The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-05-08
Eugene P. Odum

."tH 0TTstdfs. 00oOeO warbler. ApT.
% fOdum): chuck-will's 's-widow. Apr.
23 tMr. 4. ". Ho5bs): catbird, Apr.
% (Odum) wood pewee, Apr. 25
(Odum) indigo bunting, Apr. q (Mr.
Ealentine); yellow warbler, Apr %
Wagstaff); Kentucky warbler, May
! {Odum) yellow-brea sted chat, May
Il (Odum) yellow-billed cuckoo, May
! (Coker) worm-eating warbler, May
= (Ars. Coker) orchard oriole, May
s (E. E. Brown, Odum. and Coker)
Departures: golden-crowned king
let. Apr. Is (Odum) brown creeper,
Apr 20 (Odum).
Nests: (since last week. chickadee,
z eggs Cocker. Box } cardinal, 2
eggs (Coker); mockingbird, eggs
tCoker) robin (Mrs. Stuhlman) :;
titmouse (Mrs. Stuhlman) hooded
warbler Brown, Odum, and Coker) !;
pjleated woodpecker breckenridge
Il anybody finds an occupied nest, send
word into one Of Us; We shall be glad
to report it. BE sure you see the
blrd on the nest, 50 you will be certain
d Identification. Mr.. Graves reports
a cardinals nest with eggs in it,
This IS rather unusual as they ordn-
arily lay bat 3.
Mi2ceitony: Apr 26. great blue
heron (6 By Taylor. Also ! by Mr..
Phillips Russell and Odum); green
heron CTayloD; osprey (Taylor) !;
winter wren (Taylor This is late for
tnem). The following migrants were
seen On Apr. 26: bitterns, solitary
sandpiper. 10 tree swallows, yellow
palm warbler (all By Taylor); black
tnroated blue warbler (Odum) on
Apr "a: barn swallow tTaylor) :;
on PIN blacE:-poll warbler (Odum) !;
scaflet tanager (Odum, also by Mrs.
Coker); black throated green (Mr
Brooks and Odum); on May /: rose
breasted grosbeak (Odum) May s.:
bobolink (Mr. Taylor). Rubycrown-
ed kinglets have been very common
lately on account Of the migration.
Mr. Russell reports seeing two wood
cock in Strowd's low grounds
The hermit thrush, winter visitor
in Chapel Eill, Is popularity credited
with being rather wild and unap-
proachable bird. In this region such
is not the case, for the ones | have
observed have allowed me To approach
quite near and have exhibited no indi-
cations Of undue fear; but in the A He
gany mountains Of the southwestern
part of New York state during the
nesting season they are not very tame
as a rule. The following excerpts
from notes took while in New York
last July-August illustrate an inter
esting exception:
AT nearly all hours Of the day dur
ing the greater part Of the summer
season the beautiful song Of the her
NIT thrush can be heard, but on ac-
count Of its quiet, secrctlye habits
this hermit of the woods is rarely
seen by the casual observer. Only by
strategic and skilful maneuvering
along the forest floor can one get
within seeing distance Of one Of these
birds However
"On July 6, 1880, Louis Kalter and
| had the good fortune to discover Ahe
nest Of hermit thrush while we were
following an old stream bed up
Blacksnake Mountain, which is COW
ereR mainly by secondgrOwth maple
beech forests, with few virgin trees
left as worthless by the lumbermen Of
fifty years ago Mounds two and
three feet high formed by fallen trees
were very numerous. Very firmly
situated on just such a mound was
the compact nest Of our bird. She
flushed silently at a distance Of ten
feet; had we not seen her leave, we
should have been unaware Of the
nest. Approaching cautiously to the
mound, we found four young thrushes
crowded into a cavity about two inches
deep and three TO four inches across,
utterng feeble cries for food and
stretching their mouths to the
limit. ~
We visited it for several days
thereafter. On each succeeding day
the parent birds seemed to become
tanner, especially the female. Finally
on July II, "since no serious oblec-
ton had been raised to our sitting
within five feet of the nest, we moved
nearer. | placed my finger along the
meditation tho