THE OOLOQIST 



]51 



tate "Merribrooke." The herons were 

 quite tame, allowing one to approach 

 within twenty-five feet before taking 

 wing. This I believe is the first rec- 

 ord of this bird occurring in Connec- 

 ticut. ■ ^siiili 



On March 2nd of the present year, 

 the writer came across twelve large 

 nests in a hemlock grove bordering 

 the Mianus river some eight miles 

 north of Stamford. These nests re- 

 sembled those of the Red-shouldered 

 hawks and appeared as if they had 

 been added to year after year, but up- 

 on climbing to examine them the 

 writer was greatly surprised to find 

 that each was the home of one or 

 more beautiful Grey squirrels. The 

 nests were all about thirty-five feet 

 irom the ground. 



On March 5th, 7th, .10th, 11th and 

 14th, 1911, the writer found a dead 

 Starling under a certain tree on our 

 property. In each case the bird had 

 been partly eaten. This unusual oc- 

 currence proved very puzzling until 

 day when the last bird was found, 

 when 1 had occasion to climb the tree 

 to clean out the bird box which it con- 

 tained. As I opened the cover of said 

 box, out popped Megascops asio, 

 cracking his mandibles and fully pre- 

 Itared to avenge public wrongs. This 

 bird was a clever one as he simply 

 waited within the box until the Star- 

 lings came to roost and then pounced 

 upon the one which pleased him 

 most. The box contained great quan- 

 tities of feathers from Starlings, En- 

 glish sparrows and a partly eaten 

 Myrtle warbler. Many pellets were al- 

 so found composed of bones and 

 feathers. 



March 25th, 1911, a pair of Killdeer 

 were noted in a large swampy field 

 near the Museum. The birds were 

 around for two days before departing 

 for the north. A nest with four eggs 



was secured on May 14th, 1898 at 

 Darien, Conn. This nest is now in the 

 collection at the Museum. 



April 21st, 1911, while tramping 

 through Long Ridge, Conn., the writer 

 found a nest of the Chicadee just 

 ready for the eggs. It was built in the 

 stub of an old apple tree, three feet 

 from the ground. On returning ten 

 days later the nest had been pulled 

 to shreds and the birds were no- 

 where to be seen. 



A set of seven eggs of the Star- 

 ling was secured on April 24th of 

 this year. Has anyone ever found 

 such a large set as this. I have but 

 one other record. (See Oologist for 

 August, 1907.) 



A pair of Blue jays built their nest 

 this year in a spruce tree on one of 

 our lawns. The nest contained four 

 eggs of the light greenish white 

 l)hase, spotted with browns and um- 

 bers. The nest was composed of 

 small twigs and rootlets with a last 

 year's Robin's nest for a foundation. 

 Placed 15 feet from the ground. 



Among other sets taken by the writ- 

 er, for the Museum this year, are two 

 clutches of four each of the Orchard 

 oriole. Icterus spurius. Nest No. 1 

 was located on May 25th, twenty feet 

 from the ground in a maple tree close 

 to a roadway. It is a beautiful affair, 

 entirely woven of green grasses of a 

 very fine texture. The lining is of 

 Dandy-lion and fern down. The eggs 

 are pale greenish white, well spotted 

 and blotched with lavender, bi-owns 

 and umber, the markings forming a 

 distinct reath around the largest end 

 of two of the eggs. Nest No. 2 was 

 found on May 29th, twenty feet from 

 the ground in the fork of an apple 

 branch. This nest was exactly like 

 No. 1, but the eggs are quite different, 

 being very lightly spotted and blotch- 

 ed with grey, brown and light yellow- 



