200 



THE OOLOGIST. 



found that the Terns once very abun- 

 dant there have been nearly extermin- 

 ated by the millinery skin-hunters. 



They were slaughtered by the thous- 

 ands, and even the native gunners de- 

 clared it a shame to continue the work 

 they were engaged in. 



"Reed-birds and Sora Rail have not 

 been very abundant, so far, on the Ana- 

 costia marshes but the gunners are per- 

 sistent. One man reports having killed 

 60 Rails wi;h only a paddle when the 

 marshes were inundated by a freshet. 



It seems to be nothing unusual here 

 (D. C.) for Rail as well as Woodcock 

 to be found under the telegraph wires, 

 killed while migrating at night. 



Is not Sept. 16th rather late for Vir- 

 ginia Quails to be incubating? The 

 undersigned examined a nest of 13 eggs 

 which will probably hatch in a few 

 days. 



A. B. Farnham. 

 Sec. and Trs. of Ornithologist Assoc'n. 



An April's Outing. 



It was a beautiful day, the 20th of 

 April last. The sun gave down a ge- 

 nial light that bathed the hills and flood- 

 ed the valleys, and shed a mild, invigo- 

 rating warmth that made all nature 

 exult. The sky was clear save for a 

 few pearly clouds reposing upon the 

 Western horizon which were melting 

 away in the swelling tide of day. The 

 haze, which in California so often ob- 

 scures the vision, was absent; the eye 

 could range unrestrained over the vast 

 expanse of ripening grain, and view the 

 verdant lustre of the surrounding hills 

 and the rugged desolation of the distant 

 mountains. 



From the redolent fields, yet spark- 

 ling with dew, the Lark had ushered in 

 the morn with joyous strains — now the 

 air was freighted with the melodious 

 mingling of unnumbered sounds and 

 scented with the fragrance of myriads 



of blossoms bursting from their night's 

 repose. 



It was on such a day that two Oolo- 

 gists, the writer being one of the num- 

 ber, clad in antiquated garments, 

 wended their way through the less fre- 

 quented streets of Santa Barbara, past 

 the limits of the city on the outing that 

 this article concerns. Passing through, 

 a canon contiguous to the city, we, 

 with our enthusiasm at its height, 

 searched every bush and tree that could 

 afford concealment to the nests of birds. 

 Descending to the bed of a stream walK 

 ed on either side by pi*ecipitous banks, 

 we with no little difficulty, forced our 

 way through the tangled growth of 

 bushes, vines and weeds that grew so 

 rank along the watered way, and now 

 and then scrambled along the faces of 

 the encroaching cliffs, which, crumb- 

 ling beneath our weight, afforded us 

 but an insecure passage. My compan- 

 ion, who was in the lead came to a sud- 

 den stop and peering over his shoulder 

 in the direction indicated by his staff 

 I saw hidden among the leaves of a wild 

 rose bush a nest of the Hermann's Song 

 Sparrow from which we obtained four 

 eggs. Meanwhile a pair of California 

 Towhees that seemed unusually inter* 

 ested in our proceedings had attracted 

 our attention. We searched for some-, 

 time for their nest and finally espied it 

 in a bush at the top of the cliff, and af-> 

 ter a hard scramble reached the nest 

 and obtained three eggs. After pro- 

 ceeding a short distance we found a 

 second nest of the Hermann's Song 

 Sparrow similiarly situated and|contain- 

 ingthe same number of eggs as the firsts 

 By this time we had I'eached a mass of 

 flags through which we could scarcely 

 advance. However, we essayed the 

 passage, and upon pushing aside the 

 flags to facilitate our progress, a nest 

 containing four eggs of a Western Yel-. 

 low-throat was disclosed. At first we 

 were doubtful of their identity but the 

 timely appearance of the parent bird 

 dispelled our doubts. 



