116 



THE OOLOQIST 



Fairly common. On May 3rd, 1903 

 I saw the first one, but I saw several 

 others at different times during that 

 summer. 



Faico sparverius. American Spar- 

 row Hawk. Rare. On April 25th, 

 1903 I saw one fly over the place. 

 They breed in this locality. 



Coccyzus americanus. Yellow-billed 

 Cockoo. Rare. On July 21st, 1903 I 

 saw one in a maple tree. They breed 

 in this locality. 



Accipiter cooperi. Cooper's Hawk. 

 Very rare. On October 15th, 1903 I 

 shot one in a maple tree. It was a 

 cold rainy day and the bird acted as 

 if dazed. This is the only record that 

 I have of them being nearer the city 

 limits than one mile. They breed in 

 this locality. 



Earl R. Forrest, Phila, Pa, 



THE YELLOW WARBLER. 



Dendroica aestiva aestiva. 

 At Bloomfield, N. J. 



In this section of New Jersey, the 

 Yellow Warbler is the most abundant 

 of all the Mniotiltidae which annually 

 visit and reside here during the 

 Spring and Summer months. It ar- 

 rives about May 2nd and departs be- 

 tween August 20th and September 7th. 

 During the past eight years the earli- 

 est date of arrival was April 28, 1911, 

 and the latest May 5, 1907. The 

 other dates of arrival during this 

 period were: May 3, 1904; May 1, 

 1905; May 3, 1906; May 2, 1908; May 

 3, 1909 and May 2, 1910. The dates of 

 departure for the first seven years 

 were: September 1, 1904; August 18, 

 1905; August 20, 1906; August 28, 

 1907; September 4, 1908; September 

 7, 1909 and August 14, 1910. 



This bird becomes common im- 

 meOiately upon its arrival here and 

 its songs may be heard daily from the 

 first day until the middle of July. At 

 this time a gradual decrease in num- 



bers and songs are preceptible and 

 by the first of August but very few 

 are to be heard. From this time until 

 their departure an occasional chip 

 may be heard when they are alarmed 

 or frightened. Otherwise during the 

 moulting season, which begins about 

 July 30th, they are silent. 



As the cover in this section is of no 

 particular species or type, but that 

 which is representative of most su- 

 burban districts, it is rather difficult 

 to determine their preference. An ob- 

 serve may find them on all sides, more 

 commonly in the sparsely settled sec- 

 tions than in the closely inhabited 

 residential portions. They show a 

 slight preference, however, for the 

 fruit trees, especially the pear, for 

 nesting sites. Of all the nests which 

 I have found of this bird locally, 

 everyone but four were in pear trees 

 at heights ranging from five feet to 

 twenty feet from the ground. The 

 four not in the pear trees were in 

 honey locusts and wild cherries. 

 They begin their nests about May 15th 

 and complete them in three or four 

 days. The sets in most cases num- 

 ber four eggs and are usually finished 

 by the eighth day after the nest build- 

 ing begins. The eggs are brooded by 

 both the male and female during the 

 period of incubation and hatch in 

 most cases on the thirteenth and 

 fourteenth days after the last egg is 

 laid. During the years above men- 

 tioned I have located thirty-two nests 

 of this species in this vicinity. The 

 earliest date was on May 10, 1911 and 

 the latest May 30th, 1907. In 1904, 

 five nests were found; in 1905, seven; 

 1906, three; 1907, four; 1908, one; 

 1909, six; 1910, two and this year, 

 four. One nest this year was found 

 on May 11th on the terminal branch 

 of a pear tree with a single egg in it. 

 This was demolished for some reason 

 and replaced in a honey locust about 



