254 



THE OOLOGIST 



residence, that I did not visit but my 

 favorite walk was on the National 

 Pike and it was there that I saw many 

 birds found in no other locality. The 

 highest point on the Pike is known as 

 the Summit and from there, for a mile 

 or so toward Farmington, Pa., the 

 place is extremely wild, quite free 

 from any civilization whatever. This 

 is the favorite haunt of many unusual 

 birds, and one of the most plentiful 

 of them is the Slate-colored Junco. I 

 had in no other place seen this bird 

 during the summer months and I soon 

 found that its habits were quite dif- 

 ferent from those I had always known, 

 watching it in the winter. The males 

 were most often seen and almost in- 

 variably, they would be perched on a 

 telegraph wire or pole, singing occa- 

 sionally, to be sure. I found them 

 feeding on the road but usually when 

 I came across them in this position it 

 would turn out to be a female or a 

 young bird. I was somewhat surprised 

 to find them feeding on Horse-manure 

 after the fashion of the English Spar- 

 row, and often seemed so eager for it 

 that I could walk up to within a foot 

 or so of them before they flew. As a 

 matter of fact, I always found them 

 quite tame and easy to approach. 



Another bird which I also saw for 

 the first time during the summer, and 

 which was around in unusually large 

 numbers was the Canadian warblers. 

 1 never walked along the Pile with- 

 out seeing at least ten of them and of- 

 ten I saw many more. They were al- 

 ways very inquisitive and when I stop- 

 ped near one of them to look at a bird 

 it would come within two or three feet 

 of me, so I never had any trouble in 

 watching them. At this time of the 

 year they had young just out of the 

 nest, and when I would appear they 

 would by their excited shipping, cause 

 quite a number of the birds to come 

 around. The majority of these birdb 



would, however, always turn out to be 

 Canadians. 



Next to them in abundance, were 

 the Black-throated Blue Warblers. At 

 all times 1 could hear their notes com- 

 ing from the woods near me but I did 

 not see them often. They usually fed 

 in the larger trees and were quite 

 adept to keeping out of sight. I soon 

 found a way, however, by which I 

 could always get them quite close to 

 me. This was by exciting a Canadian 

 Warbler. All the birds seem to enjoy 

 coming around when there is any dis- 

 turbance and I found that the Black- 

 throated Blue Warblers were no ex- 

 ception to this. In most cases, how- 

 ever, it was the males that appeared; 

 only once did I see a female. 



It was in this manner that I saw 

 two Warblers, the Blackburnian and 

 the Black-throated Green Warbler. 

 These birds were rather scarce, and 

 I saw each of these but twice during 

 my stay. 



One of the rarest Warblers that I 

 saw, I came across quite accidentally 

 and in an unexpected manner. I was 

 watching a Red-eyed Vireo when I 

 noticed a small bird in a bush near 

 me and on looking at it carefully I was 

 delighted to find that it was a Hooded 

 Warbler. It was an adult male, quite 

 a handsome bird, and proved to be 

 rather tame, allowing me to get a fine 

 view of it. In passing this place the 

 next day, I looked for it again and was 

 fortunate enough in soon seeing it, al- 

 most in the same place. It evidently 

 had a nest nearby but although I 

 searched for it, I was unable to find it. 



Another bird which was quite plen- 

 tiful was the Vireo, but unfortunately, 

 it was also very timid. For three days 

 I heard its peculiar song without get- 

 ting a glimpse of the bird, although at 

 every opportunity I followed it until 

 it disappeared. Finally, I was reward- 

 ed. Though so plentiful, I saw them 



