8 
Tyrannus tyrannus. Kingbird.— Common, nesting in orchards anil along 
streams. A few nests are found in isolated trees in the field. Kggs two to four, 
usually three. 
During the Spring of ’85 I found a pair of “Beebirds” repairing an old nest of 
the Robin on a horizontal branch of a walnut tree on the bank of Tenmile ( reek. 
In a few days the nest contained one egg which I took. Passing this way the next 
morning I was somewhat surprised to see the old bird leave the nest. Climbing up 
I found the nest contained another egg. This I also took, and so on each succeed¬ 
ing day until I had four eggs when the laying ceased. 
Happening by this tree ten days later, I discovered the birds moving suspici¬ 
ously about the branches. I ascended the tree and found the nest to contain one 
fresh egg the beginning of a new set. I tried the same experiment as on the former 
occasion with the same results. After this they abandoned the Robin’s nest and 
built one of their own far in the top of a giant sycamore, that grew near by. 
Myiarchus crinitus. Chested Flycatcher.— Common alike in forest and 
field, nesting in natural cavities in trees. Four to six eggs are laid. May 15th. to 
June 15th. 
Sayernls phoebe. Phcebe. —Abundant. Most common along streams, placing the 
nest under bridges and against rocky banks. It is found also in places remote lrom 
water. One nest (May 5th., 1S08), was placed on a brace in a dark corner of a sheep- 
shed on top of a high hill and more than a quarter of a mile from any stream. It 
contained five eggs of the Phcebe and one of M. alcr. N'ests containing fresh eggs 
can be found from the middle of April to the last of May. 
Contopus virens. Wood Pewee. —Common. Met with during the breeding 
season in the more open woods and clumps of trees in the pastures. Fggs usually 
three, often only two and rarely four. First half of June is the time to obtain full 
sets of fresh eggs. 
Empidonax acadicus. Acadian Flycatcher.— Abundant. A common resort 
of this bird is along the shady brooklet in a ravine in the woods. The nest is an 
easy one to find, being placed in or suspended from a forked twig at extremity of 
some long drooping branch, and usually overhanging the ravine. 
As I wind the course of some dark, dreary hollow the sharp alarm notes of 
acadicus just a few yards in advance assures me that • ‘the place is haunted”—not 
by ghostly objects, but by God’s creatures, the study and delight of man. 
Pressing on 1 soon find the nest, composed of catkins, weed fiber, vine tendrils 
and line grass, often so frail the eggs can be discerned through the floor. From two 
to four eggs are laid. The most common clutch being three. Two broods are 
reared during the season. Fresh eggs of the first laying must be looked for from the 
twenty-fifth of May to the tenth or fifteenth of June. 
Cyanocitta cristata. Blue Jay.—T his noisy bird frequents the scrubby 
thicket where they are met with sparingly. A common bird in the fall and winter. 
One nest, placed in a pine tree, contained four young. Two other nests were 
observed but for want of time were not examined. 
Corvus americanus. American Crow.— Abundant. Most common during 
Spring migration,—February and March. 
Almost every woods contains one or more nests. The height ranges from 
twenty to eighty feet, commonly below forty. The crow is a close sitter and I have 
frequently climbed to nests before the old bird would leave. 
Four to six eggs are laid. Most of the nests observed by me have contained five 
eggs. Six is undoubtedly a rare set as I have found this number but twice during 
the past ten years. April 1st. to May 10th. 
Dolichonyx oryzivorus. Bobolink.— Rare as a Summer resident. One nest 
containing five eggs was found placed in the tall grass in the midst of a large 
