36 



THE OOLOGIST. 



canght the piercing glances of our guides. 

 Our progress was seriously impeded by fal- 

 len trees and the rich luxuriance of tropical 

 vegetation, An occasional alligator, bold- 

 er than his companions, would now and then 

 bar our way and only retreat after a fierce 

 onslaught. The night we passed as the 

 preceding, and in the mr niug, after a brief 

 survey of the surrounding country we re- 

 sumed our onward course toward Lake O- 

 bichobee, the goal of our expectations. One 

 more night we encamped upon the banks of 

 tlie stream, and in tlie morning we were 

 fortunate enough to secure the nest and eggs 

 of the Mississippi Kite. Having sliot the 

 female bird, " Grizzly Bert" ascended the 

 tree, wliicli was an enormous live oak, with 

 great ditficulty, and on his descent with the 

 eggs we resumed our journey, reaching 

 Lake Obichobee at about sunset. 'J'he en- 

 suing days saw us busily employed from sun- 

 rise to sunset in securing and identifying 

 birds and eggs of many species, among 

 which were the White, Blue, Snowy and 

 Louisiana Herons, the Crying Bii'd, Snake 

 Bird, Brown Pelican and Flamingo, togeth- 

 er with the Common and Purple Galliuules. 

 In speaking of the two species of Galliuule, 

 there v\ ;is a swamp at the northern end of 

 the lake wliere both bi'ed in immense num- 

 bers. Having secured as many of the spe- 

 cies abt>unding in these parts as we required 

 for our private collections, we wended our 

 way homeward well satisfied with the re- 

 sult of our expedition. Though since then 

 1 have made many trips to difi'erent sections 

 of country, I can confidently affirm tliat, 

 for collecting purposes, both in regard to 

 the number and variety of oological speci- 

 mens, Florida stands unsurpassed, and if 

 any of our young friends meditate a trip to 

 the Everglades of Florida, we advise them 

 to seek out at Fort Dulaney ''Old Dan" 

 and "Grizzly Bert," whom we are confi- 

 dent are the persons most competent to aid 

 them in their researches. 



G. H. MULDOON. 



The Towhee Bunting, Pipilo ery- 

 t]irophtJiab)ini<. — This pretty and well 

 known species, although quite common in 

 Massachusetts and the other southern New 

 England States, is rare in the northern ones. 

 It arrives here (near Boston) about the 

 first week in May, sometimes earlier. It 

 is first seen in the low, swampy thickets, 

 or in the "scrub," very often that growing 

 on hillsides (the "scrub" is a low bushy 

 growth of trees, chiefly of oaks, which 

 grows usually on dry and hilly lauds), and 

 here the Chewinks busy tliemselves, gener- 

 ally near the ground, where they search 

 under the leaves and decayed vegetation 

 for their food of seeds and insects. 



They commence buihling by tlie last week 

 in May. The nest is placed on the ground, 

 generally near a bush, or I have found it 

 sometimes in a little hollow in a bank near 

 the road-side. It is built of grasses, straws 

 and fine roots. The eggs are four in num- 

 ber. Their ground color is a grayish white, 

 and the whole surface is covered with dots 

 and points of reddish-brown. The average 

 dimensions of several specimens in my col- 

 lection, are about .94 by. 76 of an inch. 



Tiieir most common note is toioliee^ toio- 

 hee. About the first week in October the 

 old birds and their young leave on their 

 southern migration. Wm. L. Green. 



Zioiigicood, Mass. 



Valuable engravings of eggs in Sept. No. 



Quite a number of collectors complain 

 that their cabinets are infested with an in- 

 sect of destructiue nature. The cause of 

 their appearance is in most cases inexplic- 

 able, and it seems difficult to get rid of them. 

 We would reconmiend the free use of cam- 

 phor ; it is an enemy to the larvae, and no 

 insect will stay long where it is kept. 



^p^SuBSCRiBERS wishing to obtain back 

 numbers to increase their files, can be fur- 

 nished the following issues : from No. 4, 

 Vol. I, to date. Many of these contain 

 beautiful illustrations of birds and eggs. 



