July, 1893.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



99 



A Taxidermist's Gun. 



I was in a predicament. Probably I am 

 not the only one. I was going to school 

 five days in the week and working on a 

 "ranch" every Saturday. 



I could not take my shotgun to school with 

 me, nor could I hunt on Sunday ; yet I 

 couldn't slight the birds, and the spring 

 days were passing rapidly without much ef- 

 fect upon my collection. Something had to 

 be done, and to the best of my financial abil- 

 ity I did it. 



One evening I created no small sensation 

 in the family by coming home from school 

 bearing in state an old 45 calibre " Colt's 

 Navy" that had crossed the plains in 1849. 

 It was a villianous looking weapon, to be 

 sure, and a little out of date, but it's a poor 

 gun that's not better than no gun at all. 



The gunsmith cut the rifling for fifty cents 

 and my Indian tamer was transformed into 

 a bird call. The barrel proper is but 8 

 inches long, but with paper cartridges I 

 brought a California Cuckoo completely life- 

 less from the top of a willow 30 or 40 ft. high. 



A convenient clarinet case of my brother's 

 makes my outfit complete and with the un- 

 offending disguise of a less dangerous instru- 

 ment, my pipe (as the teachers call it) ac- 

 companies me on my 4 mile walk to school 

 every morning. 



It is not a perfect taxidermist's gun, but 

 many a specimen in my cabinet 1 owe to 

 this magic " pipe." If my brother student 

 be cramped by a school-boy's pocketbook, 

 let him go anil do likewise, and according 

 to my experience he will be repaid. 



Loye Miller. 



Riverside, Cal. 



Notes from Iowa. 



I will mention a few of my finds of this 



, season. A nest and two eggs of the Brown 



Creeper ; nest between loose bark and body 



of Cottonwood. Eggs partially incubated; 



bird shot. A nest of common Crow contain- 



ing nine eggs. A set of five albino eggs of 

 the Bluebird. \ set of five Catbird eggs, 

 spotted with dark brown, and a set of two 

 Krider's Red-tail Hawk — not bad for rare 

 or unusual sets. I have collected skins of 

 Yellow Prothonotory, Chestnut-sided, Black- 

 throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Bay- 

 breasted, Pine Creeping, Magnolia, Blue- 

 wing Yellow,Golden-winged, Tennessee, Myr- 

 tle, Nashville, Prairie and Golden Crowned 

 Warblers and Yellow-breasted Chat. Quite 

 a fair result for one season. All were shot 

 with a 22 calibre Merwin Hurlburt, Junior, 

 rifle and shot cartridges. G. H. Berry. 



Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 



Nesting of the Hooded Warbler. 



This beautiful little Warbler is one of the 

 rarest Warblers I have the pleasure of study- 

 ing. They usually arrive here the first week 

 in May and soon commence their nest build- 

 ing, and full sets are completed by the first 

 week in June. They choose for their nesting- 

 site some large piece of woods, usually high 

 land, well filled with small undergrowth, and 

 then place their nest in a small thick beech 

 or maple bush, usually from 12 to 24 inches 

 from the ground ; but I took a set this 

 season thirty-nine inches high. 



The nest is a plain structure, composed 

 of dried leaves and vegetable material, occa- 

 sionally lined with a little horse hair and a 

 few spider webs outside. It is quite bulky 

 for the bird, and one would think easy 

 enough to find ; but when you enter a large 

 piece of woods so well filled with small under- 

 growth that you cannot see ten feet ahead 

 you will find it quite necessary to get down 

 on your hands and knees to look for their 

 nests. 



I have found them readily, and have looked 

 two or three hours in this way for them ; yet 

 the longer I look the stronger are the ties 

 for that particular nest. You rarely ever see 

 the male bird, and if the female is sitting 

 you have nothing to guide you : but even 



