THE OOLOaiST 



127 



Illinois Notes 



The following notes include nests 

 found from March 13th to May 28th, 

 1917. 



On March 13th one set of Crow eggs 

 from small post, oak tree, eggs six 

 in number, slightly incubated. 



April 30th, set of Brown Thrush 

 from crab apple tree; nest of small 

 oak twigs and leaves; eggs four in 

 number, fresh; 



May 6th. set of three Brown Thrush 

 from brush pile; nest of white oak 

 twigs; eggs fresh. 



May 6th, set of whip-poor-will; nesi 

 in hollow depression on ground; eggs 

 slightly incubated. 



May 7th, set of Blue Jay in oak tree; 

 nest of oak twigs, straw and paper; 

 4^ eggs; slightly incubated. 



May 7th, one set of 4 eggs, name of 

 bird unknown. 



May 20, two sets of Meadowlark in 

 meadow, one set of four eggs and one 

 set of 5 eggs; fresh. 



May 21, 1 set of Mourning Dove, 

 nesting on ground; eggs heavily in- 

 cubated. 



May 26, 1 set of Cardinal Grosbeak 

 in blackberry patch; eggs 3 in number, 

 1 egg is larger than the other two, 

 almost a third larger but with all 

 cardinal markings; incubated. 



Earl Harlow, 

 Texico, 111. 



Nesting of the White-throated Swift. 



Last Sunday, May 20th, my brother 

 Sidney, Martin Badger of Santa Paula, 

 Mr. J. P. Herring of the California 

 Academy of Science, San Francisco, 

 and myself started for the nesting 

 ground of Swifts. Herring and I in 

 his "fliver" and Sid and Badger in 

 Badger's "Haynes Six." 



We carried two coils of heavy rope 

 and Badger's machine pooled a twenty- 

 two foot ladder. On arriving at the 

 mouth of the canyon where the swifts 



nested, Sid and Badger carried the 

 ladder and one coil of rope to the 

 foot of the slope and sat down to 

 watch the birds while Herring and I 

 went on about a mile and a half far- 

 ther to collect a pair of two weeks 

 old Turkey Vultures which Herring 

 wanted for a mounted group. 



The Buzzards' nest was in a hole 

 on the face of a sandstone cliff and 

 was about twenty-five feet from the 

 top and fifty fet from the bottom. The 

 hole ran back in the cliff about twelve 

 feet and the nest was at the back end 

 of it so I had taken a stiff piece of 

 wire, bent it like a sheperd's crook 

 and tied it on the end of a pole to fish 

 the young ones out with. Mr. Herr- 

 ing let me down with the other coil 

 of rope till I was even with the hole, 

 then I pulled the young ones out, killed 

 them by pinching them back of the 

 wingS-, placed them in a sack I carried, 

 then Mr. Herring let me on down to 

 the bottom of the cliff. 



When we got back to the Swift can- 

 yon Sid and Badger had located a 

 nest and had placed the ladder pre- 

 paratory to going up^. The nest was 

 about twelve inches back in a crevice 

 and about twenty feet from the 

 bottom of the cliff. The crevice was 

 just wide enough to admit one's hand 

 edgewise and the eggs had to be lift- 

 ed out with the tips of the fingers. 

 Believe me, it was a ticklish job. The 

 nest contained four fresh eggs and is 

 now in the collection of Mr. Badger. 



Nest number two was about seventy- 

 five feet to the left of the first nest 

 and in practically the same kind of 

 a location. This nest contained three 

 fresh eggs and is now in the posses- 

 sion of the California Academy of 

 Science, San Francisco, California. 



Nest number three was about a hun- 

 dred and fifty feet to the right of the 

 first nest. It was about twenty-seven 

 feet from the bottom of the cliff and 



