178 



THE OOLOGIST. 



set of six, on July 31 I took the latter 

 set. [They range from five to seven 

 with us — Ed.] 



Another set which I have is a set of 

 four Spotted Sandpipers which I took 

 the 6th of June along side of a very 

 much used rail-road track, among the 

 long grass. 



Black-billed Cuckoos are quite com- 

 mon but awfully hard to find fresh eggs. 

 I have a set of two blown and took a 

 set of three but could blow but one of 

 them. Wilson's Thrush's are quite 

 common too, a set of four with two 

 cow-birds in it was what I found on the 

 ground under a gooseberry bush and 

 have found other sets of them. Blue 

 Jays are not very common, but I have 

 found one or two sets of them. Mostly 

 all incubated quite badly and in pine 

 trees ten feet from ground. The Sora 

 and Virginia Rails are very common. 

 I have taken sets when I did not know 

 much about collecting by the hatsfull, 

 and then not taken all of them. The 

 largest set which I ever took was a set 

 of 12 and the smallest was eight of Vir- 

 ginias. The largest set of Soras was 

 12 and the smallest seven. Seven sets 

 of Virginia's and two sets of Sora's is 

 all I have collected this year. The 

 nests are composed of reeds of last year 

 and built up in between this year's 

 reeds. The bird will fly up and fly for 

 a short distance with dangling legs and 

 drop as if dead. They generally have 

 a covering for their nests and slip out 

 sideways to get off it. 



Swamp Sparrows, Phoebes, Long- 

 tailed Marsh Wrens, Bronzed Gi'ackle, 

 Brown Thrashers, Cedar Waxwings, 

 Baltimore Orioles, Blue-birds, Wood 

 Pewee, King-bird, Pnrple Martins, 

 Woodpeckers, Meadow Larks, Least 

 Fly-catchers, Tree Swallows, Shrikes, 

 Field Sparrows and House Wrens 

 are all very common. 



Next year I will get some Gallinules 

 because I have found a place where 

 they breed every year and have not 



been disturbed at all. Red-tailed and 

 Red -shouldered and Cooper Hawks are 

 quite common. Have found two nests 

 of Screech Owls, but never got any eggs 

 out of them, because I caught the bird 

 on the nest and took her home and let 

 her go. 



E. K. "Gallinule." 



Gambol's White-Crowned Sparrow. 



{Zonotrichia gambeli.) 



This bird like a large number of the 

 Sparrow family, frequents brushpiles 

 and low bushes, where it may be seen, 

 accompanied with the White and Gold- 

 en-crowned Sparrow, the Rusty Song 

 Sparrow and Oi'egon Towhee, hopping 

 from one branch to another or perhaps 

 on the ground looking for insects, occas- 

 ionally climbing to the top of some tree 

 to sing its song which although short 

 is pleasing to the ear, and can always 

 be remembered by those who are inter- 

 ested in our feathered friends. 



They arrive the latter part of March 

 or first week in April and remain until 

 most of the summer migrants have re- 

 turned to their southern homes. Nest- 

 ing season with the species begins about 

 the fifteenth of April and fresh eggs can 

 be found as late as the last of June. 



This season I have taken four sets of 

 four eggs respectively, which are of 

 considerable 'value as a series, to show 

 the variation in color and markings. 



My first set of the season was taken 

 May 19th, the nest was in a cypress 

 tree 5 feet and 8 inches from the ground 

 composed of weed and grass stems and 

 lined with finer grass and horse hair. 

 This set comes nearer than any of being 

 a typical set. The ground color is pale 

 greenish-blue, evenly spotted over the 

 whole surface with liver brown. 



Set number two was taken on the 24, 

 of May. It was on the ground under a 

 small bush. The female was on the 

 nest and flew as I neared it. This set 



