Notes from Field and Study 



89 



conclusions, based on identification and 

 elimination, I feel confident that my visitor 

 was a Mockingbird. — Mrs. F. L. Battell, 

 Ames, Iowa. 



A Tufted Titmouse Story 



Reading of the Tufted Titmouse in 

 Bird-Lore prompts me to describe my 

 experience with this to me entirely new 

 bird. I hear its beautiful call of three notes 

 while I am writing; in fact, it is this call 

 which started me doing what has been on 

 my mind for some time. 



It was in May last year when I distinctly 

 heard one of my chicks call in a rather 

 distressed and persistent manner. I sent 

 a boy to the chicken yard to see what the 

 trouble was. He reported that there was 

 nothing wrong with the chicks, and that 

 the calling came from the woods near by. 

 We stopped work to investigate, as is our 

 custom when the song of a strange bird is 

 heard, and soon discovered two beautiful 

 mouse-colored birds, lighter grey on the 

 under side and with crest, a mark which 

 enabled us to locate them on the chart — 

 and we do not often feel so sure that we 

 get the correct name. 



In the woods, and in fact all about our 

 place, are many bird-houses, and the 

 Tits showed a lively interest in an old, 

 obsolete Bluebird-house. 



In summer we eat our meals in a tent 

 the whole north side of which is wire- 

 screened. Just outside of this, and within 

 six feet of our table we have a feeding plat- 

 form. In summer this is mostly visited 

 by Catbirds. We cater to them by soaking 

 bread in milk which they seem to relish, 

 and sometimes we add boiled rice. 



It was not long before our new friends 

 discovered this feeding shelf to which they 

 came often, and there was a new interest 

 in life for us. In due time they brought 

 their four young, and amidst a good deal 

 of 'scrapping' they all got their fill. Two 

 of the young would often cling to the pole 

 underneath the shelf, but they would never 

 all eat at the same time. 



We saw much of them all the autumn, 

 but as seeds ripened they came less and less 



to feed. In November and December we 

 often did not see them at all for days, 

 but I believe that they were never absent 

 for more than a week. — Albert P. Greim, 

 Toms River, N. J. 



Notes from Collins, N. Y. 



I was much interested in the notes in 

 Bird-Lore, May-June, 1920, on Robins' 

 nests and regret that I did not have 

 photographs of several I have observed. 



A MUCH-USED ROBIN NEST 



One built under a wagon, several have 

 built on the fire-escape starting as many as 

 four to eight nests, at the same end of the 

 stairs, one above the other. One Robin 

 used the same nest (see photograph) on 

 top of a window of a cottage for at least 

 four years, adding to it annually until it 

 nearly toppled over. The nest was removed 

 in painting the cottage, but another was 

 built this year. Robins build just outside 

 the noisiest wards. Several have built in 

 low spruce trees in the hedge and one in a 

 hollow in the trunk of a tree. 



The House Wrens certainly do destroy 

 eggs and nests of Bluebirds, as well as 

 those of English Sparrows. They will 

 break the eggs and drag out the nests. 



An abundance of cotton put out for 

 birds has been used by Yellow Warblers, 

 Goldfinches (which began to nest May 30) 



