THE OOLOOIST 



87 



species of bird will construct a nest 

 so finely woven together and with 

 such a variety of materials that the 

 result is a thing of beauty and a joy 

 forever, ever exciting our admiration 

 as a piece of bird architecture, while 

 another species will fling together a 

 few materials in so careless a manner 

 that the whole affair will fall apart 

 when removed from the site which 

 contains it. Yes, why is it? Now 

 don't all speak out at once. Strange, 

 isn't it? This nest of Vesper Spar- 

 row was on the side of a sharp slope, 

 at the base of sprouts among weeds 

 projecting above the other grasses. 

 The structure was made of fine grass 

 stems, with lining of similar materials. 

 The nest was a mere lining to the de- 

 pression which held it, having no 

 definite form of itself, but rather con- 

 forming to the hollow selected to serve 

 the builder's purpose. This nest held 

 four fresh eggs, the usual complement. 

 Note: The present address of the 

 writer is 404 Fredonia St,, Peoria, 

 Illinois, 



1916 LIST OF ILLINOIS NESTS. 



Seeing Mr, McMullen's list of New 

 Jersey nests in the September (1916) 

 issue of the Oologist caused me to go 

 over my notes for this season. I found 

 425 nests among which were seventy- 

 two species. These were found in four 

 counties; Champaign and Piatt Coun- 

 ties in Central and Cook and Lake 

 Counties in northeastern Illinois, 



The list is as follows: (Black Tern, 

 Least Bittern, Green Heron, King Rail, 

 Virginia Rail, Florida Gallinule, Wood- 

 cock, Bartramian Sandpiper, Prairie 

 Hen, Mourning Dove, Cooper's, Red- 

 tailed, Red-shouldered and Sparrow 

 Hawks, Long-eared, Barred, Screech, 

 Gt. Horned and Barn Owls, Yellow 

 and Black-billed Cuckoos, Belted King- 

 fisher, Hairy, Downy, Red-headed and 

 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Flicker, 



Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hum- 

 mer, Kingbird, Phoebe, Wood Pewee, 

 Green-crested Flycatcher, Blue Jay, 

 Am, Crow, Bobolink, Cowbird, Yellow- 

 headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, 

 Meadowlark, Bronzed Grackle, Gold- 

 finch, English Sparrow, Vesper, Chip- 

 ping, Field and Song Sparrows, Tow- 

 hee. Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 

 Indigo Bunting, Dicksissel, Cliff, Barn 

 and Rough-winged Swallows, Cedar 

 Waxwing, Migrant Shrike, Red-eyed 

 Vireo, Prothonatory and Yellow Warb- 

 lers, Am. Redstart, Catbird, Thrasher, 

 Carolina, House and Long-billed Marsh 

 Wrens, White-breasted Nuthatch, Tuft- 

 ed Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, 

 Wood Thrush, Robin, and Bluebird, 

 Walter A, Goelitz, 

 Ravinia, 111. 



BIRD NOTES FROM MATINICUS, 

 MAINE. 



In lower Penobscot Bay, twenty-five 

 miles out from the mainland, to be 

 nearly exact, lies a wooded island, 

 called Matinicus, Rising just up out 

 of the rough old ocean, its altitude 

 above sea level can hardly be over a 

 hundred feet, it looks like a fine little 

 piece of the mainland transplanted out 

 in the briny deep. It is the summer 

 home of certain song and insectivorous 

 birds, but of none of the so-called sea 

 birds, 



• In area, this island is about two 

 miles long by a mile wide and is known 

 as a plantation. 



The inhabitants are nearly all fisher- 

 men, and number about one hundred 

 eighty. 



Although the soil is intermixed with 

 a great many small stones, there are 

 some very fine grass grown fields. On 

 the eastern end, a large marsh where 

 thousands of the common blue flags 

 grow, presents a pretty scene. In 

 much of the wooded section, the 



