44 BIRDS OF A MARYLAND FARM. 



under any circumstances not so desirable as had been anticipated. A 

 2-inch telescope with a single draw tube proved much more service- 

 able. Working with it, however, is very slow and arduous on account 

 of its limited field and the difficulty of changing the focus quickly. 



Grasshopper Sparrow. — The difficulties encountered in the use of the 

 telescope in field work may be well shown by a somewhat detailed 

 account of its use in the following instance: On July 9, 1898, a 

 grasshopper sparrow's nest containing four naked young birds was 

 found in a bunch of rabbit-foot clover in a timothy field of lot 1, 

 several rods from the cow barn. The male parent was poised on a 

 weed stalk at no great distance, rattling out his dry ditty, never once 

 stopping to help the mother bird, which was making frequent jour- 

 neys for food. The latter, on seeing me, perched on a dead mullein 

 stalk 20 to 30 feet away, instead of carrying to her little ones the 

 mouthful she held. The telescope was immediately focused. It 

 enlarged the mother bird so much that she appeared to be peering in 

 at the end of the instrument. The object in her bill was seen to be of 

 a delicate green color, but before further observation could be made 

 she flew to the top of a blackberry bush. Here, by fragmentary 

 glimpses, during which it was necessary to change the focus several 

 times, a narrow wing cover and a long, slim leg were discerned, which 

 showed that the insect belonged to the order Orthoptera (grasshop- 

 pers, crickets, etc.). The bird next returned to her perch on the mul- 

 lein stalk, where she remained long enough to enable the telescope to 

 reveal, projecting from the beak on the side opposite the leg and wing, 

 two filiform antennse which exceeded the body in length and furnished 

 the necessary clew to the insect's identity as a meadow grasshopper. 

 Further observations were made, with the same interruptions and 

 demands upon the patience. In the next two trips she brought the 

 same insects. She next came with a cutworm, then with a chrysalis, 

 and later with two short-horned grasshoppers {Melanophm and Disso- 

 teira). The meagerness of these results, considering the time required 

 for obtaining the information, was due to the restless uneasiness of 

 the grasshopper sparrow and the location of the nest in an open field 

 where no cover for the observer was available to reduce the bird's 

 apprehension. Observation of a house wren (see p. 45) was conducted 

 under more favorable conditions and was much more satisfactory'. No 

 nestling grasshopper sparrows were collected at Marshall Hall, but 14 

 from other localities have been examined, and diagrams that were made 

 of their food and of that of 10 adults taken at the same time show the 

 great importance of insects in the food of nestlings." 



Orchard Oriole. — A few observations were made of a brood of well- 

 feathered orchard orioles in a black-walnut tree near the negro cabin, 



«■ These diagrams were published in an article entitled The Food of Nestling Birds, 

 which appeared in the Yearbook of the Dept. of Agriculture for 1900. 



