78 



THE OOLOGIST 



ably remember that I spoke of Mr. 

 Day's promising me that I should col- 

 lect the next set. During March both 

 Owls were at home in the old Syca- 

 more and my prospects seemed good. 



On Sunday, April 20th a visit to the 

 Owl tree brought no indication of the 

 presence of these rarer birds but a 

 vigorous shaking of an old grape vine 

 brought out one which was quickly 

 followed by the other Barn Owl. A 

 hasty climb to the cavity of the mam- 

 moth old Sycamore which leaned far 

 out over the Salt Fork creek, revealed 

 six eggs with incubation well begun. 



This Illinois set number two is now 

 in my cabinet. There was no sign of a 

 nest, the eggs being deposited en the 

 bare bottom of the cavity. 



The Barn Owl makes 104 species I 

 have found nesting in my ten mile 

 radius from my home town. 94 are 

 represented by full sets. 



Isaac E. Hess. 

 Philo, Illinois. 



A Collecting Trip to Anacapa Island. 



On May 11, 1912, my brother and 

 four others started for Anacapa Is- 

 land, from Ventura. We left Ventura 

 at 9 o'clock p. m. and arrived at the 

 island at about midnight, none the 

 worse for our journey of twenty-five 

 miles, except that three of the party 

 were seasick. We then went to bed 

 and slept for the rest of the night. 



The next morning after breakfast we 

 took to the boat again and soon land- 

 ed on the "East End" as it is called. 

 We were soon on the top of the island, 

 which is very abrupt all around. It 

 is covered with a coarse scrubby 

 brush and grass and some cactus. 

 There were quite a few Western Gulls 

 nesting at this time but the majority 

 had not laid as yet. We collected a 

 few sets of these and then moved on 

 to the Pelican Colony. 



There must have been at least a 



thousand pairs of them on this island. 

 There were nests everywhere but only 

 three of them had eggs in them, and 

 then only one apiece. This was a dis- 

 appointment as we wished to collect 

 some of them. 



We then went across to the other 

 side of the island and looked at, and 

 took some pictures of the young Bald 

 Eagle that was in the nest. We then. 

 went back and looked at the new 

 lighthouse that the Government had 

 just finished. As it was getting nearly 

 time to leave the island we went back 

 to the camp and from there we took a 

 walk along the base of the cliffs on 

 the western side of the island and 

 soon came to "Cat Rock." Up this we 

 clamored and soon were on top look- 

 ing in all the holes for Xantus Murre- 

 lets, as this was the place Mr. H. C, 

 Burt of Santa Paula, found them nest- 

 ing in May, 1911. I soon discovered a 

 broken egg of this species at the mouth 

 of a natural cavity in the rock and a 

 fresh egg at the end of the cavity^ 

 about six feet away.- I soon found an- 

 other egg. These two eggs together 

 with the four eggs taken by Mr. Burt,, 

 which I now have in my collection, are 

 prized very highly as they are the- 

 only ones to my knowledge that have- 

 been taken in the United States in re- 

 cent years. A pair of Black Oyster 

 Catchers were flying about but they 

 had not nested. We were obliged to- 

 return to Ventura that day so we soott 

 started and arrived in Ventura just in. 

 time to catch the train home, feeling: 

 well paid for our trip. 



Sidney B. Peyton. 

 Sespe, Cal. 



The Verdin. 

 As one rides along the river bot- 

 toms or across the mesas of Cochise- 

 county during nearly all the months of 

 the year, he is from time to time 

 greeted by a thin, high pitched "cheap^ 



