THE NIDIOLOGIST 



85 



thing soon drooped his wings, refused to 

 eat, perched sadly upon my shoulder, and 

 cuddled anxiously against my face, seeking 

 aid, 



Ln the night of the next day the eiid 

 came. Exhausted, he hopped for the last 

 time upon my finger and looking at me 

 with infinite sadness, he caught the lobe of 

 my ear again, as if in parting, and died. 



I could not restrain the tears which ran 

 down m}^ weather-beaten cheeks into my 

 beard. 



Cooper Ornithologicl Club 



THE CEUB met at Mr. Bryant's resi- 

 dence in Oakland, February 2. Messrs. 

 A. M. IngersoU of San Diego, W. S. 

 Kittle of San Francisco and Jos. Mail- 

 Hard of Nicasio were elected to membership. 

 Messrs. Cohen, Ward and Barlow were ap- 

 pointed to draught an amendment to the 

 Game Protection bill pending before the 

 Legislature, which should make it unlawful 

 to shoot for market purposes all birds 

 smaller than the Robin, excepting the 

 English Sparrow. 



A paper entitled "Notes on the Avi- 

 Fauna of Guadalupe Island" by A. W. 

 Anthony of San Diego was read, Mr. 

 Bryant who has carefully explored the 

 Island exhibited an original map of the same 

 and related some of his experiences. 



Mr. J. W. Mailliard presented a paper on 

 "Unusual Nesting Sites." On May i, 1887, 

 an Oregon Towhee was flushed from its nest 

 on the ground, which contained four eggs 

 and three of the California Quail. May 2, 

 1894; a California Jay's nest in wild goose- 

 berry bush, four feet from ground, contain- 

 ing four eggs of the Jay and one of Cali- 

 fornia Partridge which was about two-thirds 

 concealed in a hole in the bottom of the 

 nest apparentl)^ made for the purpose. Jaj^ 

 seen on nest; incubation, advanced. 



In 1874 a nest in a hole in an old stump 

 yielded complete sets of Ash-throated Fly- 

 catcher and Western Bluebird, both sets 

 being somewhat incubated. On April 29, 

 1894 while pitching loose hay from a corner 

 of a hay-loft, the vaquero came across a 

 burrow in the hay containing a handsome 

 V3 set of Desert Sparrow Hawk, the en- 

 trance being through an old Flicker's hole 

 in the east end of the barn. A little further 

 investigation revealed a set of five Red- 

 shafted Flicker within two feet of the first 



found, the entrance to the burrow in the 

 hay being just around the corner from the 

 first mentioned, through another Flicker's 

 hole in the south side of the building. Re- 

 visiting the favored corner on the 13th of 

 May it was found that the birds had ex- 

 changed nests, the former Flicker'.*? nest 

 yielding a fine }( Desert Sparrow Hawk 

 and the first Hawk's nest a set of Flickers 

 which became broken. 



Mr. Mailliard tried the experiment of 

 moving a nest of the House Finch after the 

 first egg was laid and succeeded in moving 

 it by degrees 25 feet from where it was built 

 when the trellis gave out and the Finches 

 reared their brood. 



W. B. Sampson of Stockton noted a 

 small Hawk on November 23, '94, flying 

 through the city with something in its 

 claws. It alighted upon the Court House 

 and devoured its prey. Careful observation 

 revealed the bird soon after flying up and 

 down a slough, then suddenly darting to- 

 ward a hole in a brick building facing the 

 slough. L^arge numbers of bats flew out 

 and the hawk at once pursued them, and 

 with a sudden swoop seized one and again 

 flew to the dome and devoured it. The per- 

 formance was repeated for several successive 

 nights and it is certainly an unusual cir- 

 cumstance. 



Mr. IngersoU recorded the opening of the 

 season of '95 by a San Diego oologist taking 

 a set of three eggs of California Thrasher 

 on January 2. Mr. F. I. Atherton of Los 

 Gatos notes the taking of a partial albino 

 Pipit {^AiitJius pensilvanicns), on January 21. 



An entertaining paper on the habits of 

 the American Bittern by Dr. Murchison of 

 Kewaunee, 111., was read and will appear 

 complete later. 



Reports from the Annex at Pasadena 

 were read . Papers on Lawrence 's, Arkansas 

 and Western Goldfinches and Pine Siskin 

 were presented. In a paper on the Western 

 Lark Sparrow Mr. Ralph Arnold reviewed 

 several interesting habits of this species. 

 The beauty and richness of their song was 

 treated. In the latter part of April a colony 

 of these birds was found nesting in a tree- 

 less canon near Riverside, the nests being 

 simply small depressions in the ground, 

 lined with dry grass, and usually placed 

 near a tuft of grass. An instance was 

 mentioned of a Lark Sparrow raising from 

 the eggs two Heerniann's Song Sparrows. 

 The eggs were collected, but were too far 



