218 



THE OOLOGIST 



I arrived back "home" in time to 

 find a nest of Maryland Yellowthroat 

 containing four eggs and a nest of 

 Prairie Warbler, built about ten feet 

 from the ground in a four pronged 

 fork of a pine sapling. The four eggs 

 that it contained were transformed 

 into as many lusty youngsters on the 

 following morning. It may seem 

 strange to many collectors to find a 

 nest of this species in such a location, 

 but both parent birds were seen a 

 number of times and the song of the 

 male could be heard in the woods 

 at almost any time during the day. 



Bird nesting on the next day was 

 limited to a stroll in the woods of 

 the "home" island. On a sandy ridge 

 with a sparse growth of sassafras and 

 wild cherry trees, I found three nests 

 of Crested Flycatcher, each contain- 

 ing five eggs. 



On June 9th, we again visited the 

 marsh where we were on the 4th. I 

 was determined to have a good look 

 into the Laughing Gull nests. My 

 guide landed me upon the shore of the 

 marsh, and gave me directions how to 

 go to a part of the marsh that was 

 so hard to reach that the eggers sel- 

 dom molested the birds there. I start- 

 ed upon one of the hardest, grueling 

 jobs of marsh wading I had ever un- 

 dertaken. I would sink into the mud, 

 almost to my knees with every step 

 taken and in one place while crossing 

 one of the hundreds of creeks, I sank 

 into the mud up to my hips, and the 

 worst feature of the job was there 

 was no place to sit down and rest for 

 a single instant. I had six hours of 

 this and saw hundreds of nests con- 

 taining three eggs and a number with 

 two which evidently were full sets in 

 such instances, as incubation had be- 

 gun. The tide, which covers the 

 marsh, when full, was beginning to 

 come in, making the wading harder 

 and the creeks fuller of water and 



harder to ford, before I came to the 

 shore and the waiting boat. To say 

 that I was "all in," would express it 

 mildly. 



On June 12th, while coming away 

 from the Black Skimmer colony, 

 where several full sets of four were 

 seen, Wilson's Plover was flushed 

 from its nest which contained three 

 eggs. No nest — simply a slight de- 

 pression in the sand. 



Two days later, my son and I were 

 returning to the boat from a walk on 

 another island, when I almost step- 

 ped upon a Willet as she flew from 

 her nest containing four eggs. The 

 nest was composed of of dried beach 

 grass, and was concealed under a 

 growing bunch of grass. 



On July 16th, we found two more 

 sets of Crested Flycatchers, both of 

 four eggs and two sets of Flicker of 

 five and six eggs respectively, as well 

 as a nest full of young Flickers just 

 ready to leave the nest. One nest of 

 Crested Flycatcher was composed 

 largely of wing tips (bone included) 

 and pieces of skin, with the feathers 

 attached of the Knot, that had no 

 doubt been illegally killed, for as late 

 as June 9th, there were still small 

 flocks of Knot and Turnstones upon 

 the beaches, and I was told that they 

 were being shot daily. 



Other visits to "Sandy Island" on 

 June 17th and 19th showed the effects 

 of the eggers. Only at the farthest 

 end, where the eggers would have to 

 walk about five miles, were the Black 

 Skimmers unmolested. Most of the 

 nests at other places were empty or 

 contained but one or two eggs. An- 

 other nest of Oystercatcher was 

 seen; it contained two eggs and had 

 no lining whatever, the eggs being 

 laid in a depression in the sand. On 

 the 19th, we found two more nests of 

 Crested Flycatcher containing four 

 and five eggs respectively. The Fly- 



