THE OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



VOL. II. 



NEW YORK, JULY, 1889. 



No. 4. 





Trail's Flycatcher. 



fEMPIDONAX PUSILLTjS TRAXLLn.) 

 BY W. INGEAM. 



This bird is a fairly common summer 

 resident in this locality and I am pleased 

 to say one that is on the increase yearly. 

 It is a sub-species of the Little Fly- 

 catcher and, also closely resembles the 

 Acadian, but has different notes and 

 builds a different nest in different local- 

 ities. It has no gaudy colors ; a de- 

 scription given by Mr. L. O. Pindar 

 is as follows: "Above, olive brown, 

 darker on the head; below grayish white, 

 wing bars the same color." Although 

 this is concise it covers all. It is one 

 of the smallest of the family being about 

 the size of a Chipping Sparrow. It is a 

 true flycatcher, having a muscicapa bill 

 with recumbent hairs at the base . It 

 has much the appearance of a King bird 

 on a diminutive scale and while the 

 flycatcher disposition is highly de- 

 veloped in this species I have repeatedly 

 handled their eggs and nests without 

 causing them to desert them and have 

 often examined an unfinished nest with- 

 out their "pulling up stakes." 



Their favorite nesting places are in 

 the wild plum trees along a stream, a 

 hedge row or a retired orchard. I have 

 found three forms of the nest, the most 

 common one being built in an upright 

 fork of a wild plum hedge or alder, 

 being made fast at the sides by henipen 

 fibres ; the second is placed upon a 

 swinging limb of a pluin or elm, being 

 fastened to the limb below like a Robin's 

 nest, this form is necessarily compactly 

 built as is the third or pensile nest 

 which is swung between the forks of a 

 swinging plum or apple tree, not unlike 

 the nest of a Vireo. I have found but 

 few of this form and regard it as the 

 rarest of the three. The nest is generaly 

 constructed of henipen fibers, lined with 

 very fine grass and a few feathers from 

 the breast of the bird, while horse hair 

 sometimes enters into its composition, 

 one nest found was composed almost 

 eutirely'of ' ' Tickle grass " while another 

 contained a large amount of wool, but I 

 suppose these were merely local char- 

 acteristics as the former was near an old 



field of grass and the other was in a 

 sheep pasture, the height of the nest 

 ranges from two to ten feet. 



The eggs have a ereamy white ground 

 color, while the markings vary much in 

 different sets, some having small spots 

 and minute dots, others have large 

 blotches and faint spots. The markings 

 are principally at the large end and 

 present many shades of red, brick-red, 

 reddish brown and sometimes a faint 

 lavender tint. They measure from . 70x 

 .52to.77x.56 and vary as much in shape 

 as in size. I agree with those who say that 

 the prevailing number is three (and I 

 have examined over one hundred nests) 

 very rarely have I found four and only 

 once five and as two of the five were so 

 different from the others I believe the 

 set was laid by two birds. The earliest 

 date for a complete set was June 8,(88) 

 the latest July 15, (85). 



The birds with two or three excep- 

 tions were very shy and uneasy, leaving 

 the nest at the first alarm (which "by 

 the way " is given by the male who is on 

 the watch continuously) they will secrete 

 themselves in the nearest covert and 

 give vent to their displeasure by an oc- 

 casional " sharp, shrill chirp." They 

 have a very monotonous song which is 

 poured forth from some alder or small 

 tree in slow and troubled manner. After 

 the breeding season is over they are rare 

 and by the middle of September they 

 have all gone south, they arrive in the 

 Spring the middle of May. A common 

 migrant in the Mississippi Valley, 

 breeding from Southern Illinois north- 

 ward. 



Odin, Ills., July 3, 1889. 



The Great White Heron. 



by T. G. Pearson. 



These beautiful birds which are being 

 constantly slaughtered for their plumes 

 and skins are, it is said becoming less 

 numerous each year, and I fear, ere long 

 will become as rare as the Eoseate 

 Spoonbill. 



Their nests as 1 have found them are, 

 as standard authorities say, "placed in 

 almost impenetrable swamps." 



