140 



THE OOLOGIST. 



lacing 1}r:UK'lK's t>f two y^uug oak trees 

 fifteen feet from the gr(ni!iil, situated 

 on a lonely hillside in the woods, at 

 least a qaartei- of a mile from the water, 

 or marslies; this si't contained li\'t 

 fresh eggs. 



On May 8th, "while am')ng tlie 

 pines, ' I took two more sets; tlie first 

 one in a nest of more snbstantlal hnild, 

 placed in the fork of a small pine 

 eighteen feet high, on a liill overlook- 

 ing the river. It contained five eggs 

 whit'h v.'ere in the first stages of incn- 

 l)atiou. Then in a large pine nearly 

 twenty-tive feet up, in a nest placed on 

 the end of a branch, I found a set of 

 three, fresh. 



The nt-st of the Green Hz'.ron, I find, 

 s most always nuido of material fn^mi 

 the tree in which the inrd builds. 



While collecting in May, I found a 

 queer set which ccmsisted of an egg- 

 each of the Cardinal Grosbeak, and 

 Sung Sparrow. They Wv-re in a Cardi- 

 nal's nest, both fresh. 



W. Allison Merkitt, 

 Washino'ton, D. C. 



Back in their Old HauiiuS. 



It is with pleasure that I am able to 

 report the unusual number of insectiv- 

 orous ])ii'ds breediug hei e this summer. 

 On one liundred acres of land situated 

 in two plots, one of 60 acres on the 

 sound and another of 40, two miles in- 

 land, all in the city limits of New York 

 City, I find the following bii'ds: 



Robins quite plentiful. Wood Thrush 

 iir pairs, Wilson's Thrush common, 

 Catbird three pairs, Meadow Lark live 

 pairs, Red-wing Blackbird about fifteen 

 pairs, Purple Grackie seven pairs, Coav- 

 birds three individuals, Song Sparrow 

 j)lentiful. Chipping S])arrow a iew, 

 Baltimore Oriole one pair, Orchard 

 Oriole one pair, King Bird three pairs. 

 Red-eyed Yireo four pairs, Summer 

 Red-l)ird one pair,Yellow-shafted Flick- 

 er six pairs, Yellow-billed euckoo one 



pair. Great Crested Flj'catch.er two 

 pairs, Pewee two pairs, CroAvs com- 

 mon, Screech-owl one pair, House 

 Wren two pairs, Spotted Sandpiper 

 quite common, Green Heron two ])airs. 

 Night Heron one pair, Barn Swallow 

 plentiful. I attribute the return of the 

 birds to the scarcity of the English 

 Sparrow; the blizzard of '88 killed a 

 great many, but Avhy they have de- 

 creased since last summer 1 d(; not 

 know. Last fall I trapped about 400 

 and used them for trap shooting, but 

 this year there are but live ])airs breed- 

 ing on m3" property, and there ;ir(- very 

 feAV in the neighborhood. I would like 

 to see notes from other sections, sajing 

 whether the English SparroAV is on the 

 increase ar decrease, and I hope they 

 Avill report the latter. W. I. S., 



NcAV York Citv. 



, Sialia-Mus. 



I have to report the qm-cr nesting of 

 a pair of Bluebirds. On June 1st Avhile 

 collecting in a marsh, I saAv a Bluebird 

 go into a hole in the top of an old 

 stump. When it came out I Avent and 

 looked in Imt saw nothing but a little 

 dry grass. On the 9th Avhile agam in 

 the marsh, I again looked in the 

 stump and saAV a nest and two eggs. 



1 Aisited the stump for the third time 

 on the 13th and found tAvo more eggs 

 had been laid, but the stump luid }near»- 

 while lieen inundated by heavy rains 

 and the birds had deserted tlie nest. 

 On pulling it out, I fcnmd under it a 

 mouse nest Avith eight J'oung niice, 

 Avhich had been droAvned. The mice 

 had access to their nest through a small 

 hole in the Ijottom of the stump, and 

 nothing separated them from the eggs, 

 but the nniterial of the two nests. 



B. S. BOWDISH. 



Ontario Co., N. Y. 



