THE OOLOGIST. 



53 



Nest and Eggs of the Olive-backed 

 Thrush. 



{Ihrdus sioainsonii.) 



T17HILE on a collecting tour in the White 

 ' ' Mountains I stopped a few days at 

 North Conway, in company with Mr. H. 

 T. Hobart of Passaic, N. J. On July 11, 

 a week from the day we arrived there, we 

 started in the early morning to go up Moat 

 Mt. fishing for trout. Late in the after- 

 noon we commenced to descend tlie Mount- 

 ain, and it was about half way down that 

 we came across the subject of this para- 

 graph. Mr. Hobart first saw the nest with 

 the bird on it, 'and pointed it out to me. 



The locality was a swampy thicket. T'he 

 nest was built about nine feet from the 

 groimd in a young hemlock tree very near 

 the main stem. When I ascended to the 

 nest, the female sat so close that I nearly 

 captured her with my hand. When she 

 flew from the nest, slie lit on a branch a 

 few feet distant, watching with silent anx- 

 iety, for she made no complaint. 



The nest was made of the same materials 

 as the Wood Thrush uses, but was a trifle 

 smaller. The eggs were of a deep green- 

 ish-blue, and marked with distinct spots 

 and dots of reddish -brown. They were 

 three in number, and measured .93 by .64 

 inch, .93 by .63 inch, and .92 by 63 inch, 

 Unfortunately we had no means of securing 

 the birds. C. Algeu Hx\wes. 



Our correspondent, Mr. Ballon, sends 

 us the following: " It would seem from a 

 previous note on the subject* that Sterna 

 macroura is by no means backward in pop- 

 ulating the country. The numbers also 

 given were sufficient to shock most people, 

 but it was the beginning of a tale of which 

 there is no end. They were found breed- 

 ing all through the summei', and on the 10 

 of September a visit was made to a solitaiy 

 island in Lake Erie, known as the Middle 

 Sister, where simply vast numbers of fresh 

 laid eggs and young birds were seen and 



*See page 29, No. 4 of the present Vol. 



some of the latter taken. The lateness of 

 the season, which must have been prolonged 

 through the equinox, would indicate a hard- 

 y nature and daring. 



"Opposite Cairo, Ills., a somewhat sim- 

 ilar instance occurred to my personal knowl- 

 edge. Llere as late as the 8th of Novem- 

 ber, in 1876, the Red-headed Woodpecker 

 was found breeding plentifully. However, 

 the heat was almost fierce there at the time, 

 and it may have been an accidental circum- 

 stance brought about by a condition of the 

 weather." 



Collecting unper Difficulties. — Ear- 

 ly in March, before I had fairly commenc- 

 ed collecting eggs, I chanced upon a nest 

 and six eggs of the Common Crow (G. a- 

 ■mericana) , but unfortunately my horse was 

 out that day, and 1 had borrowed a young 

 wiry mustang, just taken oflT the rau<>e and 

 almost too tliiu to make a shadow, but all 

 the fire of his illustrious ancestry flashed 

 from his vicioxis eyes. I was charged to 

 " be careful," but became so lost in the large 

 set of eggs, that I tied them up in my hand- 

 kerchief, gathered up the rein, placed the 

 left foot in the stirrup, and holding the white 

 handkerchief in my right hand, I rested the 

 fore-arm just behind the saddle and made a 

 leap : just at the same instant the nuistang 

 placed his head between his fore-legs, ai'ch- 

 ed his back beautifully, and made a spi'ing 

 which sent me through the air on a "'flying 

 leap," and landed me some distance away. 

 Picking myself up, I looked about, and 

 such another mess of eggs I never saw ! 



Young Collector. 



From Mr. Ballon, who has explored a 

 large portion of the shores and islands of 

 Lake Erie, we learn that the only nesting 

 place of the Herring Gull about the Lake is 

 Point aux Pelee Isle. In the Adirondack 

 Mountains of New York it is a very com- 

 mon bird, thousands breeding on the rocky 

 shores of the numerous lakes of that re- 

 gion. They also nest commonly on Lake 

 Ontario and the St. Lawrence river. 



