170 



THE OOLOGIST 



by mountain ridges. Late in the af- 

 ternoon of this day, we saw a Pileated 

 Woodpecker near the border of an old 

 timber slashing. On the following 

 day we discovered the nest some 

 thirty feet up in a dead red-maple 

 snag. Upon examination this nest 

 was found to hold four fresh eggs. 

 During this same trip we noted a 

 number of migrating and resident 

 Warblers. In some briery thickets 

 we heard Golden-winged Warblers 

 singing, and along the wooded hill- 

 sides we caught the faint notes of 

 both Black-and-white and Worm-eat- 

 ing Warblers. Parula and Magnolia 

 Warblers flitted about in the pines 

 and hemlocks, both of them being 

 summer residents. Old nests of the 

 Magnolia Warbler were seen on the 

 ends of several drooping hemlock 

 branches. In the extensive growth 

 of oaks which covered a knoll, I 

 searched for Wild Turkeys. A farmer 

 told me he had flushed an old bird 

 from her nest, but I failed to find it. 

 During this search I Bushed a Ruffled 

 Grouse from a nest and thirteen eggs, 

 beside a fallen dead white pine. The 

 nest was simply a deep depression 

 warmly lined with dry leaves and 

 Grouse feathers. Some days later I 

 flushed another Grouse from her nest 

 and a single egg. Upon visiting the 

 nest a few days later it was found 

 deserted. Beside a rail fence which 

 bordered a wood I found the nest and 

 remains of a grouse. The old bird 

 had evidently been killed by some 

 prowling animal; egg shells were 

 strewn about near the nest. Several 

 Chicadees were seen, and a nest dis- 

 covered. It was seven feet up in a 

 dead apple tree stump that stood in 

 a clearing at the base of a mountain. 

 The mother bird sat closely, but soon 

 flushed, revealing seven slightly in- 

 cubated eggs. During a later visit 

 Mr. Harlow found another Chicadee's 



nest, three feet up in an apple stump, 

 beside a small orchard. It held eight 

 heavily incubated eggs. A tufted Tit- 

 mouse was heard to call frequently 

 from a wooded hillside; it was the 

 only one noted in the whole region. 



May 23, we made a second visit to 

 this valley and found a number of 

 birds nesting. 



May 24, was a very wet day, but 

 during the afternoon we set out for 

 a search for nests of the worm-eating 

 Warbler. Mr. Harlow had seen a 

 Worm-eating Warbler building during 

 cur first visit to the place. On a steep 

 bank which was well strewn with 

 oak saplings, laurel bushes, and 

 clumps of rhododendron, I searched 

 carefully for a Worm-eater's nest and 

 was so fortunate as to flush a female 

 Warbler from her nest and six beau- 

 tiful fresh eggs. This nest was built 

 in a slight depression in the soil, and 

 was protected by a bunch of fallen 

 dry leaves. Farther on we came to 

 the nest Harlow had found being 

 built; the female flushed from six 

 heavily wreathed eggs. A couple of 

 days later I found a third nest of the 

 Worm-eater built in the bank of a 

 small ravine; it held four .fresh eggs. 

 In the evening we searched for the 

 nest of a pair of Henslow's Sparrows 

 which Mr. Harlow had discovered in 

 a low wet pasture field. The Spar- 

 rows were so wary that we failed to 

 locate their nest. However, a couple 

 of days later I found the nest and five 

 incubated eggs; it was built in a de- 

 pression at the side of a slight drain, 

 and was somewhat arched over. Dur- 

 ing later trips two more nests of the 

 Sparrow were found. One held four 

 eggs and the other four young birds. 



Among the raptores we saw, 

 Cooper's Sharp-shinned, and broad- 

 winged Hawks; the broad-wing nests 

 here regularly and Harlow found a 

 nest and two fine eggs during a pre- 



