24 



THE OOLOGIST. 



and resembling somewhat, the squawk 

 of a hen. 



Quite a number of sticks which had 

 failed to remain where they were placed 

 in building the nest lay on the ground 

 underneath, and nest, tree and ground 

 were spattered white with excrement. 

 Needless to say, the spot was not fra- 

 grant. The exposures made at this 

 time were unexpectedly successful, but 

 while they were washing a member of 

 the family inadvertantly turned the 

 hot water on them, with results too 

 painful to record. 



In the hope of replacing the lost 

 negatives made on the 3d, I again 

 visited the nest on July 7th. The last 

 hatched bird had then been dead seve- 

 ral days, and one of the other smaller 

 ones had died a few hours previously, 

 apparently. Their bodies lay in the 

 nest, trampled under the feet of their 

 surviving brethren. These latter had 

 grown surprisingly, the largest pro- 

 bably measuring nine or ten inches 

 in length. Three of the larger birds 

 promptly climbed out of the nest and 

 well toward the tip of one of the limbs, 

 and fearing to disturb them to the ex- 

 tent of causing a tragedy, I confined 

 my photographing to the one remain- 

 ing infant, his dead brothers, and the 

 nest, and afterward two views from the 

 ground of the young on the limb. 

 The latter were not successful, and the 

 former only partially so. 



I removed the two dead birds from 

 the nest before leaving, and from the 

 fresher one prepared a skin. This 

 measures six inches in length, and 

 pin feathers are starting on the wings. 



Owing to the difficulty of access to 

 the nest, and to pressure of other mat- 

 ters, I did not again have an oppor- 

 tunity to visit the place, and so do not 

 know what was the last chapter in the 

 life histories of these birds, but I hope 

 that the four young were successfully 

 reared. I had the satisfaction of 

 changing the intentions of a young 



man whose purpose was to collect one 

 of the adult birds, and I hope that I 

 may find them at the same site 

 another year. 



"Adventures of a Grosbeak Family." 



The beautiful rose-breasted Gros- 

 beak is a common summer resident 

 of and a well known and favorite bird 

 in Jasper County. I have found them 

 nesting in fruit trees, in climbing 

 grape-vines, and in osage hedges, but 

 more often in box-elder trees at from 

 six to thirty feet from the ground. 

 Their nests are very frail structures 

 and the complement of eggs three, 

 sometimes four. They are imposed 

 upon by the Cowbird. (Fully agree- 

 ing with the article in the November 

 Oologist written by Mr. B. S. Bowish, 

 I have tried to make the above as con- 

 cise as possible). 



A pair of Grosbeaks have nested for 

 the last three years in a box-elder tree 

 in our backyard, hardly twenty feet 

 from the door. Last spring they 

 arrived from their winter resort on 

 May 5th and very soon after com- 

 menced nest building. We watched 

 their frail nest grow from day to day 

 until it contained three eggs. After 

 careful brooding by both parents, at 

 the end of two weeks, three tiny chips 

 off the old block were safely ushered 

 into bird-dom. About this time a spy- 

 ing Bluejay thought that something 

 similiar to veal would suit him for 

 breakfast. Happening near, he soon 

 changed his mind, and decided that a 

 brisk walk (or rather a fly) would 

 benefit his appetite and constitution. 

 For the male Grosbeak assisted by two 

 screeching robins, which he had called 

 to his aid, soon made him hike out of 

 sight on the overland route. 



One bright day near, the first of 

 June, we observed the three young- 

 sters perched at different heights in 

 he tree, uttering at regular intervals 



