THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



NOT ORNITHOLOGICAL. 



[a snap shot.] 



The liltle view herein shown of a point 

 on ihe prelty Pajaro river, near Sargents, 

 Calif. , has nothing ornithological about it. 

 It is simply a "snapshot;" but what mem- 

 ories it brings to the writer of these lines of 

 the calling and answering of Quail, the 

 Ground Wren's plaintive whistle, or the 

 mocking laughter 

 of the Kingfisher, 

 sailing away up 

 stream sonie- 

 where to his hid- 

 den nest. 



Green hills and 

 canyons, dotted 

 with live oaks, 

 everywhere beau- 

 tiful and serene, 

 surround my re- 

 treat at Camp 

 Sargent. Repose 

 is pictured in 

 every line of these 

 wooded hills. 



Sometimes I 

 wish I might lin- 

 ger always here, 

 forgetting that 

 such things as 

 cities and towns 

 and business re- 

 sponsibilities ex- 

 isted. But then 

 the NiDIOLOGIST 



would fail to appear, and I am afraid there 

 would be a few who would be disappoint- 

 ed. H. R. T. 

 •-•« 



Received copies of the Nidioi.ogist and tmist 

 say tliey equal anything of the kind I have ever 

 seen hefore. I venture to predict great success 

 for the "Nid." \V. S. CoHLKir.H. 



Canton, 111. 



I add my good word for the magazine. It's go- 

 ing to be a "necessity." But go slow — we don't 

 want the Auk side-tracked just yet ! 



Framingham, Mass. F. C. Hkownk. 



A SNAP SHOT. 



COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



The monthly meeting was held April 7. 

 Present: Messrs. Osgood, Clark, Painton, 

 George Chamberlin, C Chamberlin, Taylor, 

 Arnold, Beck, Wilbur and Barlow. In the 

 absence of the leader a general discussion 

 of the Western Great Horned Owl took 

 place. It was shown that this Owl has an 

 attachment to a particular nesting site. 

 Mr. Beck of Berryessa read a paper on 



the Cal ifor n ia 

 Clapper Rail. He 

 found them nest- 

 ing along the 

 shores of San 

 Francisco Bay. 

 They are rapidly 

 becoming scarce. 

 One method of 

 hunting them is 

 to follow the 

 small sloughs at 

 low tide to where 

 they are feeding. 

 The food of this 

 Rail consists prin- 

 cipally of small 

 crabs, worms, etc. 

 They begin nest- 

 ing about the 

 middle of April 

 and probably rear 

 two broods in a 

 season. On May 

 10, 1890, several 

 nests were found 

 and the majority 

 of the eggs were advanced in incubation, 

 although two sets of nine and seven eggs 

 each were fresh. The nests are built near 

 the water, of dead tules. They are often 

 roofed over and are sometimes a foot in 

 height. Twenty-six eggs have an aver- 

 age of 1.73x1.23 inches. Mr. Beck exhib- 

 ited a set of eggs and a mounted Rail. 



Mr. C. Chamberlin read a paper on some 

 of the birds he had met in the mountains 

 near Mansfield, Monterey County. It was 



