28 



THE OOLOGIST 



of the set being the product of one 

 bird, it is only necessary to mention 

 that the eggs are all of the same uni- 

 form shape and size, which precludes 

 any possibility of their having been 

 laid by two females. 



Least Bitterns' eggs when incu- 

 bated — as this set was — are often ex- 

 ceedingly fragile and require great 

 care to blow them, hence the fate of 

 two eggs of this set, as the water 

 pressure in the blower was too great 

 and cracked the eggs. 



The set of seven and the two sets 

 of six, together with two siiialler sets, 

 were taken within a radius of a hun- 

 dred feet of each other, from a small 

 colony of birds occupying one end of 

 the mar.^h. 



The honors were divided between 

 us as regards the sets of six eggs, 

 each having found two sets. 



On one nest I captured the male 

 bird that remained on the eggs which 

 he was brooding, simulating the 

 rushes so closely that I failed to de- 

 tect him until I was within two feet 

 of the nest. 



His stujndity or maternal love, how- 

 ever, cost him his life, for he was cap- 

 tured and killed ala David McCadden 

 fashion — by powerful pressure with 

 thumb" aiui fingers on the ribs. There 

 can be no doubt as to the sex, as Dick 

 skinned and preserved the bird, care- 

 fully noting the presence of testes, 

 which is indicative of the male bird 

 sex. 



On July 12. 1907, I collected another 

 set of six eggs in the marsh, and dur- 

 ing previous years have taken two 

 other sets of that number, so alto- 

 gether I have found five sets of six, 

 cuie of seven, and two nests contain- 

 ing six young. 



From these large sets I am becom- 

 ing convinced that sets of six eggs of 

 the Least Bittern are not as rare as 

 commonly supposed (in this locality 

 at least). Although not mentioned in 

 most works on ornithology,but I am 

 positive that sets of seven are of ex- 

 tremely rare occurrence. 



Hovvevp!-. T would like to hear from 



others regarding their experiences 

 with sets of six eggs, to learn whether 

 a set of this number can be termed 

 rare or common. Perhaps "ye editor" 

 can shed a ray of light on the sub- 

 ject; anyhow, let us hear from him 

 and others concerning large Least 

 Bitterns' sets. 



RICHARD F. MILLER, 

 Harrogate, 



Philadelphia, Pa. 

 iSeptemher 9, 1907. 



EDITOR'S COLUMN. 



ERRATA 



By an error of your printer in mak- 

 ing up the form the two tiems below 

 got badly mixed up in our last issue. 



Apologies are due to Friends Jacobs 

 and Norris. 



Prof. W. K. Moorhead, of Phillips 

 Academy, Massachusetts, announces 

 that Houghton, Mifflin & ^Co., will pub- 

 lish his long expected treatise of In- 

 dian stone implements, "The Stone 

 Age.", 



The scope and size of the work has 

 evidently increased with the delay, as 

 he now asks for subscriptions for two 

 volumes of 500 pp. each, at $5.00 per 

 set. 



J. Warren Jacobs, of Waynesburg, 

 Pa., has made a special study of bird 

 colonization, especially the Purple 

 Martin, and has issued two brochures 

 on the subject. He now sends us a 

 neat booklet describing these birds 

 and their habits, and incidentally 

 showing nine styles of bird houses in 

 attractive designs, that he is ready to 

 furnish. 



Better get his last treatise on the 

 subject, which he mails at 50 cents, 

 and see what you can do. We note 

 with regret his statement that ad- 

 verse weather conditions have caused 

 his colonies to shrink one-half since 

 1904. 



E. H. SHORT. 



