134 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



1878, 1 was out in a piece of low woods 

 about a mile south of this town, nest hunt, 

 ing. Seeing a l.rge hemlock tree partially 

 turned up by the root. 1 thought that 

 underneath it was a place likely to contain 

 the nest of the Winter Wren, whose eggs 

 I was now anxious to obtain for my collec- 

 tion. Gazing into this cavern I saw a nest 

 a few feet from the entrance, and a mo- 

 ment after a Wren popped onto the ground 

 and then flew out past me. This nest, like 

 all the othei'S, was composed of moss, in 

 tlie form of a ball, and neatly lined wilh 

 tine ti brous bark, hair and Hawk feathers. 

 It contained six eggs which I found to 

 have been several days incubated. One 

 was broken in blowing, two I gave to an- 

 other collector and the other three are still 

 in my collection. It would take an expert 

 Oologist to distinguish them from those of 

 the Brown Creeper. 



William L. Kells, 

 Listowel, Ontario. 



Duck-hunting at Gospel Swamp. 



It has been so long since I have sat down 

 to write anything <nitside of business let- 

 ters, that if my wits ever were sharp on the 

 subject I am afraid they are pretty dull 

 now. Still I thought I would let the read- 

 ers of The Young Oologist know how 

 we can en joy' our spare time out here when 

 we cannot go egg-hunting. 



It was on the 18th of last December a 

 couple of friends and myself decided to 

 spend the two weeks holidaj's hj taking a 

 grand Duck- hunt. Acting on this we at 

 once began preparations ; we were all 

 equipped with guns, <iramunition, etc., by 

 the afternoon of the lOtli, and having pro- 

 cured a good team and plenty of provisions, 

 we started out for a place renowned for its 

 Duck shooting, called Gospel Swamp, sit- 

 uated about fifty miles from Los Angeles. 

 The swamp part of this name is all right, 

 but I conld never just see where the "Gos- 

 pel" part of the business comes in, for the 

 countiy itself, full of dark sloughs and 

 deep bog-holes, is veiy far from being gos- 

 ncl-like. 



It is needless to describe our trip from 

 Los Angeles. Suffice it to say that our 

 drive lay among green meadows and eme- 

 rald orange orchards, wiiose clusters of 

 golden fruit bore a pleasing contrast to 

 their surrounding masses of dark green 

 foliage. The tempting clusters of fruit 

 weie too much for me, inasmuch as I 

 thought a little fresh fruit w^ould be a good 

 acquisition to our stock of provisions. 



So I stopped at the next orchard and 

 asked the proprietor for a few dimes" wcrth 

 of fruit. He. seeing we were out for a 

 hunting expedition, and gaining our prom- 

 ise of a brace or two of fine Ducks on our 

 return, was veiy generous and presented 

 us with a couple of sacks brimming full of 

 the golden l)eauties. After thanking him 

 properly Ave proceeded with our journej', 

 and added varietj' to the monotonj^ of the 

 drive by shooting such squirrels and mead- 

 ow larks that were so unfortunate as to 

 cross oui- path. 



After a drive of some twenty miles we 

 were overtaken by the approaching dusk, 

 and made our encampment at a spot called 

 "Coyote Hill," so named on account of the 

 immense numbers of prairie wolves, or 

 coyotes, found in this vicinitj'. We at once 

 proceeded to pitch camp and retire, but 

 not to "blissful dreams." During the 

 night our slef^p was frequentlj^ disturbed 

 by the tiimultuous bowlings of these "too- 

 familiar - on - short - acquaintance" animals. 

 Indeed, to judge by the sounds, some num- 

 bers of the varmints would approach to 

 wdthin fifty or sixty yards of camp, and as 

 if by a given signal previously agreed upon 

 set up such a series of yells and barks that 

 a person is reminded of a concert in Pan- 

 demonium. This was, to speak mildly, 

 somewhat annoying; as I could not see the 

 creatures, 1 would take my gun from under 

 my pillow and disc'harge it in the direction 

 of the animals. 



For a time this action would liave the de- 

 sired effect, i. e., of quieting the uproar, 

 and I would again attempt to calm my 

 troubled feelings in ISTod's reveries. How- 

 ever, my attempt was fruitless; for as soon 

 as I was comfortably ensconced beneath 



