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Bird - Lore 



(3) For several years a partially albino 

 Robin has nested near the public school 

 in this town. The wings and head of this 

 bird are gray, sprinkled with white, and 

 the tail is black, or dark gray. The breast 

 and back and other parts are pure white. 

 As it nests in the same tree every year, it 

 furnishes some proof that birds return 

 to the same place to nest every year. I 

 have observed this bird and its nest closely, 

 and find that not one of the young inherits 

 the albinistic character of its parent. 

 I think the bird is a female. 



(4) On January 11 of the present year 

 I was watching a White-breasted Nut- 

 hatch eating suet which I had placed on a 

 maple tree in our yard. He seemed to be 

 enjoying himself, when suddenly two 

 Sparrows flew to the suet and began to 

 eat. The Nuthatch immediately left the 

 suet and flew to the ground, where it 

 hopped around for nearly five minutes 

 and kept picking at seeds in the grass. 

 While on the ground it hopped like a 

 Sparrow. As a Nuthatch alighting on 

 the ground was a new occurrence to me, 

 I observed its actions closely. Is this 

 habit of ground-feeding a rare habit, or 

 just something which I have overlooked? 

 — C. Aubrey Thomas, Kennett Square, 

 Chester County, Pennsylvania. 



Notes from Ohio 



The following records on the rarer 

 birds noted during the year of 19 13, may 

 be of interest to Ohio readers: 



1. Holbcell's Grebe. Jan. 30 and May 11. 



2. Baird's Sandpiper. April 25, July 

 27, until late Sept. in small numbers. 



3. Black-bellied Plover. Two, Aug. 24 

 on tract of Lake Erie. 



4. Turnstone. One, Sept. 14. Beach of 

 Lake Erie. Allowed a close approach. 



5. Barn Owl. A specimen was found 

 dead in the woods this winter. It has 

 been mounted by a local collector. 



6. Evening Grosbeak. A single bird the 

 morning of Jan. 6, 1914. 



7. Bachman's Sparrow. Sept. 22. First 

 observed in Sept., 1909, and have seen 

 them in same locality each year since. 



8. Prothonotary Warbler. One, May 4. 



9. Sycamore Warbler. One, May 18. 



— E. A. DooLiTTLE, Painesville, Lake 

 County, Ohio. 



Notes on the Black-crowned Night 



Heron and Other Birds at 



Orient, L. L 



On Gid's Island, a low, isolated patch 

 of mixed woods, entirely surrounded by 

 broad salt marshes and protected from 

 common trespassing by wide, muddy 

 drains, a new Black-crowned Night 

 Heron heronry has become established. 



There are no records of these Herons 

 ever nesting at Orient prior to 191 2, 

 although they are common non-breeding 

 summer residents about our marshes and 

 shores, where they come daily and nightly 

 to feed from the great rookery at 

 Gardiner's Island, ten miles distant. 



This station at Orient was visited in 

 191 1, and no nesting was in evidence. In 

 191 2 it was not examined. June 1913, I 

 again visited the locality, and discovered 

 a colony of nine pairs. 



In addition to the nine occupied nests 

 there were three nests not in use that 

 season that had been constructed the 

 previous year. 



It will be observed that the heronry was 

 originally started in 191 2 with at least 

 three nests, and increased the second 

 season to nine. 



Cedar trees appeared to be a favorite 

 building-site, as these were selected for 

 each nest. 



The young at that time (June 22) were 

 ranging from just hatched to nearly full- 

 grown, and were fed on algae, identified 

 as Agardhiella gracilaria and similar 

 forms, which abound in the shallow water 

 near at hand. 



In addition to the Night Heron's, 

 the small collection of trees contained in 

 breeding species four pairs of Green 

 Herons, five pairs of Ospreys, one each 

 of Catbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow Warb- 

 ler, Kingbird, Spotted Sandpiper, and 

 Chickadee. The encircling salt meadows 

 were inhabited by hundreds of Sharp- 



