IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



^7 



ing grounds, "The Ledges". 



Our robins have been with us 

 a month — the blue-birds nearly 

 as long. The migratory birds 

 have been moving continually 

 since the latter part of February, 

 the first robin being reported 

 Feb. 18,1894. 



Trees and shrubs are budding, 

 the blue-birds, the harbingers of 

 spring, are warbling everywhere. 

 Going south from the city, we 

 pass the home of the Hon. Chas. 

 Aldrich. It seems that the birds 

 know that their friend and pro- 

 tector lives here for we see many 

 robins and blue birds by the 

 house. The shrubbery along the 

 ravine south of the Aldrich home 

 is full of noisy tree sparrows, the 

 welcome notes of the meadow 

 and prairie horned larks come 

 from yonder prairie and ploughed 

 field. 



Look across yonder field — can 

 you see the meadow-lark with his 

 rich markings of golden-yellow 

 and black — he is. fat and plump 

 enjoying to be with us once more 

 after his sojourn in the sunny 

 south. As we near the woods 

 his sweet and melodious notes 

 come to us with the breeze. At 

 this time of the year the 

 larks are more shy than dur- 

 ing the summer months. 



By 10 o'clock my friend and I 



reached the southeast edge of the 

 timber. Here we concluded to 

 eat our lunch before going into 

 the heavy part of the woods. 



Luncheon over, we start down 

 Pea's Branch, a pretty stream of 

 water which passes through the 

 Ledges and empties into the Des 

 Moines river. The scenery along 

 this tiny stream is romantic. The 

 huge rocks and bluffs of sand- 

 stone are the ledges proper. Here 

 is the favorite nesting place of 

 the Red-tailed Hawk. 



Old trees contain the treasures 

 of the Bubo. 



That the Red-tail Hawks have 

 not been idle during the few 

 weeks of good weather, is proved 

 by the new nest in a basswood 

 tree across the ravine. Nests of 

 last year had been added to and 

 improved. Coming to an old 

 nest that looked promising, my 

 friend said to me, "There is the 

 nest we are looking for." Three 

 Red-tails circling in the vicinity 

 looked favorable indeed. My 

 friend had no more than stared to 

 climb the tree until the hawks 

 were upon the scene of action — 

 screaming and circling around the 

 nest, which I have no doubt was 

 theirs — the two most concerned 

 being a male and a female. Reach- 

 ing the nest, my friend reported 

 it empty. We found several 



