THE OOLOGIST 



89 



able to reach their nest, for the dead 

 limbs were brittle and made climbing 

 unsafe. 



A few days after my discovery 

 of the nest of the Great Horned 

 Owl I chanced to think of the 

 old Hawk's nest and wondered if my 

 Red-shouldered family^ occupied the 

 same residence this year. Approaching 

 the tree I was surprised to find that the 

 wild grape vines which the year before 

 covered only the lower boughs had 

 spread rapidly and clothed the whole 

 top of the tree with a thick matting of 

 slender, tangled branches making climb- 

 ing comparatively safe and easy for a 

 light man. I wore no coat and had 

 nothing to remove but my shoes, and 

 was soon ascending the largest vine 

 hand over hand. As I approached the 

 nest dry branches cracked ominously, 

 and the vines, being of new growth, 

 seemed thin and weak and I was obliged 

 to proceed cautiously. 



At length Ireached the nest and found 

 that although it had been built in an ex- ' 

 posed situation, as if to give the ownei's 

 a good yiew of the surrounding country 

 and of approaching foes, it was now 

 shaded and well hidden by the luxur- 

 iant growth of vines, which were just 

 budding, for it was April 15th. 



There were two eggs about as large as 

 Hawk's eggs in the nest, but I saw, to 

 my surprise, that they were not the eggs 

 of a Hawk. They were globular in 

 shape and almost pure white in color, 

 while those of the Red-shouldered 

 Hawk are oval, slightly pointed at one 

 end, and are marked with blotches, 

 lines and dottings of yellowish brown 

 and slate color on aground of yellowish 

 white. 



At that time I could not conjecture 

 who the new owner of the old nest might 

 be, but on my next visit I found the 

 owner at home, and saw that she was a 

 Barred Owl, a beautiful bird, as beauty 

 goes among Owls, and a good mouse 

 catcher who stays with us all winter, as 

 indeed most of our Owls do. 



One of the most attractive spots in 

 my neighborhood is a steep cliff which 

 overlooks the river, the highest point 

 for miles around. A colony of Cliff 

 Swallows have for yeai's held possession 

 of its steeply sloping face and have 

 honeycombed the hard sand with their 

 burrows. 



It is a curious sight to see these deli- 

 cate, dainty looking little birds toiling 

 away and pecking at the stubborn bank, 

 like Woodpeckers beating on an old 

 tree. They would dig a hole eighteen 

 inches or more deep and then widen 

 unt a cavity at the end in which to 

 build a nest of soft grass and feathers. 

 When watching them one summer 

 skimming about over the river or across 

 rich meadows, almost touching the 

 waves or the grass with their airy wings, 

 I would often catch sight of a larger 

 bird hunting for food in a very different 

 way. 



This was a Belted Kingfisher sitting 

 upon some convenient perch and keep- 

 ing a sharp lookout for possible victims. 

 When at length he would secure a good 

 dinner he would return at once to the 

 Swallows' cliff where he had a hole of 

 his own, very much like theirs but larg- 

 er and deeper to accomodate his great- 

 er size. Sometimes I would reach in 

 after him, not to harm him, but merely 

 to find out what kind of a house he 

 occupied, and found that the hole wound 

 around and around in the bank like a 

 corkscrew and was apparently of inter- 

 minable length. 



The next summer I noticed that the 

 Kingfisher frequented the same perches 

 but avoided the cliff, having evidently 

 changed his residence. Climbing up to 

 the hole he had foi-merty occupied I 

 reached in hand to find what the trouble 

 was and had one of my fingers sharply 

 nipped. Seizing my unexpected assail- 

 ant I dragged him out and found that 

 he was a Saw-whet Owl. 



Was he a bold robber who had driven 

 away the Kingfisher, the rightful owner 



