56 



THE OSPREY. 



Galitornia Deoartinent. 



COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



A new and complete constitution has been adopted 

 by the Club and is now in effect. It will be printed 

 and distributed to members soon. The Northern 

 Division has adopted new by-laws by which its 

 meetings become bi-monthly commencing with Jan- 

 uary. A new system of dues has been inaugurated 

 in both Divisions, the same being $1.50 annually in 

 the Northern and $1.25 in the Southern Division, of 

 which $1 is to be remitted by the member direct to 

 the official organ and the remainder payable in Jan- 

 uary of each year to the respective Division treasurer. 

 The new by-laws of the Southern Division make its 

 stated meetings as formerly ; on the last Saturday 

 evening of each month. 



The Northern Division met Nov. 6 at the residence 

 of H. K. Taylor in Alameda. The resignation of A. 

 G Maddren of Palo Alto, was accepted. Two new 

 members were proposed to be acted upon at the next 

 regular meeting. Nominations of officers for 1898 

 resulted as follows : President, W. Otto Emerson 

 of Haywards ; Vice President, Richard C. McGregor 

 of Palo Alto ; Secretary, Chester Barlow of Santa 

 Clara, and Treasurer, Donald A. Cohen of Alameda. 

 It was voted that the State Committee secure from 

 each County Committee an annual report showing 

 the work done on the State List. A paper on 'Nest- 

 ing of Thurber's Junco' by Henry W. Carriger, of 

 Sonoma, was read and discussed. The Northern 

 Division will hold its ne.xt session January 8, the 

 occasion being the Annual Meeting, at the home of C. 

 Barlow, at San Jose, Cal. 



The Southern Division held its annual outing 

 meeting at Mt. Wilson, Oct. 30, President McCor- 

 mick presiding. Harry Leland was elected to active 

 membership. The secretary reported the presenta 

 tion of the 'Biographical Sketch of the late Wm. 

 Cooper' to the Division Library by Dr J. G. 

 Cooper. The new constitution as adopted by the 

 Northern Division was endorsed by an unanimous 

 vote. The new by-laws of the Southern Division 

 were adopted The reading of papers was deferred. 

 — Publication Committee. 



CALIFORNIA NOTES. 



EDITED BY DONALD A. COHEN. ALAMEDA, CAL. 



Mr. T. E. Slevin left San Francisco Nov. 6 for a 

 week's outing. 



We were favored with a recent call from Mr. Wm. 

 L. Finley, President of the Northwestern Oologist's 

 Association. Mr. Finley is down from Portland, 

 Oregon to study at the University of California. 



A letter from Mr. Corydon Chamberlin, dated 

 Bodie, Cal., Oct. 19, states he has been conducting 

 a cyanide experiment station at that place and has 

 been overcrowded with samples until very recently. 



We have received a fine flashlight picture of Mr. 

 C. F. Stone of Branchport, N. Y., in his 'den,' with 

 Messrs. W. J. B. Williams of Holland Patent, N. 

 Y., and Verdi Burtch of Penn Yan, N. Y. The 

 three gentlemen are in characteristic attitude, exam- 

 ining a drawer of Ruptores eggs. 



ERRATIC NESTING OF THE QUAIL. 



In reply to Mr. H. J. Giddings' query in October, 

 1897, OsPREV, whether other readers of this maga- 

 zine have met with instances of the Quail laying in 

 other birds' nests, — I now cite a few instances of the 

 numerous occasions in which I have found eggs of 

 the California (,)uail, Callipcpla CaHfoniica, in other 

 birds' nests in this immediate locality, and give a 

 few further remarks in connection : Copying from 

 my note book — April 27, 1888, several quail's eggs 

 in a hen's nest among some wild blackberry vines. 

 Some of last year's hen's eggs were in this nest, de- 

 monstrating that both the hen and the quail were 

 decoyed by the nest eggs. 



Found, on April 11, '92, a quail's egg in a turkey's 

 nest on top of a pile of dead cypress brush. The 

 turkey had already laid 6 or 7 eggs which had been 

 daily removed all but the 'nest egg.' 



In about 1882, exact date not now available, 

 several turkeys were laying in the same nest, in the 

 grass, under a honeysuckle hedge, and three quails 

 deposited eggs in the nest late in the afternoon. I 

 allowed the eggs to remain so I could watch de- 

 velopments : but the turkeys trampled or crushed 

 them next morning and the quail did not use the 

 nest again. 



About the same date an Oregon Towhee had built 

 a nest on top of an ivy-covered stub of an oak, 8 feet 

 from the ground. Several quail had laid in the nest 

 until it had become so full that some of the eggs 

 rolled over the rim. The Towhee was then incubat- 

 ing on as many eggs as she could cover, including 

 her own. Upon blowing this queer 'set' a few of 

 the eggs showed slight incubation. No eggs had 

 been broken by the birds 



Again, while climbing over a small shelf or porch 

 over a doorway of a garden house, thickly over- 

 grown with ivy, I stepped upon some quail's and 

 turkey's eggs among the ivy and accumulated dead 

 ivy and oak leaves. The eggs were so old that a 

 slight knock exploded them. This nest was about 

 12 or 15 feet from the ground, and the question is to 

 which bird the ntst originally belonged. 



I also once found an old California Towhee's nest 

 containing a lot of quail's egg shells. It was about 10 

 feet up in an oak where the small branches were 

 thickly overgrown with wild blackberry vines. The 

 only proof I have that the eggs hatched and were not 

 the result of a California Jays' feast was the shape 

 of the shells. 



It is a common occurrence to find quail eggs in 

 Oregon Towhees' nests, which are usually built on 

 the ground; generally one egg, seldom three or four, 

 and very rarely over that number ; and in the latter 

 case I have known the rightful owner to abandon the 

 premises. I have never yet been able to detect the 

 quail on the nest, but have no doubt but that she 

 deposited the eggs there. 



The most curious case I ever heard of in this line 

 was a California Jay's nest in a small tree, which 

 contained a quail's egg in addition to the eggs of the 

 jay. This nest was found by Mr. C. Fyfe in Marion 

 County, and he seemed to think the jay had carried 

 the egg in its bill to the nest intending to eat it there 

 but for some unknown reason had abandoned its pur- 

 pose, rather than believe the quail had invaded the 

 nest of its ever-watchful, egg-eating enemy. 



FOSTER & CO. 



From evidence at hand we are forced to believe 

 that Foster & Co. of .\nn Arbor, Mich, is a fraudu- 

 lent firm, and we regret that their advertisement has 

 appeared in recent numbers of this magazine. 



