162 



THE OOLOGUST 



lay. In this case the result of delay 

 should have been realized and avoid- 

 ed in the future but I doubt it. 



Owing to working six days a week 

 and drilling' the seventh, ornithology 

 was temporarily neglected and it was 

 not until the 12th of June that I was 

 able again to ramble about. On that 

 day, however, I secured a nice set of 

 four Chimney Swallows from under 

 the eaves of a railroad station. These 

 birds are so similar in appearance, 

 actions and notes to our Barn Swal- 

 lows that I doubt if several were 

 turned loose in this country that any- 

 one would recognize them for what 

 they were. Their nests were the same 

 bowl shaped structures of pellets of 

 mud and grass with the lining of 

 grasses and feathers, but I found 

 them almost entirely on the outside of 

 buildings, under the eaves and not in- 

 side. Two broods are reared each 

 year and it was the second brood that 

 suffered at my hands, young being on 

 the wing by the first of June. Al- 

 together four nests were found, the 

 second on the 27th of June with five 

 fresh eggs, the third on the 10th of. 

 July with three slightly incubated and 

 the last on the 12th of July with four 

 practically fresh eggs. 



House Martins proved to be abund- 

 ant during the summer months, each 

 town having its quota and I found 

 them very interesting birds. In ap- 

 pearance they resemble the Tree 

 Swallows, but had a white rump. In 

 nesting habits, however, they are 

 startling and different, for they build 

 a nest resembling in every respect 

 that of our Cliff Swallows. These are 

 plastered under the eaves of buildings, 

 usually three or four together, and be- 

 ing in towns were a hard proposition 

 to get at. My vocabulary wasn't ex- 

 tensive enough to explain to the oc- 

 cupants of a house why I desired to 

 get to their roof and rob a bird's nest, 



and I wasn't particularly anxious any- 

 how to attract the attention. I knew I 

 would if I attempted this in daylight. 

 Anything an American soldier did was 

 of absorbing interest to the people, 

 and an action such as I contemplated 

 would, I know, cause a gathering of 

 all the inhabitants within a consider- 

 able distance. Fortunately there were 

 several nests under the eaves of the 

 railroad station and it was possible 

 by clinging to the ornate structure of 

 this building to get them. So at day- 

 light on the lt4h of June, before any- 

 one was out of bed, I made an attempt 

 and the one nest I was able to reach 

 held to my great satisfaction four 

 fresh eggs. 



On the 18th of June", while crossing 

 a slashing in the woods, I flushed a 

 Nightjar, the goatsucker of Europe, 

 from two fresh eggs this ended my 

 collecting for the year of 1918. These 

 eggs laid on a bed of pine bark a; the 

 foot of a briar, and were typical of 

 this family, being white, handsomely 

 marked with lilac and brown. 



Collecting seemed to me, at first, to 

 be the least of my difficulties for 

 there still remained the necessity of 

 blowing them and making good speci- 

 mens of them. I pondered long over 

 this matter and in the end succeeded 

 beyond my modest expectations. Using 

 a hat pin as a drill, concerning which 

 no personal questions will be answered, 

 and my pipe stem as a blow pipe, I 

 was able to clean the eggs thoroughly, 

 and through a hole small enough to 

 satisfy the most exacting oologist. 

 There still remained the task of pack- 

 ing them securely and getting them 

 safely home but this was an easy mat- 

 ter and now I have a small number 

 personally taken sets of European 

 birds to remind me of my fourteen 

 months with the A. E. P. 



Thos. D. Burleigh, 

 Pittsburgh, Pa. 



