156 



THE OOLOGIST 



vance of the army. Pushing, pulling 

 and forcing our way through the brush 

 and up a very precipitous, rocky, hill- 

 side on the opposite side of the creek, 

 we at last arrived at the foot of an 

 immense live oak tree. And there in 

 the forks of which rested the huge 

 nest of the Aquila Chrysaetos, but 

 which you and I, reader, call the 

 Golden Eagle. It was a short matter 

 to negotiate that tree and peer over 

 the rim of the flattened top and rest 

 our eye for the first time on the eggs 

 of this bird in situ. Never will the 

 editor live long enough to forget the 

 thrill of that morning. No oologist 

 every forgets his first view of this 

 kind. This nest overlooked the wide 

 expanse of the valley for miles and 

 miles, and in it rested the two price- 

 less specimens which come to the lot 

 of but few oologists as personally 

 taken. A number of photographs of 

 the nest and eggs in situ were secured, 

 one of which is presented in this issue 

 of The Oologist. These eggs now rest 

 in the cabinet of the editor as one of 

 his most valued possessions. 



A history of the nesting of the pair 

 of birds to which these eggs belonged 

 was' contributed to The Oologist by 

 our friend, C. S. Sharp of Escondido 

 who has known them for many years 

 and which was published in The 

 Oologist, Vol. XXX pg. 34 and erron- 

 eously credited to C. S. Dixon. This 

 article is illustrated by a number of 

 excellent photographs those on pages 

 39, 41, and 43 being pictures of the 

 nest now being described and gives 

 the reader a good idea of the character 

 of territory in which these fierce birds 

 nest. While we were in the nesting 

 tree, photographing and securing the 

 specimens the parent birds circled 

 majestically over the valley, passing 

 closely over the head of the Mrs. on 

 the other side of the valley and afford- 

 ing a splendid view of the majestic 



specimens, with the glass. These 

 eggs as with all others that are known 

 to have been laid by this pair of birds 

 and taken were found to be infertile 

 on blowing, and out of a series of 36 

 sets of Golden Eagle eggs in the cabi- 

 net of the editor, are the most highly 

 prized. 



R. M. Barnes. 



The Prairie Hen 



Is the Prairie Hen related to the 

 Cowbird? This may seem a very 

 foolish question to ask but how did 

 that perfectly good Prairie Hen's eggs 

 get into that Marsh Hawk's nest, I 

 found today? Containing a set of six" 

 perfectly fresh eggs and the Prairie 

 Hen's eggs also perfectly fresh. I 

 cannot believe that there is a Prairie 

 Hen in Minnesota that would do such 

 a thing as to entrust one of her babies 

 to the care of a Marsh Hawk, but I 

 do believe though that the Marsh 

 Hawk wouldn't hesitate a second to 

 take a whole setting of Prairie Hen's 

 eggs and carry them to his young to 

 devour. At any rate his reputation 

 up in this country is no better than 

 Bill's because he might do anything. 



This nest in question was located 

 in a small patch of willows and about 

 two and one-half feet from the ground. 

 The female was on the nest when I 

 came up, and immediately started fly- 

 ing near me, uttering her cries of dis- 

 tress, whereupon the male made his 

 appearance. ■ I walked up to the nest 

 snd to my surprise found six Hawk's 

 and one Prairie Hen's egg. I touched 

 Lhem and they were warm. I took 

 them to the car to blow out and all 

 seven eggs were perfectly fresh, not 

 a scratch or mark on the hen's egg. 

 Well there was a farm house not far 

 off, probably a quarter of a mile, so I 

 thought I would go over and see if 

 some children hadn't put that egg in 

 the nest, but upon inquiries I found 



