32 



THE OOLOGIST. 



port for nuuibei one, while number two 

 mounts his back. 



When a nest has to be taken by saw- 

 ing, the following is the best way: 

 With a rope advance as far on the limb 

 as possible and make it fast, carry the 

 other end farther up the trunk and se- 

 curely fasten. Don't cut the limb oflf 

 near the rope but at a distance from the 

 rope so that the portions on either side 

 may balance. When it is is nearly saw- 

 ed be sure, to hold iirmly on to it other- 

 wise it might spring back and knock 

 you froQj your position. Now haul in 

 the prize. 



The following device often dispenses 

 with cutting the limb. Make a wire 

 loop one and one half inches in diame- 

 ter. Sew on to this a bag of soft cloth 

 two inches deep. Fasten the bag to a 

 long thin jointed fish pole and the eggs 

 can can be scooped out very neatly 

 from nests which could otherwise not 

 betaken. Care must however be tak- 

 en that the eggs are not pushed from 

 the nest. Otto Grady, 



Ludlow, Ky. 



The Bronzed Grackle. 



This city has a number of sections of 

 low land near it, and some of these 

 boggy tracts ai^e within the corporation 

 and comprise the territory known at 

 present as the 'Great Celery District.' 

 The nature of the soil is low muck, oft- 

 en called 'river bottom,' and is un- 

 doubtedly the evidence that a body of 

 water once stood in our charming val- 

 ley, aodexteuded all about the low flat 

 lands. 



In some quarters where the land was 

 considered worthless a few years ago, 

 not an acre can now be bought at $500, 

 and sections called impeoetrable, use- 

 less tamarack swamps, are now peopled 

 with industrious, mone} -making Hol- 

 landers who raise celery of National 

 reputation; own the land and lay up 

 money. 



'When 1 was a boy' many of the tam- 

 arack trees were dead near the village. 

 In these stubs the Bronzed Grackles or 

 Crow Blackbirds built their nests, and 

 for many years these situations were 

 their only selections; and after finding 

 the eggs in the hollows for years in snc- 

 cession. we had no doubt but that the 

 Blackbirds always chose holes in dead 

 trees. Once we found a nest built on 

 a limb in a live tree, which contained 

 Grackle's eggs, and we were at a loss to 

 account for it. Some boys said that the 

 bird was crazy, but most of us decided 

 that it was a new kind of a Blackbird, 

 and the value of the tind was consider- 

 ed great . 



Later, the tamaracks were rooted out 

 and the land made into gardens, and 

 then we expected to see the Bronzed 

 Grackles (as we had correctly learned 

 to call them) leave the country; but 

 strangely enough, to our notion, they 

 moved into the village and took posses- 

 sion of the tall evergreens. There they 

 continue to colonize, and there are a 

 dozen or more neighl)orhoods in our, at 

 present city of 25,000, where the Bronz- 

 ed Grackles gather and nest. In truth, 

 in many parts of our city it is the most 

 abundant species always excepting our 

 National Cukse, Ubiquitous im- 

 portation, Linn. 



Sometimes there are two and even 

 three Grackle's nests in one large un- 

 trimmed evergreen. Generally not 

 more than one, for although these birds 

 are invariably gregarious in the Great 

 Lake Region, still they are much dis- 

 posed to squabble if two nests are in a 

 tree. 



I have repeatedly seen two nests be- 

 gun in a tree, and later one pair of 

 birds would drive the other away. 

 They are noisy and aggressive and 

 make a fearful racket at the season 

 ivhen the young appear. This species 

 is prolific, and as they are much at- 

 tached to their young, and competent 

 parents the tribe increases, and there 



