10 THE AMERICAN OOLOGISTS' 



"(2) 456 A-6 or a 6. Nest stuck on a projecting stone of a retaining wall of 

 a bridge across the Lacon and Henry road 5 miles north of Lacon, 7 feet above 

 the creek bed and 3 feet from bridge floor. Birds seen. Nest of rootlets, moss, 

 fine grass and mud, lined with hair and feathers. Eggs, six, a very unusually 

 large number; incubation commenced. Nest saved." 



We pass on and find a Kingfisher's nest in a hole in the cut bank of this 

 same creek. As the birds fly about we admit we are for sure stumped. We re- 

 member reading in one of Wood's books that the nest of this bird wa's almost 

 untakable in it's natural state, and likewise have a vivid recollection of reading 

 in THE OOLOGIST, Vol XXVI, page 92 of the tragic death of Richard Smith- 

 wick, who dug into a bank after a nest of this species, and crawled into the 

 hole he dug when the earth caved in on him and smothered him. But we must 

 have these eggs! Are we not forming a collection of eggs and we have no King- 

 fisher's eggs yet. Well, we go to a nearby farm house and borrow a spade. As 

 luck would have it the nest was not over three feet below the top so we scramble 

 up to the nest hole and insert an arm full length without finding anything but 

 air. Then w r e get a small switch and push it in as far as possible with the same 

 result. This makes fully six feet of the tunnel we have explored. Then we go 

 up on top and dig down to the burrow. To our surprise we find it at two feet 

 and four inches, showing it slopes upward. After cleaning away the dirt and 

 digging almost two times as much as was really necessary in the hot sun, we 

 get where we can see the eggs. Seven of them at the enlarged end of this nine 

 foot tunnel, lying there on the soil with only a few straws about them. Dis- 

 appointed? Yes! Where is the beautifully fashioned and delicately assembled 

 nest of white fish bones and scales that I have been taught to expect? A myth? 

 Yes, and nothing more. Then the eggs were not as white as we had expected 

 Or are they dirty? Yes, and they, like Woodpeckers' eggs, must be most 

 carefully cleaned both inside and out of all dirt, foreign matter and the last 

 vistage of contents with perfectly clear water, else the taking of them is in vain 

 They will surely spot and blotch and ultimately become entirely ruined unless 

 this care is used in preparing them. We pack these specimens, with more care 

 and more cotton because they are larger and heavier. Then we carefully col- 

 lect the few straws composing the nest, place them in some more newspaper 

 marked (3) and in our pocket. Then we enter in our note-book: 



"(3) 390 A '1. Nest in a burrow 9 feet deep in the side of a creek bank 7 

 feet above the creek and 3 feet down from the surface in sandy soil, composed 

 of a few straws at the enlarged end, and sloping upward. Opening 4x3 inches. 

 Birds seen; eggs dirty but fresh." 



Then we start home. Across the fields we travel when suddenly from under 

 foot flutters a mass of feathers. Finally it rises awing and floats away. A 

 Meadow Lark! Looking down we see a tuft of grass with a small opening in 

 the side. Peering in, five fresh eggs are disclosed and transferred, cotton- 

 wrapped, to our collecting box. Then we sit down beside the nest and enter in 

 our note-book: 



"501 A '5. Nest on the ground in a pasture, partially sunk into the ground, 

 in the middle of a tuft of last year's grass, arched over and lined with finer 

 grasses. Eggs fresh. Female flushed from nest. Nest saved." 



Nest saved! Yes. But how? As we are not far from our own home we go 

 there, get another spade and a small box 8x10 inches and three inches deep. 

 We carefully cut the sod around the nest and under it to the same size and 

 depth as the box, being careful at all times not to in the least disturb the nest 

 or grasses about it, and slip the spade under it, setting the sod with the nest 

 into the box. All the time we are handling the whole affair most delicately, 

 else we ruin it. And if properly and carefully done, we have preserved one of 

 the very hardest kind of specimens, a ground sunken nest amid vegetation. 



We then go home for the day with four nests and four sets of eggs. 



Having arrived home with a set of 5 Bluebird's, a set of 6 Phoebe's, a set of 

 7 Kingfisher and a set of 5 Mea'dowlark, the next thing is to prepare these speci- 

 mens in such a way that they will last and make a desirable appearance when 

 placed in the cabinet. 



