THE OOLOGIST. 



53 



send in their orders at once, even if for only 

 50c. Remeu.ber that every order mailed 

 on or before March 15th is counted in the 

 competition. 



Collecting Experience. 



BY ' ' AVIS. ' ' 



A Red-tail Hawk's Nest. 



I thought that a few notes of the collect- 

 ing experience in the summer of '88 from 

 an active oologist might prove interesting 

 to the readers of the Oolocust and so was 

 prompted to write this article. 



One of rarest sets (in this neighborhood) 

 taken by the writer, was one of the Black 

 Snowbird, (Junco JiyemMs). I was coming 

 liome across the fields after a long day's 

 jaunt, tired, but rich in oological specimens, 

 when a leaden hued bird flew frcm a bush 

 in front of me, which, upon scruitiny; was 

 found to contain a neat nest, familiar to 

 me as one this species from the many 

 envious glances cast on one, which, with 

 the clutch, adorned a rival collection. I 

 took a close look at the bird to make 

 very sure and then at a fnagnificent set 

 of 5 little brown-spotted eggs reposing in 

 the grass-lined cavity. That was the only 

 set I have ever secured. I have often 

 seen the birds during nesting season; 

 I also found five sets of Ghestnut-sided 

 Warbler and two sets of Brown Thrasher, 

 which makes four nests of the latter noted 

 in this locality by me. The only other 

 species I will note is the Green Heron 

 ( Butondes virescens) My friend and collect- 

 ing companion, W. C, and myself found 

 a herony on Wood Island, from which 

 we got eight sets and have obtained forty, 

 had we been so disposed. The nests 

 were placed at altitude of 8 to 40 ft.; 

 average 25. We noted 13 nests placed 

 in bushes, mostly old ones, however. The 

 eggs are too well known, to require 

 description, but I can assure the reader 

 that it was a sufficiently joyful occasion 

 for me, at least, when I took the first 

 set of four great beauties from the rough 

 tenement in which they reposed; and, 

 hoping the readers of the Oologist all 

 success during the coming season, I close 

 this brief article. Saco, Me. 



On the 27lh of last April, ('88), while 

 walking through S3nie heavy woods, I 

 noticed a nest in a large oak tree with some- 

 thing like a tail sticking over the side. As 

 hitting on the tree with a fence rail did not 

 produce any result, I fired at the nest, when 

 immediately a Red -tail Hawk flew off, so I 

 knew there must be something there. 



With the aid of climbers, I was soon up 

 to the nest, which was, as usual, a large 

 mass of twigs, lined with moss. It was 

 about two feet in circumference and con- 

 tained one egg. When I shook this to see 

 if incubation had commenced, it cracked; 

 and afterwards, in blowing, I found that 

 the egg was rotten. 



This seems very strange to me, as I don't 

 remember ever having seen any other bird 

 sitting so determinedly on a rotten egg. 



Can any of the readers of the Oologist 

 offer an explanation ? 



W. E. P., Lake Forest, 111. 



The Story of a Tame Crow. 



While passing through a piece of woods 

 in ihe spring of 1887, the writer discovered 

 a nest containing five young crows, one of 

 which he brought home frr a pet . 



During the first few weeks of onr 

 acquaintance, Grip (he was named after 

 Dicken's famous raven) divided his time 

 pretty evenly between squaking and eating. 

 His appetite was simply marvelous: he 

 never seemed to have enough : after he had 

 been filled so full that the last pellet of 

 meal was not quite out of sight, he would 

 still quiver his wings and feebly call for 

 more. 



When Grip became fully feathered and 

 had learned to fly, he was taught to come 

 when called and alight on hand or shoulder; 

 on his appearance he was generally reward- 

 ed with something to eat, and when hungry 

 he often took this method of making his 

 wants known. 



When Grip had learned to forage for 

 himself he spent many hours in the garden 

 picking up ants, spiders and other insects; 

 he liked earth-worms the best of all and the 

 writer's appearance, hoe in hand, was 



