58 



THE OOLOGIST 



The End 



With this issue Paul G. Howes 

 closes his contributions, "Bird Collect- 

 ing in Eastern Columbia," which has 

 been running for ten months in the 

 Oologist. We have never received a 

 contribution to this publication which 

 evoked as many unsolicited testi- 

 monials and communications com- 

 mentary thereof. Mr. Howes has 

 placed the readers of this magazine 

 under a deep obligation to him and 

 we all wish him a pleasant winter in 

 California where he is now sojourn- 

 ing. 



Remarks on a Worm Eating Warbler's 

 Nesting 



On or about May 23, 1917, I was 

 quietly watching the restless labor of 

 a Louisiana Water Thrush about a 

 creek gulley in the deep woods near 

 here, when I suddenly spied a brand 

 new bird creeping and flitting along 

 twenty feet distant. It was but a sec- 

 ond before I got the glasses on it, and 

 saw that it was a Worm-eating Warb- 

 ler. More than that, it had a straw in 

 its beak. 



A more unobtrusive little creature 

 than she was would be hard to 

 imagine. Not a peep, nor a scold, or 

 a conspicuous flight all the while I 

 watched her. She would disappear 

 in a tiny patch of dead twigs and 

 weeds in the face of the high steep 

 creek gulley, in a moment to skulk 

 slyly out and to the ground again. 

 Late the next week I came for my 

 first look at the nest and had to search 

 long and carefully over 8 square feet 

 of ravine before I found it — and the 

 sitter did not fly until my hand near- 

 ly touched her, although there were 

 but two fresh eggs. On June 8, I col- 

 lected the full set of five, almost 

 covering the bird with my hand. At 

 no time did I hear or see a male. Dead 

 leaves formed the base of the nest, 



its lining was of moss stems (this is 

 a peculiarity of the Worm-eater, it 

 appears). The dead leaves arched 

 over the nest and the viburnum leaves 

 above it would have made detection 

 quite impossible, had I not seen the 

 female that first day. She flew off 

 trailing courageously each time; but 

 also immediately disappeared. The 

 Water Thrush, Black and White War- 

 bler, and Hooded Warbler were near- 

 nesting neighbors. Two hundred feet 

 away was a nest of the Blue Winged 

 Warbler. The eggs are large for the 

 family and look somewhat like House 

 Wren eggs — they are a bit larger, 

 however. 



Raymond Fuller, 

 White Plains. 

 Westchester Co., N. Y. 



Record of Nests of the Season 1917 

 The following list is very incomplete 

 there being numerous other nests 

 such as Orioles, Vireos, Robins and 

 others high up in the shade trees that 

 I was unable to examine. 



70 Common Tern. Thousands breed- 

 ing on an island, in Long Island 

 Sound. 



191 Least Bittern. 1-4. 



201 Green Heron. 1-4, 1-4, 1-5. 



202 Black-crowned Night Heron. 

 Hundreds breeding in a swamp near 

 New London. 



214 Carolina Rail; Sora. 1-9, 1-5. 



263 Spotted Sandpiper. 1-3, 1-4. 



333 Cooper Hawk. 1-3. 



339 Red-Shouldered Hawk. 1-4. 



364 American Osprey; Fish Hawk. 

 Colony of 30 pairs breeding on a farm 

 near New London. 



373 Screech Owl. 1-4. 



388 Black-billed Cuckoo. 3 nests 

 with young. 



390 Kingfisher. 1-6, 1-4. 



394. Downy Woodpecker. 1-5. 



412 Flicker. 1-9, 1-7, 1-6, 2 with 

 young. 



