THE OOLOGIST. 



173 



May 1. First set of Black-headed Gros- 

 beak was taken t »-day : four fr< sb 

 Also a sit of Green-back Goldfinch; four 



May 5. A friend brought me two sets 

 of Mudhen (Am. Coot) of eleven eggs each 

 ami one set of Milliard Duck; seven eggs 

 collected in some marsh land near Niles, 

 Cal. 



May <',. Went out in the bills and col- 

 lected among others, three sets Bullock's 

 Oriole of live four and four eggs respect- 

 ively ; three sets of Green-back Goldfinch of 

 three four and five eggs, and one set of 

 Black-headed Grosbeak; three eggs. The 

 nests of the Orioles were built in the very 

 tops of some willow trees growing over a 

 creek. They were r>ensile, about nine 

 inches long and very beautiful, being made 

 of strong grasses and horsehair interwoven, 

 lined with down form the willows. The 

 eggs are about a« large as those of the 

 Baltimore Oriole and of the same color. 



May 13. Took a set of W. House Wren; 

 seven fresh eggs ; and also a set of Lazuli 

 Bunting; four eggs, incubation commenced. 

 The nest of the last named bird was made 

 entirely of grasses and placed in a small 

 bush. The eggs of this species are of a pale 

 blue color. 



May 16. A friend of mine collected for 

 me to-day, a set of ten Cinnamon Teal eggs; 

 taken near Niles, Cal. 



May 24. Collected to-day, a handsome 

 set of five W. Meadow Lark. These birds 

 are quite common here, but their nests are 

 very hard to find, being built right on the 

 ground in the pastures and grain fields. 

 The eggs are like the Eastern Meadow 

 Lark. Found also to-day, a set of Piusset- 

 backed Thrush. This nest was built in 

 some blackberry vines that hung over the 

 side of a bank, and was composed of dead 

 leaves, mud and moss. Eggs four, incuba- 

 tion advanced- They are green, about the 

 size of a Wood Thrush's egg and thickly 

 covered with brown spots. 



May 26. Took first set of W. Lark Finch 

 for this year. These birds .are common in 

 some localities and very scarce in others. 

 They build on the ground and in low bushre 



or trees, never building higher than seven 

 feet. Their eggs are white, with brown 

 markings and lines, sometimes forming a 

 circle around the larger end, sometimes 

 distributed liberally all over the egg. Tney 

 usualty lay four eggs. 



June 6. I took, in Santa Cruz Co. , a set 

 of four Spurred Towhee, incubation well 

 advanced. These birds build their nests on 

 the ground in deep woods, and are there- 

 fore rather difficult to find. The eggs are 

 so thickly covered with sma 11 reddish-brown 

 spots that is hard to detect the ground 

 color. 



June 17. While out trout fishing in 

 Santa Cruz County I found a nest of the 

 Blue-fronted Jay. The nest was about 

 fifteen feet from the ground in a sycamore 

 tree, and was very bulky and heavy, being 

 built of miad, dead leaves and twigs, with a 

 deep cavity for the eggs. These were four 

 in number, larger than the common Jay's 

 and of a light green color, covered with 

 dark spots. 



These are not all of the species that I 

 have taken but space forbids and I must 

 close. 



T. L., Oakland, Cal. 



Items of Interest. 



Editok Oologist: 



I noticed in your last issue an article on 

 pure white eggs of certain species, i. e., 

 English Sparrow and White-rumped 

 Shrike. I can add a little by saying that I 

 have in my collection, a set of four pure 

 white eggs of the Cliff Swallow, taken 

 here. 



I would like to announce that during 

 the past season, I have been preparing a 

 list of the birds of Orleans county. The 

 list, now complete, show y s 170 species of 

 which 83 are summer residents, 13 residents, 

 47 migrants, 9 winter visitants, 3 stragglers, 

 and 15 cannot be assigned with certainty to 

 any one particular list. 86 species are 

 known to breed in the county. 



V, F. P., Medina, N, Y. 



