92 



THE OOLOGISt 



Illinois was not here. This was the 

 nom de plume of the knightly Pileated 

 Woodpecker, acknowledged among all 

 natives the "Woodcock." My com- 

 panion pointed to a huge, dead chest- 

 nut in which the female was excavat- 

 ing. Several holes, none less than 

 seventy feet up, were designated as 

 breeding places during previous 

 springs. What a paradise for "Pecker- 

 woods," as Kentuckians call them. In 

 the immediate vicinity were Red 

 Heads, Downy, Flickers and Red-bel- 

 lied, all paired. 



"Now, Abbott, let me show you 

 where 'Buzzards' have hatched regu- 

 larly for the last seven years," my 

 guide ventured. Two of the sites con- 

 sisted of huge, fallen logs, entirely 

 hollow, and a Turkey Vulture was 

 hovering around each place. The third 

 nesting place was a crevice in an up- 

 right chestnut, about fifty feet high. 

 A pair of Buzzards were perched in 

 this tree. 



Our tramping was interrupted fre- 

 quently, while I listened to some nar- 

 rative describing the discovery during 

 some previous season of other birds' 

 eggs, such as Whip-poor-will, Horned 

 Owl, Cooper Hawk, Summer Tananger 

 and some of doubtful identity, includ- 

 ing Warblers, Vireos and Sparrows. 

 On this visit we found several small 

 flocks of Purple Finches, the males in 

 full song. Gerard Alan Abbott, 



Glasgow, Kentucky. 



IT SPREADS 



A letter from one of the well known 

 bird students of the United States to 

 the editor, contains among other 

 things, the following: 



"They are at it in Europe, I am told, 

 and have made some dozen sub-species 

 of Ravens. Long claws, and short 

 claws, bills, etc. But I suppose busi- 

 ness is dull and that something must 

 be done to prevent dry rot." 



Possibly in this country something 



must be done to make those in charge 

 of the expenditure of public money 

 imagine that something is being done 

 by those who are observing public 

 money everytime an imaginary mill- 

 meter race drops into the hopper. 

 R. M. Barnes. 



Swallows. 



Something I had never heard of be- 

 fore occurred this summer. A friend 

 bad two pairs of Barn Swallows nest- 

 ing in his shed — each had five eggs; 

 two pairs of Cliff Swallows came, 

 threw the eggs out and using the 

 nests for a foundation, built up their 

 own in the usual way and raised their 

 young. Never before had I noticed 

 any especial animosity or competition 

 between these two species, both usu- 

 ally minding their own business. 



Chester S. Day, 

 27 School St., Boston, Mass. 



Bronze Grackle Mass Meetings. 



In November, at Blue Rapids, Kan- 

 sas, in twenty-foot willows along the 

 Red River, the Grackles were swarm- 

 ing for several weeks, to the number 

 of no less than four thousand. Flying 

 in, just before sunset, they would 

 alight and sing in tall trees on the 

 south bank of the river. In about a 

 half hour they would cross to the 

 roosting willows, then swarm to the 

 water's edge, fifteen deep — laterally — 

 to drink, then betake themselves to 

 the willows. 



Strange inequalities in fatness, col- 

 oration and in even the locations of 

 the sex-organs, and their condition 

 appeared. Not a few of the Grackles 

 had diseased feet. P. B. Peabody. 



COPY 



The Oologist is again in distress for 

 copy suitable for the June, July and 

 August issues, and we trust our read- 

 ers and friends will respond to this 

 notification. R. M. Barnes. 



