THE OOLOGIST 



87 



fresh. Eggs in set, five. Identity, no 

 question. Nest, Feathers, wood and 

 so forth in deserted cavity of Golden- 

 fronted Woodpecker. 



I have looked through Reed's book 

 several times to see if I could place 

 this set and failed completely. The 

 Sulphur bellied Flycatcher lays five 

 eggs and they nest in a deserted cav- 

 ity and it is apparent the set is some 

 kind of a Flycatcher. Can anyone sug- 

 gest a name for them? Who is the 

 man that traded them to Crispin? If 

 he reads this please write and state 

 where and how he got them. 



E. J. Darlington. 

 Wilmington, Del. 



Plumbeous Chickadee. 



In Harris County, Texas, the Plum- 

 beous Chickadee is a common resi- 

 dent, and breeds sparingly. In winter 

 they are common in all woodlands in 

 company with Titmice and Kinglets 

 and roam through the tree tops in 

 small droves, searching in the bark 

 of the trees for insects and insect 

 eggs, upon which they feed most com- 

 monly. 



The majority of cavities are ex- 

 cavated by the birds themselves, and 

 only on one or two occasions have T 

 found a nest in a natural cavity or a 

 cavity dug by woodpeckers. 



March 28, 1911, I discovered a cavity 

 with entrance in the top of the china- 

 berry stump which the birds had se- 

 lected. Green branches grew all 

 around the jagged break and complete- 

 ly hid the entrance, which was seven 

 feet from the ground. The cavity was 

 seven inches deep and three eggs were 

 resting on a scanty lining. I watched 

 this nest for some time but no more 

 eggs were laid. 



More nests were found until April 

 15th of that year; on that day I found 

 a nest in a fence post along an old 

 country road running west of Houston. 



The parent bird was on the nest so I 

 tried to scare her off; that wouldn't 

 work so I took a small twig and tried 

 to lift her off. It had no effect what- 

 ever, except to make her stick closer 

 to the nest. After a great deal of 

 trouble I managed to flush her and 

 found that the nest contained two 

 eggs, one of normal size and the other 

 a tiny runt. 



June 1, 1910, I had the luck to find 

 a Chickadee nest containing three hair- 

 grown young, which shows to what 

 a late date they will nest. 



The Chickadees are very antagonis- 

 tic, and in early March, 1912, I observ- 

 ed a pair drive a pair of Brown-headed 

 Nuthatches from a newly finished cav- 

 ity and take possession. 



March 30, 1912, I found a nest in a 

 dead pine stump in a large clearing in 

 the pine woods west of Houston. The 

 nest was in a natural cavity in the 

 side of the stump four and a half feet 

 from the ground, probably caused by 

 a pithy chunk of the wood falling out. 

 The cavity was 3y 2 inches deep and 2 

 inches wide and contained a mass of 

 fine green moss and lichens, cedar 

 bark and a few feathers. It contained 

 four eggs, somewhat incubated. 



April 20, 1912, I examined a Chick- 

 adee's nest in a post in the center of 

 a plowed field about a hundred yards 

 from a strip of timber. The year 

 previous a Red-headed Woodpecker 

 had excavated his domicile and rear- 

 ed a fine brood of young. The Chick- 

 adees had slightly deepened the cav- 

 ity, making it 12 inches in depth, and 

 packed the bottom with a mass of 

 lichens and tiny buds of the elm tree. 

 It contained five pipped eggs. 



May 12, 1912, I found a nest of five 

 fully fledged young in a dead pine 

 stump in a clearing south of Houston. 

 This cavity was nine feet up, the high- 

 est I have ever found one of these 

 nests. 



