94 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 8 



I started up the tree, but had not rapped 

 it many times when I caught sight of a 

 Hawk flying from it. Just then a ringing 

 hurrah came from the foot of the tree 

 where my friends had seated themselves 

 to await my return. I got up to the nest 

 as soon as possible and to my delight 

 found three eggs. Now the next thing was 

 how to get them safely down. I finally 

 tied them up in my handkerchief and 

 started down the tree. I got down safely 

 and then we hid behind trees to watch the 

 parent birds, which were soaring about 

 high in the air. At last one of them came 

 down from its lofty watching place and 

 alighted on a tree near the nest, then the 

 other perched itself near its mate, offering 

 a fine view to us. 



The nest was composed of sticks of a 

 little larger size than those used by the 

 common crow, lined with the bark of grape 

 vines and moss ; it was but slightly hol- 

 lowed. Height about forty feet from the 

 ground. The eggs are of a dirty white 

 color, marked with spots and blotches of 

 lilac — F. M. Goodwin, Hartland, Vi. 



Nest of the Mocking Bird in Con- 

 necticut. 



About the 20th of June the young man 

 who carries the United States mail be- 

 tween Jewett City and Voluntown reported 

 that he had found a bird's nest containing 

 five eggs quite unlike any he had ever seen. 



He described both the bird and the eggs 

 as well as he could, and succeeded in 

 arousing my curiosity. I asked him to 

 bring me an egg, hoping thereby to deter- 

 mine the species. A few days later he in- 

 formed me that the eggs had all been 

 taken. Fortunately the bird was not easily 

 discouraged, and very soon she commenced 

 to lay a second set of eggs in the same 

 nest. Saturday morning, June 28th, Uncle 

 Sam's man found three eggs and brought 

 me one. In color and markings it resem- 

 bled the eggs of the Scarlet Tanager and 



the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but could 

 hardly have been mistaken for either. Af- 

 ter examining the egg I was exceedingly 

 anxious to see the bird. As luck would 

 have it I could not leave to visit the nest 

 that day, so I notified my friend and sym- 

 pathizer, Dr. Geo. H. Jennings, and he 

 promptly sallied forth to make a " diagno- 

 sis " of the case and report. He found the 

 nest in a blue-berry bush by the side of a 

 rail-fence that separated the barren fields 

 from the highway across " Pachaug Plains." 

 It was composed outwardly of twigs and 

 the dried stalks of field plants, and was 

 very neatly lined with fine fibrous roots 

 and horse hairs. The Doctor brought 

 home one egg and gave a good description 

 of the female bird. The male was nowhere 

 to be seen. The intelligence gained from 

 this reliable source made me still more 

 anxious to see the bird for myself, but as 

 her eggs had all been taken but one, I 

 feared she would desert the nest and the 

 locality before I could get time to go and 

 see her. Monday, June 30th, the Doctor 

 and I visited the nest together, and were 

 pleased to find that she had laid another 

 egg. She flew from the nest as we ap- 

 proached, and in order to get a good view 

 of her we had to crawl on our hands and 

 knees for quite a distance behind the walls 

 and fences. She was very shy. and the 

 male bird did not appear. 



Feeling that we had before us a rare 

 specimen, we went back to Pachaug and 

 borrowed a gun with which we secured the 

 bird. We also took the bush containing 

 the nest and the two eggs. 



After examining the bird carefully I felt 

 quite certain that it was a Mockingbird. 

 We found a brief description of Mimus 

 polyglottus in " Minot's Land and Game 

 Birds of New England," and as our speci 

 men just filled the bill we entertained no 

 further doubts. 



This bird seemed much more beautiful 

 when flying than any caged specimen that 

 I have ever seen, her white wing-patches 



