178 



OEKITHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 14-No. 12 



The zealous efforts of boys to assist in pro- 

 curing desirable eggs sometimes terminates 

 disastrously. A few instances to illustrate: 



In February, "87, I bad secured a set of 

 two eggs from a pair of Great Horneds. Three 

 weeks later I again located the female in 

 Ijossession of a (row's nest of the previous 

 year. Wisliing to make sure of the lay being 

 complete I decided not to disturb her at this 

 time but to return in three or four days 

 and investigate. But this delay caused the 

 loss to me of the set. A boy, finding the 

 nest, mounted to it by the aid of a long lad- 

 der, and securing the two eggs started to bring 

 them to me, boy-like, putting them into his 

 coat jjocket. Falling in with a chum on the 

 way they got into a scuffle, forgetting all about 

 the eggs, but subsequently was reminded of 

 their presence when thrusting a hand into his 

 pocket he found them ready for "custard." 



A few days later this same youth discov- 

 ered one of my liedtail's nests. Getting his 

 gun he shot and killed the female, and also 

 broke two of the three eggs on which she was 

 setting. Witii the dead hawk and remaining 

 egg he came to me with much the air of a 

 hero. My disgust was beyond expression. 



To make it interesting to them I had of- 

 fered to a few boys a small premium for all 

 full sets of certain bird's eggs which they 

 would bring to me. This reward in a few 

 instances aroused their cupidity and caused 

 an attempt to practise deception upon me. 



For instance, two brothers one day brought 

 me three white eggs of a domestic duck 

 which they declared were those of the Bubo 

 virfjiniamis, as they had got them out of a hol- 

 low tree, and had seen the bird fly from it. 

 At another time these same lads brought me 

 five eggs of the Peafowl which they insisted 

 were those of the Wild Turkey. 



One day a young man came to me with 

 five small eggs of the .Silver -spangled Ham- 

 burgs which he stoutly declared had been 

 found high up in a hollow red oak tree, and 

 were the eggs of the Prairie or Barn Owl. The 

 omission of the letter "f" was all that was 

 wrong,and upon being closely questioned he ac- 

 knowledged the deception. 



The thinnest deception that boys some- 

 times try to practise on me is to bring me a 

 pair of Dove's eggs declaring them to be those 

 of the Whip-poor-will, for they had seen the 

 latter bird plainly, in fact, had flushed it from 

 the eggs. Their mortification would be very 

 apparent when I would show them the genu- 

 ine eggs of the ('apriiinihiii.s rorifrrnx. 



Many collectors could tell of difficult and dan- 

 gerous climbs to nests to find them occupied 

 by young birds. March 20, 18S7, I found an 

 Owl's nest seventy-five feet up in a red oak 

 which was three and a half through and stand- 

 ing on a steep hillside. After much hard work 

 I made my way up the trunk and way out on 

 a limb to the nest, to find three young Bubo 

 Vs. Upon reaching the ground I was so 

 nearly exhausted, that I lay upon my back 

 and rested for some minutes before feeling 

 able to UKtunt my horse and resume my 

 journey. 



A few days after this I climbed eighty feet 

 up a big Sycamore to a cavity from which I 

 had flushed a Barred Owl, only to find four 

 downy young .Syrniums. 



At anotlier time I climbed to the tiptop 

 of a very tall tree to find two pipped eggs of the 

 Red-tail Hawk. 



That parasitic nuisance, the Cowbird, has 

 been to collectors the bane of many otherwise 

 desirable sets of eggs. Last spring I f(unid a 

 nest containing two eggs of the (\)wbird and 

 one of the Cardinal. In the hope of encour- 

 aging the latter to ct)inplete a set I threw out 

 the two eggs of the i)arasite leaving the one of 

 the Cardinal. Returning in three days I found 

 this egg gone and the nest partly demolished. 

 I have had a similar experience witli the Vir- 

 eos, Chewinks and Orioles. 



Last May a naturalist friend in the kindness 

 of his heart presented me with a Raccoon 

 (Procyon lofor). Of all the imps of mischief 

 that ever was created he proved to be one of the 

 worst. Secure him as safely as might be, he 

 would manage by some means to occasionally 

 free Jiimself from his collar and chain, and 

 then the mischievous pranks he would play 

 were enough to try the patience of a saint. 



One day in June we were all going from home 

 for a day and had taken extra precautions to se- 

 cure " Jack" to his jiost in the backyard. But 

 alas I on returning in the evening he was no- 

 where to be seen. My first thought was about 

 my eggs; my season's collecting of Hawk's, 

 Owl's, and a few others, were in a box which 

 I had put for safe keeping high up on a shelf 

 in a closet. On going to this place the "Coon'' 

 jumped out of the box and scamijered off to a 

 room in a distant part of the house. The 

 scamp had ett'ected an entrance by climbing 

 upon the portico and coming in through an 

 up-stairs winilow. Then coming down stairs 

 he had smelled out the box of eggs. Oological 

 ruin stared me in the face. A pile of shells lay 

 upon the fioor and upon looking into the box 



