96 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



A Surgical Operation. 



MATTER entitled " Bird Casualties,'* 

 which appeared in the January NiDi- 

 ()i.()(;isT, prom])ts me to offer the fol- 

 lowing item from my field notes for jjublication: 



" June 29, 1 89 1. — Hurrying homeward from 

 an early trip afield through the meadows, now 

 knee-deep with grass, the cries of a bird in dis- 

 tress coining from the grass a short distance 

 ahead attract my attention. 1 soon reach the 

 spot and find a young Bluel)ird {Sialia si'a/is), 

 well able to fly were he not a j)risoner — one 

 foot and leg being firmly entangled in the thick 

 grass. How long has the poor bird been a cap- 

 tive? Evidei^tly, if known, the time could be 

 reckoned by weeks, as the grass around him is 

 very filthy and close to the prisoner is a solid 

 heap of excrement several times the size of the 

 bird. The parent birds now appear, and seem- 

 ingly with notes of agony implore me to release 

 their offsjjring. Tenderly disengaging the grass 

 1 find the unfortunate little fellow's leg is per- 

 fectly lifeless ; it is twisted so that the toes joint 

 backward and the whole foot and leg up to the 

 knee is as stiff and dry as a dead stick. I de- 

 cide an operation is necessary ; successfully am- 

 jiutate dead leg where it meets the living flesh, 

 just above the knee, and allow the bird to fly 

 from my hands. The old birds are overjoyed 

 at his escape, apparently bestowing upon me 

 every word of thanks known to Bluebird vo- 

 cabulary. 



" ProI)ably the bird was hatched in one of 

 the \Voodi)ecker's or natural cavities in a dead 

 limb of a large, solitary maple growing near, 

 and became entangled soon after leaving the 

 nest. Possibly the leg was injured before the 

 bird left the nest, and its stiff and useless con- 

 dition accounts for its getting caught in the 



" I wish to call attention to the faithfulness 

 of the old birds, who remained and fed the 

 young one during its captivity." 



Bknj.\min Ho AG. 



Stephentovvn, N. Y. 



Big Price for a Bird Sl<in. 



K' noK Nii)Ioi,(k;isi : 



1 must congratulate you u])on ))ossessing an 

 egg of the California Condor. Surely it will 

 equal if not rival the Creat Auk's eggs for 

 value. I sold a skin of a California Condor to 

 Rothschild, of Piccadilly, London (town ad- 

 <lress), for ^45, but I opine eggs are even 

 more difficult to ol,itain than birds. 



VVm. C. Bl.AKK. 



Ross, Hereford England. 



Report on the Vireos. 



(from a paper read before the cooper 

 ornithological club.) 



CASSIN'S VIREO proves to be the least 

 known of the four species resident in 

 California. Mr. Beck met it at Mur- 

 phys, Calaveras County, and observed it along 

 the route. A nest was taken at the above place 

 June 26, 1892, from a leafy branch of a white 

 oak, four feet up, and contained four fresh 

 eggs. The male was incubating the eggs and 

 was secured. Mr. R. C. McGregor found it 

 breeding at Donner, Placer County, at seven 

 thousand feet elevation, and took a nest and 

 four eggs on July 9, in which incubation was 

 far advanced. The nest was composed of 

 vegetable fiber, bleached to a very pale yellow. 

 The rim of the nest was rounded and turned 

 in, forming a ]:)rotection against the spilling of 

 the contents. The lining was of fine grass. 

 The asjjen is a favorite tree with the Vireos in 

 which to build their dainty nests. Mr. Mc- 

 (iregor also found birds at Scott's Valley, Sis- 

 kiyou County, the past June, and thinks they 

 undoubtedly breed there. 



Hutton's Vireo seems to inhabit the State at 

 large, though nowhere in great numbers. Mr. 

 Judson took a set of eggs ten feet from the 

 ground in a small oak tree, on May 16, 1894, 

 consisting of four fresh eggs. The nest was 

 covered with lichens and moss. Mr. Taylor 

 reported taking a set of eggs at Alameda. On 

 March 5, 1894, he found a nest of this bird 

 building at Sargents, but it was afterward de- 

 serted. A few weeks later the second nest con- 

 taining young was found near by. Mr. Taylor 

 thinks the birds are the earliest breeders of 

 their sjjecies, and observes thatthe nests are al- 

 most invariably covered with moss and lichen. 



The Warbling Vireo was reported as a com- 

 mon species throughout the State. Its pleasing 

 warble is familiar to all observers. Mr. Barlow 

 found it abundant in Santa Clara County. The 

 favorite trees for nest-building seem to be the 

 white and live oaks, and poplars, usually not 

 of very great height. The nest is placed in the 

 extreme top of the tree, as a rule, and while the 

 process of nest-building is going on and after 

 the eggs are de])Osited, one may hear the mellow 

 warble of the Vireo, as she sings from the nest. 

 This is an excellent way of discovering the 

 nests. A set of eggs taken May 30, 1893, from 

 a "scrub oak" twenty-five feet up were badly 

 incubated, while a set taken May 29, 1894, from 

 the top of a white oak fifteen feet up were 

 almost fresh. Four eggs is the usual number 

 laid, and they are of the usual creamy-white 

 color with minute dots of reddish-brown lightly 

 scattered about the larger end. 



