although it hardly comes under 

 the head of this article, I will say that I 

 think organization would be beneficial 

 to ornithologists, and would like to 

 hear through the columns of the Oolo- 

 gist what qualifications would be de- 

 cided upon for membership. 



W. E. Aiken. 

 Benson, Vt. 



Old Recollections - 



In June 1877, my friend Frank Harris, 

 and the writer started on a collecting 

 trip to Target Lake. To reach the lake, 

 it was necessary to go by boat through 

 sloughs and swamps about two miles. 

 Sometimes the water was too shallow' 

 for our light skiff and we were obliged to 

 get out in the mud and water andpull the, 

 boat after us. The sloughs were fairly 

 alive with Coots, Grebes and Rails. And 

 Yellow-head and Red-wing Blackbird's 

 nests could be seen, supported by the 

 reeds, in large numbers. The floating 

 nests of the Pied-billed Grebe could be 

 seen on every side. We pulled our 

 boat along side of the nests, and made 

 exchanges with the Grebes. We found 

 the Coots nests near the shore in the 

 rushes and got some fine sets. Here we 

 found our first nest of the King Rail, 

 built in the reeds a few inches above, 

 the water, with a covering over it to 

 protect it from the hot sun. We re- 

 mem Oer how carefully we parted the 

 reeds at the top to see what it contained 

 W T e count the eggs twice, no mistake, 

 there is fourteen creamy colored eggs, 

 spotted with light reddish brown. We 

 have some of them yet in our collection. 

 Most of the Blackbird's nests contained 

 fresh eggs. We remember Avhen we, 



