14 



THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



QUAIL'S EGGS IN ATURKEY'S NEST. WOES OF AN EGG COLLECTOR. 



I had been in the habit of taking an egg 

 every day from a turkey's nest, leaving one 

 egg for a nest egg. The nest was situated 

 among some low, wild blackberry vines, 

 under the shade of an oak tree. One day 

 I found five California Quail's eggs; the next 

 day two more ; the third day four more, 

 which was all. 



This, I think, has great force in proving 

 that the large number of eggs frequently 

 found in Quail's nests are laid by more than 

 one bird 



This has not been the first time by any 

 means that I have found Quail eggs in 

 turkey or chicken nests in the fields. I 

 hnve also found them in old bird's nests, 

 in the branches of oak trees a few feet 

 above the ground, and at other tiuics in 

 cavities of oak trees covered with ivy, over 

 twenty feet above the ground. In June, 

 1.S92, I found thirteen Quail's eggs in a 

 cavity of an oak tree about two feet from 

 the ground. 



Alameda, Cal. D. A.C. 



A Rrancli ICHtablUhmfiii. 



EXCHANGE NOTICES. 



We will insert exchange notices (about 

 25 words in length) to subscribers for 25 

 cents each. 



"Babbit's" advertisement, which will 

 be found in another column, offers an ex- 

 cellent preparation for preparing skins. He 

 is the famous New Ivngland taxidermist. 

 His catalogue is given free. It will pay 

 you to send for one. 



The average collector of eggs being a 

 "scientist" must also consent to be, to 

 .some extent at least, a martyr. To illus- 

 trate : did the ornithologist reader never 

 travel into the country with a convenient 

 fish basket (designed for rare nests and 

 egg.sj and while climbing some barren ledge, 

 perhaps be jeered at by the great unwa.shed 

 for "going fishin' up in them rocks?" If 

 this be not his experience I have no doubt 

 he could tell of others fully as exasperating. 



One day while in Truckee, California, I 

 entered a barber shop and found the pro- 

 prietor one of the most inquiring of the 

 species. I had my handy little hatchet 

 with me, for paying my respects to certain 

 domiciles of Woodpeckers and Titmice in 

 old stumps. 



"Find much work?" the tonsorial indi- 

 vidual asked rather familiarly. He picked 

 up my No. 1 tomahawk as he spoke, and I 

 knew, of course, that he thought I was in 

 the plastering line, so I said I just happened 

 to have that with me. 



As I was a stranger in "shingle town" 

 he was endeavoring, in his professional 

 way, to fix my social status, and the result 

 proved far from flattering. Sundry pointers 

 he soon afterward gave me about "biz" 

 over at "the lake" (Tahoe) showed he had 

 settled it that I was over the line from 

 Nevada and doing a little quiet business 

 at poker in the towns en route. He had 

 recently been to Tahoe City himself, he 

 confided to me, and made quite a stake. 



It was only a short time before this I had 

 another experience which might not have 

 turned out to be an enjoyable one. Coming 

 up toward the summit of the Sierras I 

 stopi^ed off at Blue Canyon, and while 

 roaming the woods in a mysterious .sort of 

 way, intent on rare birds and nests, the 

 railroad hands, as an old crone informed 

 me, took me for a detective of the company, 

 spying on their movements. That they 

 did not wreak summary vengeance upon 

 nic in some dark canyon is one of the won- 



