File:The Oölogist for the student of birds, their nests and eggs (1914) (14751956825).jpg

Identifier: ologistforstud311914latt (find matches)
Title: The Oölogist for the student of birds, their nests and eggs
Year: 1886 (1880s)
Authors: Lattin, Frank H
Subjects: Birds Birds
Publisher: Albion, N.Y. : Frank H. Lattin
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
ting about the lowerundergrowth of wooded ravines orsteep hillside woods. Here they gleanmany harmful insects from the vege-tation. From time to time they singtheir dainty song which so resemblesthat of the Chipping Sparrow. In Greene County, nesting time ex-tends from May 14 to June 5. Fornesting purposes small ravines, wellstrewn with fallen leaves, and con-taining a splashing brook at theirbottoms, seem to be favorite places.Some birds select steep wooded hill-sides for their homes. The sightchosen is ordinarily a depression atthe base of some small sapling. Attimes a clump of woodland weeds willserve the purpose of a nesting place. In a large wooded ravine some twomiles from my home I found theWorm-eating Warblers nesting eachyear. Once they built at the base ofa dogwood sprout. Here the femaleWarbler deposed but two eggs, for aluberly Cowbird added two of hers.During another season the Warblerplaced their nest beside a fallen deadlimb; and chance favored them this THE OOLOGIST 97
Text Appearing After Image:
5 — to -Xo i>3 3£ >^ . re 4> 98 TUB OOLOGIST time, for the Cowbird kept away; sothe Warbler deposited six white eggswhich were well sprinkled with dotsof reddish-brown. Quite a number of nests are de-serted each year on account of theCowbirds which lay their eggs inthem. And it is not uncommon forthe female Warbler to suppress thelaying of a full set after the Cowbirdhas visited her home. After examining some thirty nestsof this Warbler I find five eggs to bethe usual number to a clutch, althoughthree and four are common sets whenthe Cowbird has deposited one ormore of her eggs. Most of the nests examined by my-self were composed of dry Oak andMaple leaves, and were lined withflower stalks of the hair moss, (poly-tryichium commune). A few nestslacked this lining of the flower stalksand were warmly lined with blackhorse hairs. Once the birds are lo-cated, it is no great task to discoverthe location of the nest. Thoroughsearching over the banks of the smallwooded ravines is

Note About Images