98 



THE OOLOGIST 



During the season of 1917, six differ- 

 ent nests were found in a strip of 

 woods a mile long and a little over a 

 quarter of a mile in width; built by 

 at least four different pairs of birds; 

 two held eggs, one with Cowbirds, two 

 were deserted and empty, the other 

 two were deserted, one held a punctur- 

 ed egg of the owner, the other a Cow- 

 bird's and a punctured Warbler's egj 

 and a broken Warbler's egg on the 

 ground beneath. Three or four eggs, 

 are laid or if Cowbirds are pres- 

 ent, and they usually are, one or two 

 sometimes three eggs are laid. 



FROM CAPE TOWN, AFRICA 



The season here is now over and ap- 

 parently extends from the beginning 

 of August till the end of November; 

 as you said that some notes from this 

 far off land might be of interest, I will 

 give them for just those species of 

 which I have been able to get speci- 

 mens myself, amplyfying them from 

 the experiences of other collectors out 

 here, and I may as well begin with 

 the Bakbakiri, as I see in the October 

 number that that list of Ducks that I 

 sent, has been insulted but I wai 

 sorry to see that it was at the end of 

 the magazine. There wasn't room to 

 state where the bird is found, namely 

 here in South Africa; there was a ref- 

 erence to the Dutch name, but of 

 course that might well convey the 

 idea that the writer was in Holland 

 and perhaps even a dubious neutral! 

 Egg collecting is very uphill in Cape 

 Colony as to begin with there are only 

 very few who take any interest in it, 

 and moreover the nests are most aw- 

 fully difficult to locate, as compared 

 with other countries in which I have 

 collected previously. The birds seem 

 to abound in great numbers, but one 

 can search through the most perfect 

 spots without finding a sign of any 

 nest at all, and one can watch the. 



movements of the birds themselves 

 for hours but they will never give any 

 indication of where their abode is! 



I will from time to time send notes 

 of other birds whose eggs I have been 

 able to get this season. 



O. C. C. Nicolls, 

 Major, R. G. A. 



"CALIFORNIA NOTES" 



I've been in the field for several 

 months now, and have collected some 

 nice things. Was on the Mojave Des- 

 ert last week and brought back six 

 nice sets of Lecontes Thrasher. They're 

 all nicely incubated too, which mean 3 

 potash and patience. Pierce and I 

 have taken seven sets of Red-bellied 

 Hawk this year, which isn't so bad. I 

 got a few nice of Raven down on the 

 coast. If a fellow could use an aero- 

 plane instead of a rope it would be 

 easier. We leave Saturday for the 

 Colorado Desert after Crissal Thrash- 

 er, Albert Towhee, Plumeaus Gnat- 

 catcher, Verdin, etc. It's beautiful, 

 wonderful weather here just now, in 

 fact, has been all winter. Half the 

 time it was hard work convincing 

 yourself that it was really winter time. 

 I can hear Plain Tit-mouse and Cactus 

 Wren calling as I write and in the 

 garden there are six pair of Quail, and 

 a California Thrasher all scratching 

 and digging together. The Quail have 

 not started nesting as yet, as I come 

 across them in small coveys yet, but 

 the old thrasher is digging grubs for 

 a nest of young just a few years out- 

 side the garden in a grease wood 

 clump. Sparrow Hawks are nesting. 

 Wren Tits, Bust Tits, Jays, Crows, 

 Song Sparrows, Hummingbirds, and 

 many others. We had a wonderful 

 flight of Swanson Hawk last Monday 

 between three and four hundred went 

 ever flying north. I've seen a half 

 dozen large flocks of Pelicans go by, 

 one flock of at least two thousand 



