THE OOLOQIST 



209 



fore they have learned to fly will run 

 at an intruder and endeavor to strike 

 him with the beak. They will drive a 

 dog away in a hurry if he should get 

 to be too familiar. They do not usual- 

 ly learn to fly until early in Septem- 

 ber. 



R. P. Sharpies. 

 West Chester, Pa. 



Medina, N. Y., Nov. 25th, 1916. 

 Some Orleans County, N. Y., Notes. 

 During the spring of 1915, in com- 

 pany with Mr. Roy Hill, a collector 

 of earlier days, the Writer paid a vis- 

 it to the old Heronry, in the Tonawan- 

 da Swamp, near West Barre. Leav- 

 ing the road, on foot we had very lit- 

 tle difficulty in making our way along 

 the banks of the ditch, which drained 

 the swamp and several Gt. Blue's 

 were noted flying to and from the 

 rookery and soon we were among the 

 nesting trees. The greater number 

 of nests were above thirty feet up and 

 four nests was as many as I counted 

 in any one tree. The trees containing 

 nests were all old and mostly rotten 

 and dangerous climbing. I examined 

 two nests, they contained three eggs 

 each, both sets fresh and warm; I 

 also heard young birds from the 

 ground in other trees. Mr. Hill said 

 there was about seventy pair in the 

 rookery which would give it an in- 

 crease of twenty pair since 

 1908, according to Mr. Eaton's notes 

 (in Birds of New York) which 

 said it contained about fifty pair then. 

 Formerly, before the Farming Co. cut 

 in the ditch the water was waist deep 

 at this season but now is as dry as 

 tinder. 



Later on 1 saw a Tree Swallow 

 leave a hole in a dead stub on bank 

 of ditch. On close examination, I 

 found cavity was fresh cut by Wood- 

 peckers and was surprised to find a 

 set of eight fresh eggs, the yolks 



plainly showing through, on a nest of 

 chips and a few grass stems and feath- 

 ers. 1 think this set of eight was a 

 little out of the ordinary. 



In the marshes further south I 

 flushed a Least Bittern from rushes 

 and found set of four fresh eggs on 

 neat platform about one foot above 

 water. 



Sora and Virginia Rails formerly 

 nested here in large colonies, but the 

 only results from a close search was 

 an abandoned nest of Sora Rail with 

 three punctured shells probably the 

 work of Purple Grackles. 



On the higher knolls we found four 

 completed nests of No. Yellowthroat 

 and one of Mourning Warbler but was 

 a little early for eggs. La. Water- 

 thrushes and one pair or Crested Fly- 

 catchers were seen, also Red Wings 

 and Swamp Sparrows, which were 

 quite common. 



I have been told boys here collect- 

 ed Rails eggs by the bucket full and 

 one lad found eight sets of Am. Bit- 

 tern in one patch of swale. 



There is certainly a lot of bird life 

 destroyed by Grackles in these parts 

 and I thing they ought to be thinned 

 out a few. — It's too bad. 



I have added a set of Wilson's 

 Snipe, four eggs and patch of nest 

 to my collection. Set was collected 

 near West Barre, N. Y. 



Harold Meyers. 

 Medina, N. Y. 



What Has Become of the Purple 

 Finch? 



This hardy, social and beautiful bird 

 has always been a favorite of mine 

 and in this section at least is becom- 

 ing quite rare. I have only seen one 

 spring male during the past ten years. 

 At my boyhood home in Deep River, 

 Conn., during the early 70's they were 

 abundant. In lower end of our gar- 

 den grew a large crab-apple tree and 



