THE OOLOGIST 



75 



ly approaclied it. As I came quite 

 JDear, up flopped a Whip-poor-will, re- 

 vealing one beautiful egg; this rested 

 an a slight depression in the floor of 

 leaves. Since there was just one egg 

 1 quietly retreated and returned home. 



When two days had passed — suffi- 

 cient time in which to expect a full set 

 of eggs — I returned to the wood with a 

 Iripod and a camera. Coming around 

 ;a clump of ondBrbrush I was able to 

 :get a plain view of the open space. 

 'There sat the Whip-poor-will! My, 

 low my heart did pound! 1 crept up 

 to within six feet of the sitting bird 

 iefore she flopped away as though she 

 were injured. Two fine eggs lay be- 

 fore me. Placing the camera in a suit- 

 able position I took several exposures 

 of the nesting site and its surround- 

 ings. 



Returning home 1 carefully prepared 

 the two beautiful eggs and placed 

 them in my cal)inet. These were not 

 •especially valualale eggs, but I prized 

 them highly. Gold nuggets could 

 •scarcely have pleased me so much as 

 that set of eggs. 



Whip-poor-wills are not uncommon 

 l)irds in Southwestern Pennsylvania. 

 However, finding a nest is not a gen- 

 «ral occurrence. The birds seem to 

 select the most sheltered and out of 

 the way parts of the woods as nesting 

 places; for that reason nests are not 

 Irequently discovered. 



S. S. Dickey, Waynesburg, Pa. 



Books Received. 

 A New Species of Crossbill From 

 Newfoundland, by A. C. Bent. Under 

 idate of December 12, 1912, Volume 60 

 No. 15, Smithsonian Miscellaneous col- 

 lections gives a description of a new 

 'Crossbill by A. C. Bent. Of course it 

 is a mere geographical race, and we 

 Irust rests upon a sufficient founda- 

 tion; and that it does, the name of the 

 author stands as sufficient sponsor. 



Notes. 

 Isaac E. Hess of Philo, Illinois, well 

 known to our readers, has just entered 

 into a contract with the Decatur, Illi- 

 nois Herald to furnish them with a 

 column of reading matter on the birds 

 for each Sunday's issue for a year. The 

 Herald is to be congratulated for 

 there are few more entertaining writ- 

 ers on a favorite subject than our 

 friend, Isaac E. Hess. 



Nesting of the American Sparrow 

 Hawk. 



(F'alco sparverius) 



Until the Spring of 1907 I had con- 

 sidered the American Sparrow Hawk a 

 very rare breeder in Greene County, 

 Pennsylvania. Early in March of that 

 year I had seen a pair of hawks flit- 

 tering about a large dead white oak 

 snag that stood in an open field, high 

 up on a steep hillside. Supposing late 

 April to be a suitable time to search 

 for fresh eggs, I walked to the dead 

 tree early on the morning of April 

 30th. As I approached there were no 

 signs of the birds. Picking up a large 

 club I hit the snag, and a hawk dart- 

 ed, screaming, from a small opening 

 near the top of the snag, and about 

 forty-five feet above the ground. I put 

 on my climbers and ascended to the 

 opening. As I reached it the bird 

 darted quite near to me, uttering the 

 familiar notes, "killy, killy, killy." 

 With a small hatchet I cut an opening 

 to the cavity large enough to admit my 

 hand. I reached into the cavity and 

 felt eggs; my heart beat wildly; for 

 I was now sure of procuring a set of 

 eggs. I lifted the eggs out, one by one, 

 until there were five. That was the 

 complete set; and what beauties they 

 were. I was highly pleased with this 

 set, so I prepared them carefully, and 

 placed them with my raptore sets. 



Early the following spring I decided 

 to look carefully for Sparrow Hawks' 



