Dec, 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



151 



apple tree. There were series of rings of 

 them, one above another, quite around the 

 stem, some of them the third of an inch 

 across. They are evidently made to get at 

 the tender, juicy bark, or cambium layer, 

 uext to the hard wood of the tree. The 

 health and vitality of the branch are so 

 seriously impaired by them it often dies. 

 When the woodpecker is searching for 

 food, or laying seige to some hidden grub, 

 the sound of his hammer is dead or muf- 

 fled, and is heard but a few yards. It is 

 only upon dry, seasoned timber, freed of 

 its bark, that he beats his reveille to spring 

 and woos his mate. 



Wilson was evidently familiar with this 

 vernal drumming of the woodpeckers, but 

 quite misinterprets it. Speaking of the 

 Red-bellied species, he says: "It rattles 

 like the rest of the tribe on the dead limbs, 

 and with such violence as to be heard in 

 still weather more than a half mile off: and 

 listens to hear the insects it has alarmed." 

 He listens to hear the drum of his rival or 

 the brief and coy response of the female, 

 for there are no insects in these dry limbs. 



On one occasion I saw downy at his 

 drum when a female flew quickly through 

 the tree and alighted a few yards beyond 

 him. The male watched her for a few mo- 

 ments, and convinced perhaj^s that she 

 meant business, struck up his liveliest 

 tune, then listened for the response. As 

 it canre back timidly but promptly, he left 

 his perch and sought a nearer acquaint- 

 ance with the prudent female. — John Bur- 

 roughs, in " The Century." 



Brief Notes. 



The Terns in Nova Scotia. — Looking over some 

 back numbers of the O. & O., I notice in No. 7, 

 July, 1SS4, under the heading of "Terns in Nova Scotia," 

 by J. H. Langille, the statement that the complete 

 number, of eggs of the four species of Terns, Arctic, Wil- 

 son's Roseate^and Forster's is " most commonly two, often 

 one, sometimes, three." I have collected and examined a 

 large number of sets of the three Terns, Arctic, (macrura), 

 Wilson's, {hirumlo), and Roseate, (dougalli), during the 

 past two seasons on the Massachusetts coast, and I find the 

 complete number of eggs is most commonly three, often 

 four, sometimes five. There are several notes I made dur- 



ing the past season worthy of mention. I found after dis- 

 secting quite a large number of Roseate Terns, that the 

 female has a much brighter shade of pink on the breast in 

 the breeding season than the male. The Arctic Terns leave 

 their breeding ground in the fall fully two months before 

 the Roseate or Common. I did not see nor take any after 

 Aug. 12, and could not learn of any being seen. 



Black Tern, (Hydrorhel idon lariformis), is given in N. E. 

 Bird Life as a rare but regular migrant in spring and fall, 

 I found them common at Muskeget and Tuckernuck islands 

 during August and the first week in September, 1884. I 

 know of as many as seven being taken in one day. I saw 

 quite a number in bunches (if from three to six flying 

 around and over Muskeget, where they roost with the other 

 Terns. Most of the specimens taken were young. — 7. C. 

 Cahoon, Taunton, Mass. 



Nesting of Chewink or Towhee Bunting, (Pipilo ery- 

 throphthalmus). — As regards the experience of several 

 given in late issues of O. & O., concerning the nesting of 

 this interesting bird, I would add that such notes are not 

 always applicable to every locality. Five or six years ago, 

 I found a nest over six feet high, during the month of Au- 

 gust, upou the broken limb of a Linden, surrounded by 

 young branches. It contained three fledged young, which 

 left their nest upon my approach. 



In May, 1SS1, 1 found a nest containing two fresh eggs 

 about a foot from the ground within a crippled hawthorne 

 bush, recent rains had flooded the ground for some time 

 previous. Upon crossing the creek I found myself on a 

 thickly wooded elevation where I found a nest upon the 

 ground, surrounded by a thick cluster of Triostium per- 

 foliate™,. Within the nest I found one egg with a half in- 

 cubated dead embryo, outside the nest lay a fresh egg cold 

 and wet, as was the whole nest — although the bird flew 

 from it — the rains had been heavy, cold and long. 



In July I found within these same woods one nest about 

 five feet from the ground in a bush, and two others a few 

 rods distant upon the ground, one surrounded by a tuft of 

 grass, the other by a tall open wild Aster, the first held four 

 /oung fledgtings, the others three and four each, all nearly 

 of the same age.— A. H. Mundt, Fairbury, III. 



Curious Nesting. — May 6, while out collecting with a 

 companion, we stopped at a spring for a refreshing drink, 

 for the day was very warm. All at once we were attracted 

 by a rustling overhead and imagine our surprise to see a 

 Robin, (M migratoria), flying out of a large knot hole in an 

 oak tree which was near at hand. Hastily climbing we 

 found a nest in the hole, loosely put together, which con- 

 tained four fresh eggs. 



The day following while hunting for Hawks eggs, a 

 Cooper's Hawk, (A, cooperi), flew across my path and lit on 

 an adjoining tree. After examining five nests without suc- 

 cess I finally climbed up to an old Squirrel's nest and found 

 the eggs (4) which were secured. 



May 20—1 found a remarkably low nest of the Yellow- 

 shafted Flicker, {Colaptes auratus), in a maple stump. The 

 hole was less than three feet from the ground and the 

 bottom of the nest measured one foot eleven inches from 

 the entrance. It contained ten eggs. 



But one of the most curious finds I have had this season 

 is noted on the 18th of June, a newly constructed 

 nest of a Cedar Bird, (A. cedrorum), in an orchard tree 

 about seven feet from the ground which contained one egg. 

 Passing that way on the 23d, imagine my surprise to see a 

 Robin sitting upon the nest and the Cherry Bird upon a 

 limb near. The Robin did not move until I had nearly got 

 her in my hand when she flew off and disclosed to view 

 four eggs of the Cherry Bird's and one Robin's egg. They 

 were all fresh. Whether the Robin had been robbed before 



