64 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 8. 



Kingbird and Kingfisher. — While I 

 was walking along the shore of the Masha- 

 paug pond, within the limits of Providence, 

 sometirne ago, I saw an interesting attack 

 upon a Belted Kingfisher {Ceryie alcyon) by 

 a Kingbird {Tyrannis carolinensis ) 



The Kingfisher had poised himself sever- 

 al times to look for fish, and was just mov 

 ing to do so again as the Kingbird ap- 

 proached and attacked him. The King- 

 fisher is not a quarrelsome bird, and always 

 minds his own business. He was entirely 

 unprepared, and acted as though he could 

 not believe that the other had any evil in- 

 tentions, for he tiied to poise again. The 

 second attack seemed to undeceive him, 

 and show him his enemy was in earnest. 

 He va ilted and turned, vainly endeavoring 

 to rid himself of his persecutor. He soon 

 saw he could not save himself by flight and 

 tried diving. As soon, however, as he ap- 

 peared at the surface he attempted to fly, 

 but the Kingbird, keeping up an incessant 

 twittering, forced him to dive again. Two 

 or three times this was repeated, both birds 

 making considerable noise, until the King- 

 fisher seemed convinced that escape in that 

 direction was impossible, so he sat like a 

 dtick upon the surface, and as his persecut- 

 or would swoop at him he would go under. 

 This lasted some little time, until even the 

 Kingbird seemed wearied and flew away. 

 Then, after waiting a short time, the King- 

 fisher flew in the opposite direction. — Fred. 

 T. Jencks, Providence, R. /. 



Kkntucky Warbler. — My experience 

 agrees with that of Mr. Jencks, except that 

 my nests were found just where the differ 

 ent stalks of a blackberry bush came out 

 of the ground, and were supported by them, 

 but not fastened to them. I noticed that 

 the different eggs of a set varied a good 

 deal in the color of the markings. In a 

 set of three, the first was marked with a 

 dark, rich, reddish brown. The third was 

 of a neutral tint, while the second was in- 

 termediate in color. — Edgar A. Small, Ha- 

 gerstown, Maryland. 



Sparrow-Hawk and Plover. — While 

 fishing with a friend at the foot of lake 

 Snipsic, near Rockville, Conn., in the au- 

 tumn of 1875, my attention was attracted 

 by a number of Plovers feeding on the 

 shore. They were taking their breakfast 

 together, skittering back and forth at the 

 edge of the water, calling "tweet, tweet." 

 I had just called my friend's attention to 

 them when a Sparrow-Hawk {Tinnunculus 

 sparverius) darted from the thick pine 

 woods that come to within a few rods of 

 the shore. The bird had evidently seen 

 the Plovers before leaving the pines, as he 

 came direct from the woods to where they 

 were feeding. 



The Plovers, seeing their enemy ap- 

 proach, flew in different directions, one go- 

 ing directly over the water. The Havvk 

 neither hesitated nor turned to the right or 

 left, but selecting this one flew after it. 

 The birds on the shore sounded their notes 

 of alarm, while the pursued gave no cry, 

 but seemed to bend all its powers in flight, 

 keeping straight ahead but dropping grad- 

 ually to the water. So swiftly followed the 

 Hawk, that at one hundred yards he had 

 shortened the two rods to two feet, but at 

 the very moment he threw forward his tal- 

 ons to seize it the Plover turned and 

 droi)ped under the water like a pebble that 

 had been thrown from above. So close was 

 the Hawk that as he swooped away his 

 breast almost touched the water. After 

 what seemed to be a full minute the Plover 

 came to the surface, sat upon the water a 

 few minutes, and then flew back to the 

 place from where it started. It was quickly 

 joined by its companions, and all were soon 

 as busily and quietly feeding on the shore 

 as if nothing had happened. — Charles A. 

 Willis, Rockville, Conn. 



Rare Birds. — Mr. O. E. Lake, of Tops- 

 field, Mass., shot a Yellow Rail recently. . 

 Mr. C. H. Chandler, of Cambridge, shot a 

 Curlew Sand piper at Pine Point, Maine, 

 during the past summer. Mr. Goodale 

 pronounces the above birds very rare in the 

 localities where taken. 



