14 



THE OOLOGIST. 



reached the lake. The Coots and 

 Grebes were to be seen in countless 

 numbei's. We went along the east 

 shore and found Wood Ducks and Tree 

 Swallows nesting ^in the elms and wil- 

 low stubs. In some instances the swal- 

 lows had to be taken from the nest by 

 hand. We secured several nice sets. 

 "On the west side of the lake we found 

 several nests of the Virginia and Sora 

 Rails, most of thorn contained eggs. 

 On our wa,y home several Least Bittern 

 were seen in the tall wild rice. But Ave 

 failed to locate their nests. But we 

 Nvere well satisfied with our trip. 



W. Harrison, 

 Houston Co., Minn. 



Summer Tanager. 



Six or seven years ago the Summer 

 Red Bird or Summer Tanager was rare- 

 ly seen in this vicinity, and, if it nested 

 at all, l)red in the thick scrub oaks far 

 from any human habitation. 



Five years ago I shot a fine male in 

 full ])liun:ige, that was the tirst Summer 

 Tanager taken here. It was not unlil a 

 year or two ago, however, that they be- 

 come anj'ways common, and now it can 

 be seen almost any summer day. Its 

 pecular metalic note easily leads to its 

 identittcation and also to the discovery 

 of its nest. I have collected many 

 nests that I never would have discover- 

 ed had not the male bird uttered its cry 

 of alarm at my proximity. 



The male and female bird differ much 

 in plumage, the former being a dull 

 vermilion I'ed and the latter olive 



The ne.st of the Summer Redbird here 

 is one of the prettiest and neatest we 

 have, it is composed outwardly' of tine 

 weed stems and internally of tine grass- 

 es, these grasses are green when pi-o- 

 cured liy tlu^ bird, and as they retain 

 their color for weeks, give the nest a 

 Very pretty appearance. 



The nests are iii\ arlaballv i)uilt on a 



horozontal branch or limb usually of 

 oak, here. 



Davie states in his last edition of the 

 "Nests and Eggs of North American 

 Birds" that the nest of this species are 

 frail and the bottom unusually thin, in 

 fact in some cases the "eggs could 

 be seen from the ground," this, 

 while it may apply to the nests of the 

 Summer Redbird in some localities, will 

 not apply to the nest of Firango rubra 

 in Aiken county, which are compactly 

 and handsomely built. 



The average number of eggs of this 

 species is three, sometimes four. In col- 

 or they are a bright emerald green 

 when first taken but this bright clear 

 green fades in a month or two after the 

 egg is blown, it is spotted dotted and 

 blotched with various shades of lilac, 

 brownish purple and dark brown. 

 Davie also states the eggs are not dis- 

 tinguishable from those of P. erythom- 

 elas. Now all the eggs of that species 

 that have come under my observation 

 can be easily distinguished from the 

 former, differing from it both in shape 

 and markings. The eggs of the Sum- 

 mer Tananger, however, much resemble 

 the eggs of M. polyglottos — mocking 

 bird — when first taken. A series of 14 

 eggs in my cabinet average .88 by .67. 

 S. A. Taft. 

 Aiken, S. C. 



"The Way of the Transgressor is Hard." 



To the truth of the above saying one 

 Wm. Purdy with his numerous aliases, 

 whom we pul)lished in l)('ceml)er OoLO- 

 GiST, can ere long most painfully testify, 

 in one of his victims he made a poor 

 choice in selecting the Publisher of a 

 leading daily paper in one of the lar- 

 gest cities of th(^ U. S. This Publisher 

 with ami)le nutans, proof and counsel 

 intends if possil)!*' to i)hu't' Purdy where 

 honest collectors, arc— unknown. 



This month we sorrowfully add to 

 our roll of dishonor the names of Let- 

 son Balliet alias Dean Schooler, of_ Des' 

 Moines, Iowa, and that of J. W . P. 

 Smithwick, of Sans Souci, N. C. The 

 necessity of publishing these names we 



