Notes from Field and Study 



351 



the male and female circled about uttering 

 their usual notes of alarm. The nest had 

 been found by a boy who had stooped to 

 pick up a stone for his sling-shoi, and at 

 that time it contained three 

 eggs, one of which he broke 

 while handling it. The nest 

 was one-fourth mile south 

 of McLean, and on the rock 

 ballast of the right of way 

 of the railroad, and be- 

 tween the double tracks. It 

 was three and one-half feet 

 from the inner rail of the 

 south-bound track. The 

 nest seemed to be slightly 

 hollowed out, and looked 

 as if small flat splinters of 

 stones had been placed in 

 position by the bird build- 

 ing it. There were no pro- 

 tecting weeds or grass, and 

 it was completely exposed. 

 To find out if the bird 

 would stay on the nest while 

 the trains passed, I observed 

 the nest for several days. 

 Before incubation began, 

 the birds would stay near 

 the nest; and, after incuba- 

 tion began, the bird on the 

 nest would remain there 

 until an approaching train 

 was about ten feet distant, 

 and would then rise, and 

 often had hard work to 

 fly out of the draft of 

 wind created by the train. I did not see 

 it stay on the nest while a train passed, 

 and I doubt if it did at night, as the suc- 

 tion from the swiftly moving train must 

 have been too strong, and trains often 

 passed at the rate of fifty miles an hour. 

 The bird would return to the nest as soon 

 as the train had passed. A day or two 

 before my last observations, I saw only 

 one bird, and fear that the other had 

 been killed by the train. On about the 

 day when I expected the eggs to hatch I 

 found no eggs or signs of them, and no 

 young or old bird. What became of them 

 I do not know. 



The location for the nest was probably 

 chosen on account of the rocks used by 

 the railroad for ballast. These were 

 mostly smooth limestone rocks, mixed 



A KILLDE 

 The 



ER'b NEST BETWEEN RAILROAD TRACKS 

 eggs were laid to the right of the hat. See 

 accompanying picture 



with some cinders and pieces of coal. 

 There was a pond a quarter of a mile 

 away, where the birds were often found. 

 The pictures were taken soon after the 

 nest was discovered. — F. W. Aldeich, 

 McLean, III. 



The Shrike in Action ' 



Mr. Berners B. Kelly, in a paper of 

 exceptional interest, published in the 

 November-December, 191 1, issue of Bird- 

 Lore, describes the Northern Shrike's 

 method of dealing instantaneous death to 

 the House Sparrow. 



