THE OOLOOIST. <S 5- (^S^) > t^ <» « 



89 



on the trigger every minute for it to 

 settle in the pond when I could secure 

 a good shot I noted it appeared to set- 

 tle in the top of a s'our gumtree a'bout 

 40 feet up. Cautiously I walked to 

 the tree, but no duck could I see. I 

 splashed the water, rapped the tree, 

 shook the bushes and fired a shot in 

 the top of the tree but no duck flew 

 from the tree. 



As it was getting dark I could not 

 discern any cavity in the top of the 

 tree, so I secured the pair of climbers 

 that I had fas'tened to my wheel and 

 proceeded to investigate. As I near- 

 ed the top of the tree out ran two 

 grey squirrels and when about 6 feet 

 of the top out flew Mrs. Duck. As I 

 peered down the cavity I beheld elev- 

 en eggs that I could count in the twi- 

 light but I could not reach them by a 

 foot or more, and the wood was so 

 hard I could not break it with my 

 climbers, although it was no more 

 than one inch in thickness'. By look- 

 ing down on the outside I found a 

 knot-hole about a foot below the nest 

 large enough for me to insert my hand 

 and now the ticklish part commenced 

 As I was holding on with one hand I 

 picked a small hole in the bottom of 

 the nest with the other and the eggs 

 commenced to roll, all seemed to 

 want to come out in "jig" time, and 

 great care was needed to keep them 

 from bumping against each other. I 

 counted twelve and lost the count. 

 When I got home I found I had 16 in- 

 cubated eggs. With hard work and 

 potash I saved them first class. Tak- 

 ing up Davis I found I had secured a 

 very large set. The nest was' compos- 

 ed of a few dry pine oak leaves mixed 

 in with the down.. 



While X was securing the eggs the 

 female flew against me and flew 

 whistling off to the pond and it sound- 

 ed real dismal at that time as I never 

 had heard their whistle before. It 

 sounded something like the whistle ' 



of a man. 



I never collected a set of eggs that 

 I so disliked to take as this', owing to 

 their rarity and the consideration I 

 have for our most heartiful game, 

 bird. 



W. B. Crispin, N. J. 



Mr. Ernest H. Short, 



Ed. Oologist: — I wish to report to 

 the capture of a Kirkland's Warbler 

 on May 15, 1908 by Mr. Wm. P. Holt 

 at Port Clinton. This is our first rec- 

 ord of this rare warbler in our locali. 

 ty. Also the capture of a pair of Cape 

 May Warblers on May 16. These 

 warblers are rare in this section. On 

 May 15, we took a specimen of the 

 Northen Parula Warbler another of 

 our rarer warblers. During the two 

 days that we were at Port Clinton 82 

 species of birds' were observed. The 

 weather was favorable and birds were 

 very plentiful although the warblers 

 were more common on May 15 than 

 on the 16th. I also wish to report the 

 capture of the Lark Sparrow, Chon- 

 destes grammacus, by George Chiesa 

 on May 2, this is our first record of 

 this more southern bird. Mr. Chiesa 

 took a beautiful specimen of a parti- 

 ally Albino Tree Sparrow March 22. 

 It had white specked throuh the 

 chestnut head and also back and tail. 

 The first primary of each wing was 

 white or nearly so. 



Yours truly, 

 A. C. Read, Toledo, Ohio. 



By an oversight in making up April 

 No. of current volume of Oologist, 

 Mr. Bailey of Newport News, Va., was 

 not credited with the article on "Odd 

 Nesting Site," (see page 57, April), 

 which he contributed. It's another 

 case where the manager apologizes 

 for another's mistake. — E. H. S. 



