THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



23 



NIGHT HAWK. 



Fkom W. G. D., — While hunting in the woods, I 

 found an egg a little larger than that of the Meadow 

 Lark ; lying on the ground : comparatively no nest ; 

 eggs white, with brown markings, somewhat resemb- 

 ling the above mentioned bird's egg ; bird a little 

 larger than a dove, of a dark color with little white 

 on the back. Can you tell through your paper what 

 kind of an egg I have found, 



Your egg is that of a Night Hawk. 



"Carolina" wax-wing, rkdbird, and painted 



BUNTING. 



Will you please inform me if there is such a bird as 

 the "Carolina Wax-wing?" Also if the Redbird we 

 have here is the Western Redbird ? 1 found a nest 

 of eggs the 2d of May, that I know nothing of. The 

 male had a yellowish green back and head, with a 

 red throat and breast. The females entire plumage 

 was a yellowish green cast. The eggs were chalky- 

 white, thickly specked with red ; size about the same 

 as the egg of the Lark Finch. 



E. R. D., Jr. 



Gainesville, Texas. 



The nest which you found May 2d, was that of' the 

 Painted Bunting. 



GREAT BLUB HERON, WHIP-POOR-WILL, CROW. 



From F. B. S., Lancaster, N. H. — "• Can you 

 tell me how many eggs the Great Blue Heron lays ? 

 Will you describe the Whip-poor-will's egg ? I ob- 

 tained a set of six Crow eggs on May-day, is not 

 that an unusual number?" 



No. 1. Most writers give three or four eggs as the 

 average set of the Great Blue Heron. At a large 

 Heronry in this county, (Orleans, N. Y.) four seems 

 to be the usual number. We obtained several sets 

 last season from Little Spirit Lake, Iowa, of five eggs 

 each. 



No. 2. We have several eggs of the Whip-poor- 

 will, but have never found one ourselves. Samuels, 

 in his Birds of New England, gives the following 

 good description : 



The Whip-poor-will constructs no nest, but lays its 

 eggs, which are two in number, in a slight hollow 

 which it scratches in the earth, usually near a rock or 

 fallen trunk of a tree. These eggs are of an elliptical 

 form, being as large at one end as at the other ; their 

 ground color a delicate creamy white, with blotches, 

 lines, and spots of different shades of light brown 

 and lavender ; taken altogether, it is one of the 

 handsomest eggs found in New England. The 

 length of several specimens before me varies from 

 1. 21 to 2.27 inches, breadth from .75 to .79 inch. The 

 bird commences laying about the last week in May, 

 and the period of incubation is fourteen days. 



No. 3. Six is not an unusual number for a set of 

 Crow eggs. 



California Mottled Owl. 



DOTl-ED EGGS OF THE PEWEE. 



From W. U., Poughkeepsie, N, Y. — I have just 

 found an egg, and do not know the name. I found 

 it in a nest made of moss, in a barn. The old bird is 

 like a Pewee Flycatcher ; the egg is white, with a 

 few small reddish brown spots on the large end. I 

 would be much obliged if you would tell me the 

 name. 



Your nest is .that of the Pewee, they frequently lay 

 eggs having a few dots on the larger end. One of the 

 first Pewee nests we ever found, contained eggs dotted 

 with reddish brown. This nest was attached to a 

 beam underneath an old barn. For several years 

 this pair of birds, ii undisturbed, raised from two 

 to three broods each season. The eggs were always 

 more or less dotted. From the hundreds of Pewee 

 eggs that we have handled during the past few years, 

 not over one out of twelve was dotted. 



(How a western collector obtained one.) 

 On Saturday, April 29tli of this year, I 

 was on a collecting trip at the Foot Hills, 

 six miles from our suburban city. The 

 first nest that I found was that of the 

 California Mottled Owl, which contained 

 three eggs. I was desirous of obtaining 

 some Woodpeckers' eggs, and seeing a hole 

 of that bird in an old decayed oak, about 

 twelve feet from the ground, I scrambled 

 up to investigate its contents ; finding that 

 I could not reach the bottom of the hole, 

 I procured a small oak stick and was 

 agreeably surprised, on probing with it, to 

 feel, what I thought were the coveted 

 Woodpeckers' eggs ; on breaking a hole in 

 the limb lower down, I saw what appeared 

 to be a dead owl, with chips and debris 

 nearly covering its back ; it was sometime 

 before the owl would show any signs of 

 life in spite of my poking it with the stick ; 

 I finally secured its legs with a string, and 

 transferred both the owl and eggs to the 

 grormd without injury to either myself or 

 my prizes ; I then tied the other end of the 

 string to a twig, while I should pack away 

 the eggs in a collecting tin, which I carry 

 for the purpose. When I was again ready 

 to move, I untied the string from the twig 

 and unthinkingly laid it down. The next 

 instant I had the pleasure of seeing my 

 beautiful specimen disappear under the 

 thick underbrush, carrying with it the 

 string with which its legs were bound 

 together. At first all hope of recovering 

 the owl left me, but it soon occurred to me 

 that, as its legs were bound, it would be 

 compelled to alight on the ground to rest ; 

 with this faint glimmer of hope, I took up 

 my gun and started, as nearly as possible 

 in the same direction taken by my learned 

 friend, the owl. Luck seemed to be with 

 me, for about fifty yards from my starting 

 place, I discovered the runaway, or flyaway 

 bird on the ground before me ; creeping 

 up slowly, with my gun already to fire 

 should it attempt to fly, I managed to 

 secure it by pinioning it to the ground with 

 my gun barrel. This specimen stayed 

 with us for several days, eating very little, 

 but finally escaped from its cage. 

 H. R. T. 



Alameda, Cal. 



