222 



THE OOLOGIST 



two eggs of the Anna Humming Bird 

 from an oak tree twenty feet from the 

 ground. 



June 8, 1908. I found a nest of the 

 Sonoran Red-winged Blacl^ bird (Agel- 

 aius pholniceus Sonoransis). The 

 nest being placed in tules of a lake 

 six feet from the water's edge. Row- 

 ing out to the tules I discovered a set 

 of four, light bluish green, generally 

 marbled, spotted and streaked with 

 brown, black and purple. They meas- 

 ured 1.00x0.68. A very common bird of 

 the rivers and swamps of California. 



This is the latest I've colected this 

 season. 



ALFRED COOKMAN. 



FROM NEW ZEALAND. 



The "Moa." 

 Is an extinct New Zealand Bird; only 

 the Skeletons are now found, and gen- 

 erally in Limestone caves. Only one 

 known skeleton has been found with 

 feathers. When the skeletons are set 

 up, the head reaches the height of 

 from nine to twelve feet. 



A few of the eggs have been found, 

 Avhich are not so large considering the 

 size of the bird. The Maories, or na- 

 tives of New Zealand have a tradition 

 that these birds used to pick up the 

 babies and run away with them; and 

 they chased them into the caves. 

 (This is doubted). 



The "Kiwi" 



is a wingless bird of New Zealand. 

 Burrows underground; only comes out 

 at night. The eggs are large tax the 

 size of the bird. 



The "Kea" 



or Ground Parrot is most destructive 

 to sheep. Will get on their backs and 

 pick out the kidney fat. They live in 

 burrows or tree stumps. 



An Iowa Winter Tragedy. 



January 29, 1909, there came one of 

 the worst storms ever known in this 

 section. Not the coldest, nor the 

 deepest snow. It Avas more of a 

 sleety snow, with a gale blowing from 

 the North. 



Many hcrses and cattle perished, all 

 over Iowa. The sleet froze all over 

 them, their eyes were frozen shut, and 

 their nostrils filled and frozen up un- 

 til they suffocated. One herd of thir- 

 ty-nine young, fat cattle a few miles 

 north of here all died. But what I 

 started to tell, was that very few wild 

 winter birds escaped. The number of 

 Crows has greatly diminished. Many 

 English Sparrows were found dead by 

 the telephone "trouble men," the next 

 day; though plenty of them were in 

 well sheltered places, and lived 

 through, though in greatly diminished 

 numbers. 



But our saucy, audacious Bluejay 

 has not been seen; not one so far as 

 my observation goes, while the little 

 field birds, and the Nuthatches are 

 nearly wiped out. I have not seen 

 many Woodpeckers, where before 

 they were plentiful. Quails also are 

 all gone. I miss the scolding, mische- 

 vious Bluejay most of all. 



By the way, why do they so persist- 

 ently steal and fly away with hickory 

 and walnuts? They will work from 

 early morning to dark, stealing nuts 

 from a shed where the boys have put 

 them to dry; surely they cannot use 

 them in anyway. Is it pure mischief, 

 or is it one of nature's x^ays to propa- 

 gate and scatter our forest trees? Do 

 they steal them from the trees and 

 carry them off a long distance and 

 then drop them to become seed for a 

 new forest? 



I have never seen just how or where 

 they dispose of them, but they will 

 come back every few minutes all day 

 for a nut, even in their zeal forget- 



