104 



THE OOLOGIST 



22, 1916. This was Sunday and as it 

 was rather late for most of the birds, 

 I was out mainly to take some bird 

 notes and collecting eggs if I should 

 find any fresh sets. A negro, who 

 knew that I collected eggs, met me 

 and told me that he knew where there 

 was a nest that had four spotted eggs 

 in it. Thinking that he had found a 

 wren's nest I went with him to the 

 place. 



He took me to a very dark, shady 

 pine woods; in this woods there was 

 a deep gully that had been cut by the 

 winter rains but now had only a very 

 small stream of water running in it. 

 On the edge of this gully there was a 

 large pine tree which had the dirt 

 washed from under its roots on one 

 side forming a shelter both from wind 

 and rain. Under the roots of this tree 

 was the nest of the Louisiana Water 

 Thrush. 



For a long time I was unable to see 

 the sitting bird although I was within 

 a few feet of her, until she was point- 

 ed out to me. On approaching closer 

 to the nest she left it and fluttered 

 along the ground, very much like the 

 Chuck-Will's-Widow, trying to decoy 

 me away from the nest. 



The nest was one of the most beauti- 

 ful pieces of bird architecture that I 

 had ever seen. The foundation was 

 made of oak leaves stuck together 

 with mud. This foundation was about 

 six inches thick. On top of this was 

 the nest proper made entirely of yel- 

 low grass from the surrounding fields. 

 On further investigation I found that 

 the nest contained four eggs but they 

 were so badly incubated that I was 

 unable to blow them. 



This was the first and the only rec- 

 ord that I have of the nesting of the 

 Louisiana Water Thrush. 



DeLoach Martin. 



Breeding of the Kentucky Warbler 

 in Delaware 



Next to the Osprey and Fish Crow, 

 the Kentucky Warbler is probably 

 Delaware's most common breeder. 



It commences to nest about the 20th 

 of May and sometimes earlier, but as 

 a rule they begin about the 20th. 



The nest is made of leaves first, 

 placed in the shape of a cone at the 

 foot of small bushes or trees and 

 usually in damp woodland. Next a 

 layer of rootlets which are also usual- 

 ly black. 



In making the nest, the bird takes 

 from four to six days,, but five is a 

 safe average with one day for each 

 egg, which from my experience I 

 should say was laid about 9:00 to 

 11:00 a. m. 



Full sets of Kentucky Warbler vary 

 from three to five, and very often con- 

 tain a Cowbird's egg, which some- 

 times does and sometimes does not 

 seem to hinder them from laying five 

 eggs. The eggs have a ground color 

 of white or a light cream with a 

 wreath of brown or reddish brown 

 spot. 



I do not think I need describe this 

 Warbler, but for the sake of quick 

 classification in the field, I might say 

 that to me the most distinguishing 

 marks are the yellow line above and 

 in back of the eye, and the black face 

 and sides of the neck. The song is a 

 less distinct "Teacher" than the Oven- 

 bird's and is longer, starting rather 

 low and continuing higher, seeming 

 to fill the whole woods. 



The following extracts from dates 

 give some idea of the variation of 

 their breeding. 



May 30, n-4, incubation fresh. 



May 31, n-4 and one Cowbird; in- 

 cubation fresh. 



June 4, n-4, incubation commenced. 



June 15, n-4, incubation fresh. 



May 27, n-5, incubation fresh. 



