54 



THE OOLOGIST 



low which contained two large nests, 

 evidently Hawks, but there being a 

 large ditch full of water between us 

 and the tree, the idea of going up was 

 postponed until a later date. 



On our w^y home from here we dis- 

 covered a large colony of Black 

 Crowned Night Herons nesting, but as 

 the nests were in trees standing in the 

 middle of the stream, we also post- 

 poned this climb. The next time I 

 write you I will enclose pictures of 

 this colony, and give the result of our 

 next expedition there. 



REN M. LEE, 

 Tulare, Calif. 



GROUND NESTING OFTHE BROWN 

 THRASHER 



In the Handbook of Birds of East- 

 ern North America (Chapman) it is 

 stated that the Brown Thrasher nests 

 "in bushes, thickets, or on the 

 ground." 



In a good many years of field obser- 

 vations in Illinois, Indiana and Npw 

 York, I have found only one nest of 

 this species on the ground. My notes 

 for 1913, June 17, in Logan County, 

 Illinois, record the finding of a Brown 

 Thrasher's nest in a pasture, on the 

 ground at the base of a large bush, 

 the lower portion of which had been 

 browsed by cattle. The nest was of 

 the usual construction, and it con- 

 tained one egg which, as I found by 

 subsequent observation, had been 

 abandoned. 



Are ground nest of this bird as rare 

 as my experience would indicate or 

 does it nest more commonly on the 

 ground in certain localities? 



Oliver Davis, in his Nests and Eggs 

 of North American Birds, states that 

 the Brown Tlirasher builds its nest in 

 low bushes or on stumps, in clusters 

 of wild vines and briars, in heaps of 

 brush-wood and often on the ground. 



Continuing, he says: "When the nest 

 is placed on the ground where the soil 

 is wet and clayey the eggs become 

 addled; three instances of this kind 

 have come under my notice and the 

 eggs have failed to hatch." 



Such observations as these would 

 seem to indicate that the few in- 

 stances of ground nesting are due to 

 perverted instinct. 



A. D. Du Bois, 

 327 Sotuh Glenwood Ave., 

 Springfield, 111. 

 In 45 years we have found but one 

 nest of this species on the ground. 

 — R. M. B. 



UNEXPECTED TAKES 



During my experience afield when 

 searching for nest, hunting, trapping 

 and fishing I have several times been 

 surprised by suddenly and most un- 

 expectedly coming upon something 

 that I had long been on the lookout for 

 without success. 



In my mounted collection I have 

 several rare specimens that I took in 

 this way. 



After my collection contained most 

 of the different animals, birds and 

 eggs found in this region there were 

 still a few rarities that I had failed to 

 connect with. 



One of these was a, specimen of *-Iie 

 Cross Fox, which although scarce is 

 taken every year, but is just a chance. 

 Up until the fall of 1909 my chance to 

 get one had failed, to arrive 



I went out occasionally after foxes 

 and although on two occasions I saw 

 at a distance what I am positive was a 

 Cross, when we shot a fox it was al- 

 ways a Red. The same thing happened 

 when trapping, they were always red. 



Late in the fall of 1909 one morning 

 I got on to a famous squirrel ridge a 

 few miles from here at day light. I 

 sat down on a log and had been there 



