September, 1893.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



Set XVII. Yellow Warbler; five eggs in 

 set. Nest and eggs like set XIII. 



Set XVIII. Yellow Warbler ; four eggs in 

 set, beauties ; they are in the " Amon Shearer 

 collection," so I cannot describe them. 



Set. XIX. Catbird; four eggs in set; in 

 the "Amon Shearer collection." 



This was the last set that we took, and by 

 6 o'clock we were home, feeling well satisfied 

 with our first day's egging. The evening 

 was passed pleasantly in telling stories, and 

 once in a while friend Amon, accompanied 

 by his sisters, would favor us with sweet music. 



It was along towards the "wee hours" 

 when Amon and I " turned in " for the night. 

 .\lthough tired and sleepy we could not help 

 talking about sets taken during the day. 

 Amon had just finished telling me about a 

 " lucky find " the year before. In return I 

 told him of my first set of Great Horned Owl 

 eggs. I must have been rattling away for 

 about ten minutes, and when all was told I 

 asked my companion what he thought of it. 

 No answer — his thoughts had gone to the 

 " happy hunting ground." 



Our plan was to be out early the next 

 morning, so I followed his example and — 

 snored. 



Amon was up bright and early the next 

 morning ; had his farm work done and col- 

 lected set of Catbird eggs before I " tumbled 

 out" of bed. 



The set of pretty Catbird eggs was lost ; it 

 happened this way : 



When .Amon found the nest in the orchard, 

 he took the eggs and thought to surprise me 

 with his early find. Opening the door of the 

 bedroom he placed them on the floor be- 

 tween the door and bed. 



About ten minutes later he returned to see 

 if I was up (of course I wasn't) ; then he 

 walked right in intending to wake me, un- 

 fortunately forgetting about the Catbird eggs 

 on the carpeted floor. Of course he steppeil 

 on every one of them. 



After breakfast we started out. (-)ur first 

 find was four pretty eggs of the Brown 



Thrasher ; nest was placed three feet from 

 ground in willow. 



Set XXI. Yellow Warbler ; this set of fine 

 eggs is the lightest in color that I have ever 

 seen. Three of the eggs have a wreath on 

 the larger end, formed by faint spots and 

 blotches of drab brown. One has tiny 

 specks of lilac reddish brown and umber. 

 The other egg is pale blue, with only three 

 tiny dots of brown. Nest same as XI Y.' 



Set XXII. Chipping Sparrow ; four eggs 

 in set, bluish green, spotted with dark um- 

 ber, purplish and gray lilac, the markings 

 forming a circle on the larger end of two 

 eggs. Nest built in wild plum free and 

 made of fine grasses, roots and fibres, linetl 

 with horse hair. 



Set XXIII. Barn Swallow ; five eggs in 

 set, white, marked with spots of bright red- 

 dish brown over entire surface. Hundreds 

 of nests of this beautiful swallow were placed 

 under the eaves of the barn where this set 

 was collected. 



Set X.XR'. Barn Swallow; six eggs in set, 

 color same as XXIII. 



We took the nest belonging with this set 

 of six eggs because it was a fair specimen of 

 the Barn Swallow's work. It was comjiosed 

 of pellets of mud mixed with grasses and 

 lined with feathers. 



Set XXV. Yellow Warbler ; four eggs in 

 set, greenish white ground color, spotted with 

 umber, reddish brown and lilac, forming 

 wreath on large end. Nest cup-shaped, 

 made of stems of plants, fibres, hair and 

 plant down. 



This is the last set that we collected, going 

 home early so could we blow them before I 

 returned to my home. 



The season was late for a successful col- 

 lecting trip, but the ones we did get are 

 beauties and much thought of by Amon and 

 me. Carl Fritz-Heniiin<r. 



F. H. Holmes, Berryessa, Cal., called 

 on us while on his return trip from a pilgri- 

 mage to Harry Austen's "den." 



