34 



THE OOLOGIST. 



to look for full sets. These are usually 

 of five eggs, occasionally four or six, 

 and, very rarely, seven. Sets of four 

 are usually second layings, and quite 

 commonly deposited in the same place 

 from which the first set was taken, pro- 

 vided that the nest was not destroyed 

 or taken with the first set. 



In many cases, especially where wood 

 rats are abundant, the Wrens will select 

 a crevice between two rocks, into which 

 even a rat cannot go. It is best, when 

 a nest is found in such a location, for 

 the collector to pass it by, as it cannot 

 be obtained without the use of a crow- 

 bar and this method, ninety-nine times 

 out of a hundred, will result in one or 

 two, if not all. the eggs getting broken. 

 Where holes in the solid rock, as in the 

 faces of numerous southern California 

 cliffs, are available, however, the little 

 pair will select a good sized cave and in 

 its sandy floor scratch out a hole large 

 enough to hold a loosely woven nest. 



While looking for sets of the Pacific 

 Horned Owl, through the first three 

 months of the year, I frequently find 

 such nests either incomplete or contain- 

 ing one or two white eggs heavily spot- 

 ted with cinnamon or light brown. 



On the 26th of March, 1900. I took 

 three sets of Vigor's Wren, consisting, 

 respectively, of five, six and seven eggs. 

 This, I am quite willing to admit, was a 

 banner day for Wrens, and all the more 

 peculiar when it is remembered that I 

 was hunting for Hawk's eggs along the 

 high cliffs of the big canyons and not 

 giving a thought to so small a bird as a 

 Wren. The first set was in a crack be- 

 tween the halves of what had once been 

 a huge boulder and the entrance was 

 right on the ground. This nest was 

 firmly and neatly woven of bits of fine 

 grass blades, together with strips of the 

 inner bark of a dead elder tree growing 

 at the base of the cliff. Nest measured 

 5x1* in. outside and 2ixl in. inside, the 

 diameter being given first in each pair 

 and the depth last. 



This set was so badly incubated that 



it could not be saved. I might add here 

 that I killed (a few moments after find- 

 ing this nest) a rattlesnake, which was 

 lying nicely coiled up some ten feet 

 from the Wren's home. He measured 

 five feet eight inches in length, and his 

 skin, when dried, seven inches in width 

 at the widest part. But such an incident 

 as this merely adds zest to the gentle 

 proposition of oology in this section 



However, the set of six was taken 

 from a similar location, but the set of 

 seven was in a nest in a depression in 

 the dirt floor of a small cave such as I 

 described in the beginning of this arti- 

 cle. Both were saved and though both 

 have since gone out of my hands into 

 other collections, I can recall every de- 

 tail connected with their taking as 

 clearly as though it happened yester- 

 day. 



Probably my next paper in the Oolo- 

 GiST will deal with some one of the 

 species of Owls indigenous to Orange 

 county, which I have not already dis- 

 cussed. 



Harky H. Dunn. 



A Green Heronry. 



On May "20, 1901, while walking 

 through a piece of woods I came upon 

 one of those natural hollows commonly 

 called "kettle-holes." 



This one was about 150 feet across 

 and was partially filled with water, 

 bushes and trees. As I came nearer I 

 was surprised to hear a number of 

 hoarse "quaks," and on looking through 

 the bushes I saw a large number of 

 Green Herons rising from all parts of 

 the "hole." There were so many of the 

 birds that I hardly thought th^y could 

 be nesting there as I had never before 

 seen any in that vicinity. On account 

 of the water I was unable to approach 

 very near, but within a half hour most 

 of the birds had returned. 



I visited the place again a few days 

 later and as before the birds fiew up on 



