124 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Van Bnren County, Arkansas, Notes. 



Before commencing with the notes, per- 

 haps it would not be amiss to state that 

 The Oologist finds its way this far into the 

 wilderness, and with no regrets on my part. 

 It well deserves the patronage of every oolo- 

 gist. 



The birds locating in this neighborhood 

 are of many varieties and numerous, though 

 their nests are more difficult to find than in 

 a more settled country. Some of the most 

 conspicuous are as follows: 



March 16th, Carrion Crow— By accident 

 while rolling stones I found a nest contain- 

 ing two fresh eggs. The bird was fright- 

 ened from her nest by the thundering noise 

 of the boulders on their downward course. 

 Upon searching a few minutes the nest was 

 found in the bottom of a crack in the rock. 

 I descended about ten feet into the opening 

 and secured a set of two fine eggs, which 

 were placed upon a bed of drifted leaves. 

 Thev were fresh and of a dirty cream color, 

 blotched with reddish brown find an occa- 

 sional spot of lilac aggregating at the larger 

 end. 



They were very different in shape. Length 

 3.25 by 2.10. 



April 21st, Black Cappped Titmouse — 

 When coming in from a turkey hunt one 

 morning carrying a gobbler on my back, I 

 noticed a small hole in a decaying pine 

 stump, • Upon investigating I found it to 

 be occupied by the female Chickadee engag- 

 ed in setting. She did not leave the nest 

 when I looked in. but awaited further devel- 

 opments. I saw that she was not going to 

 leave the nest of her own accord, so I jarred 

 the stump to let her know I was getting 

 impatient, and that she was in danger. 

 She flew away uttering a cry of distress I 

 hated to commit the tragedy but could not 

 resist the temptation, this being my first 

 nest of this kind. The stump was soon 

 opened and I found myself in possesion of 

 a fine set of six eggs. Incubation had just 

 begun. Color white speckled with reddish 

 brown, forming a faint wreath about the 

 larger end. Length, 58 by 48, 



The nest was made entirely of the inner 

 bark of trees in little straw-colored strips. 



These lively little birds are nere all the 

 year singing there song of Chick-a-dee-dee. 



April 25th. Black and White Ureeper. 



A set of five eggs were taken from the 

 roots of a Black Oak shrub. The female 

 was much grieved by my presence, and d.d 

 everything in her power, I suppose to attract 

 my attention. She would flutter along .on 

 the ground as though she was badly crippled 

 and could hardly go, but gradually getting 

 farther off. She did this repeatedly chirp- 

 ing continually, and coming closer each 

 time, thinking I would pursue. 



The eggs were five in number and nearly 

 hatched. The color is dirty-white or creamy, 

 spotted with brown gathered into a 

 wreath around the larger end. .Size 66by55. 

 The nest was on the ground and composed 

 of a bunch of Oak leaves lined with fine 

 grass stems and rootlets. These birds ap- 

 peared here about the first of March and it 

 seems that they have all left, either going 

 North or returning South. 



June 27th. Carolina Wren. Just at 

 dxisk on this day I secured a nest and set of 

 five eggs of this species. 



The location was indeed a fine one. 

 The nest was placed in a hole in tha side of 

 a cliff, The rock is sandstone made up of 

 layers of hard and soft material, the soft 

 having worn away leaving a crevice extend- 

 ing back some eight inches. This was am- 

 ply filled with coarse moss, leaves, and 

 rootlets with an occasional feather and 

 piece of snake skin. The nest is dome .shap- 

 ed, with very thick walls and a small open- 

 ing in the side. 



Eggs ;fresh, whitish, splotched with red- 

 dish brown mostly at the larger end. Size, 

 64. by 75. Another nest was found in the 

 roots of a maple tree just over the edge of 

 deep water. 



This seems to be the winter location of 

 this species. 



July 13th. liuby-throated Humming 

 bird. 



Although this little bird is veiy plentiful 

 here. I have looked in vain for its nest until 



