54 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 6-No. 7. 
Close of the Season. 
The collector of eggs naturally divides 
our short season into two parts — June and 
July for birds, other than Raptores, and 
April and May for hawks and owls These 
divisions intergrade and are not arbitrary: 
but they are sustained by the old catalogues 
which gave first jiosition to the biids of 
jirey, and by most of our cabinets to day 
in which hawks and owls hold the place of 
honor. 
My Marsh Hawk of May 24th gave me 
a second clutch of four eggs, June 17th, e.x- 
act copies of the first set. Near Kinman's 
Rirches, Lisbon, in June, I found a Marsh 
Hawk’s nest with three young and three 
eggs. Now this hawk was two weeks lay¬ 
ing this extreme clutch, four weeks more 
in incubation, and would have occupied the 
rest of the season rearing her young. In¬ 
deed it is probable that no hawk or owl 
throughout the New England range of 
breeding ever has two clutches if undis¬ 
turbed. 
June 7th, a red scpiirrel ate a fine set of 
Yellow-throated Vireos which I had marked 
down, but swift retribution overtook him 
the following Sunday when an irate farmer 
shot him in a door-y.ird with an unhedged 
robin in his claws. I have maintained that 
nowhere else do the Buteos and Accipiters 
breed more freely than in New London 
County. Now it could be shown by relia¬ 
ble data that this is also the banner county 
for several of the Warblers. June 3d, I 
took eight full sets of eggs of Blue Yellow¬ 
backs; a week later Brand and Wade found 
eleven nests, new and old of this species, 
and later still this season, in half a day 
Brand found eight nests of Chestnut-sided, 
four of Prairie, and some undetermined 
warblers, all with young. 
Following the tardy vegetation, the sea¬ 
son was ten days late for most of our small 
birds. Extremes of weather do not affect 
owls and some other birds which can be 
named, but cold, wet Junes kill young 
Ruffed Crouse and delay the breeding of 
Warblers and their allies. The average 
difference between this season and the last, 
as shown by my notes, is about ten days for 
the following species: Yellow breasted 
Chat, Blue Yellow-back, Maryland Yellow- 
throat, Prairie and Chestnut-sided War¬ 
blers. 
May 14th, I saw a Redstart select a site 
and begin its nest, but nidification was ex¬ 
tremely slow owing to constant rain, and it 
was not until May 31st that the clutch of 
four eggs was complete Sunday, May 23d, 
a hummer began its nest on an apple tree 
under my window where every movement 
could be watched. The few hours of sun¬ 
shine toward night it made good use of, and 
worked at intervals the next day though it 
rained steadily. “ After the flood came the 
deluge,” and Wednesday the hummer ap¬ 
peared discouraged, and Thursday it was 
seen for the last time. Now the rain of 
course has an influence on the adaptability 
of the building materials, but it seemed 
plain that the hummer connected the idea 
of locality with this endless downpour, and 
thinking the fault was in the situation of 
the nest deseited it for another and drier 
site. 
The collecting season really lasts but 
three months, for the two or three sjtecies 
breeding in March are rarely found and the 
eggs taken'here in July are inconsiderable. 
Indeed our brief season punctually closes 
on the first of July. Thereatter the heat 
and dense vegetation militate against suc¬ 
cessful collecting, and the presence of 
squabs and fledgelings in great numbers 
has a depressing effect upon the spirits of 
the egg-enthusiast. It is not unpleasant, it 
is true, at times to hear the shrilling of 
young 1 townies, and it is amusing to pound 
oil a tree in which arc young Wacups, for 
they make a noise like a swarm of bees 
when newly hatched, and later like the 
winding of a clock Even when well grown 
their clamor is' endurable compared with 
the distressing quavering of Oriole fledge¬ 
lings heard on every hand early in July. 
1 have climbed to hundreds of crows’ nests 
