42 



THE OOLOGIST. 7i;?l 



throughout the year. There were none 

 seen here until about 1896. Then there 

 appeared one pair in town. They nest- 

 ed and now the county is full at them. 



It is noticeable that they stay yery 

 close to inhabited dwellings. They 

 nest in April the first time and rear sev- 

 eral broods in a season. The nest is 

 built up of small weed sticks and lined 

 with hair, cotton or wool. It measures 

 some 5 to 6 inches across and is usually 

 2 inches deep. It is placed invariably 

 near some habitation, sometimes in a 

 pile of brush, sometimes in a dead tree, 

 while again it may be found in a dense 

 undergrowth or hedge. 



When you approach the nest the male 

 sits quietly by and watches. When 

 within a few feet of the nest the female 

 generally slides off the nest and re- 

 treats a few yards and perches. There 

 she sits uttering a sort of rasping call 

 while the nest is investigated: They 

 never make any fuss until the nest is 

 reached. 



I have never taken a set, where incu- 

 bation has commenced, of less than 

 four eggs and usually five or six. The 

 eggs vary greatly in size, shape and 

 color. Some are almost round while 

 others are long and pointed. There are 

 bluish green spotted with reddish 

 brown. Often they are spotted pro- 

 fusely but sometimes a set is found 

 with few spots on the larger end. 



The birds feed upon fruits, worms 

 and insects. I have noticed them rob a 

 nest of Warblers and eat the eggs. 

 They also fight other birds. 



The male does most of the singing. 

 He perches on a housetop, fencepost or 

 other convenient place and pours forth 

 his song in clear distinct tones. He 

 can imitate any sound he hears, domes- 

 tic or wild. The bird may be heard 

 singing in the night and I have heard 

 them singing as late as midnight and 2 

 a. m. Their song is very pleasing and 

 consists of very short imitations of all 

 other birds, only a few notes of each 



one's song being represented. 



I should like to hear from the Mocker 

 from other places in the U. S. This lo- 

 cality is 36" ; or almost as far north as 

 he goes. 



R. Lee, 

 Tulare, Calif. 



A Robin Tragedy. 



Early one morning in April, 1897, 

 while strolling along the street enjoy- 

 ing the exhilarating jubilant song of 

 the Purple Finches, the activity of 

 Bronzed Grackles flying back and forth 

 over the tree tops with nest building 

 material to various evergreen trees, 

 and listening to the morning chorus of 

 dozens of Robins, I found a Robin 

 hanging about one foot below its nest. 

 The nest was about ten feet up in an 

 evergreen tree and near the end of the 

 limb. 



Upon examination I found that they 

 had used a quantity of white thread 

 ravelings as a finishing touch around 

 the rim of the nest and that several of 

 these had become entaugied in ihe joint 

 of the Robin's tongue, so when in the act 

 of flying from the nest it was suddenly 

 brought to a stop and jerked below the 

 nest where the poor bird hung by its 

 tongue, dying a sad and painful death. 

 1 took the Robin with the nest and one 

 egg. A few days later I had occasion- 

 to pass under the same tree and hap- 

 pening to look up I was rather surpris- 

 ed to see a Robin sitting on her nest 

 which had been placed in the same' spot 

 as the first nest and she had even used 

 some of the fatal ravelings in its struct- 

 ure, but this time no fatality occurred 

 and in due time a family of Robins was 

 added to the bird world. 



C. F. Stone, 

 Branchport, N. Y. 



Sugg-estions. 

 The army of enthusiastic young 



