THE BAY STATE OOLOGIST. 



cause to believe that the Pileated Woodpecker breeds here for I have ob- 

 served it on the Island in June. 



On the sand flats, adjacent to the beach, countless numbers of Com,, 

 Least, Roseate and Gull-billed Terns breed, while back on high knolls on 

 the meadows, large numbers of Laughing Gulls make their homes. 



But to go back to my story ; after walking a hundred yards or less from 

 my boat, I flushed a female bird of the Sea-side Finch, and after a diligent 

 search, succeeded in finding its ne:t, which contained a fine set of five eggs. 

 Soon after, we found another nest containing but four eggs of the same va- 

 riety ; these with the other five were packed snugly away in my box. 



My friend Dave was no collector, but only went for the "sport," as he 

 expressed it. We soon reached a strip of woods and after entering it we 

 seperated, I going on one side of it and Dave on the other. I soon heard 

 a commotion as if some large bird had taken wing, and this soon proved 

 correct, for I saw above me a large pile of sticks and branches. Lay- 

 ing my things down, I commenced to climb a cedar tree, (a very hard 

 tree to climb) whose branches were so close together that it took me fully 

 ten minutes to reach the nest, which was in the top of the tree. 



The bird, which I knew to be an Osprey, was soaring round and round in 

 the air directly over the nest. 1 soon succeded in getting on a level with 

 the nest and was delighted to find that it contained a very fine set of four 

 eggs, the first set of four I had found for two years. They were very hand- 

 somely marked, and measured 2.48x175 ; 2.50x1.74 ; 2.50x1.75 ; .49x1.74. 



By this time I was thinking of my friend Dave, and taking out my whis- 

 tle I blew a shrill blast on it and soon received an answer. After a good 

 deal of trouble, (wading through a swamp) I reached the place where I 

 supposed him to be, and found him very busily engaged in descending a 

 thick cedar. After he reached the ground, he took from the side pocket 

 of his coat three very handsomely marked Osprey's eggs. 



Upon asking how many he had found, I was surprised to hear him say 

 nineteen : two sets of two and five sets of three, all of which were right 

 nice specimens. 



It was now time to eat our lunch, and after resting for an hour, we vis- 

 ited a strip of woods lying back on the meadow. I just wish some of my 

 readers had been with me to see the flock of Green Herons that took 

 flight at our approach to their nesting place. The nests were in every 

 place imaginable ;some so low that we had to bend down to reach them. 

 Dave did the climbing, while I secured all those that I could reach. In 



