y 



THE OOLOGIST 



parties of three or four. Found an- 

 other nest which I took to be a Bee- 

 bird's about thirty feet from the 

 ground on the tip of an elnlJimb. 



Walking along an osage hedge I 

 discovered a Blue Jay on its nest 

 seven feet up. A little farther on was 

 a Turtle Dove's nest ten feet up with 

 the bird on it, while not far away 

 was a Brown Thrasher's nest three 

 feet up, containing four partly feath- 

 ered young. Found a deserted Chick- 

 adee's nest four feet up in a dead 

 willow stump about six inches in 

 diameter. The cavity was about six 

 inches deep, thickly lined with cow's 

 hair, and contained a lot of broken 

 egg-shells. About thirty feet from this 

 stump stood a fair sized oak tree in 

 which a Wood Pewee was beginning 

 her nest about twenty feet up and ten 

 feet out on a small dead limb. About 

 25 feet up in an elm a short distance 

 from the oak was a new Crow's nest 

 A Crow was perched in a neighboring 

 tree but retired on my approach. A 

 little later while standing under the 

 tree in which the nest was located, I 

 shot at a Crow which flew past the 

 tree but missed it. From the appear- 

 ance of the nest which on examination 

 proved to be empty, a squirrel had 

 just begun preparing it for a home. 



Ten feet up in an old apple tree in 

 the corner of a pasture I found a Blue 

 Jay's nest containing four eggs. In a 

 bunch of hickory sprouts among some 

 hazel brush just outside of the timber 

 I ran across a Field Sparrow's nest 

 three feet up with three eggs. Flush- 

 ed a Whip-poor-Will from the ground 

 among some scattered hazel-brush and 

 a close search disclosed one egg ly- 

 ing on the dead leaves without a sign 

 of a nest. A little later I flushed an- 

 other among some underbrush but de- 

 spite the fact that the bird showed 

 much anxiety at my presence, flying 

 around me and repeatedly uttering a 



short "chut," I was unable to locate 

 the cause of its uneasiness. At 11 a 

 m. I shot a Crow which flew over the 

 tops of the trees under which I was 

 standing in the timber. Later I shoi" 

 at a Cowbird perched in a tree, but 

 failed to get it. 



During the day I saw six large 

 Hawks, two of them being seen at pne 

 time, but all were too far away U 

 be positively identified, although they 

 were no doubt all Red-tails. In the 

 timber there were many rabbits and 

 squirrels and I noted one chipmunk. 

 While standing in a ploughed field a 

 rabbit hopped slowly past within six 

 feet of my feet, apparently mistaking 

 me for a stump. At 5 p. m. I started 

 for home, one of the family taking 

 me in the buggy to a point a mile and 

 a half from Milan, from which I walk- 

 ed to the town, across the Rock River 

 bridges and kept on by the way of 

 the trolley-car tracks as far as Chip- 

 pianock Cemetery where I boarded a 

 car, arriving at home at 8:50. Between 

 Mr. M's. farm and Milan I saw one 

 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, three 

 Green Herons (which were flying 

 above Mill Creek), a Barn Swallow 

 gliding over a pasture, about a dozen 

 Eave Swallows flying high over the 

 fields, and two Cooper's Hawks. Just 

 under the eaves on the front of a 

 farm-house standing by the road there 

 hangs a wooden trough to carry off the 

 water from the roof. I discovered a 

 Turtle Dove sitting on its nest in the 

 trough, above the front door of the 

 house, the bird's head being level with 

 the edge of the roof. Mrs. M. told me 

 that the Dove was there on both the 

 11th and 25th of the month when she- 

 made her regular trips to town with 

 produce. It is a wonder that the nesi 

 was not washed away by the heavj 

 rains that have fallen while the bird 

 has been setting. 



At two different spots on the road 



