THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



35 



out for Redhead, and often in the same 

 company you will find a few of its near 

 relatives, the C'anvasbacks, in a sociable 

 little flock together. 



This bird breeds very freely in this local- 

 ity. In fact it seems as if every pair of 

 birds which remain with us during the 

 summer do so to breed and rear their 

 young. So accustomed have I become to 

 this fact that in the months of May and 

 June, whenever I see an old Drake Red- 

 head placidly swimming around on some 

 pond or asleep on its bank, immediately 

 institute a search among tbe nearest bimch 

 of rushes with the hope of finding the old 1 

 mother duck sitting on a nice nest of eggs. 

 I have become so used to the locality' gen- ] 

 erally selected for a nest that I often go 

 straight to it and am seldom disappointed 

 in finding the object of my search. Along 

 towards the last of June the old ducks be- 

 gin to appear with a nice little flock of 

 from seven to fourteen little toddlers, all 

 yellow and downy, "the latest out." 

 Sometimes I have caught two or three of 

 the shy little fellows and tried to raise and 

 domesticate them, but there seems to be an 

 unsurmountable disposition to "roam" in 

 these little fellows, and although they will 

 eat heartily and thrive while in a coop the 

 moment they get out of confinement they 

 quickly proceed to make themselves scarce, 

 for which propensity they are remarkably 

 well gifted. 



The Redhead usually begins building 

 about the 1st of May ; from that time fresh 

 eggs may be obtained till about June 1st. 



The locality generally selected is among 

 thick reeds in four to six feet of water. 

 In fact the birds will, generally, commode 

 himself to an old coot's nest which he 

 readily remodels to suit his taste by a few 

 slight additions. 



The eggs are of a brownish white or 

 blue color, generally of a more oval shape 

 than the generality of ducks. The number 

 of eggs is from seven to fourteen at a 

 litter, I have also found other eggs 

 in the nest of the Redhead. I recall one 

 special instance which fell under my ob- 

 servation last season on the middle of May. 



I found a Redhead's nest containing /wi^r- 

 teen Redhead's eggs, three eggs of the Svddjf 

 Duck and five of the Coot, quite a nestf ul in 

 all. The Coot eggs were somewhat cov- 

 ered up by a thin layer of dry reeds, still 

 they appeared perfectly fresh, while the 

 Rudd}' Duck and Redhead appeared 

 slightly advanced in incubation, as I flushed 

 a hen Redhead from the nest on my dis- 

 covery of it, I presume that l)ird had been 

 successful over its antagonists and co- 

 claimants of the nest, the Coot and Ruddy 

 Duck, in any possible previously disputed 

 contest, or had the Coot or Ruddy Duck 

 mutually agreed to let the Redhead incu- 

 bate their eggs, and who would claim the 

 various progeny on its issuance from the 

 egg? I was somewhat puzzled over this 

 state of affairs, but dispensed with any 

 possible chance of causing tlie poor birds 

 any future opportunity for dispute and 

 warfare by taking the whole twenty-two 

 eggs, blowing them and transfering them 

 to my collection, where tliey still remain, 

 accompanied with their properl}- gotten up 

 data blank. 



A. M. Shields, 

 Los Angeles, Cal. 



Notes on Our Winter Birds. 



By way of introduction to the subject of 

 "Bird Migration" (some notes regarding 

 which I may from time to time contribute 

 to "The Young OiJLOGiST "), let me note 

 that there are about a score of different 

 species of birds ; that permanently remain, 

 or occasionally visit this locality during the 

 winter season Prominent among the 

 smaller species are those is the Black-cap 

 Chickadee, the Brown C'reeper, and the 

 White-bellied and Red-bellied Nut-hatches. 

 These species remain here all the year 

 round, and are known to breed, though it 

 is difficult to discover their nesting places. 

 Ne.xt to these, as commonly met with in the 

 winter months, are the Hairy and Downy 

 Woodpeckers, which also nest here. Some- 

 timeSj though now rarely, the Pilated 

 Woodpecker, is also seen or heard at this 

 season. The Blue Jays are common, and 

 sometimes appear in large stocks. Speci- 



