20 



THE OOLOGIST. 



limy su express it. 



The visit of my birds to their home iu 

 the stnnip histed uearly two hours. The 

 female weut into ond out of the hole several 

 times before she liually settled herself, as I 

 suppose ou her nest. Wheu she came forth 

 at the end of thirty or forty minutes, she 

 appeared, exceedingly hai)py, cackling in u 

 low, harsh, l)ut rather wheedling voice, and 

 evident!}' anxious to attract the attention of 

 the male, who iu tnin treated her with 

 lofty contempt. To him the question of a 

 new egg was not worth considering. But 

 when she at last turned away from him, 

 and mounting into the air, galloped off into 

 the solemn gloom of the cypress wood, he 

 followed her, trumpeting at the top of his 

 voice. 



Day after ilay I returned to my hiding- 

 place to renew my observations, and, ex- 

 cepting a visitation of mosquitoes now and 

 then, nothing occured to mar my eujoynjent. 

 As the weather grew warmer the flowers 

 and leaves came on apace, and the swamp 

 became a vast wilderness of perfume and 

 contrasting colors. Bird songs from migra- 

 ting warblers, vireos, finches and other 

 haj>py sojourners for a day (or mayhap they 

 were all nesting there, I cannot say, for "I 

 had larger tish to fry '), shook the wide si- 

 len<te into sudden resonance. Along the 

 sluggish little stream between the cane- 

 brakes, the hermit-tlunish and catl)ird were 

 met by the green heron and the belted 

 kiuglisher. The snake-bird, too, that veri- 

 table water-dragon of the South, was there, 

 wriggling and squirming iu the amber-brown 

 pools amongst the lily-pads and lettuce. 



At last, one morning, my woodpeckers 

 discovered me in my hidinu-place; and 

 that was the end of all intimacy between us. 

 Thenceforth my observations were few and 

 at a long distance. No amount of cunning 

 could serve me any turn. G.> as early as I 

 might, and hide as securely as I could, 

 those great yellow eyes quickly espied me. 

 then there would be a rapid and long flight 

 away into the thickest and most difficult 

 ptut of the swamp. 



I confess that it was with no little debate 

 that I reached the deteiinination that it was 



my duty to rob that nest iu the interest of 

 knowledge. It was th< first opportunity I 

 ever had had to examine an occujiied nest 

 of the Cnritpcphilvs prinripaUs, and I felt 

 that it was scarcely probable that I should 

 ever again be favored with such a chance. 

 With the aid of my Cracker host, I erected a 

 rule ladder and climbed up to the hole. It 

 was almost exactly circular, and nearly five 

 inches in diamet; r. With a little axe I be- 

 gan breaking and hacking away the crust of 

 hard outer wt)od. The cavity d<s ended 

 with a slightly sjural course, widening a 

 little as it proceeded. I had followed it 

 nearW five feet when I found a i>lace where 

 it was contracted again, and immediately 

 below was a sudden expansion, at the bot- 

 tom of which was the nest. Five beautiful 

 pure white eggs of the finest old-china ap- 

 pearance, delicate, almost transparent, 

 exceedingly fragile and, to the eyes of a 

 collector, vastly valuable, lay iu a shallow 

 bowl of tine chips; but iu breaking away 

 the last piece of wood-crust, I jerked it a 

 little too hard, and those much coveted 

 prizes rolled out and fell to the ground. 

 Of course they were "hopelessly crushed.' 

 and my feelings with them. I would will- 

 ingly have fallen in their stead, if the risk 

 could have saved the eggs. I decended rue- 

 fully enough, hearing as I did so the loud 

 cry of t'anq)ephilus battling around in the 

 jungle. Once or twice more I went back t\> 

 the spot in early morniiig, but my birds did 

 not ajjpeai'. I made minute examination of 

 the rifled nest, and also tore out the other 

 excavation, so as to compare the two. 

 They were very much alike, e.specially iu 

 the jug-shape of their lower ends. From a 

 careful study of all the holes (ajjpareutly 

 made by Campephilns) that I have been 

 able to find and reach in either standing or 

 fallen trees, I am led to believe that this 

 jug-shape is peculiar to the ivor} -bill's arch- 

 itecture, as I have never foiuid it in the 

 excavations of other species, save where the 

 torm was evidently the result of accident. 

 The depth of the hole varies from three to 

 seven feet, as a rule, but I found one that 

 was nearly nine feet deep and another that 

 was less thau two Our smaller woodpeck- 



