tHE NIDIOLOGIST. 



53 



find the nest by watching the bird, is com- 

 pletely bewildered. When you see one just 

 entering a crevice in the rocks and looking 

 from side to side as though to see if any 

 one is looking, you should pay no attention 

 to him whatever, for if you watch him enter 

 and then run to look for the nest, you will 

 find the hole empty and hear the deceptive 

 bird saucily singing from the top of a bowl- 

 der behind you. I think the best way to 

 find their nests is to look for something 

 else. 



When I went out with a determination to 

 find a Rock Wren's nest I generally came 

 back empty-handed, and perhaps the next 

 hour, while hunting for something else, 

 would run across several. The Rock Wren's 

 habit of placing pebbles, shells, bones and 

 chips at the entrance to its nest, I found to 

 be by no means invariable. The nest shown 

 is very large, being fully eight inches long 

 and five inches wide. It is composed al- 

 most entirely of shreds of weed, with a very 

 little hair for a lining. The situation is not 

 typical, for the eggs usually cannot be seen 

 until some of the stones are removed. 



The Rock Wren begins breeding on the 

 Farallones early in April and continues un- 

 til August, rearing, I think, at least two 

 and probably three broods in a season. The 

 eggs are generally seven in number, but 

 five and six are common. They are creamy- 

 white in color, and generally well marked 

 on the large end with reddish-brown dots, 

 although I have one set which is immacu- 

 late. 



Perhaps it is because his feathered asso- 

 ciates have such very harsh voices that the 

 Rock Wren's song sounds so sweet. But 

 it does seem to me that he is the cheeriest 

 little bird I ever met. He is always joyful, 

 and will often approach singing within a 

 few feet, while you can feel with the poet: 



" Sweet bird, thy bower is ever green, 

 Thy sky is ever clear; 

 Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, 

 No winter in thy year." 



W11.FRED H. Osgood. 

 San Jose. Cal. 



Harry Austin, of Halifax, N. S., took the fol- 

 lowing desirable sets last June: Olive-backed 

 Thrush, three sets; Black-throated Green Warbler, 

 two sets; Maryland Yellow-throat, i set; Mag- 

 nolia Warbler, 4 sets; Purple Finch, i set; Ruby- 

 crowned Kinglet, 2 sets; Myrtle Warbler, i set; 

 Bay-breasted Warbler, i set. 



Birds Observed at Quiniault Lake. 



BY R. H. IvAWRENCK. 



( Concluded. ) 



CROSSBILLS, Juncos, Jays, Chicka- 

 dees, a Song Sparrow or two, with 

 Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers, and 

 other birds visited us at "our" clear- 

 ing, and a few Ducks and a Kingfisher or 

 two, passed by along the river. When night 

 fell we imagined some Owl — big or little — 

 was looking down upon our camp-fire from 

 his lofty perch in the bordering spruces; 

 and in the small hours probably a bear, or 

 cougar, or elk passed near by. 



Next day we reluctantly returned to near 

 our first bivouac, camping in a huge, hollow 

 cedar some earlier campers had thought- 

 fully filled with a mossy bed. 



The 14th was unsettled and rainy 

 weather, but I canoed several miles close 

 along the eastern shore, looking for water 

 birds. 



The 15th was very wet and stormy, and 

 the tramp homeward highly disagreeable. 



Thirty five species are recorded in these 

 notes. Most likely five, or six more species 

 would have been named had not a serious 

 lameness hampered. Water birds were but 

 few; but probably four or five species of 

 Ducks nest here. Here about the lake, or 

 on or near the Humptulips River, I shot 

 (or examined, taken by acquaintances) 

 specimens of all the birds noted, excepting 

 the Ruddy Duck, Black-crowned Night 

 Heron, Allen's Hummingbird, Streaked 

 Horned Lark, Yellow Warbler, and, maybe, 

 American Raven. 



1. Bonaparte's Gull. — The skin of one, shot 

 there in April, was given me by a man at the 

 lake, who told me large flocks of similar Gulls 

 were present there then. 



July 30, 1891, at the head of Budd's Inlet, Puget 

 Sound, I saw some flocks of small black-headed 

 Gulls having the mantle ashy blue, breast white, 

 and feet orange (? red). Had been there since 

 July 13, and much on the tide flats, but saw no 

 Gulls till this day. 



2. (?) Mallard. — Two Ducks seen flying were 

 taken for these. 



3. Ruddy Duck. — Two reddish Ducks seen on 

 the lake, and shot at, I did not hesitate to call this 

 species. They were very wild. 



4. Great Blue Heron. — One, on the lake, June 

 14. 



5. (?) Black-crowned Night Heron.— A Heron 

 our canoe frightened away from the shore, June 12. 

 I referred to this species. 



6. Spotted Sandpiper. — One seen at the head of 

 the lake. On the Humptulips, July 2, young of 

 this species, but a few days old, were seen. 



