THE OOLOOIST 



89 



of hovering over its nest at times, com- 

 pleted the finding of it. It was in a 

 tall spruce, about thirty feet up, and 

 out some three feet on a limb, and 

 from the ground looked like one of 

 those bunches that either grow or ac- 

 cumulate in those evergreen sort of 

 trees. Exterior of nest was usnea, 

 with a number of spruce twigs worked 

 in, and was lined with small rootlets. 

 The three eggs in nest were very simi- 

 lar to large sized eggs of the Wood 

 Pewee. Sets of three seem to be the 

 average, and the Olive-sided has the 

 smallest set of any of our New Eng- 

 land Flycatchers. 



Many of the large spruce have that 

 peculiar stringy looking moss, known 

 as usnea, growing on their branches. 

 Some of it grows quite long and thick, 

 and when you see usnea here you are 

 apt to find the Northern Parula Warb- 

 ler nesting. Parulas seem to like to 

 keep together, so when one nest is 

 found you may be quite sure others 

 are nearby as was the case here. The 

 nest is made by bunching up the ends 

 into a sort of ball. The inside, shaped 

 by the birds and strengthened by. add- 

 ing more of the moss, is lined with the 

 same material. The entrance is from 

 a hole in the side. They are one of 

 the prettiest nests made by any of our 

 New England Warblers. Sometimes 

 as many as seven, but usually five 

 eggs, is the complete set. Eggs, white 

 with very fine reddish dots about lar- 

 ger end. 



Standing here on the higher part. of 

 the island, among the homes of the 

 Parula, one feels compelled to admire 

 the beauty of the surroundings. You 

 see that odd, irregular growing moss, 

 usnea, hanging from many of the trees 

 swaying in the ever blowing sea 

 breezes, inhale the strong odor of the 

 fragrant spruce, through the trees you 

 see the restless ocean that encircles 



you on all sides; swat a mosquito. Un- 

 fortunately they are numerous on the 

 island, are quite tame, about the forty- 

 two centimeter size of their race, and 

 work on three eight hour shifts. 



Working your way through the 

 small spruce, where every twig seems 

 to want to give you a dig or scratch, 

 you forget all your troubles when you 

 flush a Myrtle Warbler from her nest 

 in a low spruce. Nests are also found 

 on the lower out-spreading branches 

 of- the larger ones. Nests are made of 

 small twigs, vegetable fibre and grass 

 with a lining of feathers. Sets contain 

 four eggs as a rule, and vary con- 

 siderable in markings. 



After hard tussle with these low 

 spruce, one day, had just seaetd my- 

 self on a wind blown over tree when 

 I noticed a little Winter Wren leave 

 the rooted end. Quickly searching 

 about in the roots, I found the nest; 

 quite a bulky affair of moss and twigs, 

 lined with feathers. It held nine fresh 

 eggs, white with very fine reddish 

 brown dots. It was probably the sec- 

 ond set, as first sets are due the middle 

 of May, and this was late in June. 

 This was the only pair noted. This 

 completes the list of birds I found on 

 Matinicus. It is very pretty along the 

 coast, a mass of huge granite boulders. 

 One can find a fine variety of pretty 

 shaped ones in the smaller sizes. 

 Most of them take on the spherical 

 form due to the ceaseless rolling 

 about by the tides. Prom an inch up-, 

 ward these spherical shaped ones and 

 others of equal beauty appealed to me, 

 and only knew when to stop picking 

 them up, when their weight suggested 

 it. • 



One soon notices how obliging and 

 agreeable the people are, on this and 

 other islands of Maine. Oftentimes 

 on a winter night, I think of the differ- 

 ent ones I have met and wonder, with 



