Notes from Field and Study 



243 



and in the general appearance of its head 

 and neck, it constantly reminded one of a 

 female Bluebird, although its longer form 

 suggested a slender Thrush, with a hint 

 in its actions, and especially in flight, of 

 the Sage Thrasher. 



When the bird finally left me behind, 

 it flew in the direction of the old orchard 

 where it was first seen, and, later in the 

 day, I again found it there, and spent nearly 

 two hours watching it. Although some- 

 what timid if approached too closely, it 

 took little notice of my presence as long as 

 I remained quiet and at a little distance. 

 While in the orchard it seemed to feed 

 principally on angle worms, which it 

 secured Robin fashion, except that in- 

 stead of watching for them from the 

 ground it would drop down upon them 

 from the lower limbs of the fruit trees, 

 returning immediately to its perch. In 

 fact, during the entire time I watched it, 

 I did not see it take more than half a 

 dozen hops along the ground, and I did 

 not hear it utter a single note. Possibly 

 my presence may have had something to 

 do with this cautious silence. 



It may be that the birds seen were not 

 the same one, and that several were 

 present, but of this I cannot be certain. 

 The locality where it was observed is in 

 the lower foot-hills of the Cascades, and 

 at an altitude of approximately seven or 

 eight hundred feet. 



Of course, it was only a stray, lost 

 in migration, but as I have never seen 

 another such instance recorded, I am 

 inclined to think it a very rare occurrence. 

 — Leslie L. Haskin, Lebanon, Ore. 



Mockingbird in Connecticut 



Saturday afternooli, March 15, the 

 writer was walking along Farmington 

 Avenue in the town of West Hartford, 

 Conn., about 4 miles west of Hartford 

 City Hall. A bird-song of remarkably good 

 quality drew my attention to a nearby 

 back yard. At first I thought it might be 

 a Catbird; later, it very strongly re- 

 minded me of the song of the Brown 

 Thrasher; but investigation showed the 



singer to be a Mockingbird perched in a 

 small peach tree. He did hot sing very 

 much after being discovered, but a few 

 notes were heard. A Robin in a nearby 

 tree attracted his attention and was 

 promptly chased out of the tree, and 

 when last seen the Mocker was flying fast 

 towards Hartford. — Geo. H. Gabriel, 

 Hartford, Conn. 



The Nesting of Robins 



Having read in March-April Bird-Lore, 

 Horace W. Wright's article on 'Robins 

 Repeatedly Using the Same Nest,' I 

 submit to 'Notes from Field and Study,' 

 my observations on their nesting during 

 the past three years. 



In 1916 we built our cottage on the bluff 

 at Wequetonsing, Mich., and when we 

 arrived at our summer home, the latter 

 part of June, we found it already in 

 possession of three families of Robins, who 

 had taken shelter on the inside ledges of 

 two large pillars at either end of our front 

 veranda and on a similar ledge at the side 

 entrance to our cottage. These nests added 

 greatly to the interest and delight of our 

 newly acquired possession. It proved to 

 be one of our chief pleasures to watch our 

 Robin families at close range during this 

 first summer. Our comings in and our 

 goings out and our many delightful days 

 on our veranda did not seem to disturb 

 our bird friends, and we began to feel that 

 a close companionship existed between us. 

 We looked forward with great pleasure to 

 our second summer, hoping to meet our 

 Robin friends again, but having a family 

 of Wrens in a bird-house swinging in a 

 tree directly in front of our veranda, our 

 attention and interest became divided, for 

 while we delighted in the calls of the 

 Robins and their constant presence with 

 us, yet the lovely songs of the Wrens 

 added much to our summer's pleasure. 



As soon as the last birdling had flown 

 from the nests of the Robins (191 7), one 

 morning, to our great surprise, we heard 

 the Wrens making a great commotion, 

 attacking and apparently tearing apart 

 the nests of the Robins. Only two of the 



