THE OOLOGIST. 



43 



Adams county, Colo., which I watch- 

 ed closely for two seasons, sets of 

 five and six were not at all uncom- 

 mon, and usually the ground color of 

 two or three eggs in a nest was very 

 different from that of the rest of the 

 set. In view of the fact that there 

 was an abundance of suitahle nest- 

 ing sites in the vicinity and very few 

 nests, as compared with the total 

 number of birds, it seems reasonable 

 to assume that in most of these large 

 sets more than one female contrib- 

 uted. 



In this same locality I found several 

 nests containing more than one kind 

 of duck's eggs. The Ruddy's seemed 

 to have a peculiar predilection for 

 nests of the Red-head, and I also found 

 one nest containing nine eggs of the 

 Ruddy and two of the Red-ihead. At 

 another time I flushed a female Blue- 

 winged Teal from a nest in a musk- 

 rat house which contained four eggs 

 of the Teal and five eggs of some big 

 duck (probably mallard), all heavily 

 incubated. 



It would appear that the Cow-bird 

 is not the monopolist that he is pic- 

 tured. 



Yours truly, 

 ROBERT B. ROCKWELL. 



July 17, 1908, while picking black- 

 l)erries, I nearly smashed a Bob- 

 white and her 12 eggs by stepping on 

 them; the bird fluttered away. I 

 took a weed and straightened up the 

 nest as best I could and went on. I 

 happened back that way again the 

 2;3rd, so approached carefully to see 

 if Madam Quail was at home; she 

 was not. I returned about four hours 

 later on my way home and again look- 

 ed at the nest. The bird was no 

 where to be seen, so I decided she 

 had deserted the nest. I returned the 

 2Sth with a box to take the eggs. I 

 again approached carefully, but no 

 bird was in sight , so I began to pack 



the eggs, when I heard a faint peep. 

 I examined the eggs carefully and 

 found five were pipiped, so I unpack- 

 ed what I had and returned them to 

 the nest and went away. I could not 

 return again until the olst, when all 

 the eggs had hatched and the young 

 gone. I could see no signs of them 

 anywhere and never saw the old bird, 

 but the first day. I would have seen 

 her leave the nest I am positive if 

 sihe had returned. I am therefore led 

 to believe the eggs hatched by the 

 heat of the sun. Have you ever heard 

 of a like instance? 



C. B. VAXDERCOOK, 



Odin, Ills. 



Have seen this claimed to have hap- 

 pened before, but have always been 

 skeptical. Two years ago a mowing 

 machine uncovered a nearly hatched 

 set of Ring Pheasant near my home. 

 I watched them thinking this might 

 occur, as weather was favorable, but 

 they cooked instead of incubating. 

 Perhaps too much exposed. — Ed. 



Aug. 28, 1908, I shot a Brown Creep- 

 er at Taunton, Mass. I was returning 

 home, at dusk, from a tramp in the 

 woods and had stopped to watch some 

 Red-breasted Nuthatches when my at- 

 tention was attracted by the wiry 

 notes of a Creeper. I soon located 

 the bird in an oak and shot 

 him. He appeared to be alone, 

 as a hurried search in the fast ap- 

 proaching twilight showed no others 

 in the vicinity. My earliest previous 

 record of the arrival of this species 

 in the fall is Sept. 18, 1900, when I 

 took a partial albino at Lakeville, 

 Plymouth Co., Mass. 



On Xov. 26, 1908, I took a male 

 Northern Yellow-throat in the Fresh 

 Pond Marshes at Cambridge, Mass. 

 The bird was feeding on the ground 

 at the time in company with Song 

 .and Swamp Sparrows, was in good 



