Newton, Mass.
1901.
June 27
(No 8)
  When descending to the tops of the grasses or the ground
it usually sailed on set wings for most of the distance
but when moving on a level across the field it flapped
its wings continuously in a slow listless manner that
reminded me of that of a Blue Jay. In the woods
it swung from tree to tree with at most only a
few wing beats. All its motions whether in the air
or while perched were strikingly slow and deliberate.
It swallowed some of the insects which it caught
but on two occasions it took its prey, which looked
like a beetle of fairly large size, to one of its favorite
perches and placing it on the branch hammered it
vigorously for a moment after which it carried it into
the nest. We did not see it obtain, or even seriously
search for, food among the trees.
  Of the other Red-head, the female as we supposed
it to be, we saw comparatively little. She appeared
to be making regular and rather distant journeys
in search of food for her young. Once she came across 
a wide stretch of open fields from the direction of some
woods on a hill top nearly half a mile away.
On the other occasions she emerged from the trees on
the knoll near by but after so long an interval of absence
that we judged she had nearly passed through them
on her way back. She visited the nest only thrice
while we were watching it. Each time she bore in the
tip of her bill a small, dark-colored object which looked
like a beetle or grub of some kind. Although the stub
was practically devoid of branches and so straight
and smooth that at a distance it closely resembled
a telegraph pole it had, at the top a projecting prong
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