THE OOLOGIST. 



183 



. H M., Hamilton, Ont. — Caunot your 

 egg of a light pea-green, speckled with, 

 black, cinnamon, and lavender shell- 

 markings, measuring about .80 x .55, be 

 an egg of the Cedar Waxwing? It is 

 difficult to tell Avithout any description 

 of nest or bird. 



[Note: — We ai-e behind with our 

 queries. The few queries remaining 

 unanswered as we go to press will be 

 answered by mail or else in October 



OOLOGIST. 



Lost Opportunities. 



Of all the amateur sports and pas- 

 times I have had the pleasure of parti- 

 cipating in, I find photography one of 

 the most interesting and instructive, 

 and as an amateur naturalist, I have 

 spent some of the most delightful hours 

 of my life with a camera. When I go 

 to the woods or A-isit the riA^ers and 

 marshes, the camera is now my con- 

 stant companion, for I find in it far 

 more pleasure than the gun can afford. 



Nearly every season Avhen the rivers 

 and lakes get their first glassy coat and 

 the cold blasts of approaching Avinter 

 SAveep across our prairies, the Geese, 

 apparently surprised at the sudden 

 change, congregate in A^ast flocks and 

 depart soutliAvard, and at such times I 

 haA'e seen nearly a thousand in a single 

 flock. Such a sight Avould make a 

 grand picture which sportsmen as Avell 

 as naturalists could not help admiring. 

 Ducks Avhich have tarried too long 

 often get caught by a cold Avave and 

 can be found trying to keep the ice 

 from closing in on them by constant 

 SAvimming about its edge, and at such 

 times are less inclined to fly, alloAving 

 a person to get near enough to use a 

 detectiA'e camera on them. 



During a duck-hunt at one of the 

 most pleasant lakes in this locality, in 

 the fall of 1887, I had the pleasure of 

 surprising a small flock of White Peli- 

 cans as they were feeding among the 

 sedges Avhich Ayere gi"OAving in shalloAv 



Avater and near a point of land running 

 a short distance into the lake. I ap- 

 proached them, under shelter of the 

 trees, to Avithin ten rods and found 

 them busily engaged, scooping up the 

 minnoAvs Avhich Avere so plentiful. It 

 was a grand siglit and I could not help 

 admiring it; but they soon discovered 

 me and raised their wings to depart 

 and it is scarcely necessary to state 

 that I did what eA^ery naturalist Avould 

 have done whose collection did not in- 

 clude one of these birds, I took the life 

 from tATO of them. Hoav much more 

 pleasure a picture of them Avould have 

 given me than the mounted bird ever 

 can. 



While visiting a colony of Western 

 and American Eared Grebes, during 

 the spring of '87, I saw some of the 

 finest sights that ever came under ray 

 observation . There were not less than 

 50 pairs of the former and 150 of the 

 latter breeding in separate colonies. 



The Western Grebes Avere mostly 

 confiued to the furthermost point of 

 rushes extending into the lake. I pad- 

 dled my little canoe through a neck of 

 rushes connecting the breeding ground 

 Avith those groAving nearer shore. The 

 little boat made very little noise Avhich 

 Avas droAvned by the breeze rattling 

 the rushes and many a Grebe Avas 

 caught napping. One bird stood up- 

 I'ight to get a good vieAA"" of the intruder 

 and then with a graceful dlA'e she dis- 

 appeared leaving scarcely a ripple, 

 others quietly slipped from their nests 

 and soon their notes could be heard 

 just outside of the rusliies, Avhere 

 they Avere trjing their best to charm 

 me. Well I ivas charmed by the loA'ely 

 sight. There Avere nests nearly touch- 

 ing each other and Avith a bird here and 

 there, as seen when I first beheld the 

 sight, It would IiaA'e made a picture 

 that Avas complete. 



I then visited the other colony, but it 

 coA-ered such a large space that I saAV 

 but feAV of them before they left their 



