28 



THE OSPREY. 



Calllornla Department.. 



Edited by DONALD A. COHEN, 

 Alameda, Cal. 



All Ornithologists west of the Rocky Mountains will favor the 

 editor of this Department, as well as the publisher of The 

 Osi'REY, by furnishing notes, news, or articles and illustrations 

 for publication. 



A Handy Book. 



For a number of years I have kept a 

 catalog-ue of the total list of eg-g-s in my 

 collection. First I followed a check-list 

 and spaced the book according- to the 

 different species I had or was likely to 

 have, so as not to g^et the work crowded, 

 and to keep the species in reg-ular A. O. 

 U. order. Each species has its name on 

 a headline, thus: — 



360a. — Desekt Spakkow Hawk. 



5 ^^^5, })iarkcd 1-^-94-. No. 1^2. 

 ^ " '' 1-4-95^ No. 40. 



6 "■ " 1-6- g6. No. gy. 



A ten or fifteen-cent blank book with 

 end-hinge covers, with about 100 pag-es, 

 small enoug-h to be carried in ei coat pocket 

 is what I use. The above, for illustra- 

 tion, shows that I have at the present 

 da}' three sets of Desert Sparrow-Hawk. 

 The eg-gs heive been marked to show the 

 year in which the}' were taken, while the 

 number sign indicates the number of the 

 entry on the field-book, ( as I do not 

 always write out data until a set is 

 called for, as more can be told in a book 

 about the nature of the country, the ac- 

 tions of the birds, the description of the 

 nest, etc., than will g-o on an ordinary 

 data blank). 



If I trade the set of eg-g-s to Tom Jones 

 I run a line through the entry in my 

 "hand book" and write the party's name 

 and the date of shipment after No. 97. 

 This is done to avoid the trouble of look- 

 ing- into the cabinet at some future date 

 to see how many sets of Desert Sparrow 

 Hawk I have. 



If I receive a set I write, for example, 

 thus: 



375. Great Hokned Owl. 



2 eggs and date; marked j-2; from 

 Smith. lo-iy'gs. 



In the event of trading- this set, I run 

 my pen throug-h the entry and set after 10- 

 15-'96, "to Jack Robinson, 2-ll-'96." 



If an eg-g- is damag-ed or second-class, 

 or if data are lacking, or if a set is a par- 



tial set, or if an eg-g- becomes broken, I 

 make a note of it on the same line, or if 

 there is not enoug-h room, on the space 

 below, I do not have to look into the cab- 

 inet to see how many sets I have of a cer- 

 tain bird or to handle each eg-g- to see if 

 they are all perfect, when a moment's look 

 at my book will reveal all the informa- 

 tion desired. If a nest belong-s to a set 

 it is either indicated in the set-mark or 

 more fully mentioned. I also keep an- 

 other book for nests, run much upon the 

 same plan as the egg- book, and another 

 book for skins. 



For a rare bird three or four lines will 

 be sufificient space unless I am in a posi- 

 tion to collect or receive four or five sets. 

 For a common bird, that I take annually 

 in series, I space according-ly. It all de- 

 pends on how active the collector is as to 

 how long- his book will last. Mine last 

 me about two years without having- to 

 insert extra pag-es to avoid cramping 

 space — something- that cannot always be 

 foreseen. When the book is rewritten 

 you do not need to rewrite memoranda for 

 sets that have been broken or exchang-ed. 



The main object of this book is the 

 advantag-e of being- able to obtain a clear, 

 full and decisive knowledg-e of your collec- 

 tion in a hurry and at any time and at 

 any place (provided you have the book 

 with you) and to be exceptionally handy 

 to a collector whose collection is tempo- 

 rarily disarrang-ed, or if he has no ade- 

 quate storag-e room to keep sets of a 

 series side by side. 



LOCAL names for birds are at times 

 curious as well as interesting-, more so 

 from the fact that before we knew 

 our birds by their proper or scientific 

 names, we adopted the names set down 

 by boys older than ourselves. Many of 

 these nicknames, especially of certain 

 birds, hold g-ood throug-h-out the state, 

 while others vary locally, even in the 

 same country. Below is a list of "native" 

 tyros' names of some Alameda County 

 birds: 



Grebes, Divers; California Murre, Far- 

 allone Bird, from its habit of nesting on 

 the islands of that name; Cormorants, 

 Shags; Terns, Sea Pigeons; Merg-ansers, 

 Saw-bills, Fish Ducks; Shovelers, Spoon- 

 bill; Canvasback, Can; American Golden- 

 eye, Copperhead; Scoters, Coots; Great 

 Blue Heron, Crane; Black-crowned Nig-ht 



