THE OOLOGIST 



49 



been in the Middle Western States, 

 and to the readers who reside in the 

 eastern section the below described 

 nests are perhaps frequently their 

 most common taken, but the past sea- 

 son of 1922 was my first residence in 

 this locality and the below noted sets 

 were the first of each species that 1 

 had ever collected. 



It was Saturday, June 17th, I had 

 finished the usual company inspec- 

 tion of quarters, stables and equip- 

 ment. Saturday afternoon is a time- 

 honored holiday in the army, so l 

 concluded to pack up my collecting 

 outfit and take a stroll in the hope of 

 locating the nests of a few of our 

 feathered friends. Leaving my quar- 

 tern I went directly across the parade 

 grounds toward the lake. Near the 

 farther side there were two cedar 

 trees and as I passed these I was just 

 naturally curious, so grasping the low- 

 est limb I raised myself up into the 

 thick foliage; there not two feet away 

 was a rather bulky nest resembling 

 somewhat the nest of a Kingbird. As 

 I looked a bird climbed from the nest, 

 stood on the edge a moment and then 

 was gone, a Cedar Waxwing; in my 

 anxiety to see into the nest I almost 

 overturned it. My heart took an extra 

 beat; four beauties, grayish white witli 

 round specks of black and a few 

 blotches of purple, and they were 

 fresh. The nest was situated eight 

 feet from the ground and among the 

 thick branches of cedar. It was 

 rather bulky, composed of twigs, 

 leaves, grass, pieces of paper, a few 

 strings and lined with rootlets and a 

 few hairs. As this set was being care- 

 fully packed I nearly convinced myself 

 to return home, because such good 

 fortune right at the start of a trip 

 usually means disaster for the remain- 

 der of the day, but I finally swung the 

 basket over my shoulder and started 

 along. 



Some time later I was slowly work- 

 ing my way through a tangle of young 

 saplings and small growth, then there 

 was an open space of about twenty 

 feet, and just on the opposite side of 

 this a male Redstart hesitated a mo- 

 ment and then darted into the leaves. 

 I made a few more steps and there 

 was the nest about five feet from the 

 ground in the top of a small maple. 

 Five eggs reposed therein. I was not 

 sure of the identification, so returned 

 to the other side of the little clearing 

 and sat down to watch the nest. In a 

 few minutes Mrs. Redstart slipped 

 down and covered the eggs, and then 

 as I approached the nest again she 

 and her brightly colored husband 

 scolded at me from the top of a sap- 

 ling a few feet away. This nest was a 

 very neat cup, composed of plant cot- 

 ton, inner bark of vines and cob- 

 webs all woven together and about the 

 upright forks: it was lined with root 

 fibers and one or two feathers. The 

 eggs were well advanced in incuba- 

 tion, and were of a dull white color 

 spotted and splashed around the larger 

 end with light brown. This was a 

 beautiful set and as incubation was ad- 

 vanced, a lot of patient work was 

 necessary in making a good set; the 

 first set of American Redstart that I 

 had ever collected. This set and nest 

 were carefully packed and I continued 

 on through a rather damp mixed 

 woods, finding and photographing, but 

 not disturbing several nests of the 

 Wilson Thrush, Yellow, Chestnut-sid- 

 ed and Magnolia Warblers, a nest 

 of our little friend the Chippy, nearly 

 filled with three eggs of the Cowbird. 

 Then at the edge of a patch of thick 

 brush I parted the leaves of a blue- 

 berry bush; there was a nest contain- 

 ing three eggs that were new to me. 

 This nest was so low that at first I 

 thought it was in the grass, but found 

 it to be in the outer forks of a branch 



