184 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol 7-No. 23 
lively until the cook came doAvn and started 
the fire, when, as the smoke poured out, 
the birds left. "Well, thinks I, you have 
given that up as a bad job ; but next morn¬ 
ing they were at work as hard ns ever. I 
waited for about ten days when the cook 
complained that the fire did not seem to 
work right. “ It didn’t dr.xw,” she said. 
I went on the roof and took off the stone 
and looked in. The chimney is not a 
straight one, but has what the masons call 
a “ draw off” in it. On that ledge, ns you 
might say, they had begun their nest and 
had finally nearly filled up the whole sjiace 
in the chimney. In one corner was the 
nest as natural as life. I took a long 
wooden rake and carefully brought uj) and 
out the whole structure, and, if you will 
believe me, there was material enough to 
fill a half-bushel measure. 
I notice your remarks on “ Coe's Strain ” 
in October number. Had the usual luck 
this Spring. Although I have had little 
time, I have managed to take the Great- 
honied and BaiTod Owls, a beiutiful set 
of Sparrow Hawks, Bed-headed Wood¬ 
pecker, fine nest of White-bellied Nut 
Hatches, and a few others of less account. 
Took a Chipping Sparrow’s nest with 
one of her eggs and one Cow Bunting’s in 
it. The Sparrow had built over the top 
of the nest a perfect net work of horse 
hair, same as the lining of the nest, and 
so nicely that although one could see the 
eggs plainly it could be turned “ bottom 
side up” and the eggs not fall out. I never 
saw this before in Chipping Sparrows’ 
nests. “ I put ’em in the bag” with the 
rest. Have a fine sjiecimen of a chicken 
which I mounted a few days ago—perfect 
in every way except tliat he has four legs. 
What a sweet thing he would be in an early 
garden. I have a Martin box on a jiole 
some fifteen feet high. The Martins came 
in the Sjiring and stayed a few days and 
then for some reason best known to them¬ 
selves left. A jiair of Robins at once took 
possession and built a nest in one of the 
compartments, and when finished the old 
lady sat (?) set (?) sot (?) with her head out 
of the front window, showing that she was 
“ at home.” 
But the sweetest of all this year is this: 
When I built an addition to my horse barn 
I was obliged to cut down an old cherry 
tree, which I did, leaving a stump some six 
feet high, into which I placed a ring to 
hitch my horses to. One morning I no¬ 
ticed a pair of Chickadees at work on the 
stump, and I gave them my closest atten¬ 
tion. My man hitched the horses to this 
stump every morning as he cleaned them 
off, and although the horses’ heads were 
within a foot of their hole they kejit at 
work and finally laid their eggs and brought 
forth the young in good order. By the 
aid of a miiTor I threw the light into the, 
hole, so that I could see all that was going 
on. They began work April 27th, carried 
in nesting material May 10th, began set¬ 
ting May 17th, hatched ^lay 2r)th, and the 
young (lew June 12th. What I notice in 
this as singular is the fact that we usually 
find these birds breeding in the thickest of 
swainjis and almost always in white birch 
stumps ; and that they should come into 
the open and so close to the house, and 
more: they worked most systematic illy, 
each working and taking out chips. One 
would c'-rry aw ly the chip that he (or she) 
had pecked out and fly to a ])cartree ne:r by 
and “ wipe” it off her bill, when the other 
would at once go in and go to work. They 
did it so regularly that, as one went out of 
the hole the other met it about half way 
between the pear and cherry tree.— IT. 
W. ('oe, l*<>r(l(in<J, Ct. 
August Eggs.— W. F. Biker, Savanah, 
Ga., re])orts finding a fresh egg of the 
Mourning Dove, Aug. 31st. 
Septemdku Eggs. — Sandford Ritchie, 
White’s Corner, Me., reports finding five 
fresh eggs of the American Goldfinch, 
Sejit. 5th. 
BL.\CK-Dii.LEr) Cuckoo’s Nest, with two 
3 ’oung birds, at the same time. 
