THE NIDIOLOGIST 



ground has swallowed him up. If you have 

 very keen eyes, however, you may discover the 

 secret of the bird's elusiveness. In the first 

 place, nature is good to the Killdeer in provid- 

 ing him with a dress of a color, which, except- 

 ing perhaps the white on the head, assimilates 

 admirably with his ordinary terrestrial sur- 

 roundings. Besides this most excellent protec- 

 tion against the birds of prey (and sportsmen 

 who never pray) the Killdeer has craftily 

 learned to conduct his movements so as to still 

 further work confusion to his enemies. 



The Killdeer does not walk, nor strut, nor 

 run — he glides. I can find no word to better 

 express his locomotion. There is no switching 

 of tail, nor twisting of head. The movement 

 is a very picture of silence, easy and straight- 



YOUNG BURROWING OWL. 

 (Photographed from life.) 



forward, and only when he stops, motionless, 

 after traveling a few paces, does he deign to 

 give his head a very slight downward bob, as 

 though he thus acknowledged his artifice satis- 

 factory. 



He seems, when you see him, to move 

 through the waving grass and weeds more like 

 an attenuated shadow than a real, live Plover. 

 He appears to know that his safety lies more 

 often in escape on the ground than in flight, 

 for as soon as a flock rises the pure white on the 

 long wings makes them conspicuous objects. 

 The Mountain Plover has a somewhat similar 

 habit of running in a way that attracts little 

 notice, but they do not approach, in my opinion, 

 the successful cunning of the Killdeer. 



H. R. Taylor. 



Our Owl Pictures. 



A REMARKABLE series of photographs 

 illustrate this number of the Nidiol- 

 OGIST. We have obtained from W. 

 Otto Emerson the right to publish those of the 

 Owls, and we question if any more interesting 

 bird photographs havebeen heretofore seen, con- 

 sidering especially the fact that most of these 

 were taken of birds in a wild state in the woods 

 or on the prairies. 



The Burrowing Owl blinks at you very nat- 

 urally from the hole where the eggs are hidden 

 perhaps six feet underground. The difficulty 

 of taking this very good photograph must 

 be experienced to be appreciated. On the 

 opposite page the nest and eggs of the Burrow- 

 ing Owl are well shown, the 

 hole having been dug out, ex- 

 posing them to view in their 

 natural position. 



The nest, young, and eggs 

 of the Barred Owl will be 

 a surprise to many who have 

 supposed that this Owl nested 

 always in trees. In Dakota 

 however, where our picture 

 was taken, this species oc- 

 casionally deposits its eggs on 

 the ground, the photograph 

 furnishing the best of evidence 

 of this fact. 



In the NiDiOLOGiST (Feb- 

 ruary, 1895) we have present- 

 ed an excellent illustration of 

 a live adult specimen of the 

 Great Horned Owl, photo- 

 graphed in wild woods. Our 

 Bubo sits on a tree trunk near 

 a suggestive looking hollow, 

 and the set of every feather can 

 be distinctly seen. 



In this number we publish 

 an illustration from a photograph of some half- 

 grown Great Horned Owls which are owned 

 by Mr. A. M. Ingersoll, of San Diego, Cal. A 

 queer lot of big blinking Owlets they are, and 

 one is almost willing to be in '' cahoots " with 

 Mr. Ingersoll in their ownership. 



Large Sets of California Thrasher. 



I HAVE in my collection two sets of eggs of the- 

 California Thrasher, one consisting of seven egas, 

 the other of eight. Both sets were taken at Rialto, 

 the nests being built in "squavvberry" bushes, one 

 three and the other four feet from the groutul. 



Charles: H. Lkfler. 



San Bernardino, Cal. .' 



