THE OOLOGIST. 



Ill 



One morning when the young birds 

 were only two or three days old, I 

 came down to lind my worst fears 

 I'ealized. One of the parent birds had 

 1)een killed and the gourd turned over, 

 l;)ut the little ones Avere uninjured. 

 The remaining parent sat disconso- 

 lately on a limb near by for a while, 

 l)ut the pitiful cries in the nest soon 

 aroused it to a sense of the responsi- 

 bility that rested upon it. So it set 

 heroically to work to care for the half 

 famished nestlings within. 



This was too much for me to endure 

 (for I hate a cat at best) and I deter- 

 mined to have revenge. I waited 

 patiently until after dark, and the 

 familj^ had gathered in the house so I 

 would not be observed. I covered the 

 gourd with mosquito bar, took it down 

 carefully and hung it in an unoccupied 

 room in the house. Then I placed a 

 stout steel trap in the place where the 

 nest had been and was rewarded next 

 morning by finding a big cat in the 

 trap. A member of the family that 

 Avas always first up in the mornings 

 agreed to dispose of the cats for me' 

 so I set the trap each night and suc- 

 ceeded in catching three. I still took 

 the nest in every night until the birds 

 were old enough to tiy. When I would 

 put them out in the morning and take 

 oil the cover the old bird would hop 

 out and, perching scarcely a foot from 

 my hand, would warble out its morn- 

 ing song as though thanking me for my 

 care. 



I would like to hear from some of the 

 readers of The Oologist if they have 

 ever met Avith an incident like this of 

 the Sparrows and the Wrens. Doubt- 

 less what I thought a very odd freak of 

 nature, is something not so strange 

 after all. 



LiLLIE I. CONLEY, 



Wayne Co., lud. 



Our Qaestion Box. 

 C'lerles to be ftoswerea in these columns should 

 be written on a postal o» slip of paper— never mix 

 them tn youF litter wlian wrtttn^ about other 

 matters. 



T. M. B., Natchez, Miss.— The eggs 

 of the Hermit Thrush are greenish-blue, 

 unspotted and average about .86 x .65 

 and closely resemble those of the Wil- 

 son's Thrush. 



M. S. H., Portland, Mich.— 1. The 

 American Peregrine Falcon or Duck 

 HaAvk is frequently called the "Bullet 

 HaAvk." 



2. Will not the ansAver to "B. S. 

 B's." query in the May Oologist apply 

 as well in Michigan as in Ncav York 

 State? 



_C. T., Los Angeles, Cala.—The ori- 

 ginal data should always accompany 

 the set. 



H. C. H., Cincinnatus, N. Y.,— The 

 Prairie Horned Lark {0. a. praiicola) is 

 not an uncommon breeder in the lake 

 counties of Western New York. The 

 true aljiestris {Otocoris alpestris, — 

 Horned Lark) breeds in Labrador and 

 those upper regions and nxay be a Avin- 

 ter A'isitant to this section. It does not 

 breed in Ncav York. 



G. B. E., Kansas City. Mo.— Your 

 gregarious birds having a light-brown 

 topknot, strip of black al)(mt the eye. 

 yellowish-white breast, lavendor rump, 

 tips of secondaries, red and tail fea- 

 thers tipped Avith yellow; are Cedar 

 WaxAvings. 



W. M., Charlie Hope, Va.— Your 

 "lead-colored bird, Avith a black throat 

 and white breast," nesting in a hole in 

 a dead stump, Avhose eggs are six in 

 number, small and white with brown 

 specks; is the White-breasted Nut- 

 hatch . 



Name mislaid.— The Belted Kingfisher 

 nests in tiiis locality from the 20th of 

 May into June. The Woodpeckers 

 nest about the same time. 



A. O., Brocton, N. Y. — Your sand is 

 garnet sand. The sliells Avhich you 

 call penny winkles (periwinkles?) are 

 doubtless Liltorinas. 



R. H. B., Claremont, N. H.— Is not 

 the egg you describe, a runt egg of the 

 Cliflt" SAvalloAv? Jt resembles a Cliff 



