THE OOLOGIST. 



171 



Nestinsr of the Cuckoo. 



Since 1 bccaino a snbscrilx'V to the 

 Ooi.OGIST I kaA'e hcconic more deeply 

 interested in the study of liivds and 

 their habits, es])ecia!ly Ihrongli the 

 nesting season. The soil and elimate, 

 the hills and valleys of Vermont, afford 

 a most excellent place for the nesting 

 and breeding of our feathered tribes. 

 On the 2'){\\ day of May, '8U, 1 started 

 out for a. two hour's walk, thinking, 

 perhaps, 1 nught Jind sonn'tliing (jf in- 

 terest to add to ni}' collection. I fol- 

 lowed a small stream for 20 or 80 rods, 

 closely ^examining tlie clum])s of Avil- 

 lows and alders as I ])assed and pres- 

 ently saw a cuckoo sitting on lier nest, 

 aoout three rods in advance. 1 ap- 

 proached the nest as cautiously as pos- 

 sible so as to obtain a good view of the 

 Inrd before she Hew. Tliere were three 

 greenish-iilue eggs of uiiiforui size and 

 color and of tlie same size at botli ends. 

 The nest was placed in a. clump of ald- 

 ers about three feet from the gnnind 

 and was coinixised of dry twigs, lea^'cs 

 and fibres. It wa.s 4^- inches in diame- 

 ter, Avith only ^ of an inch depression. 

 On blowing two of the eggs were 

 perfectly fresh, M'liile the embiyo in tlie 

 third was at least one-third developed, 

 an incident I have never met with be- 

 fore. Can any one give an explana- 

 tion V S. C. WlIEKLEK, 



Waterbury Centre, Vt. 

 [A very common occurrence with the 

 Cuckoos. — Ed.] 



A Nest of the American Woodcock 



The American Woodcock, oiu' of our 

 game birds, is Itecoming wry sca,rct' ii; 

 this locality. South Eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania, and tlieir nests are ver3' hard to 

 find. While out collecting the 20th day 

 of April, last s])i-ing, '80, I took my first 

 set. They arri\e here the latter })art of 

 March and ffom three to four weeks 



later they are nesting. I was crossing a 

 1 )w Avet piece of woods and had just 

 jumped across a little stream when I 

 Hushed a bird very close to my feet. 

 Not seeing any nest, and knowing 

 something of the habit of this Inrd, I 

 stood in ni}' tracks and watched the re- 

 treating form of that bird. She flew 

 but a short distance and dropped into a 

 patch of ferns out of sight. I then 

 glanced around me and by close looking 

 soon discovered the nest. It was simply 

 a little holhjw in a raisinl bunch of 

 leaves, alxiut four inches in diaraetcu;. 

 It contained four eggs — beauties. Eggs 

 that would fill most collectors with a 

 thrill of delight. The ground color was 

 butt, spotted and l)lotched with shades 

 of brown ai)out the larger end. They 

 measured 1.40 x 1.25, and were perfect- 

 ly fre-sh. J. P. J., 



Kelton. Pa. 



Murderous Sparrows. 



One morning in early spring, as 1 

 was sitting under an apple tree in my 

 back yard, I noticed a nundjer of spar- 

 rows fi,ying about a tree fn which a 

 blue-bird had taken up her abode four 

 or five weeks previous. Her young 

 Avere almost ready to leaA'e the nest, 

 when the s])arroAvs determined to hast- 

 en matters. I soon perceived that ;i 

 portion of the sparroAVs attracted the 

 attention of parent blue-birds, Avhile 

 the rest employed themselves in oust- 

 ing the j^onng birds from the nest, and 

 in this they succeded before I could in- 

 terfere. After replacing then\ I was 

 called aAvay, and on rettu-ning found 

 that a tra.ged,y ha-d l)een enacted in my 

 absence. Tlie .young birds l)eing again 

 tJiroAvn from the nest, and this time 

 speedil.y devoured by the family cat. 



The old blue-l)irds soon after left the 

 \icinity, and the sparroAvs took posses- 

 sion of the (leserted home. 



C. R. 

 CleA'Claud, Ohio, 



