THH OOLOOier 



135 



of in existence in tlie world. They 

 ought to be gathered together in one 

 flock and placed on a lake somewhere 

 in Minnesota, which is their natural 

 breeding ground. The lake should be 

 large enough to afford each pair of 

 birds a place where they could seek 

 privacy and should be guarded by com- 

 petent naturalists who are willing to 

 act as game wardens, and should be 

 fenced. I have repeatedly said that I 

 would be one of ten to contribute $1,- 

 000 towards making this experiment, 

 and unless some such thing is done it 

 will not be long until the trumpeter 

 swan will follow the passenger pigeon 

 and the Carolina paroquet off the map. 

 "I have already presented this mat- 

 ter to Mr. Thayer, who is willing to 

 contribute his bird. The superinten- 

 dent of the New York Biological [Zoo- 

 logical?] Gardens, with whom I had 

 an interview on this subject three 

 years ago this summer, advised me 

 that if there was any prospect of this 

 being done his institution would con- 

 tribute the pair of birds they have 

 and $1,000 in money. If the work pro- 

 posed is done, it should not be made a 

 matter of general contribution, but ten 

 men who are enough interested to con- 

 tribute $1,000 apiece ought to go into 

 it together." — Bulletin American Game 

 Protective Association, July 15, 1915. 



Nests of the Shoveller. 

 Spatula Clypeata. 

 On May 21, 1910 1 found my first 

 Shoveller nest near Armour, South Da- 

 kota. While exploring a colony of 

 Redwings I started to climb a hay 

 stack, placed there in the dry season, 

 but now surrounded by water. I had 

 taken but a step or two, when with a 

 sudden "whirr" a female Shoveller 

 bounded into the air, and there at the 

 top of the stack in a hollow limb with 

 dark colored down, were ten heavily 

 incubated eggs. 



I found my second nest May 31, 1911 

 while collecting in a large marsh in- 

 habited by a thousand or more pair of 

 Yellow-headed Blackbirds. 



As I drew near to a large muskrat 

 house I noticed a Shoveller squatting 

 close to it, as if to escape detection, 

 but when I approached a few yards 

 closer, she flushed, disclosing six large 

 eggs in an advanced stage of incuba- 

 tion. 



My data for this set reads — "Just a 

 hollow in the top of a large muskrat 

 house, located in a shallow marsh. A 

 rim around the top edge of the de- 

 pression, composed of feathers and 

 fine broken bits of dry weeds." 



Alex Walker. 



English Sparrow. 

 Passer domesticus. 



Miss Helen Pritchett, a neighbor of 

 mine, handed me three white eggs the 

 other day and called them English 

 Sparrow. 



As I have never seen White English 

 Sparrow eggs before I was not satis- 

 fied until I visited the nest. It was 

 made in the end of a green sunshade 

 that was partly rolled up on the third 

 story porch of a flat. The nest was 

 composed of dead grasses and strings 

 and lined with a few feathers. 



The eggs are white with moderate 

 glass; faintly and sparingly spotted 

 near the large end. They look like 

 Swallow eggs with the naked eye. 



Has anyone found white eggs of the 

 English Sparrow before?* 



E. J. Darlington. 

 July 25, 1915. 



We have in our collection two sets 

 of Albino eggs of the English Spar- 

 row; one of five eggs which was taken 

 here in Lacon, and was noted in THE 

 OOLOGIST some years ago.— Editor. 



