DR ATU. UB ON = B Uris Bet cEeN 3 
first lark sparrow nest. The bird sat close and when flushed performed 
frantically. The nest contained three eggs and was on the ground at the 
base of a grass clump. Later we came back and had a good look at the 
bird from close up without frightening it off the nest. Another spring I 
found a nest with three young and two eggs along the roadside. A week 
later I found the weed-cutter had mowed over the spot. I retrieved the nest 
with fragments of egg shell. It had to be dug out of the sand as it was well 
fitted into a hollow. The lark sparrow seems to be fairly common along the 
road from north of the scout cabin to several miles south. I have not seen 
it along any of the other roads. 
In the cultivated sections of the area, dickcissel are very common; 
turkey vultures at times can be seen soaring overhead, an upland plover 
was observed once and a mocking-bird was seen at the former Essex Center 
school which is now used as a home. I understand that a mocking-bird has 
been seen in the town of Custer Park also. There are two notable marshes 
in the area. One is marked on the map with the conventional signs, and 
the other is marked ‘X’ and is part of a fenced-off game sanctuary. In the 
first marsh we were able to observe from the road the greenish eggs of 
a green heron which had its nest in a button-bush. The first time we ven- 
tured down this road it was almost impassable from disuse, and coming 
out at the west end we had a few anxious moments trying to negotiate 
a sandy stretch. Such is the “back road” character of many of these by- 
ways. Last year some sections of these roads were being redeemed by the 
township by pushing through with a bull-dozer. 
One June day, my boy and I were returning from down state, and al- 
though it was supper time and raining slightly, we decided to turn off our 
route and head toward Essex. Out of South Wilmington we had to detour 
and one thing leading to another, we became lost. We drove down a stretch 
of road where the foliage on either side touched the car, and we were able 
to lean from the windows and pick raspberries. Coming out of this, we 
headed east with oak woods on our right, a neglected pasture on our left 
and a small ditch with water in it alongside the road. At this spot we spied 
a small bird on the fence wire and stopped to take a look. We found a 
family of four warblers: a male Lawrence hybrid, a female blue-wing and 
two fledgling blue-wings. The young perched on the wire and were fed by 
both parents. ‘We watched them a long time, and each of us sketched the 
male because its markings varied from the illustrations in the books. Our 
field guides show the male Lawrence with a black throat and triangular 
patch through the eye separated by a yellow stripe. This bird had the black 
throat, but the black did not extend beyond the eye and was one with the 
throat patch. The illustration in the Audubon Bird Guide of the immature 
orchard oriole gives a pretty good impression of the throat and face mark- 
ing. Otherwise the male was marked as he should have been. The young 
birds were marked like the female except that the underparts were a 
clear, bright primrose yellow, most intense on the throat, and much brighter 
than on the parent birds. The insides of their mouths were pink. The fe- 
male showed some alarm over our presence and flicked her tail. The parents 
foraged for food in the low growth along the fence row. 
