128 



THE OOLOGIST. 



reeds, also set of Oriole's eggs. This spe- 

 cies has been far less coumaou this season 

 than nstial. 



June (>. Swamp Sparrow, tive highly' in- 

 cub. eggs, nest in branch of reeds on edge of 

 marsh. In waste marshy lands it is quite 

 common. 



June 12. Scarlet Tauager, while walking 

 through a thick piece of woods to-day I 

 foiuid a nest of this bird situated on the 

 fork of a small dogwood tree, it contained 

 one egg and one young bird. 



Wilson's Thrush, nest composed of grass, 

 twigs, and leaves, lined with tine vegetable 

 fibers, placed in a small bush about two feet 

 up and contained three eggs. The nest is 

 ahnost always placed in a hollow on the 

 ground. 



Spotted Sandpiper, four fresh eggs, nest a 

 mere hollow in the ground lined with grass. 



Blue Jay, nest fifty feet up in hickory, 

 made of usual material. Two of the three 

 eggs found in it were dark olive- brown and 

 unspotted. 



Chimney Swift, set of four eggs slightly 

 incub., uest iu chimney of iininhabited log 

 cabin. This pair have built their uest in 

 this chimney for three successive seasons, 

 notwithstanding that I have taken the eggs 

 each season and several times caught and 

 examined the female. 



June IT). Jack is shy of strangers and 

 screams in a most ear-piercing manner when 

 approached by them. 



June 16. Catbird, nest placed in in some 

 thick bushes. The Catbird and Brown 

 Tiirasher are called mocking birds here. 



June 20, Three incub. eggs of the Thrash- 

 er, nest in cluster of black berry bushes. 

 Not very common. 



June 21. Cedar Wax wing, five eggs from 

 nest in orchard, also set of Traill's Fly 

 Datcher's, three Yellow-billed Cuckoo's eggs, 

 nest of former in a patch of second growth 

 maple, that of the latter on a platform of 

 sticks in an elder tree. Commoner than the 

 Black-billed species. 



July 1. Jack is very voracious and if 

 permitted will gorge himself until it seems 

 as though he would burst, and at suph times 



seems inspired with the very soul of laziness 

 sitting on his perch for hours. 



July 4. From the extremity of a hole in 

 in a sand bink, early oiie-fourth of a mile 

 from vcatcr, I took live Bank Swallows eggs. 



July 6. Grass Finch, the nest was iu a 

 strip of pasture laud, built of small twigs 

 and grasses, lined with horse-hair. It con- 

 tained four eggs. 



July 7. Took a set of Black-billed Cuc- 

 koo's eggs from a nest in an apple tree. 

 The Cuckoo seldom lays more than four 

 eggs here. 



July 24. Three eggs of Chipping Spar- 

 row. Few of our native birds are better 

 known than this sober plumaged little spar- 

 row, also six fresh eggs of Goldfinch, nest in 

 apple tree. I noticed large flocks last win- 

 ter in the swamps and among the weeds in 

 the tields. 



July 26. One of the handsomest and 

 neatest nests found here is that of the Gold - 

 finch, and to-day I found one with four, 

 fresh eggs. It was in the same orchard as 

 the one taken on the 24th. 



August 8. Indigo Bunting,, sis fresh eggs, 

 uest in upright fork of small bush, just 

 where the main stem separated. 



August 9. Wood Pewee, three slightly 

 iucub. eggs, nest on horizontal limb of an 

 apple tree. This species is much more rare 

 than Traill's Flycatcher and the nest is easi- 

 ly distinguished from that of the latter be- 

 ing a flat, compact structure, with thick 

 sides, but thin flooring, in fact so thin that 

 the eggs can often be seen from beneath. It 

 is fastened to a horizontal branch and is 

 covered outside with lichens. It selects a 

 dead limb near the nest and attaches itself 

 to the same spot for many successive days. 



August 12. Ever since Jim's encounter 

 with Jack he has shown a ma.rked respect 

 for the latters sharjj beak and strong talons. 



Aiigust 16. While preparing Jack's din- 

 ner to-day, with his Hawkship perched up- 

 on my shoulder, I tossed a piece of meat in- 

 to the air. He flew af tei it in an instant 

 and caught it before it reached the ground. 



Sept. 8. I sat iu the yard reading, Vvhen 

 I was greeted with a caw, and down came 



