THE OOLOGIST. 



9- 



and myself, started on a short collect- 

 ing trip in the mountains back of the 

 town (Boulder.) We first went up 

 Boulder Canon and took a set of Dip- 

 pers' eggs from a nest I had located a 

 few days before. This nest was built 

 on the stringer of a bridge, over which 

 teams were constantly passing, and re- 

 sembled very much the ordinary Phoebe 

 nest. None of the nests that I examin- 

 ed in fact were the green mossy struct- 

 ure described by Davie, but were com- 

 posed of fibrous roots and dried grass, 

 lined with softer grasses, and resembled 

 very much those little bunches of drift 

 stuff that is found lodged in the bushes 

 and among the rocks along streams af- 

 ter a liood. Perhaps, however, in other 

 sections of the counti'y they build other- 

 wise. 



After taking the set of Dipper's eggs, 

 we climbed out of the canon and struck 

 off over the foot hills toward home. 



We rapped on all the dead trees we 

 passed in hope of locating a woodpeck- 

 er's nest. As we passed a likely look- 

 ing stub a little out of our line of march 

 I threw a rock against it and was 

 pleased to see a small dark-colored bird 

 fly out and light in a neighboring tree. 

 My companion turned his attention to 

 the bird while I climbed the stub. Af- 

 ter examining all the larger holes and 

 finding them empty I noticed a smaller 

 one about an inch in diameter, and be- 

 ing unable to feel the bottom, I inserted 

 my thumb and tore off a strip of the 

 rotten wood, disclosing the daintiest 

 little nest that it has ever been my pleas- 

 ure to see, with the possible exception 

 of a Hummingbird's. 



The hole was about ten inches in 

 depth and was filled up for about two 

 inches with feathei's. In the center of 

 this soft bed was a little cup-shaped de- 

 pression, in which nestled (7) seven per- 

 fectly fresh eggs, arranged in two lay- 

 ers, four (4) on the bottom and three;(3) 

 on top. 



The ground color was a clear crystal- 



ine white, through which the yolk shone 

 giving them the beautiful pinkish tinge 

 so common in woodpeckers' eggs. 

 They were spotted sparingly over there 

 entire surface, with light reddish brown. 



Before disturbing the nest I joined 

 my companion and we noted down a 

 description of the bird, which had oblig- 

 ingly seated itself on a limb where we 

 could readily see it. After taking suf- 

 ficient notes to insure its idenity, we 

 returned to the stub, and after admir- 

 ing the nest and contents for some 

 time, I carefully packed the eggs in my 

 box, but was forced to leave the nest as 

 it contained nothing but feathers and 

 would not hold together. 



A short distance farther on Mr. E. 

 found another nest, identically the 

 same, also containing seven (7) eggs. 

 Both nests were in rotten stubs, about 

 twenty (20) feet from the ground. 



After taking this set we hurried on as 

 the sun had dropped behind the snow- 

 capped peaks of the Rockies, and the 

 shadows were growing deeper, as we 

 scrambled down an abandoned log 

 chute and took the road toward home. 



In the evening upon consulting the 

 authorities our sets proved to be those 

 of the Pigmy Nuthatch. The eggs aver- 

 aged .62 X .43. 



The next set is that of Cassin's Pur- 

 ple Finch. 



Perhaps it was the difficulty I had in 

 getting it that makes me so fond of this 

 set. 



A friend of mine met me one day 

 early in June, (on the 9th" to be exact,) 

 and told me of a bird that had built its 

 nest in a balsam tree near his home. 

 From his description I was pretty .sure 

 of its identity, but to clinch matters I 

 sallied around that afternoon to see for 

 myself. 



The nest was located among the thick 

 shoots that had sprung from the trunk 

 of the tree, where it had been cut off. 

 They wei'e so dense that I could not see 

 the nest, but a well directed pebble 



