136 



THE OOLOGiST. 



practically none, the eggs beiug laid ou 

 the rubbisli which had collected at the 

 bottom of the hole, about 30 feet from 

 the ground, incubation slight. My 

 friend was satisfied that they were eggs 

 of Richardson's Merlin, but to be fully 

 convinced he shot the female and fully 

 ideutitied the bird. 



The set is now in my possession and 

 the eggs are very handsome, thickly 

 blotched and splashed with I'ich red 

 brown, almost appearing uniform in 

 one specimen. The set was taken about 

 three miles from whei'e Mr. J. E. House- 

 man took a set in '94. See OiiLOOiST for 

 July, 1894. 



On July 21st 1 was down the Bow 

 river collecting and Avithin about a mile 

 of where the above set was taken , I 

 sliot an Am. Sparrow Hawk from the 

 top of a poplar, and immediately follow- 

 ing the report a male Hawk flew from 

 another tree A'ociferouslj' protesting 

 against mj- intrusion. I had been on 

 the look out for Richardson's Merlin for 

 sevei'al days, as I wished to procure a 

 pair if possible, and my suspicions weie 

 aroused at once as the bird was larger 

 and darker, and the cry was somewhat 

 different from the Sparrow Hawk. I 

 proceeded to the spot, and when with- 

 in a few yards of the tree the female 

 left the nest and joined her mate. 



The tree was a large black poplar, 

 and it was utterly impossible for me 

 to climb it without help, so I satisfied 

 myself with shooting the female, and 

 determined to return the following 

 da}', which I did, and with the aid of a 

 long pole I reached the first branch and 

 then a lai'ge jagged hole that showed 

 near the top. Directly, mj' head was on 

 a level with the hole five hungry mouths 

 were opened, clamoring noisely for 

 food, and I was gazing upon five dow- 

 ny young of Richardson's Merlin. One 

 was a remarkably small and puny bird 

 almost dead and with scarcely any 

 down upon it. I transferred the lot in- 

 to my hat and now all that remains of 



them is their carefully preserved skins 

 along with the female. 



I was greatly surprised at taking 

 young birds so late, and I think it just 

 possible that the bird left from the tirst 

 nest mated again, thus accounting for 

 the lateness of the nesting. 



I spent some 4 weeks around Calgary 

 this summer, and saw in all about five 

 for six pair of Merlins, they are no 

 doubt very local as I spent some thi'ee 

 weeks, 100 miles north of Calgary and 

 never saw a single specimen, the Pigeon 

 Hawk seeming to take its place. I be- 

 lieve these two records are only the sec- 

 ond and third authentic ones of the 

 nesting of the nesting of this bold 

 little Falcon. Whilst taking the latter 

 nest the male was very bold swooping 

 to within a few yards of my head. I 

 cculd easily have shot, him but thought 

 I had played havoc enough. 



G. F. DiPPiE, 

 Toronto. 



A Few Notes on the Arizona Jay. 



Aphelocoma siebcrii arizo)im. 



This ^interesting bird is a common 

 resident in the Sierra Madres about 

 Monterey in the oak timber. It was 

 while I was field engineer of a short 

 railroad that runs from town to the 

 foot of the mountains, twelve miles 

 south, transporting ore from thence to 

 the smelters here, that I met this spe. 

 cies. 



Being very busy. I had no time to 

 study this bold fellow and make sure 

 his identity, but at last fortune favored 

 me, and I obtained an introduction. 

 They are gregarious, roving about in 

 flocks of half a dozen or a dozen. They 

 spend all the morning and evening fly- 

 ing about from tree to tree, uttering 

 their harsh cries, and not appearing to 

 notice man in the least. In the middle 

 of the day they are generally still, sit- 

 ting around in trees, in some retired 



