The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-05-03
NESTS IN HOLLOW TREES.

Besides several kinds of owls, which
usually nest very early in the season,
there are more than dozen species
of birds in the Eastern States which
make their homes in hollow tres. OF
! these perhaps the earliest il the wood
| duck, whose nest may be found in the
vicinity of New York and southwark
! in the first week in May or earlier.
| The place to look for 1t is along the
woodland streams and lakes, particu-
| larly those which are bordered by old
| trees and stumps. In the holoNs of
such trees and stunps these beautiful
ducks make their mes of grass.
| leaves and twigs, and lay from eight
| to fourteen buffy white eggs. The en-
| trance hole Is often r5markab bly, small,
and casual observer would think that
! it would need to be at least twice the
diameter to admit the body of the
| bird Yet she slips in and out with
no inconvenience. and be the locality
never so closely grown with trees, she
threads her way through the inter
laced branches at full speed, and
with almost the agility Of wood
pigeon. The young ducks, assisted by
Liltit Sildl y tut iItllc, FIdIHult ~ III :
mouth of the hollow, and are usually
carried to the ground in the bill Of
the parent,
The sparrow hawk quite often Sc
lects for her home the abandoned nest
of a flicker, but frequently she builds
in a natural hollow and | have known
her to take up her abod> between the
double walls of an ice-housa, using a
large knot hole as an entrance She
lays from three to seven eggs, usually
yellowish white with dark buff mark
ings. The young are fed largely on
grasshoppers. mice, small birds and
other freshly killed animal food. which
the parents capture in the nearby
meadows. The sparrow hawk usually
takes up position on the top of a
dead tree from which she commands
a good view, and after sighting her
prey in the meadow below, she lies
above it, hovers for a moment in the
air, and then drops upon her victim
and bears it away in her claws
Sometimes in the spring, when we
are walking through woodland where
white birch is abundant, we may hear
light hammering on decayed wood,
similar. but not so loud as that made
by a downy woodpecker. The other
day / heard just such tapping in
clump of white birches on wooded
hillside, and / sat down to watch de-
velopments. Amongst the birches
were some dead stumps, and present
ly from hole in one of these was
poked a saucy, familiar little black and
white face, and | recognized my friend
the chckadee. He locked quite dis
gusted that / had been spying on
him, or at any rate l imagined he did,
and when he began to roundly scold
me, l felt rather ashamed Of myself.
1t seemed as though | should have at
least said "Ahem" Just to warn him
of my presence. The white birch
stump is Chicka dee's favorite nesting
site, though he oftens builds in holes in
other trees. The nest consists of
grass, feathers, moss, rabbits fur,
plant down and such like materia s,
and contains from five to eight white
eggs spotted with brown
The chimney swift can no longer
be classed amongst the birds which
nest in the hollow trees, for they have
adapted themselves to altered condi-
tlohS anu HoW lhNdifdp'S Dullu lHelF
homes in the chimneys The tree
swallow, however he's net vet finally
committed himself, by abb ndoni'g the
ways of his forefathers, and although
he will sometimes accept the hospital
ity of man and nest in a birdhousa, |
as rule he sticks to his hollow tree
1t seems not unlikely. however, that |
some day he may follow the example !
of the barn swallow and the chimney |
swift, and use artificial nesting sites |
Continued on Seventh Page,)