ORNITHOLOGIST 



— AND — 



OOLOGIST. 



$i.oo per 

 Annum, 



PUBLISHED BY THE FRANK BLAKE WEBSTER COMPANY. 



ESTABLISHED MARCH, 1875. 



Singe Copy 

 10 cents. 



Vol. XVIII. HYDE PARK, MASS., SEPTEMBER, 1893. 



No. 



Two Days Egging in June. 



Last summer, June 14, 3 o'clock in the 

 morning I was at Ames, Iowa, waiting for 

 my friend, to wliom I iiad written that I was 

 coming to spend a few days with him in the 

 field. Knowing that Amon could not be in 

 Ames until about five o'clock, I got an early 

 breakfast at the Railroad Lunch Counter and 

 then started for the woods east of town. 



In the east the sky was tinged with red — 

 glorious dawn of day and awakening of bird 

 life. The first note comes from the Purple 

 Martin ; the Pewee, Brown Thrasher and 

 Robin soon follows. Now the domestic 

 Cock of the barnyard crows loud and lustily, 

 cooing of doves in the distance and the 

 Cuckoo's notes near by follow in quick suc- 

 cession. Bird life begins in earnest — Robins, 

 Pewees, Thrushes, Whip-poor-wills, Martins, 

 Bluebirds, Kingbirds, Blue Jays, all start up 

 at one time, as it seems, and form Nature's 

 orchestra. From the fields near by come the 

 notes of Meadow Larks, Bobolink and Quail. 

 I stand still enraptured at the beauties of 

 nature that surround me ; suddenly two woKes 

 come running along the ravine at my left and 

 arouse me from my reverie. .Seeing me, the 

 shaggy fellows scamper off on a gallop and 

 cross the railroad track further down, just as 

 the west bound passenger comes thundering 

 along. 



Rap a tap tap. The Woodpecker is at 

 work getting his breakfast ; he certainly proves 

 the old adage about the early bird catching 

 the worm to be true. The mosquitoes by 

 this time were out in full force, and " on to 



their job," so I concluded to retrace my steps 

 to the station. Arriving at .\mes a few min- 

 utes later, I was in time to meet my friend. 



The drive to his home, ten miles distant, 

 was a delightful one. Willow and osage 

 hedges were scattered all along the road — 

 favorite nesting places of Thrushes, Doves, 

 Robins, etc. 



The first set of eggs that we collected on 

 the way to .Amon's home was a Catbird's, 

 three eggs in set, nest placed in willow. 



Set II. Mourning Dove ; the nest was 

 placed in osage hedge. The Turtle 1 )oves are 

 common in our locality and can nearly always 

 be found feeding in country roadways. 



Set III. Mourning Dove; nest in osage. 

 The nest contained only one egg, very small 

 in size, .75 X .55. My friend has in his col- 

 lection one set of three eggs. 



Set IV. Brown Thrasher ; nest was made 

 of twigs, dried leaves, strips of bark and fine 

 roots, lined with hair. Three eggs in set, 

 thickly sprinkled over the entire surface with 

 reddish brown specks. 



Having put this set in my collecting box, 

 we drove along leisurely until the notes of an 

 Oriole attracted our attention. 



"There he is," said my companion, as he 

 pointed to the pretty "Lord Baltimore" 

 swinging on a leafy bough, " but I do not 

 see the nest." 



We tied the horse and began to investi- 

 gate, but could not find the nest. 



We had been looking for the nest about 

 five minutes, when a pretty barefooted coun- 

 try lassie came out of a little cottage that 

 stood by the roadside. Luckily for us, my 



Copyright, 1893, by Fkank Blake Webster Company. 



