THE OOLOGIST. 



15 



On the 12th of December I went to 

 look after a bait which I had set for 

 Coyottes and on the way near the bait 

 I found a Golden Eagle lying upon his 

 back, I walked up to it and saw where 

 the Coyotes had danced around him, 

 but the eagle was alive and had kept 

 the Coyotes away with his large claws. 

 I turned it over and it wobbled off a 

 few feet and then looked at me. I went 

 on to my bait and then came back and 

 by driving the eagle and carrying him 

 part way I got him home and put him 

 in the stable. He seemed numb and 

 stiff and I think he got a dose of strych- 

 nine at my bait, but not enough to kill 

 him. I feed him Jack Rabbit and he is 

 getting quite lively. I saw three of his 

 fellows today. 



I do not know of the Bald Eagle 

 breeding here but am told they do about 

 fifty or sixty miles from here. I have 

 seen the birds here but do not know 

 why the Gallatin Valley is not blessed 

 with at least one pair. Clark's Nut- 

 cracker stays here the whole year and 

 breeds in the pine covered hills. The 

 Long tailed Chickadee stays here and 

 breeds, I found a nest in an old stump. 

 The nest was in a hole and made of fine 

 squirrel hair; it contained 6 eggs pretty 

 well incubated, so that I could not 

 make a first class set of them, although 

 I saved the set. The birds are plenti- 

 ful but the nests are hard to find. 



Then we have four species of Grouse, 

 the Columbian Sharp-tailed, Sage, Gray 

 Ruffed and Dusky Grouse. I found 

 four nests of the Dusky last summer 

 but only secured one set; the others 

 were sucked when I found them. The 

 American Dipper I have seen here in 

 the winter and know that it breeds 

 here, as I have the nest and eggs which 

 I collected last summer. The nest is a 

 beauty, it is made of moss, which all 

 sticks together in a ball, with a hole oq 

 the side for entrance, on the inside it is 

 lined with dry grass and the bottom 

 covered with dry leaves upon which 



rested the four white eggs which re- 

 semble those of the Purple Martin. 



The summer residents are quite nu- 

 merous but I will not mention all, as 

 this article is getting too long. Lewis's 

 Woodpecker breeds here, they make 

 holes in live trees as well as dead ones 

 in which to rear their young. I found 

 a nest last summer and as both old 

 birds were fiying around and it was 

 early for them to be laying, I was in no 

 particular hurry to dig into their home, 

 but a few days afterwards 1 went to the 

 tree prepared with climbing irons, 

 small saw, hammer and tacks besides a 

 box and cotton, etc I got to the hole 

 and started to measure the distance 

 with a scoop net and found it to be 

 about two feet, but listen, "What is 

 that music which breaks on my ear?" 

 It is the cries of the young birds. I 

 come down the tree and leave them to 

 their happiness. 



I had quite an experience with Mary- 

 land Yellow throat. I found a nest 

 situated in the ground, well hidd- 

 en, it contained four eggs. 1 could not 

 get a very good look at the female and 

 as the male did not put in an appear- 

 ance I had to flush the bird repeatedly 

 and lie close to the nest while she came 

 back and went on. I looked into the 

 nest again and behold there were five 

 eggs. 1 was quite sure what it was but 

 to be real sure I decided to bring my 

 gun along the next and secure the bird. 

 The next day my brother looked into 

 the nest and there were six eggs, two 

 days after I came along with my gun, 

 but before shooting the bird I looked 

 into the nest, when I was surprised to 

 find four young birds with two eggs 

 just beginning to addle. I did not shoot 

 but satisfied myself with a look at her 

 and by finding another nest of the same 

 species, the female of which was not so 

 shy I saw what both birds were. 



We hav^e at least seven species of 

 Hawk and four of Owl which I am sure 

 nest here as I have seen them here ia 



