I 12 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



The American Woodcock. 



(Philohela minor.) 

 The Woodcock is a common summer 

 inhabitant of Massachusetts ; it is one of 

 our earliest spring arrivals, appearing by 

 the 1st of March, and sometimes by the 

 25th of February. When it first arrives it 

 is gregarious, being found in small corr.- 

 panies of seven or eight ; it is nocturnal in 

 its habits, frequenting low swampy thickets, 

 and sometimes bushy pastures. If we 

 stand in the evening in the neighborhood 

 of a low tract of land frequented by these 

 birds, we sometimes hear a number of 

 individuals uttering their note or bleat. 

 Upon flushing one of them they rise twenty 

 or thirty feet in the air, circle around for a 

 few moments, all the time uttering a sharp 

 twitter ; when ready to alight, they partly 

 close their wings, and descend very swiftly, 

 and the air passing through their wings 

 produces a sound similar to that of the 

 JSTight-hawk. About the first of April 

 they commence their duties of incubation ; 

 the nest is nothing but a slight hollow 

 scratched in the leaves by the female bird, 

 the situation usually preferred is a clump 

 of bushes in a swampy locality. I found 

 a nest April 23d, 1883, containing four 

 eggs, I almost stepped on the bird before 

 she could be induced to leave the nest ; 

 after she left it she fluttered along on the 

 ground for a few^ yards as if her leg or 

 wing was broken. I did not follow, think- 

 ing it only a temporary lameness. The 

 four eggs I found in the nest were of a rich 

 creamy drab color, thickly spotted with 

 several shades of brown and obscure lilac, 

 their dimensions was l^fxl/g in., l^fxlg^g 

 in., li|xli§in., and lifxlg^ in. Incuba- 

 tion was far advanced. The Woodcock 

 departs on its southern migration about the 

 middle of November. 



Charles L. Phillips, 

 Dighton, Mass. 



A Downy Woodpecker 



Collectors desiring anything in the 

 stamp or coin line will do well to examine 

 the prices on the lots offered in our adver- 

 tising columns. 



The fact that it is very imeresting to 

 study our winter birds, and that our young- 

 friends can add many grains of value to 

 their bird granary by observation during 

 these cold dreary months, is plainly illust- 

 rated in the following, which we take 

 from an article by John Burroughs, in 

 the December Century, entitled ' ' Winter 

 Neighbors." " My bird is a genuine little 

 savage, doubtless, but I value him as a 

 neighbor. It is a satisfaction during the 

 cold or stormy winter nights to know he is 

 warm and cosy there in his retreat. When 

 the day is bad and unfit to be abroad in, he 

 is Ihere to. When I wish to know if he is 

 at home, I go and rap upon his tree, and, 

 if he is not too lazy or indifferent, after 

 some dela}^ he show^s his head in his door- 

 way about ten feet above, and looks down 

 inquiringly upon me — sometimes latterly I 

 think half resentfully, as much as to say, 

 I thank you not to disturb me so often. 

 After Sundown he will not put his head 

 out any more when I call, but as I step 

 away I can get a glimpse of him inside 

 looking cold and reserved. He is a late 

 riser, especially if it is a cold or disagree- 

 able morning, in this respect being like the 

 barn fowls ; it is sometimes near nine 

 o'clock before I see him leave his tree. 

 On the other hand, he comes home early, 

 being in if the day is unpleasant by 4 p. m. 

 He lives all alone ; in this respect I do not 

 commend his example. Where his mate 

 is I should like to know. 



Humming-birds in California. 



In some parts of the State of California 

 the Humming-birds are very numerous, 

 and, on sunny days, may be seen in all 

 their tropical splendor, buzzing about 

 among the flowers in search of their food. 

 The nest of the Humming-bird is nearly 

 as beautiful as the bird itself, and displays 

 an amount of exquisite workmanship that 

 would seem well calculated to put to shame 

 the owners of more rudely constructed 

 nests. The dainty little hummer usually 

 places its nest on a small limb or twig 



