266 



THE OOLOGIST. 



as though totally unconscious of the 

 viie epithets being hurled at him. He 

 is a splendid actor. 



Whenever found in the open, they 

 make for the Chapparal, running with 

 head low down and neck stretched for- 

 ward. If not pursued they will stop 

 every hundred yai'ds or so, and take a 

 look around, then make another spurt, 

 and so on till lost to sight. But if hard 

 pressed they get over the ground amaz- 

 ingly fast with the help of their wings. 



Sometimes when caught in a lane 

 and chased the silly birds will keep 

 straight ahead, maybe for a mile, down 

 the lane; then its senses returning, or 

 getting tired of the race, they will turn 

 off to one side into the pastures, where 

 they could have gone directlv in the first 

 place. 



Early in March nest building begins. 

 Sometimes an old nest is rebuilt, but 

 as the nests are not very stout there is, 

 as a rule, little of the old nest left. 

 Usually the center of a Chapparal thick- 

 et is chosen. Sometimes hackberry 

 trees are used, and the "Spanish bayo- 

 net" often forms a very secure place for 

 a nest. 



The nests are placed f i om three to 

 ten feet up. Small sticks and thorny 

 twigs loosely put together, form the 

 structure; while the lining, if any, is of 

 grass, weeds, and often the green leaves 

 of the mesquite tree. 



The eggs are from two to nine in 

 number, usually two to seven. Six is 

 the average, and nine the largest I have 

 found. The eggs are pure glossy white 

 in color, and ovate, some of them ellip- 

 tical, in shape. 1.56 x 1.20 inches is an 

 average size, but they vary fully one- 

 tenth of an inch, more or less, than this 

 average. In Avet weather the eggs of- 

 ten get beautifully frescoed with mud 

 from the feet of the old bird. These 

 birds always forget to wipe their feet 

 before entering their parlors, and as a 

 consequence the eggs are sometimes 

 perfectly black. 



I have taken sets of seven as early a& 

 March 18th, and incubated eggs as late- 

 as June 25th. Three-fourths of all the 

 eggs of this species that I have collect- 

 ed have been taken in April. 



I have noticed in blowing these eggS; 

 that some of them have a vexy peculiar 

 way of "sweating." The watery albu- 

 men comes out in little drops all over the 

 egg as though through pores in the shell. 

 Upon examining the specimen in which 

 this sweating was most noticeable with 

 a strong glass I found that the whole- 

 shell was perforated with innumerable 

 small holes, hardly visible to the naked 

 eye. I do not know the cause or effect 

 of this, unless it was for ventilation? I 

 have noticed this more or less in a doz- 

 en specimens. 



Incubation begins as soon as a few 

 eggs are laid, and the laying of eggs 

 also continues, so young birds and 

 nearly fx'esh eggs are found in the same-, 

 nest. 



When taken befox'e they leave the- 

 nest they can be easily tamed but make 

 vex'y tx'oublesome pets. At least, that 

 is my expex'ience. The last Chapparal 

 Cock I had was convicted of sucking 

 eggs, and killed accoxxlingly, death 

 being the penalty for that crime. 



A. H. W. Norton, 

 Saix Antonio, Texas. 



A Curious Accident. 



C. Leonax'd Whitmix'e's ax'ticle in- 

 April OoLOGiST I'eminds me of a cui'i- 

 ous accident that came xxnder m> no- 

 tice in '93. A friend while passing a 

 fax'm house near this city noticed a pair 

 of Chimney Swifts circling around 

 and sometixues Hying into a large chim- 

 ney which supported a lightning x'od. _ 



A few minutes afterwai'ds he again 

 passed the house, and looking up saw 

 one of the Swifts impaled and still 

 struggling oxi the rod. 



It had probably, while diving intothe. 

 chimney, been fox'ced against the sharp, 

 point by a sudden gust of wind. 



Geo. H. Davis, 

 Painesville, Ohio.. 



