24 



THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



of the Carolina Chickadee which is the 

 basis of this short article. 



The nesting site was among the scrub 

 oaks, through which the fires above 

 referred to had raged, and the tree itself 

 which escaped destruction, was about 

 three or four feet in from a well-worn 

 wood road, and located at least a quarter 

 of a mile from the nearest small stream 

 or swamp. 



The tree, or stump I had better say, 

 was a dead oak, only two feet high, and 

 four inches in diameter. It contained a 

 natural cavity and was broken out on 

 one side for a foot and a half down, so 

 that the real entrance to the nest was 

 only six inches above the ground, and 

 the nest proper being in the bottom of 

 the cavity was only two inches above 

 the ground level. 



The reader of this article will of course 

 see that the poor birds were compelled 

 on account of the destruction of the 

 timber, to use this broken off dead tree 

 for a nesting site, or else move away 

 from a locality where they themselves 

 were no doubt hatched and raised. 



Be that as it may, this nest was placed 

 nearer to the ground than any other nest 

 of this species which I have ever found, 

 and I have examined many of their nests 

 in this section of the State of New 

 Jersey. 



My only wonder is that the black- 

 snakes had not devoured the eggs as I 

 had seen them do in years gone by not 

 far from this nesting site. I might add 

 right here that I flushed a Ruffed Grouse 

 from very near her nest, which I was 

 surprised to find empty, with the bird 

 on guard, until I observed the head of a 

 black snake protruding through the 

 leaves in the nest. I then knew where 

 the eggs were, so 1 took my gun, shot 

 the snake in the head, cut it open, and 

 removed five broken eggs and one whole 

 one, which I replaced in the nest to 

 photograph. I left the egg and returned 

 several days after but the bird had 

 deserted the nest probably to complete 

 her set in a more desirable breeding 

 locality. 



In closing I would say the Carolina 

 Chickadees' nest was composed of the 

 usual soft materials used by chickadees 

 in general and contained six badly in- 

 cubated eggs. 



The Quail Trap. 

 By C. L. Rawson, Norwich, Conn. 



"The owls and haw T ks are carrying 

 away all our chickens," is the rather 

 exaggerated cry from many a New Lon- 

 don county farm today. As a matter of 

 fact, the great horned and barred owls 

 hunt in the woods and do not approach 

 the coops. Their young are now out 

 of the nests and are foraging exclu- 

 sively on vermin and game in their 

 forest homes. Of the buteos, the red 

 tailed and red shouldered are too wary 

 to stoop from their lofty soarings to 

 the poultry yard, and the broad- winged 

 is too rare to be thought of in this 

 connection. The sparrow and sharp- 

 skinned are too small, and the fish- 

 hawks and marsh hawks are commonly 

 held guiltless by the rural jury. So 

 nothing now remains but the bold 

 long-tailed cooper's hawk. 



And this is indeed the privateer 

 that does most of the damage. Breed- 

 ing a little later than the big buteos,. 

 its large family is clamoring for food: 

 just as chickens begin to wander from 

 the brooders. It will come once, 

 twice, and thrice, if not stopped with 

 cold lead. He does not hover high in 

 the air like the big hawks, but, with- 

 out warning, slips over the walls and 

 cuts out bis prize with a courage and 

 dash which has earned the local sobri- 

 quet of ' ' privateer. ' ' The farmer 

 must be a crack shot and have a 

 trained eye to shoot this accipiter on 

 his poultry forage. 



Bounties on "owls, hawks and 

 crows" were formerly offered by 

 nearly all our neighboring towns, and 

 many innocent and useful birds were 

 killed and sold to the town clerks for 

 a trifling sum. At that time I remem- 

 ber meeting a North Stonington farmer 

 who was watching a marsh hawk's 



