THE OOLOGIST. 



153 



Our t-aiup "\v;i.s in an old cabin where 

 an unscrupulons "l)achol()r" lived, who, 

 it seems, eould not tell a hat lying on 

 the llotn', Avitli a liandkerehief spread 

 oAcr it, (for in this were the precious 

 Nuthatch eggs) from his Sunday shoes 

 and socks; so when he went to get 

 I'cady for a dance that night, the hat 

 with the handkerchief were grabbed up 

 to put on his unworthy feet, when dip, 

 di[), dip, went every agg on the floor. 

 Now this was the l_)itter. 



T. G. Peakson, 

 Archer, Fla. 



Broad-Wing3d Hawk. Black-capped 

 • Chickadee. 



April 20th, at Bradford, Mass., I 

 found a set (jf tA\'o eggs of the Broad- 

 Wiiig- Hawk, incubation just begun. 

 Thuiiitest was situated in an oak tree 

 40 ^fet from the ground, composed of 

 sticlvK and lined with grass. The female 

 left the nest when I got within 30 feet 

 of it; so I had a good chance to idi'ntify 

 her. The measurements t)f the eggs 

 were 2.10x1.70 and 2.12x1.70. 



April 2G, at Bradford, Mass., I found 

 a nice hole excavated in a dead popular 

 stub about 7 feet frmnthe ground. The 

 tree was in a second growth of hard 

 wood and near a clearing. Went to it 

 again May 5th and foiuid a nice nest in- 

 side made <^f green moss and lined with 

 rabbit hair. Tliought it Avas abt)ut com- 

 pleted but could not see any bird around. 

 I thought I wo'ald give them time to 

 complete the set, so I did not go to it 

 again until May 15th. Then I went to 

 it Aery carefully so as to see the bird 

 and find out wliat I had found. I did 

 not see anything that looked like a bird, 

 so I i)ounded on the tree right side of 

 the nest, and no bird. So I got up to 

 it and looked in but could not see any- 

 thing. In going up to the nest May 5th 

 I took hold of a limb near th^ nest to 

 help me get to it, and it broke off and 

 exposed the side of the nest, so I went 



t<j work and cut a piece of bark from 

 the same tree, and made some pins of 

 hard wood, and nailed it over the break 

 so as to shut out the light and rain. 

 But as I was taking off' the bark I had 

 nailed on, a little bird M^ent out of the 

 hole like a Hash of light, and lighted on 

 a tree about 20 feet froin me, and I saw 

 it was what I hatl thought from the first 

 it -would be, a Black-capped Chickadee. 

 I cut a little more away from the side 

 hole and soon had a tine set of eight 

 eggs packed in my box. I put the bark 

 back oxer the hole, but hardly think 

 they will use it again. If they do, I 

 will let yoii know later on. 



C. S. B. 

 Hav(u-hill, Mass. 



Bluebirds Laying Albino Eggs. 



In reply to W. J. S.'s query in Vol. 5, 

 No. 12 of the OoLoGiST regarding the 

 identification of my Albino eggs of the 

 Bluebird, would say they were identi- 

 fied but no peculiarities were observed 

 and think there were none I am sure 

 they were only the common Bluebird 

 for after I collected this set of Albinos I 

 watched the vicinity fen- about two 

 weeks, when to my surprise, on going 

 to the same tree which I collected the 

 Albino from, I found they had carried a 

 little ntore line grass and relined tlm 

 nest. I nuule it my business to attend 

 the site daily for three or ft)ur days 

 when to my disappointment I found the 

 nest to contain one ^ pale blue egg. 

 This set of four for four was all she 

 laid, was of a very pale light blue, in 

 fact they were almost as light again as 

 the usual viyx of tht; eggs are. They 

 were also blunt or more rounded at the 

 small end than is generally found. I 

 find the average egg of the Sialia sialis 

 is pointed like all the small eggs' but 

 my set of five Albinos and this set of 

 four were rounded. I Avill close hoping 

 the above will interest W. J. S', if not 

 others. C. B. Cook. 



Odin, Ills. 



