118 



or:n^ithologist 



[Vol. 14-No. 8 



An Egg Hunt in the Rain. 



Did you ever hunt birds' eggs under an um- 

 brella? Well, I have, and a glorious time of it 

 I did have, too. On March 24th of the present 

 year I took a ramble among the large trees 

 and tangle, bordering one of our large streams, 

 with the hopes of finding a few eggs of some 

 of our Raptores, as it was then the height of 

 their nesting time. 



It was one o'clock in the afternoon when I 

 started, and such a miserable tramp as I had 

 cannot be described. Up and down hill, 

 through brush and tangle, over logs and 

 through bogs, sometimes knee deep, and again 

 trying to walk a wire fence. I am not as high 

 up in the art of walking wire fences as I 

 should be, and so had to take the roadside. 



At last, after an hour of hard walking, I 

 reached an old grove of about three hundred 

 acres of heavy timber, and then commenced 

 the "tug of war." With my field glasses 

 turned in an upward direction, with the rain 

 pelting me in the face, I wandered along. 

 Nothing greeted my ears except the continued 

 pattering of the rain, and howling winds, and 

 occasionally the flapping of the Black Vul- 

 ture's {Catharista atrata) wings, a peculiar 

 habit of theirs during a rain storm to beat or 

 shake the water from their body. But for all 

 this I was well rewarded, for very soon my 

 glasses fell upon a large bulky object in an 

 oak not far distant. So away I went in this 

 direction to find a nest of what I supposed to 

 be that of a hawk, so strapping my climbers 

 on (which took but a few seconds) I com- 

 menced the ascent; and but a few strokes had 

 I made when the female flew from the nest, 

 which I recognized to be that of the Florida 

 Red-shouldered Hawk {Buteo lineatiis alleni). 

 After climbing about sixty feet I reached the 

 nest, and to my pleasure found a beautiful 

 clutch of three eggs, and after carefully pack- 

 ing them in my knapsack I descended to the 

 ground. Upon blowing these I found them to 

 be perfectly fresh, although I think this the 

 full clutch, as the bird had commenced incu- 

 bation. 



After rearranging the eggs I commenced 

 again my weary tramp, and very soon came 

 upon another tree containing a nest of the 

 Common Ci'ow {Corvus frugivorus), which con- 

 tained five very handsomely marked eggs, 

 which I also took. This nest was about 

 twelve feet up. 



Around this tree the underbrush was very 

 thick, and the vines and briars grow in pro- 



fusion. In climbing the tree for the Crow's 

 nest so much noise was made that a Black 

 Vulture was frightened from her nest, and so 

 here I was the finder of two eggs of this 

 species. The nest, as you might call it, was 

 flat upon the ground in a small opening among 

 the briars; here upon a few twigs and leaves 

 were deposited the two light green tinted eggs, 

 with their heavily marked blotches of brown 

 and umber. The excrement of the bird was 

 upon every side, and the odor which came 

 from it was not as that of the violets which 

 grew but a few yards distant. These eggs 

 were very fresh, although the birds had com- 

 menced incubation. 



Near this same place a week before I had 

 taken four eggs of the American Barn Owl 

 (Aluco flamnieus americanus) from a hollow 

 stump about twelve feet up, so thinking I 

 might possibly find as many more I stopped to 

 give them an afternoon call. Upon reaching 

 the tree J gave it a loud rap with my climbers, 

 and immediately both birds flew out upon the 

 nearest tree, and after giving me a wink and 

 nod they flew away into the dark woods. I 

 again climbed to the top, and to my sur])rise 

 and ijleasure found three more eggs, which I 

 consider the balance of the clutch. 



This stump had been a large hollow tree, 

 but had been broken off about twenty feet up, 

 and the eggs were placed at the bottom of the 

 hollow, about eight feet from the opening. 

 To secure these eggs I let myself down in the 

 tree feet first, but had much difficulty in 

 reaching them with my hands, but at last 

 succeeded. 



Were you ever in a hollow? How the wind 

 did howl as it passed above the opening, and 

 you could hear the rain patter upon the tree 

 trunk; I imagine it must have been a very 

 cozy home for these owls. The bottom of the 

 hollow was lined with fur of the Rabbit, and 

 a number of curious pellets adorned the out- 

 side of the nest. As the rain continued to 

 pour, and as everything was so very disagree- 

 able, I thought the best thing I could do was 

 to turn my face homeward. So I did. I had 

 gone about a mile, and while passing through 

 a small grove I came upon another nest of the 

 Florida Red-shouldered Hawk {Buteo lineatus 

 alleni) which also contained three eggs, all 

 fresh. The nest was placed in a pecan tree 

 about forty-five feet up, and was lined with 

 green leaves of the elm and mistletoe. The 

 male hawk fought desperately while I climbed 

 the tree, but flew off and joined the female as 

 soon as I reached the nest. After safely 



