88 



THE OOLOGIST 



and this time found a Red-tailed 

 Hawk's nest with three young, just 

 hatched in a large oak tree 45 feet 

 from the ground. 



The nest was large and had been 

 used in previous years for the lower 

 part of nest was badly decayed, while 

 the top was new. The next thing to 

 notice was how they were provided 

 with food. I found headquarters of two 

 squirrels, one rat, one ground mouse 

 and five mice lying on edge of nest. 

 Left Hawks at this time but went 

 back two weeks later to get them and 

 was surprised to find but one, which 

 I got and mounted. 



S. Ward Reed, 

 Ottawa, Kansas. 



NESTING OF SWAINSON'S WARB- 

 LER IN ATLANTA 



On the outskirts of Atlanta is a sec- 

 tion of the original forest containing 

 more than 200 acres as rich in Warblers 

 as any piece of woodland I ever explor- 

 ed. While the nests of all the fourteen 

 species listed here have not been 

 found, it is reasonably certain that the 

 following Warblers breed: Black and 

 White, Swainson's, Worm Eating, Blue 

 Winged, Cerulean, Yellow Throat, 

 Pine, Prairie, Kentucky, and Hooded 

 Warblers; Maryland Yellow Throat, 

 Yellow-breasted Chat, Louisiana Water- 

 thrush, and Red Start. 



Several of these species are not gen- 

 erally supposed to breed so far south, 

 atid deserve special notice. One nest 

 and eggs of the Black and White Warb- 

 ler has been found here and one pair, 

 at least, of the Worm-eating Warbler 

 was resident here through the breed- 

 ing season of 1916, one female being 

 taken June 1. 



While collecting some late migrants 

 on May 3, 1916, I shot a female Blue- 

 winged Warbler, and was surprised to 

 find an egg nearly ready to lay in the 



oviduct. Later in the season Prof. D. 

 C. Peacock saw a family of young Red- 

 wings with one of the parent birds. 



The Ceruleans unquestionably breed 

 in the big poplars and sycamores 

 where they may be heard singing in 

 the breeding season, but long search 

 for a nest has produced nothing but a 

 stiff neck. After the leaves fell, one 

 fall, 1 located what 1 am sure was a 

 Cerulean nest, saddled far out on a 

 sycamore limb fully 70 feet up. 



Kentucky Warblers breed in large 

 numbers in these woods, and I have 

 found several nests with eggs or 

 young. Only one nest of the Louisiana 

 Waterthrush has been found but sev- 

 eral pairs summer here So far as 1 

 have been able to learn, this is the 

 most southern point in Georgia where 

 the Red Start breeds, five nests with 

 eggs or young being found in elm or 

 birch trees by the three ornithologists 

 who have done field work here. 



So far as my knowledge goes, only 

 two records of Swainson's Warblers 

 around Atlanta have come to my 

 notice. One shot May 4th, 1898 by 

 Robert W. Smith, atid a female taken 

 by writer April 2, 1907, and these were 

 supposed to be migrants. This species 

 breeds regularly along the Georgia 

 Coast, near Savannah and in the Sa- 

 vannah river valley near Augusta, at 

 an altitude of about 150 feet, and it 

 always has been regarded, throughout 

 its range, as a bird of the coastal 

 plains or river valleys. Hence, as At- 

 lanta, has an altitude of 1050 feet, the 

 highest city of its size east of the 

 Mississippi, it was a most agreeable 

 surprise one May day while looking 

 for Hooded Warblers' nests in a 

 thicket along a stream flowing through 

 these woods, to find a Swainson's 

 Warbler in full song. The bird »vas 

 very unsuspecting and walked to with- 

 in ten feet of me as I crouched in the 

 bushes, thrilling me with its rich and 

 ringing song. 1 have since heard the 



