THE OOLOGIST. 



199- 



er and presenting a very ragged ap- 

 pearance underneath. The other two 

 were made of grass and are very frail 

 structures. 



I find the Wood Pewee to he very 

 common here having found eight nests 

 within a radius of less than half a mile. 

 They prefer the elm and scrub oak and 

 the nests are very often built on dead 

 limbs. 



A small boy found a nest of the Ruby- 

 throated Hummingbird containing two 

 eggs. I found two nests which I iden- 

 tified as those of the Traill's Flycatcher. 

 Among other nests found are those of 

 the Redstart five nests, Yellow-throat- 

 ed Vireo one nest, two nests of Bell's 

 Vireo and several of the Red-eyed and 

 White-eyed species. The Yellow Warb- 

 ler is very abundant here, I could have 

 taken fifty sets had I wished. 

 Last but not least I took one egg of the 

 Red-tailed Hawk this spring which was 

 absolutely unspotted. It is also a trifle 

 larger than any others I have seen. The 

 identification is correct, I think, as I 

 saw both of the birds. 



T. E. S., 

 Council Bluffs, la. 



The Chickadee, in Rutland Co., Vt. 



As I have never seen very much con- 

 cerning the habits of this bird in the 

 columns of the Oologist; I thought a 

 few lines on my part would not go amiss. 



My first acquaintance with the nest- 

 ing habits of this bird began, in the 

 spring of this year, during which time 

 I have found three nests each contain- 

 ing eggs. 



On the 2nd of May, 1892, when on a 

 trip after a nest of Cooper's Hawk I dis- 

 covered a newly excavated hole in a 

 beech stub about H feet up, and at 

 once recognized it to be an uncomplet- 

 ed nest of Panes atrica%yillius . I kept 

 close watch of the birds as they brought 

 material for the construction of the 

 nest, which consisted of leaves, moss 



and grass with a lining of fur from 

 small quadrupeds and hair. On May 

 10th there were seven eggs in the nest, 

 of a white color spotted all over, but 

 chiefly at the larger end, with spots of 

 reddish-brown; which measured re- 

 spectively .62x.49, .61x48, .60x.49, .59x- 

 .48, .59x.47, .59x.47 and .58x.47 inches. 



My second nest was discovered on 

 May 11th while on a collecting trip 

 with my fellow collector, but not being 

 completed was marked down for the 

 next trip. On May 20th I returned to 

 the nest and secured a fine set of six 

 eggs, the average size being .59x.48 

 inches . 



My third, and last, nest was built in 

 the same stub from which I obtained 

 my first set, and probably by the same 

 birds, as it was very late being found 

 on June 27th. It contained five eggs, 

 incubation apparently advanced, but as 

 I did not take them I cannot say. 



The birds are very close setters, and 

 no amount of pounding will bring them 

 off, but the minute you stop and stand 

 back a little way they will flit off. 



The birds remain here all winter and 

 traverse the woodlands from tree to 

 tree seeking their insect food; and any 

 time that you go out into the woods, 

 when there is snow on the ground, you 

 will be accosted by the sharp "Chick-a- 

 dee- dee-dee, " and on looking up you 

 will see Pants atricapillius eyeing you. 

 sharply. 



Wait C. Johnson 

 Center Rutland, Vt. 



The Long-eared Owl. 



In the October '89 number of the Ool- 

 ogist was an article describing my ex- 

 perience with this Owl for that year 

 and the sets taken. In '89 I took 5 sets, 

 one of 8, 3 of 7 and one of 5. 



This season I have taken 5 sets, one 

 of 4 and four of 5. 



My first set was of four eggs, but I 

 know that the bird had at one time five 



