THE OOLOGIST 



119 



an interesting place, occupied by 

 Great Blue Herons, and Cormorants. 

 If the ornitliologists of the twin cities 

 are built of the right sort of stuff, they 

 will see to it that this island is pre- 

 served for the birds for all time. Lake 

 Minnetonka would lose one of its in- 

 teresting objects, should the Blue 

 Heron forsake it. As this great bird 

 slowly rises from some secluded part 

 of the lake and wings away, it never 

 fails to arouse interest in the city 

 dweller, and his family, there for a 

 few days recreation and rest. 



The following clipping likewise 

 from a ^Minneapolis paper refers to 

 the inhabitants of this interesting 

 spot. 



The height of the breeding season 

 for all birds here is from March 1.5th 

 to August 1.5th. 



D. .J. Nicholson, Orlando, Fla. 



Florida Screech Owl. 



(Otus asio mccalli) 



This bird in this vicinity lays many 

 small sets, and proceeds to incubate 

 at once; sets of two being quite com- 

 mon. Out of over 40 sets collected 

 there were but four sets containing 

 four eggs. 



This disposition to lay small sets 

 is true of nearly all birds here wheth- 

 er caused by intense heat or lack of 

 food supply, the latter being apparent- 

 ly abundant, is unknown. 



Nearly all species of songsters and 

 small birds are on the increase here. 



The Red-headed Woodpecker (Mel- 

 anerpes erthrocephalus) was hardly 

 known to us eight years ago; and now 

 you may find it here in abundance. 



The Mourning Dove (Zenaidura 

 macroura carolinensis) is decreasing 

 rapidly. Six or eight years ago, it 

 was abundant; flocks of many hundred 

 beins seen in the fall. Now you have 

 to travel miles to find a few scattered 

 pairs. It nests in early April and 

 throughout May, and in the nesting 

 season are very secretive and shy, 

 and it is only by chance that a nest 

 is found. 



Bird.s of a Small Woodland. 



Did any of the readers of THE 

 OOLOGIST ever spend the best part 

 of every day during the nesting sea- 

 son in one small piece of woods that 

 was especially suited for breeding 

 birds? 



I did, and it was surprising how 

 many birds nest on a small area of 

 suitable territory. This happened a 

 few years ago in West Virginia. At 

 the time I was taking care of an oil 

 lease. This was on a mountain side. 

 The bciler house and several wells in 

 a piece of woods of about eight acres 

 in extent. 



This woods was mostly large timber. 

 Mostly hickory, oak and poplar. 

 Right in the center was a gully in 

 which water was found a little longer 

 than in most streams in that region. 

 The ground was right, and vegetation 

 more luxuriant than in most of the 

 woods there. About the edges of these 

 woods and the lower end of the gully 

 was considerable tangled thicket. 



I knew of other wooded spots 

 where birds seemed just as plenty as 

 in this little woodland; yet only a 

 few nests could I find while rambling 

 and hunting about. As I had consider- 

 able spare time, I improved it during 

 the day in the nesting season by 

 watching every female bird I could 

 find. In this way I caught many birds 

 in the act of nest building and was led 

 to many well concealed nests that 

 once finished, would very likely have 

 escaped notice. I also learned a great 

 deal about the domestic affairs of" 

 many species and in different cases, 

 where I discovered the female just 

 starting a nest, I found how many 

 days were required to build. 



