54 



THE OOLOGIST. 



and four broad, with a hole in one side. 

 The eggs, five in number, white spotted 

 with reddish-brown. [Your bird was the 

 Golden-crowned Tliush, or "Oven Bird," 

 as it is commonly called. — Ed.] He then 

 showed us the Flicker's nest, which Wiis 

 situated in the top of a dead stump about 

 fifteen feet high. The eggs were pure 

 white and verj^ glossy, as all Woodpeckers' 

 eggs are, and so transparent as to be pink 

 before being blown. 



When we had finished blowing them we 

 started for the school, but before we had 

 walked ten feet we came upon another 

 Wood Thrushes nest with three eggs the 

 same as the other, and so nearly hatched as 

 to be nearly impossible to blow them. 

 After this we made our way back as soon 

 as possible. B. W. Leigh, 



New York. 



Let Young Oologists Collect Single 

 Eggs. 



Editor Oologist : 



As the last numbers of The Oologist 

 and also of the Natxiudists' Coiiqmnion 

 have contained articles in which the writers 

 make it appear that all those who collect 

 single eggs do so, not from a love of study, 

 but from the desire to " shoAv off," allow 

 me to say a few words of defense through 

 your valuable paper. 



There may be advantages gained by col- 

 lecting in sets, it is true, but I think that 

 many oologists witl stand 1)y me when I 

 say that as much can be learned from a 

 collection of single eggs, properly kept, as 

 there can from a collection composed of 

 sets. The wa.y I do is to take the egg and 

 fill out a data blank the' same as if I had 

 taken the set. An egg register may also 

 be k6pt, but if the data blank is properly 

 kept there is no need for the register. In 

 this way one can learn as much from a 

 single Q^^ as he can from a set, and is thus 

 saved the additional trouble retfuired to ob- 

 tain the set. 



Collecting single eggs has the advantage 

 of being the more humane way. notwith- 

 standing what Mr. Selover says to the con- 

 trary in the last number of the Naturalists' 



Companion. As ocilogists are generallj' ac- 

 companied by one or two of their friends 

 on collecting trips, it will be seen that one 

 nest of eggs would often satisfy all if they 

 collected single eggs, while two or three 

 nests would have to be robbed if they col- 

 lected in sets. It is bad enough that the 

 birds should suffer at all, and if we can 

 learn as mucli from a single agg as we can 

 from a set, let us by all means collect single 

 eggs. 



Those who collect eggs simply as curi- 

 osities would do mankind and the birds a 

 favor b}' turning their attention to stamps, 

 tags or something else that would cause no 

 suffering to any kind of harmless or bene- 

 ficial creatures. If such persons cannot be 

 made to desist by gentle means, laws should 

 be enacted by which they can be punished. 



As I am, in all senses of the word, a 

 "young oologist." I should be pleased to 

 know if there are any of the older ones who 

 endorse m^' plans. If .so, let us hear from 

 theiii through The Ooi-ogist. 

 Yours fraternally, 



F. M. Pattekson, 

 Fort Madison, la. 



The Chimney Siftw. 



Although this bird is so common that 

 you may see it .idmost an}' time in the day 

 during its staj' here, yet I have noticed that 

 it is very seldom I see anything pertaining 

 t(j it or its hal)its in any of tlie niagaziues I 

 take. 



It arrives here in the latter part of April 

 and departs about the middle of October. 

 It seeks its prey of insects mostlj- in dark 

 and cloudy weather, or in early morning 

 and the latter part of the afternoon, some- 

 times feeding its young until quite late in 

 the night. When .seeking its prey it gen- 

 erally flies close to the ground. 



Its nest is a neat basket-shaped structure 

 composed of twigs of nearly uniform size 

 woven together in the form of a half circle, 

 making on the whole a most peculiar and 

 remarkable structure. In selecting twigs 

 for the formation of its nest it prefers the 

 ends of living branches, usually of the elm 



