10 



THE OOLOGiST. 



dark colored in fact I might almost 

 say black, flew from the nest on my 

 striking the trunk with my climbers, 

 fifteen minutes later I was up the tree 

 and cax'efully lowering the four large 

 eggs which it contained. This is a very 

 handsome clutch, one egg especially 

 having a continuous wreath of reddish 

 brown blotches on the larger end which 

 completely obscures the ground color, 

 two of the others are mere lightly mark- 

 ed while the fourth is nearly white, size 

 ■2.54 X 1.97, 2.55 x 1.95, 2.60 x 1.96, 2.55 x 

 1.96. 



A pair of Richardson's Merlins occu- 

 pied this same nest ten days later but 

 I could not get to the place on account 

 ■of the floods in the mountains making 

 the river too high. I found these 

 Merlins very shy unless their nesting 

 place was intruded upon, they seemed 

 to frequent the lonliest and most seclud- 

 ed spots to be found, sach as thickly 

 wooded bends of the i-iver and islands 

 where scarcely anybody ever goes, in 

 fact I believe that I was the only person 

 who passed thi'ough their haunts this 

 season. I was fortunate enough to find 

 one nest containing four handsome 

 eggs, and hope to find more next year, 

 (for full description of this clutch see 



July OoLOGIST.) 



Swainson's Buzzard is very numerous 

 here, I collected eight clutches, six of 

 three eggs, and two of two. the majority 

 of these are nearly white or faintly 

 marked with pale reddish brown and 

 shell markings, eight all laid by the 

 same bird, are how ever quite heavily 

 marked for this species, being like the 

 eastern Red -tail. The smallest of these 

 eggs measure 2.15 x 1.67, the largest 

 3.26 X 1.80 average size 2.19 x 1.73. 



I also took three sets of Ferruginous 

 Rough-leg. The first containing four 

 eggs was taken May 2; the nest was 

 placed 27 feet up on a branch, it was 

 verv loosely put together and composed 

 of sticks and large pieces of wood, lined 

 with roots, about two feet of twisted 



fence wire and tufts of grass. These 

 eggs are bluish white with lavender 

 shell markings, spotted with brown and 

 chestnut. The second nest containing 

 three eggs was found on May 5th, this 

 was a large structure forty feet up and 

 had evidently been used for a number 

 of years. The eggs are of a dull white 

 ground color, two are sparingly and 

 the third quite heavily splashed at the 

 smaller end with dark brown and chest- 

 nut. The third set was taken May 12; 

 the nest was a small affair, placed nine- 

 teen feet from the ground, this contain- 

 ed four eggs, they are not as handsome 

 as the last, but still are a very tine set, 

 they are dull white ground color and 

 nest stained, spotted at the larger end 

 with different shades of brown and lilac. 

 All these nests were more loosely put to- 

 gether than that of the Am. Rough-leg, 

 the eggs also are not so heavily spotted 

 and are smaller, the average being 2.42 

 X 1.93, a single egg taken MaylOth is pale 

 blueish white, unmarl<ed, with a very 

 granulated surface size 2.51 x 1,79. 



Of the smaller birds, McCown's Long- 

 spur is most abundant, they are found 

 everywhere on the prairie. I did not 

 find their nests this year as they had 

 young by the middle of June when I 

 returned from my trip, but I expect to 

 collect a good series next year. West- 

 ern Vesper Sparrows also are very a- 

 bundant, the Flicker is the only one of 

 the Woodpecker family that I have no- 

 ticed. Cliff and Bank Swallows are 

 very numerous, both kinds mingling 

 together in a flock and building in the 

 same bank, the Cliff Swallows as a rule 

 near the top with the Bank Swallows 

 just below. Barn Swallows ai'e scarce, 

 I only found one nest, this was built 

 like a Phoebe's underneath a small 

 bridge. These three are the only kinds 

 of Swallows found here, seventy miles 

 north I found the Tree Swallow and 

 Purple Martin. I have not seen a 

 Chimney Swift this year and T do not 



