ii8 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



the inside box; when that is full I strap it un- 

 derneath and begin on the next. When all 

 three are filled or in use 

 they will look like this. 



'i'he collector who 

 brings home the nests 

 and skins as well as the 

 eggs will a])preciate this 

 arrangement, for he can 

 keep his eggs in one, skins 

 in the other, and nests in 

 the third; or put his lunch, 

 shells, etc., on the inside, 

 and have a place to carry 

 them without mixing with the si)ecimens. The 

 outside box must be well made, and the cover, 

 instead of being flat, should be boxed. All 

 the weight is coming on this cover, and a car- 

 jjenter will tell you that this style is best suit- 

 ed for the hinges, handle, and fastenings. I 

 got my handle of a trunk and valise maker, and 

 on the inside of the cover I have leather loo])s 

 to ijut the tools, etc., in when I go away for a 

 few days. 



The inside boxes should have flat lids, and it 

 is a good i)lan to have the second box, when in 

 its place, high enough to come a little above 

 the edge of the outside one, as it makes a 

 bracing for the cover of the large box when 

 they are placed within each other. 



My smallest box, also, has two removable 

 cross partitions that slide down in grooves and 

 divide the space in three compartments. The 

 outside one is only 15 inches long and 8x8 in 

 dejjth and width. 



This shape is easier to carry than a more 

 cubical box, as it permits your arm to hang 

 nearer your body; that is to say, a box twelve 

 inches wide will keep your arm thrown from 

 your shoulder at an angle which will be more 

 tiresome than an angle produced by carrying a 

 box only eight inches wide. 



I remember reading years ago of a collector 

 who used a tape line to let his eggs down from 

 the nest, and ascertained at the same time the 

 height of the nest from the ground, but one 

 trial in a windstorm settled the tape for me, 

 and my substitute is a carpenter's chalk line 

 with a lead sinker and a snap on the end. 

 Every two feet I have wound tightly some 

 black linen thread, passing the needle through 

 the cord so the band will not sli|), and every 

 ten feet I wind two bands about an inch apart. 

 These black knots on the white cord are very 

 consjiicuous, and you can compute the height 

 very cpiickly, ten feet at a jumj), by observing 

 the double knots if the nest hajjpens to be over 

 ten feet. 



The editor of this journal was quite taken 

 with my jointed ladder, which I must also speak 



of. Perhaps most of the collectors will laugh 

 at the idea of carrying a heavy ladder around 

 all day, but mine is made out of dry white 

 spruce ; the side pieces are only if inches by 

 i^- inches, and it is reniarkably light. Being 

 but ten feet long and hinged in the center, 

 when folded it is not awkward to carry. If you 

 stand it as near the perpendicular as possible, 

 with hinges on the under side, it will not 

 "jackknife " on you. 



The hinges are of the long strap variety, their 

 flanges running up and 

 down the two ladders; 

 then the rounds being 

 nailed on the two-inch 

 edge and the strain. at the 

 joint coming on the 

 three-inch edge, it is al- 

 most as solid as if there 

 was no joint. 



Most of the trees along 

 our streams are somewhat 

 scrubby, and in climbing 

 twenty- five or thirty trees 

 a day this ladder pays for 

 its transportation. Ten 

 feet will put me beyond 

 the tangle of dead branch- 

 es and onto the first strong limbs. 



We egg collectors will soon lay claim to being 

 the best long distance walkers in the United 

 States, and some day we may plan a relay walk 

 from Washington to San Francisco, carrying a 

 dispatch from the curator of the National Mu- 

 seum to the lighthouse keeper on the Farallone 

 Islands; but if any exchange of ideas will make 

 our success in the field more complete, let me 

 suggest that we exchange ideas as well as egg- 

 shells and feathers. Frederick M. Dille. 

 Denver. Colo., March 15, 1895. 



An Unbiased Opinion. 



A howl came up out of the West when Thp: 

 NiDiOLOciiST spread its wings and departed from 

 California. The local Ornithologists did not relish 

 the parting, and were not backward in saying so. 

 But we intend, as in the past, to represent American 

 Ornithology and 0()logy. The following note from 

 Mr. C. Barlow, of Santa Clara, Cal., will be found a 

 candid, and certainly an unbiased, opinion : 



" Now as to the I^Iarch ' Nil).' I must say that I 

 consider it the y?;/<'.f/' ;///w/w yet published. It is ex- 

 ceedingly crisp and interesting, and if it is the result 

 of moving to the metropolis we will (Resist and take a 

 seat in the corner ! The Condor experience is im- 

 mense, and no doubt will be fully copied by Davie in 

 his new work, as also by other future authors. I im- 

 agine it is perhaps the most complete description of 

 this bird'.s nidification that has ever appeared. The 

 short articles are interesting, and the number as a 

 whole is bevond criticism." 



