10 



THE OOLOGIST. 



believe its nest is not far away. Still fol- 

 lowing the bee-hunter's art, you will soon 

 narrow your search to a certain cluster of 

 trees and thence by good luck to a certain 

 tree ; but even then you may not be sure to 

 discover the particular limb. Observe, you 

 must never look for a Humming Bird's nest 

 of itself. Don't be foolish enough to sup- 

 pose you can see the nest, unless you are 

 shown, even if you know the very tree — 

 the bird must be your guide, first, last and 

 always. 



The last week in May, '75, I saw a pair 

 of Ruby-throats taking lichen from a rock, 

 followed them half way home the first af- 

 ternoon, and the next evening to their nest 

 in a vigorous oak on the edge of the wood. 

 Hummers do not fly directl}' to their nests, 

 but alight for a moment on a twig above, 

 or make two sharp flits, one to the right 

 and one to the left and then pounce into their 

 lovely shell. While covering the eggs, the 

 head weaves from side to side constantly 

 with a gentle motion, as if on the '•qui vive' 

 for enemies. Waiting until the eggs were 

 laid, the question was how to get them un- 

 broken, the nest being on a bare outlying 

 twig, sixteen feet from the ground, without 

 limbs beneath, and no way to reach down 

 from above. Drafting into my service five 

 Stalwart young hunters and collectors, we 

 got an old ladder which was some feet too 

 short. But they agreed to hold it perfectly 

 "still and steady," with the upper end cir- 

 cus-fashion, resting on thin air, while I, the 

 lightest, should ascend with a saw to get 

 limb and all. So climbing up and standing 

 on the top rung, I steadied myself with one 

 hand on the limb, and had made two or 

 three passes with the saw, when from below 

 came the warning cry, "Stop that sawing 

 or the ladder will get aAvay from us !" I 

 dropped the saw, and in my insecure posi- 

 tion couldn't even break off the limb, and 

 was at last content to tenderly loose the moss 

 with one hand and get to the ground as 

 soon as possible. Thus did six great stur- 

 dy robbers with the appliances of reason 

 triumph over the instinct of these tiniest of 

 Ood's creatm'e.«>. So touching was it to see 



the female, with a sharp note of alarm, set- 

 tle on the very spot where but a moment 

 before had been her home and her jewels, I 

 could have wished them safely back. And 

 then came the male, making feeble essays 

 at consolation. We could have said, had 

 we known their language : "Dear madam, 

 you and your mate can build another nest 

 this season, another next year and the year 

 after ; but I cannot make such a beautiful 

 casket as this, and intend to keep this one 

 anyway. But I'll be dashed if I don't feel 

 as mean as if I had been stealing sheep !" 

 Jennie May Whipple. 



Reminiscences of a Collector. 



BY "OOLOGIST." 



ly/TR. McPherson had shot the Snowy 

 Heron I saw ; at least I suppose it 

 was the one, for he said it came from an 

 easterly direction. It was a beautiful bird 

 and the shot it received did its plumage no 

 harm. While skinning it I noticed the same 

 peculiarity on its breast that other Herons 

 possess : the yellowish, moss-like substance 

 which naturalists claim contains a phos- 

 phorescence. In its stomach we found a 

 large number of small brown frogs and two 

 or three minnows. While conveying it 

 home my friend says it disgorged a lizard, 

 which it had probably swallowed just pre- 

 vious to its death. 



Early the next morning a man with a 

 rifle happened by our cabin. He had shot 

 a deer and wanted to sell it, but would ncVt 

 let us have the head, because he said he 

 "thought he would have it stuffed." I nev- 

 er had mounted a deer's head, so I cared 

 very little what he did with it. McPher- 

 son thought the man must have come from 

 some of the larger islands, as he said no 

 deer were found here. : 



After breakfast I took my gim with the 

 intention of visiting a swamp on the east- 

 ern shore of the island. 



TO BE CONTINUED. 



