301 



THE OOLOGIST 



cated the nest before the birds had 

 finished it. The eggs were very pret- 

 ty, elongated in shape and marked 

 with brown spots and blotches, nearly 

 all over the eggs. 



May 27, 1911, I found 1-5 near Wil- 

 mington, Delaware, on the ground at 

 the base of a very small bush. I flush- 

 ed the female as I went through the 

 woods, the eggs were fresh, marked 

 with small spots of brown. 



All my Kentucky Warbler sets were 

 found near Wilmington, Delaware, but 

 the two in Pennsylvania. 



I have found four nests with young, 

 and three empty in the past ten years. 



They are always to be found 

 around here in the nesting season, a 

 pair generally in every low woods. 



Saturday, June 10, 1911, I was out 

 in the woods in the afternoon, and 

 while sitting on the brow of a hill, 

 looking at the beautiful scenery, I 

 heard the notes of a Kentucky Warb- 

 ler. 



The bright rays of the noon-day 

 sun penetrated the green foliage of 

 the tree tops and made a picture that 

 only nature could portray. 



The day was fine, the air bracing, 

 and all nature seemed to be dressed in 

 its finest raiment. 



Through the gentle breeze, I could 

 hear the call of the male Kentucky 

 Warbler as he sent notes of warning 

 to his mate who was concealed among 

 the weeds some where within sound. 



My desire to find the nest was par- 

 amount, but where to look was hard 

 to decide, as the low woods covered a 

 wide expanse. 



With stick in hand, and body bent, 

 I parted the weeds as I went from 

 bush to bush, covering all the ground 

 that seemed most likely for a nesting 

 site and found nothing. 



Patience and perseverance brings 

 its reward in most cases, and after an 

 hour's work, I found the female at 



home attending to her domestic du- 

 ties. As I parted the weeds at the 

 base of a small bush, I could see her 

 outstretched neck as she leaned for- 

 ward to ascertain the cause of the 

 rustling noise I made in approaching 

 the nest. 



The next move she was gone, and 

 lying in the hollow of the nest were 

 five white eggs, sparingly marked 

 with brown at the large end. 



Nest was made of leaves, dead 

 grasses, twigs and lined with rootlets. 

 I have several sets in my collection 

 and find the eggs vary greatly. Some 

 are rounded oval in shape, while oth- 

 ers are elongated. Some are profuse- 

 ly marked nearly all over with spots 

 and blotches of brown, while others 

 are nearly plain. 



Some of the nests are lined with 

 black horse hair, some with black 

 rootlets, and some with rootlets of a 

 lighter color. 



B. P. Darlington. 

 Wilmington, Delaware. 



Books Received. 



The Museum News, Volume 7 No. 8, 

 May, 1912; published by the Brooklyn 

 Institute of Arts and Science. 



This issue of the News contains an 

 exhaustive paper on "The Birds of 

 Prospect Park, Brooklyn," by Robert 

 Cushman Murphy, and is a carefully 

 prepared review of the subject of 

 which it treats. 



The English Sparrow as a Pest, U. 

 S. Dept. of Agriculture, Farmers Bul- 

 letin No. 493, by Ned Dearborn. Need- 

 less to say this, as anything else pre- 

 pared by Mr. Dearborn is a valuable 

 contribution to the subject of which 

 it treats, giving among other things, 

 particular directions relating to the 

 trapping of Sparrows. Nothing that 

 could be said against this avian rat nor 

 printed, that would tend to assist in 



