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A Nest Census 



On June 17, 1919, I set out with a view 

 of ascertaining the number of nesting 

 species of birds in Cobb's Hill and vicinity. 

 This place is in the southeastern part of 

 the city and is very well adapted for the 

 nesting of some birds. A stream runs 

 through the lower portion of it, flowing 

 into a swamp and from there into the Erie 

 Canal. There are about twenty acres of 

 deciduous trees which comprise the woods. 

 The principal ones are the chestnut, white, 

 red, and black oak, shagbark hickory, 

 sassafras, and black cherry. Along the 

 border of the stream there are numerous 

 black willows and very thick underbrush. 

 In the forest proper there is a wonderful 

 place for the birds which usually nest on 

 the ground or in thickets. The sand-banks 

 also offer an opportunity for those birds 

 which burrow holes in the earth for nesting 

 purposes. A field of grass on the eastern 

 side of the woods affords a site where the 

 birds which generally breed in these places 

 may nest. There is an abundance of natural 

 food for birds both in the swamp and the 

 woods. Cherries, apples, grapes, and black- 

 berries grow wild here, and sumach, elder- 

 berries, haw, mountain-ash, and flowering 

 dogwood are found in large quantities. 



One may find a goodly number of birds 

 here all during the year as it is, in the 

 writer's opinion, a fine place for them. 



The following is a list of birds known to 

 be nesting at this place. 



1. Killdeer. One pair nesting on an ash- 

 heap near the canal. 



2. Sparrow Hawk. Nesting in the edge 

 of the woods near the field. 



3. Black-billed Cuckoo. Two birds 

 were seen but no nest was found. 



4. Kingfisher. A pair nesting in the 

 sand-bank. 



5. Red-headed Woodpecker. One pair 

 had a nest in a red oak tree on the edge of 

 the woods but they left before this date. 



6. Northern Flicker. A pair had a nest 

 in the stub of a dead tree in the swamp and 

 another pair were breeding in the woods. 



7. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. One 



bird was seen. Very likely it was nesting 

 in a nearby orchard as it was seen not far 

 away. 



8. Kingbird. One pair nesting. 



9. Wood Pewee. Four pairs of these 

 birds were breeding in the woods. 



10. Crow. There seem to be no large 

 Hawks or Owls around to usurp these 

 nests, so the Crows live peacefully in the 

 same one year after year. Three nests 

 were occupied. 



11. Red- winged Blackbird. One male 

 was seen in the swamp. 



12. Meadowlark. Two birds were seen 

 in the field. 



13. Baltimore Oriole. Two pairs of 

 these birds were nesting in elms near the 

 swamp. 



14. Goldfinch. There are usually about 

 four pairs which nest here later in the sea- 

 son. 



15. Chipping Sparrow. One pair nest- 

 ing- 



16. Field Sparrow. One pair breeding 

 in the grass field. 



17. Song Sparrow. About seven pairs 

 were nesting. 



18. Towhee. One male seen in the 

 woods. 



19. Indigo Bunting. Three males and 

 two females seen. 



20. Bank Swallow. Only two pairs were 

 nesting this year whereas for the past three 

 years there have been twenty or thirty 

 pairs of these birds breeding. 



21. Red-eyed Vireo. Three pairs nesting 

 in the woods. 



22. Yellow Warbler. Only five birds of 

 this species were noted and this seems a 

 small number compared with the number 

 of nests found when the leaves fall. 



23. Chestnut-sided Warbler. A male 

 was noted in full song in a sassafras thicket 

 on the east side of the woods. 



24. Oven-bird. One bird was seen. 



25. Mourning Warbler. One bird was 

 observed. 



26. Maryland Yellow-throat. Two pairs 

 of these birds were nesting in the marsh. 



27. Redstart. Two males and a female 

 seen in the woods. 



28. Catbird. About ten pairs of these 

 birds always nest along the border of the 

 creek in the thickest underbrush. 



29. Brown Thrasher. Two nests of this 

 bird were found. 



30. House Wren. Two nest-boxes were 

 occupied and another pair had a |nest in a 

 pile of underbrush. 



31. White-breasted Nuthatch. One pair 

 nesting in the heart of the woods. 



(138) 



