136 



THE OOLOGIST 



five, as a few also occur lower down. 

 The Solitary Vireo replaced the Red- 

 eyed here, and the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak, a bird I should have ex- 

 pected to find at a lower elevation, 

 was rather common. I counted six 

 (four of them females) at one time. 

 A single male Black-throated Blue 

 Warbler was seen and another heard, 

 and just before I reached the car- 

 riage road, a Wood Thrush sang, and 

 a few minutes later, two Hermit 

 Thrushes. This section of the moun- 

 tain contained the most birds, and 

 was altogether the most interesting, 

 and would doubtless yield some in- 

 teresting results if it could be care- 

 fully studied during an entire season. 



The song of the White-throated 

 Sparrow was the first to greet me as 

 I left the woods, and commenced the 

 climb of the upper third, and I soon 

 found this species to be very abund- 

 ant here. During the time I stayed 

 on the summit there wasn't a minute 

 that one of these little songsters was 

 not repeating his monotonous refrain. 

 While watching the White-throats a 

 pair of Red Crossbills suddenly flew 

 into a tree. I had hardly raised my 

 glass before they flew to another tree 

 and as I again approached them, the 

 male took wing and flew off down the 

 mountain side. His companion was 

 more obliging and remained long 

 enough to allow me to approach to 

 within twenty-five feet of her, and 

 note the strong cross mandibles; but 

 she was restless and soon followed 

 the male. As these birds are well 

 known for their erratic wanderings, 

 and as they usually nest early, this 

 pair were probably wanderers and not 

 breeding birds. 



The note of the Crested Flycatcher 

 was heard on the summit, and I later 

 located the bird on the top of a dead 

 stub. As I saw a number of Wood- 

 peckers holes in some of these stubs, 



it is not unlikely that this bird may 

 have had a nest in one of them. 



Of the birds entitled to a place in 

 group five, I have already mentioned 

 the Ovenbird. The Warbling Vireo 

 occurs in the valley and lower part 

 cf the mountain. The Veery on the 

 lower and middle sections , and the 

 Kingbird in the valley and anywhere 

 en the mountain where a clearing oc- 

 curs of suflicient size to enable them 

 to follow their customary flycatching 

 habits. 



Of the sixth group I will mention 

 the Northern Flicker, Redstart, Song 

 Sparrow, Robin and Chimney Swift. 

 The Chipping Sparrow was noted on 

 the summit, but was not met with be- 

 tween there and the two farm houses 

 in the lower third. The Slate-colored 

 Junco was found everywhere except 

 in the valley. It was the first bird to 

 greet me when I reached the base of 

 the mountain and accompanied me 

 all the way to the top. 



F. Seymour Hersey, 



Taunton, Mass. 



Breeding Birds About Pompton Lake, 

 Passaic Co., New Jersey. 



Nestled at the floor of a pleasant 

 little valley between Rotten Pond 

 Mountain and the low hills of eastern 

 Passaic County, lies this picturesque 

 lake of about two hundred acres in 

 area. The lands bordering about this 

 body of water are ideal for observa- 

 tions on birdlife, owing to the variety 

 of conditions, and during the past 

 eight or nine years, I have studied 

 the avi-fauna of this area each spring 

 and have on each visit always found 

 it to be one of the bright spots on nat- 

 uralists' map of northern New Jer- 

 sey. This year is no exception to the 

 prevailing conditions of former years 

 and the following list will give an 

 idea of the abundance of birdlife in 



