172 



THE OOLOGIST. 



tilled us with hope and we hurried ou. A 

 large bird flushed near me and it required 

 but a single glance, at its peculiar flight, to 

 identify it as the king rail. Hastening to 

 the bunch of marsh hay, from which it 

 had risen, I saw the nest. It was partly 

 submerged in water and composed of grass 

 and weeds upon which were deposited the 

 12 eggs. We soon reached the end of this 

 marsh and struck off through the woods 

 towards home, after a walk of several rods 

 we came to a clearing covered with marsh 

 hay here many marsh wrens had made 

 their homes, but, although we searched all 

 we could hnd, we found no eggs. It was 

 just after leaving this place that "11" 

 found his first nest. We were going up a 

 steep ridge, when glancing upwards he be- 

 held a red -shouldered hawk's nest. It was 

 situated in the foik of a tall oak tree and 

 could not be climbed even with climbers, 

 but, finally by the aid of a sapling and 

 much boosting, "R" reached the first limb 

 of a large tree near it. I handed him a 

 fence rail which he extended across, mak- 

 ing a sort of bridge over which he 

 sci'ambled and was soon looking into the 

 nest. He said that it contained one young 

 hawk and one rotten egg. The egg was 

 immediately thrown down, but the hawk, 

 young as he was, threw himself on his back 

 with a cry of defiance. Finally, after sev- 

 eral unsuccessful attempts, "R" got him by 

 the nape of the neck brought him struggl- 

 ing, down to the first limb and tossed him 

 to us, where he fell into the coat stretched 

 out to receive him. On oiir way home we 

 found one more nest, this a song sparrow's, 

 was placed on the side of a ditch and con- 

 tained four incubated eggs. 



J. C. W., Detroit, Mich. 



Notes from California. 



March 24. My first find for '88 was a 

 fine set of W. Red-tail Hawk. The nest 

 was in the top of a large oak tree ; and was 

 about two feet in diameter outside, and ten 

 inches inside. From the ground I could 

 aee the skeleton and skin of a Cotton-tail 



hanging over the side of the nest, and 

 climbing up, was agreeably surprised to see 

 two fine eggs. These were of a dull dirty- 

 white with reddish blotches. This nest was 

 about five miles from Oakland. 



March 30. Found to-day another W. 

 Red-tail Hawk's nest, but as it was in the 

 top of a hundred-foot redwood tree with no 

 branches for the first thirty feet, I con- 

 cluded that I did not want that nest. 



April 15. Collected to-day two sets of 

 Anna's Hummingbird and a set of two 

 Barn Owl. The hummers' nests were 

 both on branches of the cypress and each 

 contained two eggs. The Barn Owl's nest 

 was in a deserted barn. The eggs were 

 pure white and spherical. 



April 21. Rufus' Hummingbird; collect- 

 ed to-day a set of this beautiful species. 

 The nest was built on a branch of a cypress 

 and contained two fresh eggs. Both nest 

 and eggs of this species are so much like 

 the Anna's that without seeing the bird it 

 is impossible to identify them. To-day, 

 also, a set of four Califprnian Brown 

 Towhee. 



April 25. Gambel's White-crowned Spar- 

 row ; a set of three fresh eggs of this 

 species were taken to-day. The nest was 

 composed of weeds and grasses, placed in a 

 low bush growing in a creek bed. The eggs 

 are very handsome, being of a light color 

 thickly marked with large blotches of choco- 

 late. 



May 1 . Lutescent Warbler ; took a beau- 

 tiful set of five eggs of this species. I was 

 walking through some dense woods, when 

 a bird suddenly fiew up from my feet. Of 

 course I knew what that meant, and im- 

 mediately got down on my knees and be- 

 gan to hunt for the nest. After quite a 

 little search I found it, snugly hidden in a 

 clump of ferns. It was composed of grasses, 

 leaves and strips of redwood bark. The 

 eggs were five fresh and in shape and color 

 exactly like a set of Blue Yellow- back 

 Warbler which I have in my collection; 

 white with numerous reddish spots and 

 blotches. The bird kept hopping about 

 in the trees near us, sometimes coming 

 quite close and chirping continually. 



