lO 



THE MUSEUM. 



I 



posited on ground by side of log in 

 motte of trees. Bird was on the nest. 

 Refugio Co., Texas. 



April 23, 1896. Two fresh eggs 

 laid on bare ground. Birds were seen. 

 Refugio Co.. Texas. 



May 16, 1896. Two eggs in which 

 incubation had begun laid on ground 

 in motte of trees in field. Birds were 

 seen. Refugio Co., Texas. 



May 10, 1896. One egg in which 

 incubation had begun laid on bare 

 ground in motte of trees in field. 

 Birds were seen. Rufugio Co., Texas. 



May 18, 1896. Two eggs in which 

 incubation had started. Laid on ground 

 in weeds in motte of trees. Birds 

 were seen. Refugio Co., Texas. 



May 29, 1S96. Two eggs in which 

 incubation was begun. Laid on ground 

 in bunch of chapparal on hog wallow 

 prairie. Bird was on the eggs. Re- 

 fugio Co., Texas. 



In the foregoing thirteen nests, as 

 you will see, only three sets were 

 found in cavities of trees, the remain- 

 ing sets being found on the ground. 

 The last mentioned set of eggs is the 

 only one I have ever found in an iso- 

 lated clunip of chapparal on a prairie. 

 Those nests mentioned as having been 

 found in mottes were generally located 

 well inside the clump with a well beat- 

 en path leading to the eggs which 

 were generelly deposited on a spot en- 

 tirely devoid of any vegetation, pre- 

 sumably made so by the birds. It is 

 not necessary to enumerate my finds 

 for the year 1897 but I will mention 

 one set a little out of the ordinary. It 

 consisted of two eggs, far advanced in 

 incubation, deposited in a cavity with 

 a very small opening sixteen feet from 

 the ground. The peculiar part of the 

 data is that the eggs were almost en- 

 tirely covered with water. Did this 

 retard the progress of incubation or 

 advance it, as it does in some cases.? 

 The weather was very warm and the 

 hollow was exposed to the rays of the 

 sun nearly all day. The bird was sit- 

 ting on the eggs which were badly 

 stained, but the natural markings were 



exceptionally beautiful and the eggs^ 

 larger than the average. It will be 

 noted that one set was found under 

 similar circumstances in 1896. 



Two or three hundred miles north- 

 west of here this vulture is found 

 breeding in the rocky cliffs of the Col- 

 orado River, depositing their eggs on 

 the narrow shelves and in the small 

 caves. 



I have never found the Turkey Vul- 

 ture nesting in hollow trees, having 

 always found their eggs laid on the 

 bare ground. April 16, 1896, I found 

 a nice set of two eggs, fresh, of this, 

 vulture. The eggs were deposited on 

 the bare ground by a log. The bird 

 was seen. On the 17th day of the 

 same month I flushed a Turkey Vul- 

 ture from a small clump of chapparal 

 and near the center of the clump I 

 found a snowy infant of some two 

 weeks' age and one rotten, infertile 

 egg. This year, 1897, I collected a 

 beautiful clutch of two eggs from this 

 identical spot. May 20, 1896, I found 

 a set of one badly incubated egg. 

 This egg was laid on leaves in a thick- 

 et. The finest specimens of joung in 

 the white plumage I have ever seen I 

 found in a bunch of chapparal this, 

 year June 14, 1897. The nests of 

 this species I do not find nearly sa 

 often as those of the Black variety. 



While there is some similarity in 

 the eggs of the two species, there is 

 little excuse for confusion, as they dif- 

 fer in size, shape, color of back-ground 

 and diffusion of markings. I have 

 seen many immaculate eggs of the 

 Black Vultere but never of the Turkey. 



Can any collector cite an instance 

 of the vultures breeding in colonies as 

 is mentioned by Oliver Davie in his 

 "Nests and Eggs of North American 

 Birds.''" If so, I for one, would ap- 

 preciate a description of such a colony. 

 James J. Carroll, 



Belton, Texas. 



Hints about killing Lepidoptera. 



It is important when collecting in- 



