Oologist'S Exchange, 



. . bhp> '»T'fj .»■■<■(, n. -■»- jETEar:- 



arid write the numbers distinctly, but 

 not too large, near the hole by which 

 the, contents of the egg" have been 

 < mptied. 



When the eggs are not we'll identifi- 

 ed, the fact should be suited in the re- 

 gister. 



I:i c die sling many nests of the same 

 species at the same tiine.it is necessa- 

 ry to mark each nest of eggs with a sep- 

 arate number in lead pencil, as they are 

 collected ; but the final marking, with 

 ink. must not be done until the egg 

 is emptied, and is drv. Do not rub out 

 the pencil mark until the one in ink 

 has been substituted. 



( 'l'<> l>r foidiutud.) 



Uncle Kph's Philosophy. 



•'You can't tell h> de c renins' 

 Wnts away down in <'e rocks;' 

 An' you can't tell nebb >r wot to buy 

 Among de fancy stocks.' 

 'l),is yerf has in de lishnrs. 

 Bases, long with silver glances;' 

 '■" An' de stock de greeiieys go fur 

 Am de r. skies' sort ob chances. ' 

 Arizona Silver ISe't. 



From the Sunflower State. 



Last sea c on.'87, I had the good for- 

 tune to lind several rare sets of egos, 

 rave in this section of country at least. 



Anvmg them was u set if the Great 

 ]>lue Heron. \n. 487. About live miles 

 south-west of Beat-tie. on the north fork 

 of the Vermmillian River, three pair of 

 these large birds have brought forth 

 their young every summer, for the last 

 live years. In ' 18S6, just after the 

 young bad left the nest, some niischeiv- 

 ous bovs shot a pair of old ones and 

 one voung one. 



In the spring of '87 about the last of 

 March, two pair returned and immedi- 

 ately begin tearing down the third 

 nest, seem in'" f o know there would be 

 no occupant "or if. 



About April loth they began a 1 ois- 

 terous courtship which could be heard 

 a mile away. Such rears and •'honks'' 

 it was never, in v good fortune to hear 

 before. The maps senred to nrd<e all 

 the noise, and t aeh appeared to be try- 



ing to make a little more racket than 

 his rival, while the female stood still 

 and watched the performance with a 

 critical eye. 



April 27th not having heard or sei n 

 anything of tin m for fe vera! days, I 

 thought I had better investigate. 1 , ; p- 

 proached within a quarter of ;* mile of 

 the nests, and by the add of an. il spy- 

 glass, I discovered a bitd on iu-.r ntbt. 

 s^he soon saw me and leaping : roin . er 

 nest began flying spirally upwards till 

 she got to a height of three or four 

 hundred feet, when she off down the 

 creek and soon disappeared from view. 

 Thinking that the set was not yet 

 complete, I did not return till the 29th, 

 when taking along a companion to tell 

 t be sad story if I should happen to fall. 

 I again approached the tree. 



The nests were on a Sycamore tree on 

 the bank of the creek and about 45 feet 

 up, the first limb being about 80 feet 

 from the ground, then 10 feet to the 

 next. 



Now all you young collectors know 

 what I had before ''me. I am entirely 

 i unacquainted with the use of climbing 

 i irons and do all my climbing by "main 

 I strength and awkwardness.'' The tree 

 ; was about 80 inches in diamdter, 

 I smooth as >• telegraph pole and the day 

 i was fairly "hot," but I took hold with 

 ; a good will and finally reached one of 

 | the nests, when I was rewarded with 

 i a fine set of live eggs. Here another dif- 

 | liciilty arose. My collecting box would 

 j hold only three of the eggs, and I did 

 I not want to climb that tree again, for 

 I am naturally a little lazy, lint I solv- 

 ed the problem by putting the two re- 

 maining eggs in my cap, which I took 

 ;t good hold of with my teeth and de- 

 scended in safety. 



The eggs proved to be fresh, were of 

 a dark greenish blue color and averag- 

 ed 1.7.") by 2.00 inches in size. 



This small colony is the dnlv one of 

 the kind that I know of in Marshell 

 Co., with the exception < f one on Snipe- 

 creek mentioned by G. F. Ibeninger in 

 the Young Oopgist Vol 2, Page 34. 



And now the owner of tree out of 

 which I gi tiny set,ha«ch< ppeditdow-n, 

 sol expect that is the last of our colony. 



Yours etc., P. 13. 1» . 



EEA'tTiE, ka:;. 



