THE OOLOGIST. 



219 



April 3rd. Dotted Canon Wren, four 

 fresh eggs. Nest in the roof of old 

 stable, composed of straws, etc., lined 

 with cotton and spider webs, making a 

 vei-y soft atl'air. 



April 4th. Carolina Wren, four eggs 

 incubation begun; nest pla(,'ed between 

 logs of an old house four feet from' 

 floor, composed of sticks, leaves, 

 feathers, etc , lined with hair. 



April 4th. Texas Screech Owl, two 

 eggs incubation slight; nest in natural 

 €avity of live oak tree twenty feet up. 



Same date, five fresh eggs of Plum- 

 beous' Chickadee; nest in telephone 

 pole fifteen feet from the ground, com- 

 posed of cotton, feathers. 



April 6th. Baird's .Wren, six fresh 

 eggs; nest in that of Woodpecker in 

 telephone pole six feet from the 

 ground, composed of sticks, grass, etc., 

 lined with hair. 



April nth. Dotted Canon Wren, 

 four eggs slightly incubated; nest in 

 crevice of rock, composed of sticks, 

 grass, etc., woven together with spider 

 Avebs, lined with cotten. 



April nth. Four fresh eggs of Phoe- 

 be; nest one side of cliff four feet up. 



May 4th. Blue grey Gnatcatcher, 

 four fresh eggs; nest placed in the forks 

 of tree six feet up, composed of fine 

 gi'ass, spider web, covered with lichens. 

 May 18th. Blue Grosbeak, four fresh 

 eggs; nest placed in low bush four feet 

 up, composed of bark, paper, pepper- 

 bush, etc., lined with fine roots. 



Same date, Yellow-breasted Chat, 

 three fresh eggs; nest placed in a clump 

 of briars near the ground, composed of 

 coarse straws, inner bark of trees, lined 

 with fine roots. This is the first nest 

 known by the writer from Travis 

 county. The bird is more common this 

 season than e^er before. Two nests 

 containing young have been found 

 since. 



Maj' 30th. Baird's Wren, six eggs] 

 fresh; nest placed in a wall basket 

 "which hung near a window in one room 

 of my house. 



The bird must have been in a great 

 hurry to lay, for they both woi'ked all 

 day earring in straws, feathers, etc. 

 Within four days the nest was com- 

 pleted, and on May 20th, one egg was 

 laid and so on until six eggs were laid. 

 The female resumed the task of incuba- 

 tion and I took the eggs. 



E. K. Gkeen, 

 Austin, Tex. 



A Walk to Mt. Hamilton. 



On May 15, 1890, my brother and I 

 started to visit a friend, who lives on 

 Mt. Day, a point about eight miles from 

 Mt. Hamilton, where the famous Lick 

 Observatory is situated. We walked 

 almost 20 miles and had just gone 

 round a sudden bend in the road Avhen 

 I spied a Yellow-billed Magpie's nest. 

 It was about thirty feet from the 

 ground in a large oak tree. I climbed 

 up to it and found six badly incubated 

 eggs. They looked like large Shrike 

 eggs. When we started on again the 

 hills seemed to be very steep, and we 

 went up and up till at last we reached 

 our friend's cabin. The owner of the 

 cabin is an old bachelor, who is living 

 on a quarter section of land which he 

 has pre-empted. We spent the night 

 with him and did not get up very early 

 next morning and were still tired. I 

 went outside as soon as I had eaten ,a 

 little breakfast, and sat ®n a log and 

 watched some blue birds which were 

 making a lively racket in a tree near 

 by. They seemed to be in a great d( al 

 of trouble about something, so I climb- 

 ed up the tree and found they were 

 fighting a Nuthatch. 



There was a hole in the side of the 

 tree, too small for my hand to get in, 

 so I called to my brother to get a 

 hatchet and come up. He cut into the 

 hole till he could get his hand in. The 

 nest was about eight or nine inches 

 down and in it were eight Nuthatch 

 eggs. In blowing them one disap- 



