Bird - Lore 



Terminal. I could not make out whether 

 or not all of them passed the night under 

 the hotel eaves. 



There is a dove cote on a sort of terrace 

 at the Biltmore, in which live a few Pigeons. 

 It was interesting to observe that these 

 birds were entirely unmolested by the 

 Hawks and that they seemed to have no 

 fear of them. Apparently, then, the Hawks 

 came to the hotel only after their food for 

 the day had been obtained. — Nathan 

 Clifford Brown, Portland, Maine. 



Some Observations on the Osprey 



The nest of the Osprey is as interesting 

 as the bird itself. Made of sticks, straw, 

 seaweed, an occasional piece of cloth, large, 

 untidy, it is perched on the topmost fork 

 of a tall dead tree, sometimes on the cross- 

 piece at the top of a telephone or telegraph 

 pole. The tree is not dead when selected 

 for a nest, but the droppings of the birds, 

 as well as the decomposed fish often thrown 

 out, in time kill it. The same nest is used 

 year after year, being renovated from time 

 to time by throwing out worn parts and 

 replacing them by new ones. When the 

 birds arrive early in April, the female 

 chooses a nest and the courting begins. If 

 there are no nests available a new one is 

 constructed, male and female alike shar- 

 ing the labor. 



In 1919, 1 had the opportunity for casual 

 observance of two pairs of these birds. One 

 nest was at the back of the house and one 

 at the side. There was much difference in 

 the individuality of the two pairs. Those 

 at the back of the house paired earlier, 

 raised their brood of two birds earlier, and 

 left the nest earlier. This pair were very 

 much annoyed by a Crow which took every 

 opportunity to drive the female from the 

 nest and attempt to get the eggs. 



The female of the nest at the back of 

 the house, probably made nervous by the 

 persistent attacks of the Crow, was very 

 excitable. When anyone approached she 

 set up a frightened, raucous cry and some- 

 times was so worried that she even left her 

 nest and eggs at the mercy of the Crow. 

 Then there was a contest between instinct 



and fear. Sometimes instinct was the 

 stronger, and, crying harshly, she returned 

 to the nest. Sometimes, still crying harshly, 

 she circled round and round near the nest 

 but did not return until assured that all 

 danger was past. These paroxysms of fear 

 were the more pronounced when her mate 

 was off on his fishing expeditions. When 

 he was there to protect her, she sometimes 

 only emitted her frightened cry and did 

 not leave her nest at all. At other times 

 she seemed to lose confidence in his pro- 

 tection and flew away, abandoning nest 

 and eggs. 



The pair at the side of the house were 

 not disturbed by Crows and seemed less 

 nervous than the other pair. This female 

 was very coy and coquettish and it took 

 her some time to decide upon a mate. She 

 was courted by two persistent lovers. One 

 would alight on her nest only to be beaten 

 off. Then the other, taking heart, would 

 try his luck and receive the same treatment. 

 When she finally chose a mate, I am not 

 sure that- it was either of these. After she 

 settled down to her domestic duties, she 

 was a faithful spouse, but a rather shrewish 

 one. She insisted on her mate sharing the 

 monotony of incubation, apparently much 

 to his disgust. When she wanted to leave 

 the nest, she became restless and sent sharp, 

 complaining cries to the male engaged in 

 watching over her. Whether willfully or 

 not, he failed to respond. At last, com- 

 pletely exasperated, she flew off the negt 

 to her mate, and deliberately tried to brush 

 him off his perch. He still refused to under- 

 stand, but her repeated cries and indigni- 

 ties at last had the desired effect. He flew 

 toward the nest, circled about it and fin- 

 ally settled down on it. The female was 

 distrustful. She flew away a short distance 

 and returned to see whether he was still 

 there, repeating this performance several 

 times before she was satisfied that it was 

 safe to take the recreation she coveted. In 

 a few days she had trained her mate to such 

 instant obedience that, when she wanted 

 to leave the nest, she uttered a few sharp 

 cries, and before she flew off the nest he 

 was there to take her place. 



As these observations are merely casual, 



