THE OOLOGIST 



27/ 



another newly completed Magnolia's 

 nest, also a Redstart's containing two 

 eggs. At a small bushy clearing about 

 an oil well I found a pair of Mourning 

 Warblers. I started in and spent al- 

 most all my remaining time trying to 

 find the nest but without result except 

 that I found a Chestnut sided Warb- 

 ler's nest containing three eggs. 



As it was getting quite late I start- 

 ed out and on the way found a newly 

 built nest of the Olive-backed Thrush 

 in a little hemlock. It was the pret- 

 tiest Olive-backed's nest I have ever 

 seen. They generally use some moss 

 but this nest was built almost entire- 

 ly of beautiful green moss. I after- 

 wards secured it together with a fine 

 set of four eggs. 



It was dark when I arrived home, 

 hungry but well pleased with my trip. 



R. B. Simpson. 

 Warren, Pa. 



An Albinistic White-throated Sparrow. 

 At Montclair Heights, N. J., on the 

 5th of November, I accidentally came 

 upon a small flock of twenty White- 

 throats among the undergrowth at the 

 summit of Crow Hill. Among these 

 was one male which had many white 

 feathers. The plumage of this bird 

 was normal on all the underparts, 

 crown and back. The nape was white 

 pencilled with brown, the rump and 

 upper tail coverts wholly white; tail 

 very much mottled with white and 

 brown. On the wings the greater 

 coverts were wholly white while the 

 middle and lesser coverts and scap- 

 ulars apparently were normal; the 

 secondaries and primaries being mot- 

 tled with considerable white. As a 

 whole the bird presented a very odd 

 appearance, in fact, the white mark- 

 ings were so conspicuous that it is 

 feared that the bird will sooner or 

 later become a mark for an amateur 



hunter's gun and meet the usual fate 

 of the albinistic bird. 



Louis S. Kohler. 



An Unusual Nesting Site. 



In the November OOLOGIST I no- 

 tice a very readable article by Mr. 

 Thos. D. Burleigh, on Unusual Nest- 

 ing Sites, which brings to mind an in- 

 cident which occurred to me back in 

 the spring of 1902. 



Cn May 27th of that year, I came 

 upon the nest of a Northern Flicker 

 in a leader pipe of a dwelling at Pomp- 

 ton, N. J., which was but ten feet 

 from the ground and in a very expos- 

 ed position. This pipe had become 

 clogged by refuse from the roof and 

 the constant flow of water had burst 

 a hole about three inches in diameter 

 about six inches above the obstruc- 

 tion. In this receptable this pair of 

 Flickers had established their home 

 and when discovered had a set of four 

 eggs in it. The female was brooding 

 over these eggs when the nest was lo- 

 cated. I also learned upon further in- 

 spection that the leader had become 

 filed with rubbish at the opening in 

 the gutter above, thus preventing any 

 water from falling upon the occupants 

 below. I very attentively watched 

 this brood to see that nothing befell 

 them until they were large enough to 

 care for themselves and can happily 

 say that while in this unusual home 

 nothing occurred to disturb the tran- 

 quility cf this family's home life. 



1 Juring the spring of 1910 a pair of 

 Flickers were again seen about this 

 placet but during the meantime the 

 owner had repaired the pipe, thus 

 leaving no opening for the birds and 

 they went off to take up their home 

 elsewhere. 



Louis S. Kohler. 



Unusual Nesting Sites. 

 Reading the article by Mr. Burleigh 



