90 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



Lewis H, Adams, Canandaigua, N. Y., 1. 



Wm. M. Phillips, Catasqua, Pa., 1. 



Clarence Van Alystyne, Chatham Centre, 

 N. Y., 1. 



Ed. A. Sanford, Rochester, N. Y., 1. 



Ed. C. Miller, Grinnell, Iowa, 1. 



A. R. Hicks, Palmyra, N. Y., 1. 



Charles H. Larkin, Buffalo, N. Y., 1. 



John Btephan, Jr., Cleveland, O., 1. 



F. Z. Gibson, McKeesport, Pa., 1. 



RoUa G. Treat, Brooklyn, O., 1. 



Fred H. Pitman, North Beverly, Mass., 1 



Herbert E. Stout, Minneapolis, Minn., 1. 



W. J. B. Williams, Holland Patent, N. 

 Y., 1. 



F. J. Davidson, Toronto, Ont., 1. 



Egg Drills, 12 cents each — Not competi- 

 tors enough to win the last twenty-one 

 prizes. 



Egging in a California Swamp. 



I see so much interesting reading matter 

 in your paper from eastern correspondents 

 I thought it would not be amiss to let 

 them know what, we can do out here in 

 the way of egging. 



It was an early morning about the mid- 

 dle of June that two friends and myself 

 procured a light spring wagon and set out 

 for a lake called " Nigger Slough." Why 

 it is called this I cannot say, unless it is 

 the unusual darkness of the water, caused 

 by a large amount of alkali in its general 

 composition. 



We reached the lake at 8 o'clock, having 

 made the drive of over fourteen ndles in 

 less than three hours. 



The view which met our gaze was beau- 

 tiful in the extreme — before us stretched 

 the beautiful expanse of placid, sparkling 

 water, lined here with a dense wall of tall 

 green reeds, nodding with a polite " good- 

 morning" to the golden sun just beginning 

 to make itself conspicuous from its con- 

 cealment behind a lofty cloud of •'morn- 

 ing mist;" again the eye is charmed bj^ 

 twining, curling banks of green, here and 

 there intercepted by a group of graceful 

 drooping willows, which would ever and 

 anon dip their emerald boughs into the 



sparkling water, and again emerge with a 

 graceful "love me still" air; the otherwise 

 solitary scene is enlivened by the swarms 

 of splashing, noisy water fowl, which seem 

 to live for their own enjoyment. 



But this is straying too far from my sub- 

 ject; my readers will begin to question 

 whether I am eulogizing on the beauties of 

 nature, or going on a fishing expedition. 



To return: One of my companions soon 

 procured a small skiff and we all embarked 

 and began to penetrate the masses of dark 

 waving Tules or Sedge. We could not 

 row on account of the Tules, but easily 

 pushed the boat along by placing the oar 

 on the sandy bottom and pushing ourselves 

 along. 



The first two or three nests were Coots, 

 which contained from seven to fifteen eggs 

 each ; then, to add variety to the scene we 

 would now and then run across a nest of 

 the Little Grebe with its contents of seven 

 little eggs, snugly hid from view by being 

 covered over with a layer of dead Tules 

 and decaying grasses, (indeed it has puz- 

 zled me when this curious little water- 

 fowl sits on her eggs, as I have never yet 

 found a nest that was not snugly covered 

 over and hidden from view, as just de- 

 scribed). Then, after a long interval, dur- 

 ing which we would literally "scoop in" 

 the Coot eggs, we would find a fine set of 

 from seven to fourteen Redhead's eggs and 

 Swamp Wrens; without exaggeration I have 

 stood at one spot and counted over a dozen 

 nests at one time. We continued in this 

 manner until the setting sun, casting its 

 long reflective shadows across the water 

 warned us that it was time to make our 

 departure, and thus ended our days sport, 

 resulting in the possession of over 500 

 Coots eggs; several dozen Redheads, Grebes, 

 Swamp Wrens and Red-winged Black- 

 birds without end; this is one days' hunt 

 out of many. It is true this is one of the 

 most successful, in which I have been en- 

 gaged, but I could tell of many more 

 which were very profitable as well as in- 

 termingled with the varied experience of a 

 practical "field collector." 



A. M. Shields. 



