28 



THE OOLOGIST. 



number of old nests in the immediate 

 vicinity of this nest which the birds 

 might have used. 



A third set of Krider's, two eggs, tak- 

 en May 12tli was taken in the same lo- 

 cality, local'y known as "the poplars;" 

 a large tract of wooded country, cover- 

 ed with willow scrub and poplar trees. 

 This nest was in a poplar tree 25 ft. up 

 in main fork, nest of medium size, of 

 sticks, lined with leaves and grass with 

 few strips of poplar bark and was a 

 nest of the year, evidently built by the 

 birds themselves. Old nests abound all 

 through this district, but I found none 

 of them occupied. 



On the 14th of May I again visited 

 this district and took a set of two Red- 

 tail's eggs. This nest was placed in a 

 tall dead poplar about half burned 

 through at the bottom and I was afraid 

 to climb it at first. However I made 

 up my mind to try it when the female 

 left the nest at my near approach, as 1 

 knew there was something to get, and 

 succeeded in reaching the nest and re- 

 turned to terra firma without mishap. 

 The wind was strong and cold and from 

 the north and a cold rain made this a 

 very unpleasant task. This was the 

 second largest nest of the season and 

 was built on the top of an old one. 

 The nest projected so far out around 

 the fork in which it was placed that I 

 had trouble in reaching over it and was 

 30 ft. high. The nest was composed of 

 large and small poplar sticks, many of 

 them being charred by the fire that had 

 passed through in the fall. The nest 

 was lined with poplar bark, grass and 

 a few green leaves. The nest was quite 

 close to the railway track. 



On this day I took another set of two 

 while going home, from dead poplar, 

 28 ft. up This nest was also large but 

 not as large as the other, of sticks of 

 poplar, lined with bark shreds and 

 leaves. A few feathers also were used 

 but I think these are accidental. This 

 also was a nest of the season. 



May 16th visited Jickling's marsh 

 which lies in the poplar belt. I took 

 from a large nest in a poplar tree 35 ft. 

 up in main fork, a set of two eggs. 

 These were small, the smallest measur- 

 ing 2.20x1.65 and were well marked. 

 This nest was new, although situated 

 quite close to nests built the previous 

 year, was like the rest, of sticks, mostly 

 poplar, and lined with bark shreds and 

 roots, grass and leaves. 



On May 17th a set of two eggs re- 

 warded my search. These were Red- 

 tails, the nest in a poplar tree 25 ft. up, 

 of sticks and twigs, lined with grass 

 and fine roots, was of large size and 

 new. A second nest found the same 

 day contained a set of three eggs, was 

 in a tall and spreading Balm of Gilead 

 tree, 25 ft. up, in main fork, was large 

 and new, composed as were all the oth- 

 ers found in this bush, if poplar sticks, 

 lined with bark, grass and leaves. As 

 I watched the old Red-tails circling 

 above I glanced around the neighbor 

 ing treetops and counted five more 

 nests within my view. I took my set 

 to the buggy and visited each of the 

 five nests in turn. They ail proved to 

 be old nests in different stages of dilap- 

 idation, from which I should judge that 

 this pair of birds had bred here for a 

 few years and had used all the nests in 

 turn. 



Another set of three eggs taken the 

 same date from a nest in a poplar tree 

 20 ft. up, was also a new nest and built 

 of sticks and twigs, lined with roots, 

 stubble and leaves. 



On May 19th I took two sets of Red- 

 tail of three eggs each, both from pop- 

 lar trees. These nests were both new 

 and were within a short distance of old 

 nests evidently used in previous years. 



Just two more nests I will mention 

 and then I will end my paper. 

 (To be continued.) 



Chris. P. Forge, 

 Carman, Manitoba. 



