28 



THE OOLOGIST. 



nest. Occasionally bits of wood will be 

 found in such juxtaposition as to appear 

 like a rude forna of nest. 



The discovery of the remains of birds 

 near these eggs will probably determine, at 

 least approximately to what family these 

 curious objects belong, and then a disqui- 

 sition on this subject would be of incalcu- 

 lable interest. 



Nest of the Chickadee. — Unlike most 

 birds nesting in holes and crevices, this 

 bird builds a complete and compact nest, 

 lining sometimes not only the bottom, but 

 sides of the hollow. The nest is made most- 

 ly of what seems to be the decayed or dis- 

 colored portions of moss, intermixed with 

 different kinds of live moss, pieces of dried 

 grass, hair, a little wool, and a small quan- 

 tity of wood-dust, the last evidently from the 

 bottom of the hole. The nests examined 

 were the same thickness in every part, and 

 neatly and strongly put together, the grass- 

 es and other materials which are interwov- 

 en seeming to give them firmness and solid- 

 ity. I do not think these birds always con- 

 struct nests in the hollows occupied by them, 

 for a cavity containing eggs was found this 

 year in Herkimer County (N. Y.), which 

 I learned on inquiry consisted of only a few 

 chips and hairs at the bottom. ]Mr. T. G. 

 Gentry says the nest is built of the fur of 

 small quadrupeds, the down of birds, dry 

 grasses and mosses, which are placed and 

 contracted into a purse-like opening when 

 the nest is unnecessarily large. The cavi- 

 ty selected is from five to ten or fifteen feet 

 up, and is generally of large size. Some- 

 times it hollows out its own nest, and quite 

 often lays its eggs in crannies or fissures in 

 rocks or other suitable situations. 



The eggs are from five to seven or eight, 

 white, and speckled either with reddish or 

 black dots, thickest usually on the large 

 end. They are of about the size of those 

 of the Yellow Warbler. If disturbed and 

 the eggs taken, it will usually continue to 

 lay until the requisite number have been 

 laid. The birds commence to build quite 



early in the spring, frequently in the mid- 

 dle of March. If they find no hollow al- 

 ready adapted for occupation they make 

 one for themselves, and this with the nest- 

 building proper takes them some time. A- 

 bout the middle of April, sometimes soon- 

 er, they commence to lay, and by the tenth 

 of May the young are hatched. Avis. 



We have a letter from one of our best 

 observers of bird-life on the breeding of the 

 Great Northern Shrike, which, with other 

 interesting oological matter crowded out of 

 tliis issue, will appear in the next number. 

 We invite a perusal of the article, and 

 would request that collectors having oppor- 

 tunity for observing the nesting habits of 

 this bird would communicate the facts to 

 us for publication. A description of the 

 nest is also desirable. 



Methods of Climbing in Obtaining 

 Nests. 



BY W. H. BALLOU. 



EN are born to climb as well as to 

 rule, and of the two, probably the 

 former occupation has the most rep- 

 resentatives. To those who are natural 

 artists in the science of obtaining eminence 

 in trees there probably will be few instruc- 

 tions here applicable. But to those, who, 

 like the author, are short-limbed and long- 

 bodied, or otherwise unfit or unable from 

 indisposition or adverse anatomical con- 

 struction, to soar up a tree, the instructions 

 herein will not come amiss. 



On the whole climbing irons are a fail- 

 ure, for unless a person has stout nerves 

 and a strong brain he can make but little 

 headway. The feet get cramped and tired 

 oat, the legs become stiffened with pain, 

 and the shock to the system occasioned by 

 climbing is made doubly worse by the use 

 of the irons. Never attempt to use them 

 on a hard seasoned tree without bark, nor 

 a limbless tree that you cannot reach a- 



Vk>^ 



