THE OOLOOIST. 



139 



White, specked and spotted with red- 

 tlish brown. They run in long diame- 

 ter from .73 to .81 and in short diame- 

 ter from .56 to .62. 



The male bird does not obtain his 

 full plumage until the third year, when 

 he is certainly the handsomest plumag- 

 ed small bird we have. They are much 

 sought for here as cage birds, especial- 

 ly by the French element of the popu- 

 lation who call them "papes" or as it is 

 Americanized "paps." They are gener- 

 ally trapped through the pugnacious 

 disposition of the male, by placing a 

 stuffed Painted Bunting inside of the 

 trap-cage, in a defiant attitude. The 

 male sees him, and accepts the chal- 

 lenge and alighting on the outspread 

 wing of the cage, is immediately trap- 

 ped by its closing on him. They are 

 kept in confinement just like canaries, 

 and in fact are often crossed with them. 

 They are soon tamed after being caught 

 •and readily become use . to cage life. 



The family of warblers in summer 

 Is somewhat limited with us, but to 

 watch that beautiful little bird the Blue 

 Yellow-backed, or Parula Warbler is an 

 •amply recompenses the lost. This hand- 

 some, active little fellow arrives here 

 about the middle of March, and spends 

 his time during March and part of 

 April, by wandering through the brush 

 ■and briar, and among the flags and 

 rushes.like the Maryland Yellow-throat. 

 But as soon as the warmer weather of 

 the latter part of April arrives, he tak- 

 eth unto himself a wife, and flies away 

 to the woods in search of a suitable 

 nesting place. 



Here long festoons of the gray Spanish 

 moss hang from every limb. Ah, there 

 is just the one, and the newly wedded 

 pair soon weave and twist it into a de- 

 sirable form, with a small hole at the 

 side for an entrance. The eggs are duly 

 deposited, some four or five in number 

 white and ground color, with spots of 

 various shades of brown, ranging in 

 size from .62 x .42 to .70 x .48. 



The Parula Warbler probably lays 

 two sets of eggs in this southern lati- 

 tude as there are instances of eggs hav-> 

 ing been taken in July. 



The Bartramian Sandpiper is in some 

 parts a rather common migrant, but of 

 late years has become somewhat scarce. 

 It is highly esteemed for the table here, 

 and generally commands a high price. 

 The flesh is certainly delicious aDd any 

 one who has tasted a "Papabote," for 

 such is the name give them here by the 

 French, will affirm my statement. The 

 The Bartramian only occurs as a spring 

 and fall migrant, never remaining here 

 as it breeds much farther north. 



Davie gives the eggs as '-pale clay or 

 buff-spotted with umber and brown. . . . 

 four in number, sizes 1.70 to 1.90 by 

 1.28. 



The Yellow-crowned Night Heron, in 

 some parts of this state especially the 

 southern, is a very common bird. Its 

 flesh is highly esteemed by the Creoles, 

 but they eat anything that has wings. 

 A rookery of these herons which I visi- 

 ted (not a thousand miles away from 

 the city, by the way) consisted of about 

 an acre of cleared ground in the midst 

 of a cypress swamp. This place had 

 been thickly grown up with willows 

 and here the Yellow-crowned, Little 

 Blue, and Louisiana Herons held forth 

 in company with the Anhinga or "Nig- 

 ger Goose" as it is locally called. And 

 such a chorus of- squawks, and screams 

 and squeals arose from that place that 

 you couldn't hear yourself talk. 



Every willow had two or three nests 

 in it, and there must bave been severaal 

 thousand birds in the rookery. And 

 now in conclusion let us speak of the egg 

 of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, as 

 space is limited, and we must not im- 

 pose on the editor. There are general- 

 ly from three to six eggs in each nest, 

 and they are of that blue tint peculiar 

 to all herons. They vary greatly in 

 sizes, ranging from as small as 1.60x1.14 

 to as large as 1.77x1.22, but it is next to 



