60 



THE OOLOGIST. 



If the uest of the Whip-poor-will be 

 discoverod, the owner immediately re- 

 moves the eggs to a place of greater 

 >afety by taking them in his or her cap 

 aeions mi)iith and flying off with them. 



Imagine yourself if you can, for the 

 time being, walking in the meadow on 

 a bright sunny afternoon in early sum- 

 mer. You notice the wild flowers nod- 

 ding to you as you pass as if they were 

 bowing to welcome you to their home. 

 You hear the songsters pouring forth 

 their little hymn and anthems. 



As you walk along musing on all the 

 glories of Nature and listening to the 

 warl)lors in the neighboring hedges, 

 you are suddenly surprised to see just 

 in front of you that well known and 

 respected little fowl the quail, Avhile 

 running about her in all directions are 

 to be seen the members of her numer- 

 ous family, each not much larger than 

 an English walnut; but possessing an 

 untold amount of activity. At a cry 

 from Mrs. Quail you know that you 

 have been discovered and each little 

 quail scurries off to the nearest place of 

 refuge. On a second look you see poor 

 Mrs. Quail tumbling about like a decapi- 

 tated chicken. D You think she is hurt 

 and hurry forward to take|^her prisoner 

 (the usual first impulse of man) but as 

 you approach shej jumps along awk- 

 wardly trying to elude your grasp, still 

 you follow her, when suddenly she 

 jumbs to her feet and is off with the 

 swiftness of an arrow. For a moment 

 you stand in mute astonishment and 

 then turn to secnre the little ones, 

 which you are surprised you have not 

 stepped on. But on a close examina- 

 tion you see they are 'no where to be 

 found. You havej been' [decoyed into 

 following the parent and the offspring 

 has made good their escape. 



The Black-headed Plover of Africa 

 when it observes any^ one approaching 

 its nest will, with a dexterous move- 

 ment of the feet, entirely cover the egg: 

 with sand and tlu n, with its head high 



in the air, will walk about with as 

 much dignity as a stork as though it 

 would say "Sir, if you are looking for 

 a nest you are in the wrong country.'' 

 The Pigmy Swift builds its nests by 

 curling up the tip of a leaf on a species 

 of palm tree. This shallow nest swing- 

 ing at the top of one the tallest of trees 

 you would naturally think a very in- 

 secure repositoiy for the peai'ly eggs, 

 for the slightest breath of wind would 

 be sure to dislodge them. Ah! but the 

 fond mother' has also thought of this 

 and prevents it bj' sticking each egg 

 down to the bottom of the nest with the 

 glutenous saliva which is secreted by so 

 many of this species. 



"Elanus" 

 D, Ithaca, N. Y. 



Passenger Pigeon. 



Editor Oologist: 



Why is it that we hear so little about 

 the Passenger Pigeon? I am sure some 

 of the readers of the Oologist would 

 like to learn something in regard to the 

 present status of this famous bird. Can 

 someone tell us anything about its pres- 

 ent breeding place? or is it now so 

 nearly extinct that it has no regular 

 roosts or nesting places such as we 

 used to see in Wisconsin and Michigan, 

 where I have seen millions upon mil- 

 lions of them in perfect clouds so thick 

 as to darken the face of the earth. 



I notice in some accounts that it is a 

 question whether this pigeon ever 

 breeds alone in pairs, and in this con- 

 nection I would say that in 1876 I found 

 a nest, containing one perfectly fresh 

 egg, in an oak tree about thirty feet 

 from the ground in a strip of woodland 

 near Waukegan, Ills. I distinctly saw 

 the bird leave the nest and could easily 

 have killed it had I had a gun. The 

 egg is of rather a dull white and 

 measures 1.50 x 1.05. It is still in my 

 collection. At another time a friend 

 and myself while hunting in the woods 

 along the Des Plaines river in Lake Co., 



