Notes from Field and Study 



153 



our neighborhood during the whole sea- 

 son, from spring to fall. It was last seen 

 on December 27, a day before a heavy 

 rain. 



A White-crowned Sparrow was seen on 

 January 20, of this year. 



The first Robin was seen, this year, on 

 February 6. Early as this was, it was only 

 ten days ahead of the migration of its 

 fellows. I believe the migration of Robins, 

 Bluebirds, Meadowlarks, Wild Ducks, 

 Killdeers and Song Sparrows was the 

 earliest ever known. They all came on the 

 same day, the sixteenth of February. — • 

 George E. Ekblau, Rantoul, III. 



A Dove's Nest in Sphagnum 



In May, 1909, while botanizing on the 

 Cranberry Island, of Buckeys Lake, in 

 Licking Co., Ohio, the writer came upon 

 a nest of the Mourning Dove which, from 

 its unusual situation, seems worthy of 

 notice. Instead of being built in a tree, it 

 had been built on the ground in the 

 sphagnum, among cranberries and cat- 

 tails, as seen in the illustration. The nest 

 itself was very slight, consisting of a few 

 twigs laid on the sphagnum. It did not 

 serve in any degree to elevate the nest- 

 lings above the moss near it nor to keep 

 them dry. On the contrary, it was thor- 

 oughly soaked and, with the accumulated 

 excrement from the young birds, which at 

 the time of discovery were nearly grown, 

 presented as filthy an appearance as 

 possible. Such apparently unsanitary 

 surroundings did not seem, however, to 

 affect the young birds nor to disturb 

 them, for they were healthy and happy at 

 the time of discovery. 



The selection of such a nesting-site was 

 not due to any lack of trees and bushes 

 suitable for nests of the sort usually built 

 by the Mourning Dove, for there were 

 numerous alders and maples nearby. 

 Moreover, the writer is inclined to believe 

 that this was not merely the idiosyncrasy 

 of the particular bird, but a habit shared 

 by others. At any rate, during the sum- 

 mer of 1910 he found another nest in the 

 same place under exactly similar condi- 



tions. The successful issue of a nest in 

 such a situation is dependent on the ab- 

 sence of enemies of the eggs and nestlings. 

 It is interesting to note that this condition 

 is almost perfectly met in the Buckeye 

 Lake bog. It is surrounded on all sides 

 by deep water, which prevents the ingress 

 of predaceous animals. Snakes are very 

 rare and, during the summsr, mammals 



THE DOVES' NEST 



are equally so, being limited to an occa- 

 sional mouse or a straggling rabbit. It 

 may very well be that this is the reason 

 for the selection of this nesting-site. One 

 can easily imagine that so slipshod an 

 architect as the Dove would prefer, 

 when possible, to avoid even the necessity 

 of building a nest sufficiently secure to 

 keep its occupants from falling through. 

 — Robert Griggs, The Ohio State Uni- 

 versity. 



