THE OOLOGIST. 



51 



Uous paths over the arid land in slow, 

 lumbering trains to quaff the iusiped 

 waters and lounge upon the muddy and 

 grassless banks. 



Here and there upon hot and dusty 

 plain are mounds of whitening bones, 

 each marking the site where once some 

 creature fell to become the food of the 

 scavengers of this dreary waste. Oc- 

 casionally we .meet with the skeleton 

 •of a cow still covered with the dry hide, 

 through an aperture in'the abdomen the 

 white bones are revealed. A glance at 

 the heavens tells the tale. Far up, ap- 

 pearing as so many dark specks, sail 

 ■a few Turkey Buzzards and Vultures 

 awaiting the fall of another victim. 

 The whitening mounds that dot this 

 parched land, the reclining bodies 

 mouldering into dust have all iu their 

 turn furnished a repast for yon fleeting 

 specks. 



H. C. LlLLIE, 



Ann Arbor, Mich. 



A Lucky Day. 



It was the ninth of June, and the 

 sun had risen in a cloudless sky. The 

 general indications promised a fine and 

 rather warm sunny day. In my estima- 

 tion, it was not to be a perfect collec- 

 tor's day, for I prefer to have the solar 

 orb obscured, as it is then less difficult 

 for oue to recognizea small bird iu the 

 tree-tops, or to discover a cunningly 

 concealed nest among the branches, and 

 then it is not so fatiguing as when the 

 sun shines brightly. 



I had decided to spend the day in 

 collecting birds and their eggs, and 

 consequently I started early, fully 

 equipped with all necessary apparatus. 

 My first objective point was a swamp, 

 distant about one mile. Ou the way I 

 secured a tine male Scarlet Tanager, 

 and a set of four eggs of the Chewink. 

 This nest was on the ground, near the 

 butt of a white birch, and partially con- 

 cealed by brush. 



On arriviug at the swamp, I soon 

 found the particular spot that I had in 

 mind. The large white oak and swamp 

 maple trees were beautifully draped 

 and festooned with the Spanish moss, 

 which grows so abundantly in certain 

 localities. This was a favorite haunt 

 of the Blue Yellow-backed Warblers, as 

 was made evident by the frequent 

 songs of the males overhead. I spent 

 some two hours diligently searching for 

 nests, and at the expiration of that 

 time, I felt well rewarded by finding 

 three, two of which contained four eggs 

 each, and one only two eggs. 



These nests were very artistic affairs, 

 being entirely constructed of moss, ex- 

 cepting a scanty lining of feathers, pine 

 needles and the soft inner bark of the 

 chestnut tree. They all were suspend- 

 ed penduously from horizontal branches 

 and they were rather difficult to distin- 

 guish from pendant masses of moss. 



The eggs were creamy roseate before 

 blowing, and they were dotted chiefly 

 at the larger end, with several shades 

 of reddish brown. 



In this swamp I also obtained a pair 

 of Canada Warblers, and under an over 

 hanging rock, a nest containing four 

 eggs of the Black and-White Warbler. 

 The female fluttered out neaidy under 

 my feet, or I should, iu all probability, 

 not have discovered it. The nest was 

 in a depression, and it was neatly con- 

 structed of grass,, rootlets, paper and 

 horse hair. The eggs were white, 

 spotted cwith reddish-brown and lilac, 

 and each bad a noticable wreath of 

 confluent splashes and dots around the 

 larger end. 



Later in the day, in high oak woods, 

 I flushed a Whip-poor-will and after an 

 extended seai'eh in the underbrush, I 

 found two of the prettiest eggs I have 

 ever collected, in a slight depression, 

 among the dead leaves. They were 

 creamy-white in color and dotted, and 

 blotched with shades of light brown, 

 and lilac, some of the markings being 



