IHE OOLOGIST 



135 



nights bring a suggestion of coming 

 winter. 



Then the skunk remembers about 

 the coat of fat that sustains them 

 through the winter and immediately 

 becomes industrious. Birds' nests 

 and young are practically out of the 

 way now and mice are not so easy to 

 secure though they breed to some ex- 

 tent the year around. 



Tnrning over stones and clods for 

 beetles and crickets is good as far as it 

 goes bnt they know a trick that yieids 

 much larger results with less labor. 



After the middle of August the com- 

 mon toad has a habit of inflating him- 

 self with air after a good full meal and 

 retiring to some spot where the digging 

 is good where they burrow down from 

 four to seven inches and lie there. 

 The period and purpose of this I have 

 not yet satisfied myself about. 



The skunks know all about this and 

 their keen noses will locate the toad 

 without any waste of time. 



They simply claw the toads out and 

 capture a generous meal with little 

 effort. I have seen the sides of sandy 

 knolls almost dug over b}- them. 



It continues from early in September 

 to November and it would be useless 

 to attempt to estimate the number of 

 toads destroyed. Now the toad does 

 his best work destroying insects dur- 

 ing the growing summer months and 

 and each one is nearly worth its weight 

 in gold. 



One skunk will destroy in six weeks 

 a host of toads that have been the 

 farmers and gardeners best allies all 

 summer and I cannot see that they do 

 •enough good at any time to balance 

 this. As to their value as fur even a 

 black skunk at $1.00 is a poor propo- 

 sition to balance 50 or 100 industrious 

 toads and it may take 15.00 worth of 

 effort to catch him at that. No! I 

 can't find where the skunk earns 

 enough credits to balance his debit 

 account and I advise evervone to com- 



pass their destruction where possible 

 with safety to their person whether 

 with Bi-Sulphide, traps or firearms— 

 Editor. 



A Day in the Field with Walter E. Bryant. 



Early in May 1901, I invited my 

 friend and fellow oologist, Walter E. 

 Bryant, to accompany me on thefollow- 

 ingday's trip. The next morning I got 

 my ropes, lines, hatchet, 8 sizes col- 

 lecting boxes, cotton, etc., ready, put 

 my book of field notes in my pocket 

 and started before 6 o'clock, picked up 

 Mr. Bryant at his home and made for 

 the country north of Santa Rosa. 

 About three miles from town in driv- 

 ing over a small bridge we flushed a 

 Black Phcebe. Mr. Bryant took a lo ;k 

 under the bridge and reported "too 

 early, try again in two weeks." We 

 stopped to examine some bridges but 

 saw no signs of nests. While driving 

 along we noted the following birds: 



Red-wing Black-bird, Brewer'sBlack 

 bird. Western Lark Sparrow, Ark 

 Goldfinch, Black-headed Grosbeak, 

 California Partridge, American Spar- 

 row Hawk, Violet-green Swallow, 

 Western Meadow-lark, Golden-crowned 

 Sparrow, California Towhee, California 

 Shrike and Western Bluebird. 



When four and one-half miles out 

 and the road followed the edge of the 

 hilLs we tied to the road fence, taking 

 ou* apparatus with us we made for the 

 timber, going through a small vine- 

 yard. In going over a pile of brush at 

 the foot of the hill I started a pair of 

 California Partridges. We examined 

 the brush thoroughly but no sign of 

 eggs or nest. We made up our minds 

 that Mr. and Mrs. Tetraonkhi' viere out 

 on a house inspecting tour. As soon 

 as we reached the top of the ridge we 

 saw and heard plenty of bird life. 

 Quite frequently we wer( halted by 

 hearing the buzz of Anna' Hummer. 

 We would set down very quietly and 



