THE OOLOGIST. 



167 



a tamarac tree, that was growing in 

 the middle of a large muskeg, dotted 

 with tamaracs. The bird was flushed 

 off the nest but unfortunately not 

 secured. This Clutch with the old 

 American Robin's nest is now in my 

 collection and the eggs measure re- 

 spectively, 1.33 X 98, 1,38 X 98, 1.38 x 

 1.00, 1.35 X 95. The eggs are exceed- 

 ingly handsome and unlike the eggs 

 of any other American Sandpiper. The 

 ground color is pale greenish white 

 heavily blotched and spotted at the 

 larger ends with vandyke brown, rusty 

 or chestnut brown and purplish grey. 



Set II. Northern Alberta, June 9, 

 1904. 4 eggs found in the nest of a 

 Bronzed Grackle, built in a low tree. 

 These eggs were unfortunately lost, 

 owing to Mr. Thomson first blowing 

 them and then leaving them in the 

 nest until he returned with his gun to 

 shoot the parent bird, which had evi- 

 dently carried off the eggshells during 

 his absence. 



Set III. Northern Alberta, June 24, 

 1904. 4 eggs found in a Cedar Wax- 

 wing's nest, which was built in a small 

 spruce tree growing in a swamp. The 

 nest was about 5 feet up and Mr. Thom- 

 son was fortunate in shooting the bird 

 as she flew from the nest and this 

 identification is perfectly complete and 

 beyond all possibility of a doubt. 

 These 4 eggs measure respectively, 

 1.39 X 1.02, 1.37 X 98, 1 30 x 99, 1.33 x 

 97. The ground color is pale greenish 

 white or sea green, spotted with van- 

 dyke brown, purplish brown and 

 purplish grey. The shells have a 

 fine grain, polished and pyriform in 

 shape. 



The eggs of both clutches are exceed- 

 ingly large for he size of the bird, 

 the eggs averaging larger than any of 

 my Spotted Sandpiper eggs in a series 

 of over 100 eggs, but the Solitary Sand- 

 pipers' eggs is one-third smaller than 

 those of the European Green and Wood 

 ^Sandpipers. This clutch of Solitary 



Sandpiper, with the Cedar Waxwing's 

 nest and skin of the female Solitary 

 Sandpiper, together with the original 

 data label and letters from Mr. Thom- 

 son are now in the extensive collection 

 owned by Colonel John E. Thayer, 

 Lancaster, Mass., whom I am sure will 

 be pleased to show them to any orni- 

 thologist who can call and see hfs col- 

 lection of eggs and skins, which is one 

 of the largest in America. 



The finding of the long-sought for 

 eggs of the Solitary Sandpiper, now 

 make the seventh species whose eggs 

 are new to sciencewhich were previous- 

 ly unknown until discovered by my- 

 self and assistants in north west Can- 

 ada. The other species are Richard- 

 son's Merlin, Greater Yellowlegs, 

 Belted Piping Plover, Nelson's; Le- 

 contes and Harris' Sparrows, a record 

 that any ornithologist might be proud 

 of. 



North west Canada has offered other 

 surprises to ornithologists by my find- 

 ing several species nesting there which 

 were previously unknown to nest so 

 far south as the fifty-first parallel. 



These include the much dis- 

 puted Little Brown Crane, Lesser 

 Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpiper, 

 American Rough-legged Hawk, Amer- 

 ican Hawk Owl, Canada Jay and Rusty 

 Blackbird. 



In the past one or two American 

 Ornithologists, who have never been 

 in north west Canada, and know 

 absolutely nothing of the Avi-Fauna 

 of the vast Canadian north west, criti- 

 cised my book "Bird Nesting in North 

 West Canada." They ridiculed my 

 records of the Little Brown Crane 

 and other species nesting in northwest 

 Canada. I have spent 10 years col- 

 lecting all over north west Canada 

 and was the first ornithologist to 

 explore Assiniboia and Alberta, and 

 can back up all my records with in- 

 fallible proofs. Such an eminent 

 authority as John Macoun, M. A. F. 



