THE OOLOGIST 



-201 



The North is no place lor a Ply- 

 catcher ill winter. Nevertheless a pair 

 of Phoebes was still lingering around 

 the cow shed on the Leake plantation 

 when I left on November 7, and An- 

 drew told me that a pair, very likely 

 this same one, had spent the entire 

 previous winter at and around this 

 shed. I often heard them chirp their 

 familiar "phoebe" just as they do in 

 the spring, but not quite so vivacious- 

 ly. 



Blue Jays were quite abundant and 

 seemed to delight in leisurely aerial 

 excursions across the fields from nne 

 woodland to another, sometimes singly 

 and at others in squads of three or 

 more. A beechnut tree in the Harris 

 yard was literally alive with Jays 

 throughout my visit. A flock of up- 

 wards of 75 Crows loitered each day 

 somewhere around the plantation and 

 in the vicinity. They were often in 

 the Harris cornfield, one or more sit- 

 ting for a time on the top of corn 

 stubble. They were proclaimed an in- 

 sufferable nuisance by the farmer.^ 

 with whom I talked. 



Starlings have established them- 

 selves at East Leake. A flock of 15 or 

 more was seen from time to time dur- 

 ing my visit. 



Meadowlarks were now in flock and 

 could be heard at intervals on thi3 

 warmer days singing as they do in 

 spring, though not so persistently. A 

 flock of Purple Grackles was seen sev- 

 eral times. Some Cowbirds were seen 

 following the cattle around the Harris 

 pasture on several occasions when 1 

 passed by. A flock of Red-winged 

 Blackbirds was seen. On the porch of 

 one of the farmers who had collected 

 it I saw a dry and withered branch of 

 a hickory tree containing a last sum- 

 mer's nest of the Orchard Oriole. 1 

 mention this as I believe this bird 

 rarely nests in hickories. I may add 

 that two winters ago I found an old 



nest of the Orchard Oriole in a per- 

 simmon tree in Leon County, Florida. 



About midday on October 30 I heard 

 the exquisite little song of the Purple 

 Finch and searching for the author 

 discovered it sitting on the topmost 

 branch of a large oak tree borderiup; 

 on the main road. Afterwards 1 saw 

 several others. Chipping Sparrows 

 were remarkably abundant. 1 was in- 

 terested in the fact that in an elm tree 

 in front of the Leake home a Chipping 

 Sparrow had built its nest during the 

 summer 35 feet from the ground. 

 Juncos were quite abundant and I ob- 

 served that they sometimes utter 

 notes hardly distinguishable from the 

 single lisping or clucking notes of the 

 Brown Thrasher. White-throated Spar- 

 rows were also abundant and I found 

 Song Sparrows wherever there were 

 hedges and brush. I was pleased to 

 see a number of Swamp Sparrows 

 down in the small swamp at one edge 

 of the plantation. Several Towhees, 

 Cardinals and Goldflnches were seen 

 each day while I was there. On Oc- 

 tober 30 I saw several Savanna Spar- 

 rows in the Harris pasture. Of course, 

 English Sparrows were established 

 around the barns and other buildings 

 in this region. 



Several flocks of Cedar Waxwings 

 were present during my visit and I 

 was entertained several times by 

 watching them swing sometimes at 

 the ends of depending wild grape 

 vines eating the grapes thereon. 



I saw but one Migrant Shrike. This 

 bird could be seen almost any time uf 

 the day perched on a telephone wire 

 along the road running through the 

 Harris plantation. He must have had 

 a very restricted range as I always 

 saw him within a few feet of the place 

 where he had been seen previously. 



I was surprised to see any Vireo, but 

 early on the morning of October 26 I 

 discovered two Solitary or Blue-head- 



