. Bird lore . ens 47 ner of the Franklins Gulls in the West. The owners might possibly havebeen Forsters Terns, but this is too much out of their range to render itlikely, and it is more probable that a pair of the common species, seeing apile of dead reeds, thought they might as well hollow out a nest amongthem. Seldom have I seen more beautiful nests than some of those built by thenorthern song-birds, made soft, snug and warm to counteract the cold windand fog of the northern June. One of the Fox Sparrow was a female flushed right before me from a low spruce bush, about waist-high,
. Bird lore . ens 47 ner of the Franklins Gulls in the West. The owners might possibly havebeen Forsters Terns, but this is too much out of their range to render itlikely, and it is more probable that a pair of the common species, seeing apile of dead reeds, thought they might as well hollow out a nest amongthem. Seldom have I seen more beautiful nests than some of those built by thenorthern song-birds, made soft, snug and warm to counteract the cold windand fog of the northern June. One of the Fox Sparrow was a female flushed right before me from a low spruce bush, about waist-high, in a scrubby tract, and there was the large, compact nest, constructedfirst as an outer cup of green moss, then an inner nest of grass, and insidethat one of black and white horse-hairs. In it were four heavily brownedeggs, as large as those of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Another gem of bird-architecture was built by Blackpoll Warblers,which are verv abundant. It was in an exactlv similar situation to that of. NEST OF BLACK-POLL WARBLER the Fox Sparrow, and I found it by thrashing through the scrub with along switch and thus starting the owner off from her nest. It was, ofcourse, smaller and daintier, yet it was built after the same plan and ofabout the same materials as the other, save that for the inside lining, inaddition to the horse-hair, was a beautiful and abundant assortment of 48 Bird - Lore feathers, notably of Wild Ducks, ornamented with a red catkin, probablyof the alder. One could do far worse than to spend the entire season at the Magda-lens to study bird-life, and remain long enough to take in the fall migration,especially of the shore-birds, now so scarce on the coasts of the New Eng-land and Middle States. In such an event, prudence would require takingalong a good supply of canned provisions, unless one wants to live on thesoda-biscuit, crackers, cheese and tea of the poor but hospitable islanders. A Familiar Sparrow Hawk By NATHAN CLIFFORD BROWN TOWARD five
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