144 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



Drowned in Sweetwater Lake. 



MR. E. S. BRVANT sends us a clipping 

 from the Milton, Wis., /w/ /-//<?/, with 

 the tollowing particulars of the death 

 of an Oologist in North Dakota: 



"This community was startled last Thursday 

 bv a telegram saying that Will Brown was 

 drowned. March 6 Will Brown and Floyd 

 Coon went to Sweetwater Lake, N. Dak., for 

 the purpose of collecting specimens in Orni- 

 thology. They located on the shore of Sweet- 

 water Lake, a few miles from Devil's Lake City. 

 This lake is about one and a half miles long 

 by eighty rods wide. Three weeks ago they 

 were joined by C. G. Crandall and D. E. Brown. 

 Tuesday, May 7, Will and Darwin Brown 

 rowed across the lake, the former intending to 

 walk to town, and the latter to hunt. After 

 leaving the boat Will called to Darwin and 

 said he would have to return to camp as he 

 had forgotten something. This was the last 

 seen of him. .\s he did not return at night 

 they supposed he had remained in town Not 

 appearing the ne.xt day they became alarmed 

 and went to the landing where the boat should 

 have been. It was not there. A trip to town 

 showed that he had not been there. It \vas 

 midnight when they returned to camp. The 

 ne.xt morning the lake was searched. After 

 passing almost entirely around the lake they 

 found the boat, wrong side up, and one oar 

 with a broken lock, about thirty rods from the 

 shore and about sixty rods from camp. They 

 immediately telegrajihed R. W. Brown, who, in 

 company with his son Charles, of Madison, 

 started at once for the seen:? of the accident. 

 In the meantime the lake was being dragged. 

 A bag of skins was found Friday near where 

 the boat w\is discovered, and with this addi- 

 tional clew they were enabled to find the body 

 that afternoon. 



'' It will never be known how the accident 

 occurred. It appears that he was returning to 

 cam|), as he told Darwin he wf)uld, and had 

 been shooting Ducks, there being one in his 

 pocket when found. Floyd Coon conjectures 

 that he tipped out trying to pick up a Duck he 

 had shot, and, not being able to swim, grasped 

 the oar as he fell, breaking the lock. Appar- 

 ently he sank at once without a struggle. 



" Floyd Coon returned home with the body 

 and will remain. Mr. Crandall and I). K. 

 Brown will remain at Sweetwater Lake. Fur- 

 ther investigation may i)Ossibly throw more 

 light on the cause of this extremely stid acci- 

 dent." 



William Robert Brown was born at Utica, 

 Dane County, Wis., June 20, 1874. He was 

 aged twenty-one years. With his father's fam- 



ily he came to Milton a few years ago. Here 

 he entered college, where he made rapid prog- 

 ress, displaving rare a])titude in his studies. He 

 was a ])rominent member of the Philomathean 

 Society. He also belonged to the Soi)homore 

 class. He was a young naturalist, and was en- 

 gaged in collecting at the time of his death. He 

 hnd a valuable collection, including a number 

 of birds of his own mounting. 



Cooper Ornithological Club. 



THE May meeting was held at the res- 

 idence of Mr. R. S. Wheeler, in Alameda. 

 D. A. Cohen was appointed to serve on 

 the Program Committee for 1895. A paper en- 

 titled " Nesting Sites of White-egg-laying 

 Birds," by Mr. Cohen, was presented. As a 

 preface, Mr. Cohen says, " It has been stated 

 that most white eggs are found in dark places, 

 such as in holes in trees, in crevices in rocks, 

 and in caves. This is invariably the case with 

 glossy eggs, such as those of the Flickers and 

 Woodpeckers, Kingfishers, and some species of 

 Owls — for instance, the Screech Owl. Under 

 the law of nature, 'protection in colors' as- 

 sumes an imjjortant part, consequently white 

 eggs, which attract attention more readily than 

 colored eggs, should be the most securely hid- 

 den from view. Under this law we find that 

 most of the white-egg-laying birds are somber- 

 colored, thus enabling those that lay in open 

 nests to avoid detection to a great degree by 

 the harmony of their colors with that of the 

 immediate surroundings " Three divisions were 

 made, as follows: White eggs in concealed 

 nests, white eggs in open nests, and colored 

 eggs in concealed nests. The deductions ar- 

 rived at were: Fourteen families of birds were 

 found to lay white eggs in concealed nests, 

 twenty families to lay white eggs in o]3en nests, 

 and nine families laying colored eggs in con- 

 cealed nests. Exceptions to the rule were noted 

 in all tht; divisions. The matter will be further 

 investigated, and a full rejjort may ap])ear later. 



Mr. Barlow reported an odd nesting site of 

 Brewer's Blackbird, noted at Sargent, Cal. 

 The nest was built in a cavity on the under 

 side of a rotten limb of a live oak tree, about 

 ten feet from the ground. It was jjlaced sev- 

 eral inches back from the entrance, and was 

 composed of Spanish moss and horsehair. On 

 April 21 it contained two eggs. 



The Annex met April 29, at Pasadena. 

 Ralph Arnold presented a pai)er on the Louisi- 

 ana Tanager. It was noted as arriving at Pas- 

 adena during March and April in small flocks 

 of three or four. Nest building is begun dur- 

 ing the fore part of May, and the breeding 



