1^ 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



sticks, straws, then a lining of horse dung, 

 and inside of that horse hairs, string, wool, 

 etc. The birds are rather shy when build- 

 ing, but the nest is easily found, being 

 usually in orange, lemon or lime trees. 

 Its food consists principally of insects, 

 seeds and fruit, mainly the latter in sum- 

 mer. During the breeding season the male 

 sings almost incessantly, often during the 

 night as well as day. I have occasionally 

 awakened during the moonlight summer 

 nights and heard them singing magnifi- 

 cently. 



WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE. 



The White-rumped Shrike is found in 

 many States other than California, where 

 it is more commonly known as "Butcher- 

 bird," owing to the supposition that it 

 catches and impales upon orange and other 

 trees living mice, rats and small birds. It 

 lays from four to six eggs as a rule, but a 

 friend assures me that he found eight in a 

 single nest, which is the first case I have 

 heard of. 



LINNET OR HOUSE PINCH. 



The Linnet is in California what the 

 Sparrow is in England and some parts of 

 the United States. It is very common, 

 and is a great enemy of the farmers, owing 

 to its practice of living almost entirely upon 

 the fruit buds just before they bloom, thus 

 injuring the crop considerably. It lays 

 from four to six eggs of a pale blue color. 

 The nest is composed of small sticks, 

 straws, etc., and lined with horse hair, 

 wool or other soft material. It is built 

 almost anywhere, in barns, vines, trees, 

 under house eaves, on barn beams or any 

 convenient place. 



HUMMING-BIRD. 



The Humming-birds are quite abundant 

 in California, there being some half dozen 

 kinds. They lay two pure white eggs, a 

 little larger than a pea. The nest is com- 

 posed of spider webs glued together with a 

 secretion from the bird's mouth. The nest 

 looks like a ball of yellow cotton wool, and 

 is usually fastened on a single branch, wil- 

 low and fig trees being their favorites. 

 During the season when the orange, lemon 

 and lime trees bloom there are vast myriads 



of infinitesimal insects, which attract great 

 numbers of the beautiful Humming-birds. 



ROAD RUNNER. 



The Road Runner is found cliiefly in the 

 sandj^ cactus patches and mountains. It 

 lays from four to nine eggs, which are at 

 first white, but because of the bird being 

 uncleanlj'^ soon become dirt color. The 

 nest is composed of sticks, straws and dried 

 grass, etc., and is placed within six or 

 eight feet or the ground, usuallj^ in a cactus 

 or waternote bush. It is rather a curious 

 bird, with a large beak and head and very 

 long tail, while the body is quite small. It 

 gets its name from a curious habit of run- 

 ning along in front of a horse or team for 

 a considerable time before it will leave the 

 road. 



There are many other species I might 

 mention, but fear j^our space will forbid. 



A. R. H. 



A , Cal. 



From Wy( mirg. 



(for THE YOUNG OOLOGIST.) 



RouGis, Wyo. Ter., Aug. 16, 1884. 



Dear Editor, — I enclose you a few 

 hastily written notes from this section. I 

 am a subscriber to The Youisg Oologist, 

 and am very much pleased with it. 

 notes. 



Sage-hen. — This magificent bird, for size, 

 is found in abundance in this part of the 

 country. The nests I have found have 

 been invariably a mere hollow scratched in 

 the ground under a sage-bush. The nest 

 complement is from ]0 to 14 eggs, laid in 

 the latter part of April or May. My ex- 

 perience has been that the eggs vary con- 

 siderably in size, although all in one nest 

 are very uniform. Here are the measure- 

 ments of four eggs taken at random from 

 a set collected by me, also to show varia- 

 tion in size measurement of two from an- 

 other set : (1.) 1.75 by 1.33, 1.63 by 1.17. 

 1.69 by 1.18, and 1.63 by 1.17. Three of 

 the foregoing are very similar in size. 

 They are all of a whitish cream color and 

 oval in sliape, being nearly as large at one 

 end as at the other. (2.) 2.25 by 1.51 and 



