THE NIDIOLOGIST 



117 



ence, far northward of the breeding spot, over 

 the rushes on the lake margin ; and they went 

 further and came nearer, and v/ent, and went 

 away, into the canebrake far to westward. A 

 week later I returned for one last despairing 

 search. But this time only a single wary bird 

 wandered, on wing, over much the same 

 ground, and disappeared in much the same 

 way ; and that is all. 



I believe the State Ornithologist, Dr. Roberts, 

 was the first "expert "to make the acquaint- 

 ance of these Heron Lake Ibises. Two birds 

 were shot at the lake the November before 

 the June in which I found them breeding, and 

 were given by the shooter to a local enthusiast, 

 who mounted them and placed them in his 

 ofifice, where they were seen by Dr. Roberts 

 while he was on a visit to Mr. Thomas Miller 

 and the lake. Seeing these birds last Septem- 

 ber, and learning from Mr. Miller the circum- 

 stances above noted, I hastened, on a day, to 

 view them critically, taking with me a magnifi- 

 cent Colorado specimen of P. guarauna for 

 comparison. But, alas ! the mounted speci- 

 mens were young of the year, and hence, baby- 

 like, had no tangible story to tell. Last No- 

 vember I learned from Iowa pot hunters at the 

 lake, while negotiating for a magnificent male 

 Aiiser canad. occidentalis, which had just been 

 taken, with its mate, by a single shot, on the 

 wing, that two or three of these " curious 

 brown birds with sickle bills " had been taken 

 during each of the two autumns previous ; but 

 inquiry showed that they were all young of the 

 year. From all this it appears likely that at 

 least a pair or two of the Ibises have nested at 

 Heron Lake for several years. Are they 

 guarauna or autuinnalis ? Just imagine how 

 eagerly I shall await the ripening of another 

 season, which may enable me to bring to bag a 

 mature specimen for the gratifying of my scien- 

 tific curiosity and the abating of my chagrin ! 



Meanwhile, I shall be really grateful for au- 

 thentic records of the breeding of the White- faced 

 Glossy Ibis anywhere east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains and north of Mason and Dixon's Line ; 

 for, though I have been kindly informed that 

 "Z'. autuinnalis breeds commonly in the West," 

 I am also informed that many leagues inter- 

 vene between Heron Lake, Minnesota, and 

 Mr. Shield's famous San Diego find, and I am 

 deeply interested to know how far the known 

 breeding range of this Ibis has been extended 

 by my discovery • P. B. Peabody. 



Wilder, Minn. 



I AM very much in love with your magazine ; you 

 give so much for so little money. Surely no one in- 

 terested in bird-life or the grand study of nature can 

 afford to be without it. — Oliver Davie. 



Apparatus. 



SPRING and the collecting season are 

 here in " name only," and not " in 

 deed." One day will be warm and 

 balmy, and, longing for " a smell of the woods " 

 (cotton woods), you Avill go out on the creek, 

 rap on the trees, and wake the Magpies and 

 the Screech Owls up to a sense of their coming 

 duties; but the next morning, on being pushed 

 out of bed and ordered to start the kitchen 

 fire, you are liable to find the kindling and ax 

 under a foot of snow. 



Our local Weather Bureau has placed itself 

 liable to a suit for damages by alienating the 

 affections of grandma's old speckled hen {^spec- 

 ulus henus). Reposing confidence in their 

 ability, and lulled to a fancied security by a 

 few warm days, she stole a nest in a shady 

 nook out under the woodpile, and in five days 

 had accumulated a handsome set of an equal 

 number of priceless treasures (priceless in the 

 market of a mining camp), but on the sixth day 

 " the wind blew and then it snowed," and " old 

 speckle's " set of eggs were in cold storage. 



But while the hand of my barometer is busily 

 engaged in scratching the graduating marks from 

 the dial and "gyrating" from 22 to 25, I want 

 to describe to the readers of " Nid " a few 

 contraptions which may be of service to them 

 in their coming raids. 



Many a time have I left town on an expedi- 

 tion with a box as large as a cracker box, full 

 of cotton, in order to have ample space for the 

 packing of one hundred eggs, more or less, and 

 late in the afternoon I have removed the screws 

 and taken off the hinges and handle with my 

 jackknife, compressed the cotton into the small- 

 est possible bundle, thrown the box away, and 

 sneaked back to town with my only set of eggs 

 packed in a sardine can Then, again, have 

 we started out with but a single cigar box 

 and been obliged to divide what little cotton 

 we had by " hairsplitting " methods into doz- 

 ens of wrappings, and hunt around some farm- 

 house for a few old pails in order to take care 

 of the deluge of eggs that the birds have show- 

 ered down on our heads. 



My first contraption for a box looks inno- 

 cent enough, but inside 

 of that is fitted closely a 

 second box, and inside 

 of the second is a third. 

 So you will see that the 

 facilities are good for 



either a lucky or an unlucky day; you are pre- 

 pared for a big haul, and, on the other hand, 

 you are carrying a modest-looking box that 

 will not excite the cupidity of the natives. I 

 have two long, slender straps, and begin filling 



