56 



THE OOLOGIST. 



off from above my head. There were 

 several holes in that part of the bluff 

 and I explored, without success, all I 

 could see. Plually I went on top the 

 bluff" and ray companion went oft' some 

 distance fiom the foot, in order to get a 

 better view of the situation. He called 

 to me that he saw something that look- 

 ed like another hole just above a small 

 ledge which obscured the view. I went 

 above the place he indicated and find- 

 ing a small tree growing up from the 

 shelf just where he located the hole. I 

 climbed down it, and was rewaixled by 

 finding a beautiful set of two eggs in 

 the entrance of a large hole which ran 

 sideways into the bluff and out of which 

 the tree tliat I had climbed down, was 

 growing. I had quite a hard climb 

 getting back with those eggs, but l)y 

 hard scrambling and making use of 

 both the tree :vrd the face of the bluff, I 

 reached the top safely, and in due time 

 Avas at home, and my eggs were safelj' 

 blown and put away in my cal)inet. 



On the 15th of the same mouth, I 

 foimd my third set for the year. I 

 went in my boat to a bluif three miles 

 above town. As I approached the bluff, 

 half a dozen or more "buzzards," as 

 the are called about here, flew out and 

 .settled on the trees. This was a worse 

 1:^1 ff for climbing than the last men- 

 tioned. It consisted of three parallel 

 ledges, from ten to seventy-five feet 

 apart, running its whole length, with 

 ))ut few 1)laces where a person could 

 get from one to another. I went over 

 the lower two without finding anything. 

 The third and highest one was almost 

 at the top of the bluff but not quite 

 high enough to get on from above and 

 out of reach from the ledge below. 

 This bothered me a good deal but final- 

 ly I "got there" in a risky and danger- 

 ous way by puUingmy self up by means 

 of some rather slender roots which 

 hung down from above. After getting 

 on the ledge. I saw it was a risky busi- 

 ness to go along it. It was fnllv 100 



feet al)ove the water and in many 

 places not more than a foot wide. I 

 crawled along almost to the end with- 

 out finding the object of my quest, in 

 one place having to get down flat on my 

 stomach and crawl under an overhang- 

 ing ledge. Truly, "the way of the col- 

 lector is hard," nevertheless, if he keeps 

 going, he usually accomplishes his end 

 in the course of time, which was what 

 I did. After rounding another corner 

 or two, I came to a place where there 

 was another overhanging ledge, and 

 far back against the bluff' was the finest 

 set of Vulture eggs I have ever seen. 

 Perfectly clean, as if just laid, unusual- 

 ly large, with pale blue back ground, 

 sparsely marked with dark brown 

 splotches, one egg having only six spots 

 on it As it was getting dark and I was 

 ihree miles from home, I had to leave 

 that bluff, though I must confess, I left 

 very reluctantly for I felt certain of be- 

 ing able to tind more. 



Of all the Black Vulture eggs I have 

 handled — probably flfteen or more sets 

 last year alone, — not one have I nf)ticed 

 which had the "pure white back- 

 ground" \\ hich Audubon sajs the eggs 

 of this species have. In ever?/ instance 

 the ground color was distinctly bluish, 

 which agrees wifh Davie's statement as 

 to this point. I would like to hear 

 from some other collectors Avho hold an 

 opinion on this subject, through the 

 columns of this highly esteemed paper, 

 the OoLOGiST. May it have a long and 

 prosperous extistsuce. 



Jas. a. Lyon, Jr., 

 Clai'ksville, Tennessee. 



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