THE OOLOGIST. 



105 



specimens more than a hundred flamingo 

 eggs and a set of Bahama cuckoo eggs, 

 held at $100. 



We looked at eggs till our eyes fairly 

 ached. There were blue eggs and yellow 

 eggs and white eggs and green eggs and 

 red eggs ; eggs spotted and streaked and 

 blotched and brown all over. Diminutive 

 hummer's delicate eggs and eggs from 

 Africa's enormous ostrich. Eggs from all 

 the states, from all the continents ; by the 

 dozen, by the bushel ; from two cents to 

 fSD.OO each. Eggsactly, andif j^ou wish to 

 see all we have seen, just call on the gentle- 

 manly proprietors and you will be cordially 

 xeceived. 



Lata Collecting. 



Collecting practically ends with June till 

 the following spring, yet the breeding sea- 

 son of many birds extend into July and 

 August. This season, '87, I have had 

 pretty good luck during the hot months, as 

 will be seen by the following notes: 



July 4. Found a set of three eggs of the 

 "Wood Thrush; incubation commenced. I 

 took nearly forty eggs of this species the 

 past season. 



July 9. Nest of the Baltimore Oriole 

 containing four eggs; nest very curious, 

 made entirely of fine dead grass woven 

 together in the shape of a bag. 



July 13. Took a clutch of three eggs of 

 the Yellow-billed Cuckoo; incubation com- 

 menced; nest in chestnut sapling, 8^- feet 

 up ; situated in a large brier patch ; nest 

 made of dead twigs, leaves and chestnut 

 blossoms Also a nest of the Vesper Spar- 

 row containing four slightly incubated eggs. 



July 15. The Black-billed Cuckoo Avas 

 the victim to-day ; a handsome set of four 

 in various states of inculcation, from com- 

 menced to advanced ; nest in a chestnut 

 sapliag 5-^ feet from the ground, and within 

 a few yards from where t found the Cuckoo 

 nest on the 13th, composed of dead twigs, 

 leaves, weeds and bark ; lined with pieces 

 •of green leaves. 



July 18. A nest and four eggs of the 

 Indigo Bunting, in a blackberrj' bush ; nest 

 composed of dead leaves, grass, weeds and 

 tlie silk from caterpillars' nest ; lined with 

 horsehairs. Also a very pretty set of Red- 

 eyed Vireo eggs four in number ; incubation 

 commenced. 



July 23. Set of three eggs of the Song 

 Sparrow in a blackbeny bush ; incubation 

 ■commenced. 



July 28. I ran across a nest containing 

 one young and one chipped egg of the 

 Black-billed Cuckoo ; nest in a dogwood 

 sapling 6 feet up, composed of dead twigs, 

 leaves, strips of bark and chestnut blossoms; 

 lined sparsely with horsehair. This is the 

 first Cuckoo's nest I have found with any- 

 thing but vegetable substance in its makeup. 



August 5. Red-eyed Vireo — three eggs 

 nearl}^ hatched. 



August 27. American Goldfinch, four 

 eggs ; incubation commenced ; nest in a 

 plum tree ; made of grape vine bark, fine 

 dead grass and wool, nned with thistle 

 down ; a very pretty nest. 



F. L. B., Berwyn, Pa. 



A Day's Collecting- in Southern 

 Kansas. 



One day last spring my chum and I 

 started out for a day's tour in the woods. 

 We started along the river southeast of 

 town, and before we had gone far we dis- 

 covered a nest in an elm tree tree. My 

 chum volunteered to climb after it. When 

 he had got about half way up to the nest, 

 I noticed two blackbirds flying about the 

 tree and I thought then that it was their 

 nest. Sure enough, when he got up to the 

 nest what did it contain but five half -grown 

 Blackbirds. You can imagine we were not 

 very well pleased with our find, especially 

 my chum, who had a hard climb after the 

 nest. 



Our next find was a Redbird's nest in a 

 hedge, containing four eggs, highly incu- 

 bated. We continued along the river and 

 found a good many neets, but they were 

 mostly common, such as Catbirds, Brown 

 Thrashers and Turtle Doves, 



When about a mile and half from town 



we found a Kingfisher's nest in a hole in a 



bluff overlooking the river. It contained 



five eggs about four feet back, and we had 



a hard dig to get them. We wei'e very hot 



i and tired when we got them, but we felt 



I amply paid when we had got the five pretty 



I white eggs safely blown. We also found 



I a Bank Swallows nest with four fresh eggs 



I in it. 



1 As we were walking along the railroad 



! track, on our return home, a train come 



I along, and I stepped up on a pile of ties to 



; wait until it passed. As I did so a bird 



flew up, I looked, and lo ! and behold ! it 



had flowii off its best and there were five 



Gt. Cn^sted Flycatcher's eggs in it. As we 



[ neared home we took a set of Kingbird and 



Blackbird's eggs, both fresli. When we 



j arrived home we were tired but satisfied 



with our day's tour. 



Charles T. Hepburn, 

 I Fort Scott, Kansas. 



