THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



93 



which is completed later with its final 

 touches of ornamentation. I once took a 

 set perfectly fresh with but the base of a 

 nest, and scarcely discernable a rod away, 

 and to which none of the outer lichen 

 covering had yet been added. I find 

 their nests in a great variety of situations, 

 from the wildest woodland to the home 

 orchard, but I think the latter the most 

 common site ; pendant branches of beech 

 and elm are favorite nesting sites without 

 any regularity of distance (in height). I 

 have seen them within six feet of the 

 ground, and again at least forty up. 



Under no circumstances have I ever seen 

 the male bird in attendance during nidifica- 

 tion in any stages, though I have been a 

 frequent and interested observer on many 

 occasions of nest-building, incubation and 

 rearing of the little ones. 



There was a brood reared near my house 

 last summer and I was often interested in 

 observing the visits of the mother bird to a 

 honeysuckle at the door many times in the 

 day. A hasty sip at every open flower, 

 and a hurried return back to the waiting 

 brood, were regular occurrences every 

 hour. She never stopped to look at any- 

 thing else, and at the slightest interruption 

 would literally vanish. I have never seen 

 anything indicating in the least degree 

 insectivorous habits, though I will not 

 pretend to doubt its possibility ; but I am 

 fully satisfied that the nectar from the 

 flowers forms their chief diet. The little 

 birds linger with us often quite late in 

 autumn, — evidently only young of the year 

 — even till the frosty nights destroy the 

 lingering flowers. A bed of scarlet salvias 

 proves a great attraction to them, and is 

 the scene of perpetual conflict for exclusive 

 possession between the ever present tenant 

 and numerous contesting rivals during the 

 many weeks of autumnal bloom. 



Beautiful little emerald gem, whose 

 arrival we joyfully welcome as sure har- 

 binger of summer glory, and whose de- 

 parture we mourn as the good-bye to its 

 departing grandeur. J N. Clark. 



Old Saybrook, Co?in. 



BIDDY'S BROOD OF QUAIL. 



This anecdote was given to me recently 

 to write for the NidioIvOGist, by a very 

 reliable witness. I was aware of most of 

 the facts before this, but now have before 

 me an account of what happened. The 

 date, as near as I can ascertain, was 1878, 

 in summer. The hired man was cutting 

 grass along the roadside for the cows, and 

 was not aware that he had committed a 

 murder, yet while walking along where the 

 man had been mowing, my informant dis- 

 covered among the cut grass the head of a 

 Quail severed by the cruel scythe, and near 

 by the headless body of the Quail, still sit- 

 ting upon her nest of eggs, true to her 

 charge until instantaneous death had over- 

 taken her. 



The eggs, twenty-two in number, were 

 intrusted to the care of a hen, and in due 

 time most of the little fluffy Quail chipped 

 their shells and had a chance of seeing the 

 barnyard, chaperoned by their foster mother. 

 The cat caught most of them, but four of 

 the luckiest and wariest managed to evade 

 their feline foe and grew up among the 

 barnyard fowls until they required Biddy's 

 services no longer. They were not so tame 

 as the other fowls, and were no more domes- 

 ticated than to come regularly to be fed 

 with them, until the mating season, when 

 they disappeared from their more civilized 

 home altogether, no doubt preferring the 

 wilds of the woods to hen-coops and gar- 

 rulous fowls. D. A. C. 



Mr. A. W. Johnson, a new resident of California, 

 has sent us the catalogue of his egg collection, 

 which shows an immense series of sets, chiefly 

 European eggs. We notice, for example, that of 

 Peregrine Falcon he has 10-4 and 7-3, taken in 

 Ireland; 1-3, 1-2 in Scotland; 34, 2-3, continental — 

 total, 39 sets Of Golden Eagles' eggs he has ten 

 sets, taken in Scotland, South Spain, Bulgaria, 

 Hungary, and Lapland. 



Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, the charming writer 

 on bird subjects, subscribed the other day for the 

 NIDIOLOGIST, as she says, "Not because I am in 

 sympathy with the wholesale destruction of birds — 

 which such publications encourage — but because 

 it contains notes on the habits of birds in which I 

 am deeply interested." We are hard hit by this 

 gentle lady's remarks, but we would like to be 

 permitted to ask if she has never worn any feath- 

 ers on her hat ? 



