138 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



Editor Nidiologist. 



Dear Sir : Many of our friend collectors, 

 as well as yourself, no doubt would be pleased 

 to know what I am doing, or, at least, trying to 

 do, in this part of the country. Well, to start 

 with, I had to snowshoe about seventy-five miles 

 over the Titon Range of mountains, and can 

 say if you need exercise, here's where you get 

 it — for snowshoeing is by no means an easy 

 task (at least for a "tenderfoot"). 



I have had very good luck so far. On April 

 13 I took a fine set of three eggs of the Bald 

 Eagle, but they were badly incubated, and I had 

 to drill very large holes in them ; but I prize 

 them very highly, the first set I have ever 

 taken. The Canada Geese are nesting on the 

 islands in Snake River, and I have collected 

 several fine sets. Yesterday I took 22 eggs of 

 this bird, the sets ranged from 3 to 7. 



I used a raft to drift from one island to an- 

 other, but found the current so strong that my 

 craft was unmanageable, and in consequence I 

 received a very thorough ducking in this icy 

 river before I finished my day's collecting. I 

 expect to take several fine sets of this Goose 

 before the season closes. 



Snow is very deep here and will continue to 

 be so for some time to come. Sandhill C'ranes 

 have made their appearance, and can be heard 

 at all hours of the day making their peculiar 

 croaking noise down on the meadows or on 

 some sand bar in the river. I yesterday noted 

 the first Osprey. It flew over me and could 

 have been easily secured had I my shotgun. 

 A large flock of White Pelicans were also seen 

 flying up the river. Ducks are very common 

 everywhere ; have seen several (ioshawks, Red- 

 tails, Marsh, Sjjarrow, and some others — I think 

 the Rough-leg. This is no doubt a very good 

 breeding ground for the Sandhill Crane, as 

 many settlers tell me they have found their 

 nests in the willow swamps along the river bot- 

 toms. Sage Hens and Sharp-tailed Grouse can 

 be shot at any time from the cabin door. They 

 are about to begin nesting, as they have all 

 mated, and can be flushed from the sage brush 

 in pairs every few yards. The Blue Grouse is 

 found farther up on the foot hills, but they are 

 not as common as the other members of the 

 family. 



The Raven is a common bird — a nuisance (at 



least I think so), for my first set of 4 eggs of the 

 Canada Goose was destroyed by one of these 

 birds when I was but a few yards away. I ran 

 as fast as I could, but reached the nest a little 

 too late to save the specimens. The Trumpeter 

 Swan breeds very sparingly on the mountain 

 lakes and sloughs adjacent to them. To-day I 

 found what 1 think is a rarity. I took a rifle 

 and went out on the foot-hills to hunt some 

 antelope, as we were getting short of meat. I 

 could find none, but soon had spotted a black- 

 tailed deer some distance below me. As I was 

 situated on a rocky ledge, high above the sur- 

 rounding country, I could see over the entire 

 valley. I made my way toward her, keeping 

 out of sight behind a large spruce tree. As I 

 was nearing the deer I noticed a nest on the 

 lower limb of the tree, and I positively identi- 

 fied a Clark's Nutcracker sitting on the nest. 

 I made my way up the tree, but to my chagrin 

 I found the nest contained three young Nut- 

 crackers about quarter grown. This shows how 

 early the bird breeds. I am going to get the 

 whole outfit and preserve them. I would write 

 more, but do not want to tire you. I would 

 add that the mamipals of this locality are very 

 abundant, as a large herd of elk just passed the 

 cabin, bound for the upper country. 



Nathan L. Davis. 

 Jacksons Hole, ^Vyo., May 2, 1895. 



Oologists in Dakota. 



We arrived here on April 11, and by the 

 fifteenth were located and ready for business. 



We first turned our attention to the Geese 

 that were here in thousands. Strange to say, 

 we have only taken three varieties — the Lesser 

 Snow, White-fronted, and Hutchin's. There 

 are many Canadas here, but we have not ex- 

 erted ourselves to obtain them, as they were 

 beginning to pair off, preparatory to nesting, 

 soon after our arrival. They choose various 

 situations for their nests ; the low, sandy 

 islands and mud flats of Devil's Lake are 

 favorite sites. Around Sweet Water Lake they 

 more commonly nest in marshes, and some- 

 times dejiosit their eggs in slight depres- 

 sions in the prairie, far from water. One 

 nest that we discovered yesterday was placed 

 on a heap of decayed vegetation. The female 

 was seen at a distance of perhaps one hundred 

 yards, and allowed us to approach within 

 twenty feet before leaving the nest. This nest 

 contained six eggs, one no larger than that of a 

 Mallard Duck. 



Our expedition after Eagles' eggs was a 

 failure as far as Eagles' eggs were concerned, 

 as both birds were killed last summer shortly 

 after I visited the nests. I visited another 



