16 



THE OOLOGIST. 



the breeding season. I have found the 

 Long-billed Curlew, Bratramian Sand- 

 piper and Killdeer with young. 



Amos F. Pyfer, 

 Salesville, Mont. 



A Collecting- Trip in Old Virgfinia. 



It was a beautiful Spring, with that 

 sweet freshness about it that only a 

 TRUE lover of Nature can appreciate. 

 The woods now covered with Spring 

 flowers rang with melody from the 

 throats of its little feathered inhabi- 

 tants. The sweet song of the Cardinal, 

 the Mockingbird and the Red-eyed 

 Vireo could be distinguished from all 

 others. In the distance the loud raps 

 of the Red-headed Woodpecker could 

 be heard as he beat his morning tatoo 

 on some lifeless tree. 



"Just a morning for a stroll in the 

 woods!" I said to my companion, a true 

 lover of Nature. "Right you are 'old 

 Sport' and I'm with you." He said 

 these words as he disappeared in the 

 house for his collecting box. So arm- 

 ed with the collecting box we started 

 for a collecting trip in Old Virginia. 

 As we strolled through the woods 

 above described our attention was at- 

 tracted by a peculiar humming noise 

 above our heads. We turned quickly 

 and were much surprised to see aRuby- 

 throated Hummingbird swinging back, 

 ward and forward in the air. We im- 

 mediately sat down and watched the lit- 

 tle fellow. After swinging there a few 

 moments he flew and perched himself 

 on a dead twig above our heads, and 

 then again with a nervous quitter he 

 alighted on a bed of moss. Our expect- 

 ations were correct, his nest was near. 

 My companion quickly fastened on his 

 climbers and in a few moments was re- 

 warded with two pearly beauties, pure 

 white about the size of a pea. Placing 

 these carefully away, we again started. 



We had gone but a few steps when a 

 Whip-poor-will flew almost from under 



our feet leaving behind two beautiful 

 eggs. The nest, if I may -call it by that 

 name, was only a pile of dry leaves. 

 The eggs were cream colored, thickly 

 blotched and spotted with light brown 

 and lilac. We placed them in the col- 

 lecting box and started again. 



It was at least a half hour before we 

 found another but this time we were 

 rewarded indeed. My companion had 

 stopped to watch a saucy squirrel as he 

 "skampered" away, shaking his bushy 

 tail, as if bidding defiance to all man- 

 kind, when a noise like thunder was 

 heard to his right and a magnificent 

 Wild Turkey hen arose high in the air 

 and disappeared in the thick brush in 

 front of us. We both made for the 

 spot from which she had flown and 

 much to our pleasure found a neat nest 

 containing 12 eggs. The ground had 

 been slightly indented and lined with 

 feathers, bark, etc. Packing these 

 away we joyfully left for home. 



On our way back we found nests of 

 Red-Eyed Vireo, Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker, Cardinal, etc. After enjoying- 

 d good supper we went to bed and 

 dreamt of the future when we would 

 again take a stroll through the forests, 

 of Virginia. 



John W. Daniel, Jr., 



Lynchburg, Va. 



A Nest of the Barred Owl. 



On Mar. 24, 1894 I found a nest of the- 

 Barred Owl containiog one egg. I re- 

 turned on the 31st and took the set of 2 

 beautiful white eggs, on which Madam 

 Owl had just begun the duties of incu- 

 bation. The nest was in a cavity ;about 

 10 inches deep, in a hollow linn tree;, 

 formerly occupied by a squirrel. The 

 eggs were laid on a nice bed of leaves, 

 evidently provided by the former oc- 

 cupant. The cavity was only 28 feet 

 from the ground. 



E. S. Crafton, 

 Plattsburg, Mo. 



