BIRD BANDING 
157 
13 a hermit thrush nest containing three eggs of this species and 
a cowbird’s egg was discovered in a clump of blueberry bushes 
growing beneath a large pine tree. Upon cautiously approach- 
ing the nest and carefully laying aside the blueberry bushes an- 
other nest identical in construction, size and materials, but empty, 
was discovered less than a foot from the occupied nest. The un- 
occupied nest was in a good state of repair although it had ap- 
parently not been used that summer. Was the pair of hermit 
thrushes nesting in this blueberry clump the same pair which had 
nested here in 1919 or was this nesting site chosen at random by 
a pair which had not visited the place previously? The solution 
of this and similar questions, it is hoped, may be answered through 
results attained by bird banding. 
In wandering about the woods in search of nests and young 
birds one is struck, after a tirhe, by the fact that even here in a 
more or less isolated spot comparatively free from one of their 
greatest enemies — man — and in a place where the birds are 
subjected only to the attacks of their natural enemies, the mortal- 
ity among young birds is surprisingly great. Two or three ex- 
amples will serve to illustrate this point. 
An ovenbird’s nest, found on July 4 and containing four 
young not more than two days old was kept under observation 
from a blind until 4:00 P. M. of July 9. Twenty-four hours 
after the latter date the entire brood had totally disappeared. 
Snakes or red squirrels were accused by us for the depredation 
but without any direct evidence against them. 
On another occasion the nest of a slate-colored junco containing 
three young was under observation from a blind for several days. 
On July 18, when the birds were four days old, the nest contained 
but a single juvenile. The next day Mr. H. C. Fortner found a 
garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) in the act of taking the last 
remaining member of the family. The reptile was promptly 
killed and the young bird was taken from its stomach. Farther 
on, in the intestinal tract, were the other two j uncos in a partly 
digested condition. Perhaps, also, this snake had served as the 
host for our family of young ovenbirds whose nest was but a few 
feet from the j unco’s nest. Although two eggs still remained in 
the latter the adult birds did not again return to them. 
A few days later while making observations on the activities 
of another junco family from a bird blind my attention and cur- 
iosity were aroused by a considerable commotion on the part of 
the parent birds. On looking out of the opening in my blind 
