282 



THE OODOGIST 



them got broken and when examined 

 two days previous to my visit the nest 

 held four young. On the road from 

 Preemption to the farm we drove past 

 two pairs of Quail which were feeding 

 by the road-side, and heard a number 

 of others calling in different direc- 

 tions. 



While riding on the train I saw a 

 Prairie Hen near the track just out 

 of the village of Milan. Near the same 

 place I noted two Bobolinks in the 

 pastures along the track. Near Mr. 

 M's. farm I heard a Bell's Vireo sing- 

 ing in a thicket by the road-side and 

 a Yellow-winged Sparrow singing in 

 a field. Saw a Great Horned Owl 

 pursued by several Crows, and a Blue 

 Jay sitting on a large fallen dead tree. 

 When I approached it flew a short dis- 

 tance and alighted with its torment- 

 ers in the top of a large oak. -where it. 

 remained until I approached within 

 about 40 yards before it flew. After 

 8 o'clock in the evening several Whip- 

 poor-Wills were heard calling in the 

 timber not far from the house. Dur- 

 ing the day I saw 42 species of birds, 

 all summer residents and all but one 

 were seen after 4 p. m. Happening to 

 be awake about 11 p. m. I heard a 

 Cuckoo and a Whip-poor-Will calling. 

 May 3'Oth — Morning fair and warm. 

 Threatening rain in the afternoon; 

 strong south wind. Spent nearly the 

 whole day in the timber. Shortly af- 

 ter starting out I shot at a Crow as it 

 flew over the trees above my head but 

 missed it. At 7:50 I shot at another 

 under like circumstances and killed 

 it. Approached within gun-shot of 

 another which was perched in a tree 

 in the timber but it flew just as I was 

 ready to shoot. Late in the afternoon 

 I shot at another sitting in a tree over- 

 head but apparently missed it. (The 

 tameness of these birds is evidence 

 of my statement that the farm lies 

 beyond the zone of the average hunt- 



er.) I spent most of the morning and 

 a part of the afternoon trying to shoot 

 a pair of Great Horned Owls which 

 were followed wherever they went by 

 a band of Crows varying in numbers 

 from six to a hundred. I shot at one 

 of the Owls as it sat in a tree but af- 

 ter falling nearly to the ground it 

 righted itself and flew off. I shot at 

 the other Owl once sitting and once 

 on the wing, but apparently missed 

 both times. Later I fired both barrels 

 at one as it sat in a tree but it flew 

 off seemingly unhurt. (The small size 

 No. 7, of the shot I was using, was 

 probably the cause of my continued 

 bad luck.) The Crows were so excit- 

 ed over the presence of the Owls that 

 they paid very little attention to me, 

 thus affording me many chances to 

 shoot at them as they circled over 

 the timber around the trees in which 

 the Owls perched. When I started 

 the first Owl there were only about 

 half a dozen Crows following it, but 

 they made such a racket that before 

 noon the crowd had grown to at least 

 one hundred, but by six p. m. they had 

 gradually dropped out of the ranks till 

 there only a few left. 



Noticed a Red-tailed Hawk circling 

 high above the timber. Saw at least 

 six Blue-gray Gnatcatchers of which 

 I shot one. They kept all the time 

 near the tops of the tallest trees and 

 seemed to be mating as they were in 

 companies of three or more and kept 

 up a constant shrill chirping like that 

 of young birds. Found a House Wren's 

 nest on a crevice in the upper end of 

 a loosely rolled piece of canvas which 

 was hanging in the corn-barn. The 

 nest contained five eggs. Near the 

 house I found a Robin's nest seven 

 feet up in an oak tree. It held two 

 partly feathered young which had 

 been dead several days. A pair of 

 English Sparrows had a nest 25 feet 

 up in an old Woodpecker's hole in a 



