i8o 



THE CONDOR 



Vol. IX 



to ten or fifteen pairs, in company with the Black-capped Tern. They lay some- 

 times two, but nearly always three eggs. These are very handsome, being a beau- 

 tiful deep rich olive-green. They are spotted especially near the larger end, with 

 chocolate^^brown. The spots are of unequal intensity, some darker, some paler, 



with every intergradation. 



Mr. H. E. Dresser in describing 

 these eggs says: "They cannot be 

 mistaken for any other Gull, except 

 perhaps those of Xema sahinii. From 

 the latter, however, they may be dis- 

 tinguished by being decidedly green 

 in tone of their color, whereas those 

 of Xcma sahinii are not so, and by 

 having the surface of the shell dull 

 and glossless, whereas the eggs of the 

 Sabine Gull are somewhat glossy. 



The young Rosy Gulls, says Butur- 

 lin, are very lively and clever little 

 creatures. As soon as they see an 

 intruder they try to creep thru the 

 grass to the water, and swim away to 

 some distance, even if the waves are 

 comparatively heavy. If you lie well 

 hidden, after several minutes the little 

 creatures begin to swim about, re- 

 turning to the ground or the wet grass whence you disturbed them and uttering 

 cries as they search for their mother. When caught, they peck your finger, peep 

 and quack, but are not much frightened. 



Lancaster^ Massachusetts. 



DOWNY YOUNG OK THE ROSY GULL; ABOUT 

 ONE-HALF NATURAL SIZE 



THE PRAIRIE FAI.CONS OF SADDIvE-BACK BUTTE 



By P. B. PEABODY 



FEW birds have so completely aroused my enthusiasm and won my heart. I 

 came to know them, superficially, many years ago. Two successive sum- 

 mers, thru the generosity of the shy, black-eyed son of a Pittsburg million- 

 aire, I spent two successive months of August in Manitou Park. The lad, for 

 some strange reason, had taken a sort of fancy to me; tho I, as Chaplain of the 

 boarding school, had barely spoken to him. And so I had the rare joy of long, 

 ideal days in the most beautiful spot in all the world; among birds of rarest inter- 

 est. Here, with "Orlando" as a quiet but most sympathetic companion, I ex- 

 plored the mesa and the foothills, finding there, among the many other hawks that 

 battened on the vast prairie dog towns far down the mesa, an occasional winnow- 

 ing Falcon. The supreme delight I found in examining the nest-cavities long occu- 

 pied by the Prairie Falcons in the red sandstone monumental rocks is just as 

 thrilling today as it was those August days, over twenty years ago. The genuine 

 bird man never grows old! 



