OOLOGIST S EXCHANGE. 



*?■> * -\ 'Jiwt t Ligaiwu j t 



A Moonlight Trip After King- 

 fisher's Eggs. 



A few miles from this village, (Pots- 

 clam) up the Racket River, is a stone 

 quarry, near which, for nearly a mile on 

 both sides of the river may be seen im- 

 mense sancl banks, honey-combed with 

 the nests of Ceryle Alcyon and Cotile 

 riparia. On Mav 2 1886, I made a trip 

 there and. after digging out several holes 

 and finding them either unfinished or 

 containing incomplete sets, I resolved 

 to wait a while. But the cares of business 

 kept me from visiting the place again, 

 and threatened to keep me away until it 

 was too late. Therefore I set to work to 

 hatch up a plan to go, and not slight my 

 business. 



Thus, the evening of May 24 1886, saw 

 the writer and his chum with shovels and 

 lenterns in their hands, and game-ba°'s 

 poked fall of egg-boxes on their backs 

 on the road to the King fisher bank. 



We had hardly struck tne right night 

 for such an expedition as this, but we 

 were too excited to know it, consequently 

 the first we knew of bad lnck was a 

 thunder shower. We crawled under a fir 

 tree and kept quite dry, but the roads! 



If we abstained from strong language 

 that night, I don't think it was any effort 

 on our part. But to resume. At about 9 

 o'clock we "arrove" at the bank. The 

 sand was slightly damp and disagreea- 

 ble'to dig, but we worked with a will. 



The occational glimmer of the moon 

 and our lanterns furnished but a sorry 

 light, consequently many eggs were bro- 

 ken. We found the nests to contain 

 from six to eight eggs, usually seven. 

 My nests alwavs extended about fourteen 

 feet into the bank, while those of my 

 chum were about three feet deep — at 

 least so it seemed to my imagination. — 



We filled our boxes with kingfishers 

 eggs, and, after taking a few sets of 

 Bank Swallows to "chink in" we started 

 for home. 



The next morning, about nine o' clock 

 I began to blow eggs and contiuued at 

 odd intervals for two days, and found 

 at the end of that time, that the fruits of 

 the trip amounted to eighty-three eggs 

 of the Belted Kingfisher, fifteen of the 

 bank swallow, an old fashioned tooth- 



ache and a ruined pair of shoes and 

 pants for my shsre. My chum realized 

 about the same amount. 

 - When I made my annual trip there 

 this year, I went in the daytime, and had 

 a much more pleasant journy, but I found 

 that some one else had noarly stripped the 

 bank of eggs so I got but four complete 

 sets. Yours truly, 



V. H. L., Potsdam, N. Y. 



North American Birds. 



13. Brown Thrasher — In black- 

 berry tangle or thickets, high or low 

 land'. May 10th to June 20th. 



13a. Mexican Brown Thrasher — 



Nesting places, similar to foregoing 



species. Nests April 15th. to June 15th. 



14. Saint Lucas Thrasher — Uplands 

 and high plains, in cactus and other 

 bushes. Begins nesting April 1st. 



14a. Bendire's Thrasher — Uplands 

 and high plains. Begins nesting April 

 1st. 



15. Curve-billed Thrasher — In- 

 habits thick woods. Nest from May 1st. 

 to June 15fch. 



15a. Palmer's Thrasher — Desert 

 regions of Arizona. Begins nesting a- 

 bout the 10th. of May. 



16. California Thrasher — Coast re- 

 gion of California, in a clump of bushes, 

 or dense chapparral. Begins nesting ear- 

 ly in February. 



16a. Leconte's Thrasher — Frequents 

 open countries. Nests early in April. 

 | To be continued.] 



Exchanges and Wants. 



Notices of Exchanges, Wants, etc., inserted in 

 this column at the rate of 20 cents tor 25 words 

 ;in:l one-half cent for each additional word. 

 None inserted for less than 20 cents. 



To Exchange.'— A good supply of Duck's and 

 other Marsh and Water Sir I's eggs. Send lists 

 and reeieve mine in return. 



!>eles Hatch, Oak Center, Wis. 



Dealer's Directory. 



A two or three line advertisement inserted in 

 this column at 10 cents single insertion, or $1.00 

 per year, in advance. 



Dickinson & Durkee, Sharon, Wis. Deal- 

 ers in Birds Eggs, Curios, etc. 



Lattin, F- H- Albion, N Y. Dealer in Nat- 

 ural History specimens of all kinds. 



Webster, F. B- Boston, Mass. Dealer in 

 Naturalists supplies of every description. 



