THE OOLOGIST. 



116 



I miss your little magazine awfully 

 and must have it. For the last three 

 months I have been chasing natives all 

 over Luzon Island and havn't had a 

 chance to read anything, but we are 

 now resting and are liable to remain 

 pretty quiet, until after rainy season 

 anyhow. 



These Islands are a paradise for 

 birds, but on account of the treacherous 

 natives a man in uniform cannot go far 

 from his quarters to make investiga- 

 tions in any line, although I have loc- 

 ated a good many very rich fields In 

 my wanderings 1 have observed many 

 small birds, with a wonderfully bright 

 plumage, also a species of Eagle which 

 is very common and five species of 

 Hawks. A few days ago we took a 

 town near the border of a river about 

 forty miles north of Manila. This riv- 

 er is fringed with a heavy marsh on 

 either side, swarming with ducks and 

 other water fowl, while here I saw a 

 native coming out of the marsh with a 

 big basket full of duck's eggs. He 

 claimed they commanded big prices in 

 the markets of Manila. These eggs 

 were about the size of our Mallai'ds. 



Well, after the war is over I expect 

 to investigate all these joints and will 

 report some to your paper. 



It will be very hard for me to work 

 in this country as I have no idea what 

 to expect here and am at a loss t» know 

 how to identify my specimens. Do you 

 know of any book giving information 

 on birds of this land? If you do. any 

 information on same would certainly 

 be appreciated. 



I helped to go through some Filipino 

 government buildings in a town we 

 took a few weeks ago and found quite 

 an extensive collection of shells and an- 

 other of birds' eggs, also some large 

 volumes (in Spanish) on the natural his- 

 tory of this island. This shows that 

 somebody has been interested. 



You can address me Manila. I am 

 liable to be a hundred miles from there, 



but as the army headquarters is there, 

 mail received is sent to the proper 

 places. 



Please send me the Oologist up to 

 date, beginning with January issue 

 Frank B. Eastman, 

 San Ff'rdinanda. Philippine Islands. 



May 30, 1899. 



Unanswered Qnestions- 



Although our advanced ornithologists 

 have satisfactorly explained many of 

 the curious habits of our birds, by their 

 patient researches during the past few 

 years; there still remain many unan- 

 swered questions concerning the com- 

 mon traits of various species. 



Can any one advance a good reason 

 for the Ked-tail's invariable habit of 

 placing a small spray of green hemlock 

 or other green vegetation in their nest 

 or what charm a piece of snake skin 

 has to the Great-crested Flycather? 



How, also, are we positively to know 

 what constitutes a set of Cowbirds 

 eggs? In regard to this I wish to state 

 an experience I had this season. On 

 May I4th while following the course of 

 a small stream I discovered two nests 

 of the Phojbe about an eighth of a mile 

 apart. The first contained four eggs 

 of the Phoebe and three of Cowbirds. 

 T he second, four of Phoebe and four of 

 Cowbirds. I took the seven eggs of the 

 Cowbirds and compared them. Four 

 were lightly marked, of small size and 

 could not be told apart; the other three 

 were heavily spotted with very fine 

 dots and specks, were much larger and 

 these also had no variations to each 

 other. One nest contained two of each 

 coloration, the other having but one of 

 the darker colored eggs. The question 

 is did two Cowbirds lay the seven eggs, 

 visiting first one and then the other 

 nest? Have I two sets of Cowbirds — 

 one of three and one of four eggs? 

 Who can tell? 



Besides the everyday unexplained oc- 



