36 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 8-No. 5 



Golden Eagle's Nest and Eggs. — I wish 

 to place on record the find of a splendid 

 set of Aquila eggs, on the 18th of March. 

 The nest was about seven miles from town 

 in an unfrequented range of hills, with 

 only a few live oaks bordering the gulches. 

 In one of the largest of these this pair of 

 birds had built for three or four years, I 

 should judge from apjDearances. The nest 

 was situated so as to command a view of 

 all the valley before it and hid from behind 

 by a dense mass of limbs and foliage. As 

 soon as I got within a mile of the nest I 

 saw the male leave the place and sail slowly 

 out of sight ; and the female left by the 

 time I was within 300 yards. On climbing 

 to the nest I found the two eggs covered 

 by a fresh twig of oak. Do you not think 

 the old bird placed it there to conceal the 

 eggs ? So I took it. The nest was a cum- 

 bersome affair, and measured fifty inches 

 across and eighteen inches in depth. The 

 eggs were in a slight depression, which 

 was lined with wild oat straw and the hairy 

 tops of the Spanish " soap-root," and it was 

 about forty feet from the ground. The 

 eggs measure 2.97x2.25 and 2.87x2.25 

 and had a white backgroimd ; one was 

 thickly spotted on the larger end and the 

 other the same on the small end. I regret 

 that I was unable to get the old birds ; 

 bxit contrary to the boasted courage of the 

 Golden Eagle I never saw them after they 

 left the place. It was the same when I 

 procured the other eggs, three years ago. 

 — Will Stembeck, Hollister^ Cal. 



Green Heron and Frog. — That illustra- 

 tion of the Tern with the "Whale in his 

 belly," reminds me of the shooting of a 

 Green Heron a year ago, in the act of swal- 

 lowing one of those whoj^iiing big frogs. 

 The "croaker" was too much for the bird, 

 who was so busy trying either to swallow 

 the frog, or disgorge the part already half 

 way down, that he didn't notice me at all. 

 I presume I might have dispatched him 

 with a club if I had been so inclined.— W. 



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Ash- throated Flycatcher {Myiarchus 

 cinerascens.) — They are the last of our 

 Summer birds to arrive, are here by the 

 last of May, and all gone South by the last 

 of August. They arrive single and soon are 

 in pairs, hunting from oak to oak for a 

 good snug hole to nest in. My first nest 

 was got under particular circumstances. 

 I was out collecting through one of the 

 many canons that are found around Hay- 

 wards. Was coming up from a creek to 

 get over the fence to the road, when I no- 

 ticed a bird new to me gathering horse 

 hairs in the road. It flew across the creek 

 to an old dead Sycamore tree on the bank, 

 went into a hole about seven feet up, on 

 side of the tree. When it came out it's 

 mate went with it to the road and perched 

 on the fence. He kept up a low whistling 

 note, while his mate was getting more ma- 

 terials for the nest. When they went back 

 to the tree and came out again. I went 

 over to see their building place. I noticed 

 a large heap of twigs, roots, dung, and 

 horse hair and some of cows, all laying at 

 the foot of the tree. I did not take much 

 notice of this ; looked in the hole, no nest. 

 What could they have been doing 1 Went 

 around back side of tree from creek, found 

 it all hollow up the tree. That settled the 

 question of the heap of material. They had 

 been trying to fill up that hole, like Mark 

 Twain's " Blue Jay " that tried to fill up 

 the hole in the roof of a miner's cabin with 

 acorns. "Well." I thought, "Mrs. Fly- 

 catcher, I will help you out of this filling 

 up business." So I took a lot of large 

 limbs, broke them up, and placed them in 

 across one another up as far as I could 

 reach. This was on May 22d, 1880. Went 

 over to the tree and found the Flycatchers 

 near hj. They wei'e very shy and worried at 

 my presence. I reached in the hole and 

 took out five fine fresh eggs. They were 

 the first set I had found. They are now 

 before me, and in comiDaring them with 

 sets of the Great-crested Fly-catcher," I 

 find they are somewhat larger. (As I have 



