50 



THE OOLOGIST. 



away some A^ery haiHlsomc sets of their 

 egff.s. Having got my outfit togethei', I 

 started ou the morning uf June old, on 

 Ijoard a small steamer, of the Booth 

 Paeking Co., that runs lietween here 

 and the island, gathering up the fish 

 that are caught. I arrived at the col- 

 lecting grounds early on the morning 

 of the 4tli and immediately- set about 

 business. Having made a bargain 

 with one of the fishermen, to take me 

 around in his boat, we set out about 5 

 XI. m. for the Rock of Ages, a colony at 

 the Avestern extremity of the main is- 

 land. While Ave were yet 300 or 400 

 feet from the rock, the Gulls commenc- 

 ed to rise in dense clouds and to utter 

 piei'cing cries, Avhich in fact thej' kept 

 up all day and Avhich have a most tire- 

 some efi'ect on a person. Having land- 

 ed, Ave setio Avork to fill our baskets, I 

 here found that it was sonieAvhat late 

 in the season; as a fcAv young birds 

 were seen and quite a number of eggs 

 afterwards proA^ed to be partly incuba- 

 ted. We soon had our baskets full and 

 our hats also and so thought it Avas 

 time to return. Having put the eggs 

 aboard Ave steered for camp, but Avhile 

 passing a small rock someAvhat Avooded 

 Ave saw^ a pair of Red-breasted Mergan- 

 sers fly off. We immediately landed 

 and after a little searching found their 

 nest, placed on the ground and nearly 

 covered with down and dry grass, so 

 that Ave almost stepped on it l)efore Ave 

 saAv it. It contained 11 fresh eggs; 

 these haA'ing been packed away Ave 

 again got aboard and arrived at camp, 

 pretty Avell tired out Itut very Avell 

 pleased Avith the day's Avork. The 

 next day I spent in blowing my eggs 

 and packing them for carrying to town. 

 About 4 a. m. next morning, the steam- 

 er came along and I decided to go fur- 

 ther along the island. I got to tlie 

 eastern extremity about evening and 

 Avent to bed early expecting a good 

 days Avork on the morrow. I was up 

 bright and early next ijiorning and 



things having Ix-en prei)ared the pre- 

 A'ious eA'ening Ave set out at once fur a 

 rock about scA-en miles awa^'. 



Arrived there Ave Avent through the 

 same performrnce as before and came 

 back loaded Avith eggs. In nearly' 

 every case there Avas no attemi)t at any 

 nest building, the eggs being deposited 

 in some hollow on the bare rock, al- 

 though after the bird has set a Avliile on 

 them refuse collects around and forms- 

 somewhat of an excuse for a nest. 



The usual complement is three, but 

 occasionally only two. In a large num- 

 ber of eggs there is great A^ariation in 

 size, shape and color, ranging from 2.50 

 x 1.60 to 3.00 X 2.00 in size and from 

 deep broAvn to nearly Avhite, Idotehed 

 all OA'er Avith broAvn and lilac of Aarious. 

 shades. The next day was spent in 

 preparing the eggs and then 1 moved 

 further around the island and i-epeated 

 the operation, arriving home on the 

 11th, after one of the most pleasant col- 

 lecting experiences of my life. I be- 

 licAe Loons al-so breed around this^ 

 island but in comparativelj' small num- 

 bers. I saAA"^ no nests ou m3^ trip but 

 saAv a good many birds and the fisher- 

 men tell me they haAe found their eggs_ 

 Chas. a. Daa'is, 

 Duluth, Minn. 



An Albino Grakle. 



Mr. E. L. Kendall, of Orange Co., 

 Texas, reports a "White Blackbird." 

 The bird is Avhite all over and is of the 

 Bronze Grakle species. It is very shy 

 and all attempts to shoot it have failed. 



The bird has also been seen by Mr.. 

 C. R. Walter, Avho says that the Ijird is. 

 in a flock of a hundred or more and 

 that to get near enough to shoot it is an 

 impossibility 



Are White Blackbirds common V 



This is tlie first one I have ever heard 

 of. 



W. E. G., an oologist or (ialveston,, 

 reports a half completed Red bird's 

 nest, Feb. 9, 'SjO. 



