THE COLO GIST. 



found ill these resorts. Like the Flicker, 

 he will iilight on the groiind, if by so 

 doing, he can more easily peek out his 

 grab. 



The breeding season eommeuees in 

 the latter part of March or first of April 

 and only one brood is raised. 



The nest is placed in some high dead 

 snag or tree. 



I have taken l)ut()ne set of eggs of 

 this bird and these I found by accident 

 more than aiiything else. While hunt- 

 ing bird skins, I noticed a large hole 

 way up in the top of a dead pine snag, 

 but paid biit little attention to it, as it 

 seemed to be an old hole. When, in 

 looking for a small w^arbler, I passed 

 near the root of the snag, and noticed 

 that the ground was fairly covei'ed with 

 bits of rotten wood and bark. Looking 

 up, I found'the hole to be a new one, a 

 fact I had failed to detect before. At 

 this, I found a club and began to pound 

 on the tree. Fen- a while nothing ap- 

 peared, but presently out came the head 

 tind neck of a female Fileated, as if to 

 inquire Avhat all the disturbance was 

 about. My delight at this w^as vyithout 

 bounds, but was somewhat checked by 

 the thought that I had no climbing irons 

 with me, they being in my room at the 

 <;ollege, which was good two miles 

 distant. A walk of four miles was not 

 very pleasant to think of, but I could 

 not think of leaving the nest without 

 investigating it, so I put off for the 

 college. 



For brevity, I will say that after a 

 lapse of two hours, I was again back to 

 the nest. After a short rest, I strapped 

 on my climbers and securing my 

 hatchet, as I fullj^ expected to have to 

 cut some, as I thought these birds made 

 their nests very deep. Imagine my sur- 

 prise then, when, after climbing up to the 

 hole, I tln-ust in my hand and found 

 the hole to be only seven or eight inches 

 deep and in the centre I felt three fine 

 large eggs snugly cushioned on a soft 

 bed of chips. These I immediately put 



in a loose pocket, a safe receptacle for 

 them during my descent. 



On examining the hole, I found the 

 entrance to be nearly live inches in 

 diameter and to extend in about as far 

 before turning down. The excavation 

 was very shallow, only seven or eight 

 inches, but very large and roomy. The 

 bottom was covered with soft bits of 

 rotten wood, making a soft bed tov the 

 eggs. 



I was getting i-ather tired of hanging 

 on by this time, so made my descent 

 without mishap. I next set about to 

 get the birds, which, by a small degree 

 of caution, 1 accomplished; rather 

 cruel, to be sure, but I wanted them for- 

 the college museum. 



After carefully packing up my birds 

 and eggs, I started for the college, as it 

 was about time for dinner and I was 

 certainly hungry enough to eat with a 

 relish. 



Dissection showed the female's stom- 

 ach to be empty, w^hile the male was 

 falrlj' gorged. I suppose he had been 

 to breakfast and would have soon 

 relieved his better half while she filled 

 up. 



On blowing the eggs, I found the 

 embryo to have just begun to form. 

 They were pearly white, very slick and 

 glossy and were, to my notion, the fin- 

 est eggs I have ever taken. 



A. L. 



QUAINTANCE, 



Lake City, Fla. 



Bird Protection, 



I have come to the conclusion and I 

 am sure many others also have, that 

 there are too many egg and bii-d col- 

 lectors in the field. 



I do not mean this to refer to anj'- 

 one who really takes an interest in 

 birds and desires to study them and 

 their habits, but the class of "collect- 

 ors" who go about pilfering nests and 

 killing Ijirds indiscriminatelj'. Their 

 manner of collecting is precisely like 



