THE OOLOGIST. 



2«$ 



OiTgou Jay. Tlie latliT is not toinnioi. 

 In my observation I have founil it 

 rare, having only seen four l)iiils in' 

 tlirue years. The two former both have 

 crests, the latter has none and in color- 

 ing much approaches tiie Eisteru Bird. 

 But I am wandering from mysnlijeit. 

 I'ass ng on we soon enter an opening 

 and here we search deiigently for a nest 

 of tiie Ring Phc^asaiit, but are disa|)- 

 l)ointed. A male with a Ijrood ofyoung, 

 l)erhaps ten days old is seen. 



Coming next to a scrub oak grove. we 

 search for nests of the Oregon Cincka- 

 <lee and are rewarded l)y linding two 

 nes's in dead stubs, only a few feet 

 above the ground. One containeil si.x. 

 the other seven beautiful eggs of a 

 white ground color spotted with umber 

 and brown chielly at the larger end. 

 This bir«l is quite common, but ils nest 

 is so well concealed in the forests and 

 briar patches that it is not as often 

 found as might be expected. It had 

 l)een a giorious morning, and we had 

 been feasting iipoi; Nature with all it's 

 beauty Imt it was approaching one 

 o'clock, and the inner man began to 

 feel the wants of refreshments At this 

 point we came to the Santiam River 

 and seating ourselves in a shady nook 

 we proceeded to eat our lunch, which 

 i)y the way it disajipeared, was very ac- 

 ceptable 



During this time, however, a jjair of 

 American Dippers were Hying back 

 and forth near the bank, ami we pro- 

 ceeded to look for their nest. A short 

 distance down from where we were sil- 

 ting a log extended out over the water, 

 and on thevery end a ball of moss at- 

 tracted our attention. My friend hast- 

 ily .scraml)led out on the log but slipped 

 and secured a ducking although the 

 water was only ai)out 2 feet deep. Not 

 at all di.scouraged by this he waded out 

 the i)alance of the way. But insteatl of 

 four white eggs he found four young 

 birds and ihey were not disturiied of 

 course. 



This ijird is common along our moun- 



tain streams but iheir nests are general- 

 ly not often found, resembling so much 

 only a bunch of mo.ss and many limes 

 are built in inacccssable places. After 

 gathering up our basket-, we started 

 homewanl, flushing several Quail Ijut 

 no more nest were found of this specie. 

 Wiien nearly home we found a nest of 

 the Ked-shafted Flicker in a hollow 

 slump some 40 leet high ami seven pure 

 white eggs were soon in my possession. 

 Preparing these specimens we soon 

 reached my friend'- home. 



After having a hearty dinner I started 

 to drive home and reached there Just at 

 dusk and thus ended one of the most 

 pleasant and profitable days of the- 

 season. 



Bird Wit and Lack of It. 



One of 1 lie chief attrat'tions of Ihc^ 

 study of birds is the fact that they are- 

 not mere animated machines, living 

 over and over, a certain routine of life, 

 but on the contrary, to a certain extent 

 at least, are thinking and icasoning^ 

 beings, differing one from another in 

 their personality and in the skill with 

 which they adapt themselves lo their 

 environments 



To the new-comer from the Ka.'^t,one 

 of the strange sights in this locality is 

 the al)undance and familiarity of the 

 Blue Jay, and though like "Yorick" of 

 old, in most of his actions, he may 

 prove "a fellow of intinite wit," still in 

 the choice of a nesting place he some 

 limes -seems to be blessed with a identi- 

 ful lack of it. I rcnu'iniier the only 

 nest of this species I ever found in New 

 Kiigiand. It was in a scridil)y |)ine in 

 I he deepest recesses of a large tract of 

 timber land, ami was only discovered 

 by catching a glimpse of the old bir<l as^ 

 she silently stole away. 



In this vicinity, where ils experience 

 with the while man. or rather l»oy. is 

 in.'asured by d.uwles rather than <'en- 

 lurie^, it is much ni<>re coMliiliiig. A 



