54 



THE OOLOGISl 



almost as rapid as those of a Hum- 

 mer. 



Although there was no verdure in 

 evidence during February save such 

 as the Juniper and Live Oak, a great 

 many migrants seemed to arrive from 

 the South at an earlier date than 

 usual, because of the mild winter. 



In early March I observed a Black 

 Vulture emerging from a hollow 

 among immense houlders( and after 

 crawling through a space only large 

 enough to permit admittance for a 

 man of shadowy appearance), I found 

 the eggs deposited on the bare rocks 

 at a distance of some fourteen feet 

 from the entrance, and in almost ab- 

 solute darkness. A week or so later 

 while scaling a perpendicular cliff on 

 the border of a stream, I found un- 

 der the shelter of a small crevice, a 

 Turkey Vulture's' nest, showing that 

 she was unusually early with the du- 

 ties of incubation. A Duck Hawk had 

 her nest on a little shelf over-hanging 

 the water, and had resorted to the 

 same spot annually. It was a typi- 

 cal erie, and contained four eggs, by 

 the twentieth of March. 



While riding along the trails I was 

 afforded an opportunity for the first 

 time, of witnessing the manouvers of 

 a Road Runner, and eventually locat- 

 ed a nest of this bird in a juniper 

 growing parallel with a winding road. 

 In construction, the nest reminded 

 me of a Mourning Dove's, but of 

 course much larger. 



Referring to illustration in last 

 month's Oologist, this was one 

 of the many brambles from 

 which the Mexican Wild Turkeys sal- 

 lied forth shortly after sun-up, and 

 their coarse gobble was often uttered 

 in response to the gobble of a domes- 

 tic turkey, and not infrequently the 

 Wild Turkeys would be found mingl- 

 ed among the tame ones close to the 

 ranch houses, particularly during the 

 months of February and March when 



this polygamous bird is mating with 

 several birds of the opposite sex. The 

 tame birds act as great decoys at cer- 

 tain seasons of the year, when they 

 are attracted to within easy gun 

 range, simply by the notes, which to 

 the human ear seem different entire- 

 ly, from those of the wild fowl, and 

 yet, this is the only way in which the 

 wary game bird can be secured by the 

 gunner. 



In as immense hilly pasture the 

 turkeys ventured forth in the vicini- 

 ty of one conspicuous point, and pros- 

 pects were quite bright for an oologi- 

 cal find. Great growths of briers, al- 

 galita and scrub oak made progress 

 quite laborious, hut I eventually dis- 

 closed a large nest containing thir- 

 teen fresh eggs under the shelter of 

 a fallen tree. The eggs were sur- 

 rounded and almost covered with 

 down and feathers, and reminded one 

 of a Wild Duck's abode. This was 

 my best take while in the Aransas 

 Pass region, and I was obliged to re- 

 turn North at a period when many of 

 the breeders in that vicinity were 

 just returning, and the Pinon Jays, 

 Red-tailed, and Swainson's Hawk 

 were exhibiting signs of nidification. 

 Gerard Allen Abbott. 



Chicago. 111. 



Great Blue Heron. 



In Sept., '07 issue, Mr. C. S. Thomp- 

 son refers to Mr. Peabody's letter on 

 the measurements of eggs of the Gt. 

 Blue Heron. 



As the eggs are so common in col- 

 lections, I did not think the size of 

 the eggs would be of much interest to 

 collectors, hut find there is some de- 

 sire to know how the eggs vary in 

 size according to locality. 



I have 17 sets of Gt. Blue Heron 

 in my collection, nearly all taken in 

 Delaware. They lay' five eggs as a 



