40 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Now as to my personal experience 

 in sets of five or better, it is small to 

 say the least, even though I live in a 

 section where the robin is the com- 

 monest breeding bird, and have been 

 collecting eggs and notes for a good 

 many years. It consists of finding one 

 nest with four young birds and a runt 

 egg; my brother has never seen over 

 four eggs. This may seem like a small 

 showing, but such it is in spite of the 

 fact that we have looked into hun- 

 dreds of nests, in the hopes of finding 

 a set of more than fdur eggs. 



My Oologist friends about Massa- 

 chusetts whom I know intimately 

 show little better records. One gives 

 me his records of one with five eggs 

 and one of six; another friend one of 

 five and speaks of a bird that~he was 

 told always nests on a certain house 

 and invariably lays over four eggs. I 

 don't doubt th.at these statements of 

 mine may be an unusual case; it may 

 be that it is a peculiarity of the robin 

 of Eastern Massachusetts to be very 

 uniform in their laying; or it may be 

 merely my bad luck. Whichever it 

 is, it will give me great pleasure to 

 receive correspondence from other 

 Oologists on this subject, either 

 through the -'Oologist" or to me at 



Milton, Mass. 



L. BROOKS. 



Probably 500 sets of Robin have 

 passed through my hands since 1889. 

 I have only one record' of an authentic 

 set of over 4 eggs. This set of 7 eggs 

 was taken by A. E. Kibbe, at May- 

 ville, X. Y., May 31, 1890. 



Nest was in an apple tree and Mr. 

 Kibbe did not note anything unusual. 



Incubation nearly fresh; eggs uni- 

 form in type and size (slightly under 

 normal), and much stained as though 

 they had been deserted for some time. 

 —ED. 



Here and There. 



The September Oologist .reminds 

 one of old times — of the '90s, the hey- 

 day of the egg crank. Times have 

 changed somewhat. Interest in our 

 beloved' hobby has waned to a marked 

 degree, and this very practical world 

 shoots out the lip, so to speak, at the 

 few who still find pleasure in the 

 rather doubtful pursuit of bird's nest- 

 ing. Some blame the Audubon laws, 

 which in some states are practically 

 prohibitive. There is no such trouble 

 in North Carolina. The law here re- 

 quires the payment of one dollar and 

 a certificate of good character, signed 

 by two witnesses, and there you go. 



There are no restrictions or condi- 

 tions other than conservative collect- 

 ing, and that for scientific purposes; 

 abuse of privilege maj^ cause the per- 

 mit to 'be annulled. No permits are 

 issued to boys under sixteen. The 

 permit does not include the colonies 

 on the coast. Eggs or birds cannot 

 be collected there under any circum- 

 stances. In consequence, the size of 

 the colonies has more than doubled 

 since the passage of the law. 

 ****** 



If you have not read the excellent 

 monograph of the Long-billed Marsh- 

 wren in August and September Oolo- 

 gists, look it up and read it. You will 

 find it worth the while. It surpasses 

 in exhaustiveness the Rev. Gilbert 

 White's studies of the British hirun- 

 dines in his "Natural History of Sel- 

 bourne," which is saying a good' deal. 

 By the way, that is a little book one 

 can read with much pleasure and 

 some profit. It is full of quaint say- 

 ings and quainter notions, such as the 

 hibernation of Swallows (Hirundinae) 

 in the mud, or in the church steeples 



and towns. 



* * * * * * 



Mr. narrower, referring to Mr. 

 Smithwick's article on the Ruby- 



