186 



THE OOLOGIST. 



was way out on a limb of a lai'ge long- 

 leaf or yellow pine, and as I had very 

 little time, I didn't try to get it. 



I have found three nests this year, 

 which I think is doing pretty well, con- 

 sidering the limited time I have for 

 hunting. On May 11, while walking 

 through a small group of pines, I heard 

 a Hummingbird and after finding her, 

 I soon found the nest, as she went back 

 to it after a few preliminary darts here 

 andtliere. But it was about fifty feet high 

 an., very far out on a limb, so I didn't 

 think there Avas much use trying to get 

 it. The next evening, May l3fh, I start- 

 ed out rather late and went in a differ- 

 ent direction, and while walking along, 

 heard a "Hummer" and saw her dart 

 past me and fly out of sight among the 

 trees. I thought that looked suspicious 

 so I stopped and waited. She soon 

 came back and lit on a pine near by but 

 was very restless so I began to look 

 around for the nest. In a few minutes 

 I saw it on a swinging hickory limb 

 about eight feet from the ground. The 

 limb was a little troublesome to pull 

 down, but it wasn't long before I had 

 it cut off and the eggs packed safely in 

 my box. I then continued my walk. 



About 200 yards further on, I was go- 

 ing along among some hickory trees 

 when I heard another "Hummer" and 

 saw her fly out and light in a pine tree. 

 From past experience I was quite cer- 

 tain that I had flushed her from her 

 nest and that she would go right back 

 to it , but seeing a Wood Pewee acting 

 suspiciously I left the Hummingbird 

 and watched the Pewee. After watch- 

 ing her about fifteen minutes I found 

 her nest in a pine tree and then went 

 back to watch the Hummingbird but I 

 could not find her. Ordinarially, I 

 wouldn't have taken my eyes off that 

 bird for a second until she went to her 

 nest or flew away, but this time I felt 

 strangely, but perfectly, confident that 

 I would find the nest, so I didn't mind 

 leaving her. I knew about the place 



she flew from at first so I retraced my 

 former route but didn't see or hear any- 

 living of the bird. I then went over it 

 again hitting the limbs with my stiek 

 and this time was rewarded by hearing 

 her fly from among the trees. As 1 

 didn't see exactly where she flew from 

 I didn't stop to look but followed the 

 bird until she lit in a pine tree about 

 forty feet distant and began to plume 

 herself. After watching her about ten 

 minutes she flew around among the 

 trees a little while and then settled on 

 her nest. It proved much more diffi- 

 cult to get than the other one as it was 

 about twenty feet high and near the 

 end of a limb six feet long, but it was a 

 hickory tree so I succeeded in bending 

 it around and getting both eggs and nest 

 safe. 



From the numbers we see about the 

 flowers and gardens in the spring and 

 summer, I judge they must breed quite 

 numerously in this part of the state, 

 but they are of such small dimensions 

 aud fly so swiftly that it is very hard to 

 find their tiny nests, which are made of 

 cotton, thistle-down, fern-down, wil- 

 low-down and other vegetable "downs" 

 covered on the outside with fine lichens 

 daintily stuck on with spider-web and 

 caterpillar-silk. 



From my observations they seem to 

 prefer the pine as a building site as, of 

 my ten nests, five haA r e been in pine 

 trees, two in gums, two in hickories 

 and one in an oak. Six of them were 

 in high ground and four in low ground. 

 Eight of them were in clear woods, free 

 of underbrush, 



The only note I have ever heard 

 them utter is a peculiar little "cackle" 

 as it is called, used principally when 

 the3 T chase each other through the air 

 with such swiftness that the ej T e can 

 scarcely keep pace with them. 



A. R. Hey ward, Jr., 



Columbia, S. C. 



