MS 



THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



visited the willow swamp where I had 

 found the nest of Audubon's Warbler on 

 June 12. The nest now contained four 

 eggs, and after waiting patiently for nearly 

 an hour the female returned and dropped to 

 my collector's gun. The nest was built in 

 a tree 5 feet above the ground, and com- 

 posed externally of dried grass and fine 

 bark, lined with feathers and vegetable 

 down. The eggs are greenish- white, spot- 

 ted at the larger ends with blackish brown 

 and lilac. 



After I returned to Manitoba my collector 

 took a nest and four eggs of Macgillivra3''s 

 Warbler on June 20 at Banff. This nest 

 was built in a bush 3 feet from the ground, 

 and composed of dry grass and lined with 

 hair, and the egj^^s are creamy white, spot- 

 ted at the largest ends with pale reddish 

 brown. 



On the same day, June 20, he succeeded 

 in finding a nest of the Gray-checked 

 Thrush containing four eggs. This nest 

 was built in a low fir tree 4 feet above the 

 ground, and made of grass and leaves and 

 lined with fine dried grass. The eggs are 

 greenish blue, faintly spotted with reddish 

 brown, size .90 x .70 and .88 x .71. 



I have no doubt that next season we shall 

 find other rare Warblers breeding at Banff, 

 as the sheltered valley offers them a suitable 

 retreat and food is abundant. In the even- 

 ing I packed up and returned Eastward, 

 and as the train hurries away from this 

 glorious collecting ground I take a farewell 

 look at the mountain peaks. My pen can- 

 not convey a proper idea of the sublimity of 

 these marvelous mountains; they are some- 

 thing too imposing for mere words; they 

 must be seen and studied. One must live 

 amongst them and watch the glories of sun- 

 light upon their everlasting snows and 

 glaciers; must climb their steeps and 

 breathe the cold, thin atmosphere of these 

 dizzy elevation.s, and train his eyes to 

 measure .soaring pinnacles and dark 

 abysses ere he can realize their stupendous 

 grandeur. 



An Outing u^ith the OudIs 



BY DR. W. .S. STRODE. 



UNTIL February 25, my searches for 

 the eggs of the Great Horned Owl 

 had this season been unsuccessful. 

 On the north and east of Lewiston are 

 man}' fine sugar maple groves, each one 

 covering an area of from 10 to 40 acres with 

 a thick growth of the finest trees in the 

 state. On inquiring of the farmers when 

 they came to town they always replied; 

 "Owls! Why yes, my woods are full of 

 them. Come out and kill them all oflf. " 

 But a thorough search of all these prem- 

 ises revealed not a single Bubo. A pair of 

 Barred Owls were flushed and it was prob- 

 ably their hootings and wanderings from 

 grove to grove that led the grangers to 

 believe their woods were full of the birds of 

 evil omen. How I longed for a day's run 

 among the picturesque hills of my old 

 range in the Bernadotte country of Spoon 

 river. Here for ten years ni}' annual take 

 of the Great Horned 's eggs was from thirty 

 to forty. Indeed, some of the pairs of owls 

 became so accustomed to \\\y annual visits, 

 that they seemed to expect them and take 

 it as a matter of course. Quietly leaving 

 the nest they would perch near by and 

 watch me despoil the nest of its oval treas 

 ures almost without a murmur. 



On February 25, accompanied by Dr. 

 McGuire, I started for a locality seven 

 miles distant. It was at the intersection of 

 the Illinois and Spoon river bottoms where 

 a great tract of timber had so far almost 

 escaped the woodman's despoiling axe. 

 Here some thousands of acres of forest, 

 called the "California Bend," presented 

 nearly a primitive condition and is the 

 delight of the hunter and naturalist. 



This trip down among the "Fvlm-peelers" 

 was not taken for eggs alone. A call to 

 .see a sick woman living just on the edge of 

 the "big tim])er" was the business induce- 

 ment which brought it about. A short 

 description of this visit may be of interest 



