46 



THE OODOGIST 



he had craved for a long while. I 

 have several of his sets which I hope 

 to keep if possible because each one 

 has a history known to Crispin and I 

 only. They were collected when we 

 were out together far from home in 

 wagon or auto. 



E. J. Darlington. 

 Wilmington, Del. 



in writing our review of our last si 

 mer's trip. 



The eggs in Mr. Norris's collection 

 are accompanied by the skin of the 

 parent. — Editor. 



Eggs of the Black Swift. 



(Cypseloides niger borealis.) 

 By John E. Thayer. 



I had the good fortune to obtain 

 from M. A. G. Vrooman of Santa Cruz, 

 California, his whole series of Black 

 Swift (Cypseloides niger borealis) 

 eggs. Mr. Vrooman was the first to 

 discover the eggs of this species. He 

 first found the bird breeding in Santa 

 Cruz County, California, June 16, 1901. 

 The egg was placed on a small shelf, 

 behind a tuft of green grass, in a 

 slight depression in wet mud, on the 

 face of a dripping cliff under a projec- 

 tion, about 90 feet from the breakers 

 below. He described this set in The 

 Auk, Vol. 18, Page 294. 



It is a curious fact that this bird 

 lays but one egg. Mr. Vrooman kind- 

 ly gave me the skin of a nestling about 

 five or six days old. I give the meas- 

 urements of the eggs I have, in Milli- 

 meter: 



1. 30x19. 



2. 295x195. 



3. 30x20. 



4. 28x19%. 



5. 28x19. 



6. 27x19. 



7. 28x18%. 



Great Gray Owls Eggs. 

 J. Parker Norris, of Philadelphia, 

 calls our attention to the fact that 

 while in Philadelphia last summer we 

 saw in his collection a set of the ex- 

 tremely rare eggs of the Great Gray 

 Owl. This fact we had overlooked 



Florida Notes. 

 By a Tenderfoot. 



My people moved to Miami this fall 

 and I had the pleasure of coming south 

 with them, for the first time. School 

 has kept me tied up in the North until 

 this year, and the letters that I have 

 received from father in the past win- 

 ters, while he spent the cold season 

 here, have made me anxious to see the 

 South. 



The southern end of Florida is a 

 wonderful place in many ways. The 

 tropical trees and flowers are a 

 strange and beautiful sight to the 

 "Yankee." Of course, the birds inter- 

 est me the most, so I will give a few 

 extracts from my note-book pertain- 

 ing to them. Before I begin I wish 

 to say that not being an authority on 

 birds there may be a mistake or two 

 in my identification of a few species, 

 and I would appreciate it if some of 

 my readers would correct me. 



My father and I intended to get out 

 on Christmas day but the rain sent 

 us home, so just for spite we got up 

 at five a. m. the next Sunday and made 

 a day of it. 



It was a warm, cloudy morning with 

 a gentle south-east breeze, and the 

 thermometer at twenty-six. We rode 

 our wheels to the "Hammock" which 

 is about two miles down Biscayne 

 Bay, to the south of Miami. The "Ham- 

 mock" is the most dense growth of 

 trees and vines that one could imag- 

 ine. The live oaks, covered with Span- 

 ish Moss and orchids are most com- 

 mon and they darken the woods much. 

 This thick growth extends for about 

 a mile and a half along the bay and 

 inland about a mile. 



