THE OOLOGIST. 



231 



Lrathei--leaf, a busli which grows to the 

 liight of two to two and one-half feet, 

 scattered about in this are shrubs and 

 l)ushes which are somewhat higher. 

 As I approached a rather thin clump 

 of bushes a hawk Hew up, and after 

 going fifteen or twenty rods, wheel- 

 ed al)out and made a Ijee line for me 

 till within about a rod's distance then 

 turned and uttered a cacJcle. Tliis it 

 I'epeated a few times but finding I did 

 not scare wortli a cent, quietly flew 

 awaj" to a percli wlu?re she could watch 

 me. 



WJien I readied the buslies I found 

 the nest which was composed of dry 

 liay, lain on some sticks. Tlie exterior 

 diameter Avas fifteen inches, Avliile tlie 

 interior was six inches and it was hol- 

 lowed an inch ami a ha)f. It was 

 placed on the ground and as yet I ha^e 

 iieA'er found one on any sort of a hum- 

 mock. In the nest were five eggs of a 

 dirty Avhite color Avith a bluish tint. 

 There Avere some indistinct spots on 

 them of a liroAvnish color, and I migUt 

 say that only one eggout of tAventy-two 

 that I haA'c collected, had real distiiict 

 natural sj^ots. 



The ground Avas Aery dry about the 

 lia.Avk\s nest and had been ploAved 

 within ten rods of it last spi-iug, and as 

 all of the nests which I have examined 

 Avcrc in comjuirutiNely dry places, I 

 conchide that the spots on eggs so often 

 spoken of by collectors Avere in many 

 cases catised liy their coming in con- 

 tact Avith the A\et material of the nest 

 and thus stained, as the eggs of tlie 

 (^uail often are. The measurement ci 

 tlie five eggs are as folioAvs: 1.80x1.40, 

 1 .75x1 .39, 1 .80x1 .39, 1 .79x1 .41, 1 .78:.:1 .41 . 

 According to my ol.iservation tlie Slarsh 

 HaAvk AviU not lay the third time in one 

 season. The number of eggs is gener- 

 allj^ iiA'c, sometimes four or six. 



Alfred W. Comfort, 

 Tecumseh, Mich. 



Trying- to Hatch Rotten Eggs. 



I noticed in the Oologist sometime 

 ago, some one speaking of finding a 

 Red-tailed HaAvk sitting on anestAvhich 

 contained a single rotten egg. July 

 18th of this year ('89) I had occasion to 

 cross a pasture early in the morning, 

 and Avas not a little surprised to see a 

 Yellow-shafted Flicker's head project- 

 ing from a hole in a dead tree fifteen feet 

 up. Wondering Avhat business a Flicker 

 could have in a hole this time a year, I 

 deterinihed to see. So Avith the aid'of 

 a fence-rail and a little climlnng I was 

 soon able to see iutf) the hole. Upon 

 tearing a portion of the Avood aAvay I 

 beheld fiA-e shiny eggs, and as it Avas 

 rather late in the season for eggs I took 

 them, hut Avhen I came to bloAV them 

 1 fomul them all rotten. I have oftimes 

 found nests Avith one or perliaps two 

 rotten eggs in, )nit never before the 

 Avhole h.t. The old bird must have sit 

 on them for some considerable! time, 

 for the eggs were extremely slick and 

 polished. 



T. (t. PEARjiON, • 



Archer, Fla. 

 Odd Eg-gm of the Gala. Towhee. 



TJiiiiking the subject of albinoism in 

 eggs might he of interest to some of the 

 rc;id"rs of The OoLOGiST, T quote the 

 fol'ov.ing from my note-book. 



"On June 8th, '89, Avhile collecting in 

 Eaton's Canon, Cala,, I found a set of 

 albino eggs of th" California F>rown 

 Towhee, Tiic eggs A';crc three in num- 

 b<!r and of tlie usual si/c. The ground 

 color Avas Avhite, marked A\ith a fcAV 

 spots of chocolate, When I discovered 

 tlie m^st the bird Avas sitting on it, but 

 to make sure of the identity I shot her. 

 She proved to lie an adult female, per- 

 fectly marked. 



W. R. 

 Pasadena, Cala. 



