THE OOLOGIST 



125 



Fiskal it builds low down, generally 

 about a foot from the ground, and pre- 

 fers a small bush that is detached by 

 a few yards from other bushes. The 

 nest is placed in the very center and 

 it is quite possible to walk round the 

 bush and even look down into it with- 

 out detecting the presence of a nest, 

 even though the bush may only be 

 two feet high and the same in 

 diameter, so cunningly is it concealed. 

 The clutch is usually 3, though some- 

 times 4, and the eggs (average size 

 .9 x .7) are of verditer blue mottled 

 with rusty red spots and blotches, dis- 

 tributed fairly even over the whole 

 surface. I sent a list of ducks by this 

 bird, which I see is in the Oologist 

 for October 1917, but this does not 

 anywhere near represent the number 

 heard. On arrival I was so struck 

 with the variety of song and also the 

 clear, sharp, whistling notes that for 

 the first few weeks I used to note 

 down each fresh one as I heard it re- 

 peated over and over again, but I soon 

 got tired of this as the song was per- 

 petually changing. My block house on 

 Signal Hill at Cape Town is surround- 

 ed with barbed-wire to a depth of 

 about 12 yards and every morning all 

 the year round various birds of this 

 species settle on it and commence, and 

 instead of there being only two birds 

 at a time as I first thought, there are 

 generally 3, viz. two males and one 

 female (sometimes also a Fiskal joins 

 the party, the two male Bakbakiris 

 are the ones who do the singing, each 

 evidently trying to out do the other 

 in the hopes of winning the lady. One 

 male starting its song, and the very 

 instant he finishes the other takes up 

 the reply, each in turn pointing its 

 long beak skyward in a very affected 

 manner, and so they go on, one after 

 the other for two or three minutes, 

 losing no time over it, and making a 

 tremendous but very melodious noise, 



then after a short pause, they will all 

 three fly away and alight perhaps 40 

 or 50 yards distant (followed, by the 

 Fiskal if one is present) and- com- 

 mence all over again, sometimes with 

 totally different songs. There are so 

 many birds of this species about that 

 often one can hear four or five duets 

 going on in different places, all with- 

 in 100 yards of one's position. It is 

 most difficult to get a good look at 

 them, as they all are very shy birds, 

 and if one opens a door, or looks at 

 them through a window, or being out- 

 side, lifts a field glass, they are off 

 like lightning. 



Mjor R. G. A 

 O. C. C. Nicolls, Major R. G. A., 

 Lion Battery, Cape Town, 



S. Africa. 



Oscar E. Baynard, who is known 

 and loved by the entire oologist fam- 

 ily will hunt birds' eggs and nests in 

 Germany in an American made tank. 



He is now in the government train- 

 ing school at Gettysburg, Pa., for 

 training having volunteered as a 

 driver of one of the giant caterpillar 

 tanks and we assume will be in France 

 shortly. We wish him the best of 

 luck and that he may return safely 

 and soundly to furnish our readers 

 with more of his splendid bird notes. 

 We would advise the buzzards having 

 headquarters in the Berlin Rookery to 

 look out for Baynard as he is an ab- 

 solutely fearless climber, a splendid 

 shot and usually brings back what he 

 goes after. — Editor. 



Missouri Game Law Enforcement 

 During the past two months of 

 February and March it has been my 

 good fortune to spend a great many 

 lays on the Mississippi and Missouri 

 Rivers near St. Louis. I have dis- 

 covered two things, first, that the 

 water birds are a great deal more 

 plentiful than I had supposed, and 



