13G 



THE OOLOliiST. 



practically noue, the eggs being laid ou 

 the rubbish which had collected at the 

 bottom of the hole, about 30 feet from 

 the ground, incubation slight. My 

 friend was satisfied that they were eggs 

 of Richardson's Merlin, but to be fully 

 convinced he shot the female and fully 

 identified the bird. 



The set is now in my possession and 

 the eggs are very handsome, thickly 

 blotched and splashed with rich red 

 brown, almost appearing uniform iu 

 one specimen. The set was taken about 

 three miles from where Mr. J. E. House- 

 man took a set in '94. See OiiLOGisx for 

 July, 1S94. 



On July 21st I was down the Bow 

 river collecting and within about a mile 

 of-w'here the above set was taken. I 

 shot an Am. Sparrow Hawk fx'om the 

 top of a poplar, and immediately follow- 

 ing the repoi't a male Hawk flew from 

 another tree vociferously protesting 

 against my intrusion. I had been on. 

 the look out for Richai'dson's Merlin for 

 several days, as I wished to procure a 

 pair if possible, and my suspicions weie 

 aroused at once as the bird was larger 

 and darker, and the cry was somewhat 

 diiferent from the Sparrow Hawk. I 

 proceeded to the spot, and when with- 

 in a few yards of the ti'ee the female 

 left the nest and joined her mate. 



The tree was a large black poplar. 

 and it was utterly impossible for me 

 to climb it without help, so I satisfied 

 myself with shooting the female, and 

 determined to return the following 

 day, which I did, and with the aid of a 

 long pole I reached the fii'St branch and 

 then a large jagged hole that showed 

 near the top. Directly, my head was on 

 a level with the hole five hungry mouths 

 were opened, clamoring noisely for 

 food, and I was gazing upon five dow- 

 ny young of Richardson's Merlin. . One 

 was a remarkably small and puny bird 

 :almost dead and with scarcely any 

 down upon it. I transferred the lot in- 

 to my hat and now all that remains of 



them is their carefully preserved skins 

 along with the female. 



I was greatly surprised at taking 

 young birds so late, and I think it just 

 possible that the bird left from the first 

 nest mated again, thus accounting for 

 the lateness of the nesting. 



I spe'Tt some 4 weeks around Calgary 

 this summer, and saw in all about five 

 for six pair of Merlins, they are no 

 doubt very local as I spent some three 

 weeks, 100 miles north of Calgary and 

 never saw a single specimen, the Pigeon 

 Hawk seeming to take its place. I be- 

 lieve these two records are only the sec- 

 ond and third authentic ones of the 

 nesting of the nesting of this bold 

 little Falcon. Whilst taking the latter 

 nest the male was very bold swooping 

 to within a few yards of my head. I 

 could easily have shot, him but thought 

 I had iDlayed havoc enough. 



G. F. DiPPiE, 

 Toronto. 



A Few Notes on the Arizona Jay . 



Aphelocoma sieberii arizonw. 



This ^interesting bird is a common 

 resident iu the Sierra Madres about 

 Monterey iu the oak timber. It was 

 while I was field engineer of a short 

 railroad that runs from town to the 

 foot of the mountains, twelve miles 

 south, transporting ore from thence to 

 the smelters here, that I met this spe. 

 cies. 



Being A'ery busy. I had no time to 

 study this bold fellow and make sure 

 his identity, but at last fortune favored 

 me, and I obtained an introduction. 

 They are gregarious, roving about in 

 flocks of half a dozen or a dozen. They 

 spend all the morning and evening fly- 

 ing about from tree to tree, uttering 

 their harsh cries, and not appearing to 

 notice man in the least. In the middle 

 of the day they are generally still, sit- 

 ting al'ound in trees, in some retired 



