16 



THE OOLOGIST. 



May 26th took five-fresh eggs from a 

 burrow three feet from a well traveled 

 country road. The male flew away as 

 we approached; the female was on the 

 eggs. When I removed her she snap- 

 ped her bill-'and bled at the mouth as I 

 have seen them do before. The eggs 

 were about 3i feet from the mouth of 

 the burrow, which also contained two 

 toads and a mouse. F. A. Colby also 

 collected a set of seyen, incubation be- 

 gun, on May 19th, and a set of eight, in- 

 cubation begun, on June 1st. 



A. S. Pearse. 



Minor Observation 



There appeared in the Oologist a 

 few months ago aii article "Woodpeckers 

 and their JSests," by Mr. Angus Gaines. 

 He speaks of a nest of Downy and other 

 Woodpeckers, so excavated that the 

 contents could not be seen without re- 

 moving a portion of the wall — "some- 

 thing not to be thought of" — in which 

 he has my sympathy. 



This is an every day occurrence, not 

 only with Woodpeckers, but many other 

 cavity building birds and may be easily 

 obviated by a narrow strip of mirror, 

 held so as to extend into the opening at 

 such an angle as to reflect the bottom 

 of the cavity. 



Thus the habits of such birds can be 

 thoi'oughly studied without disturbing 

 particles of nesting. If so disturbed 

 many birds will desert their abodes, 

 others may continue on in an irregular 

 manner not characteristic of their spec- 

 ies, which would render notes valueless. 



The use of the looking glass occurred 

 to me a couple of years ago as I stood 

 gazing at a shattered mirror which I 

 had attempted to hang. Since that 

 time I have used the pieces incessantly 

 and found them invaluable. 



The mirror can be used in many other 

 ways which will suggest themselves. 



I will mention one more, however: 

 Glasses of different sizes and shapes can 



be attached to a jointed Ashing pole 

 with a stiff hinge to move at different 

 angles so as to reflect nests in more or 

 less iuaccessable places. To the pole 

 may also befitted attachable egg scoops. 

 This method of mirror observation pre- 

 vents tree scai's which tell tales to small 

 boys. 



Fritz V. Raymond. 



Ludlow, Ky. 



Notes from District of Columbia- 



Although our list of breeding birds 

 gives but one duck, (the Wood Duck) as 

 nesting in this locality it is to me quite 

 plain that this year at least other varie- 

 ties have lingered here to raise their 

 young. 



Having only seen them at a distance 

 I cannot give their name. Perhaps this 

 is another result of the severe cold of 

 last winter, the ducks being detained 

 here until the breeding season by the 

 unusually inclement spring. 



I have observed what appeared to be 

 Green-winged Teal and Dusky Ducks 

 in the midsummer months and hope 

 to verify my suspicions as to their breed- 

 ing and positive identity. Has any one 

 else observed any unusual diicks in 

 their localities? 



One Bluebird this season is the total 

 with me. 



The Bluebird seems a fair rival of the 

 Passenger Pigeon iu the "great disap- 

 pearing act."" 



A. B. Faknham, 

 Benning, Dist. Columbia. 



"To be frank, I think the Oologist 

 as an advertising medium beats them 

 all. What few ads. I have inserted 

 from time to time have paid me ten 

 fold." G. F. DIPPPIE, Toronto, Ont. 



