THE OOLOGIST. 



April 18. Four Pied-billed Grebe on 

 the pond. 



April 20 Robins, Blackbirds (Bronzed 

 Grackle), and Brown Thrushes begin- 

 ning to build their nests. 



April 24 Saw the first Catbird of the 

 season. Also the first Baltimore Oriole. 

 The woods are full of the regular sum- 

 mer birds. 



April 25. Observed a Scarlet Tana- 

 ger, the first one I ever saw in this vi- 

 cinity. It is a very beautiful bird. 



April 27. Saw a pair of Kingbirds, 

 or "Bee Martins, " the first of the sea- 

 son. I think they travel in solitary 

 pairs. (It is likely that this observation 

 will hold in the majority of instances. 

 P. M. S.)] 



April 28. A Robin's nest, which was 

 commenced on th« 20th, was finished 

 and ready for use by the 25th. To-day 

 the first egg was laid, Also found a 

 Brown Thrush's nest with one egg al- 

 ready laid. Wishing to try an experi- 

 ment, I put the Thrush's egg in place of 

 the Robin's egg, but the Robins desert- 

 ed the nest. 



April 29. Saw a flock of Cedar birds 

 flying about this morning, the last day 

 I noted them (added later.) Also saw 

 a Ground Robin, or Towhee. A'so a 

 Green Heron along the creek. 



April 30. Found an egg of a Blue- 

 bird in a nest in a hollow post along 

 the railroad. (Another example of full 

 data, P.M. S.) 



Mry 3. Took two eggs of Bluebird 

 from a nest in another hollow post 

 along the railroad. There were five 

 eggs in the nest. The birds kept on in- 

 cubating, and I had the pie' pure of 

 knowing that the remaining eggs 

 hatched out and the young went forth 

 safely. 



May 9. Bobolinks appeared in a low 

 pasture south of town, and remained 

 around for about two weeks. The pas- 

 ture is low and wet, having a ditch run- 

 ning across it. The Bobolink sits upon 

 the ground or on a tuft of grass, and 



utters its jingling song, and when 

 alarmed it flies up, singing a < it flies. 



May 18. A boy in town found a 

 Mocking Bird's nest in a hedge, con- 

 taining four eggs. The egg is a dark 

 grayish color, spotted with brown. I 

 have seen several pairs flying about, 

 but I did not know that they bred 

 around here. 



May 24. Camped out on Sugar creek. 

 We found a nest of the Jaybird (Blue 

 Jay,) containing six eggs, with embryos 

 nearly developed. 



About dark the Whip-poor-wills be- 

 gan to utter' their notes, which sound 

 nearly like those of the Quail (Bob- 

 white,) repeated rapidly half a dozen or 

 more times. They kept it up until al- 

 most midnight, when they ceased until 

 about an hour before dawn; then they 

 began again, and kept it up until day- 

 light. 



Found a Wood Thrush.s nest, con- 

 taining two eggs of its own and one of 

 the Cowbird's, which is a very pale 

 grayish blue, spotted with brown. The 

 eggs were warm when found, and an 

 unknown bird was sitting upon the 

 nest. (Identification, surel P. M. S.> 

 Robins and Brown Thrashers have 

 hatched and reared one brood, and 

 some of them are preparing to rear an- 

 other brood. 



Field Notes From Manitoba. 



NESTING OF THE LOON. 



It was while reading the notes on the 

 Loon, in John Macoun's cata,logue of 

 Canadian birds. Part I , that I decided 

 to write a few notes on this species and 

 present chem to the readers of the 

 OoLOGi.sT. This bird is fairly numer- 

 ous in my locality, and although I have 

 not had as good opportunities to ob- 

 serve it in its caiive haunts, as the 

 species I last wrote about, I would like 

 to contribute a few notes regarding its 

 habits distribution and identificaMon. 



It is only during the last three seasons 



