70 



THE OOLOGIST. 



return again. With so many birds 

 together, uttering their wild note, with 

 much fluttering of wings, these gath- 

 erings were attractive and full of life. 

 Then in an instant at some intrusion, 

 they would with rush of beating 

 pinions, depart as quickly as they 

 came. 



During the autumn they become 

 very flat on the acorns as well as grain. 

 I have seen immense numbers of them 

 swarm into fields where they almost 

 covered the grain shocks and did much 

 damage, but their natural food seemed 

 to be largely acorns in this locality. I 

 remember once to have crept through 

 the underbrush until close upon a 

 company of perhaps one hundred, 

 among some trees in an open place in 

 a grove, some were on the ground and 

 some on trees, where they were resting. 

 Certainly they were as trim and grace- 

 ful as any bird could be. There the 

 sun gleamed on the resplendent plum- 

 age which shone again. During the 

 spring of 1882 I collected eggs of this 

 species in the white oak forests along 

 the Iowa River in Johnson County. 

 Again in 1887, near Lake Itasca, 

 Minn, and later on the Red River, but 

 these resorts were abandoned. 



Uniformly I have found them nest- 

 ing in remote forest places where 

 shelter was good. Here they lose 

 much of their fear and may be ap- 

 proached quite closely, yet the intense 

 energy and activity is noticeable and 

 really they make quite a good deal of 

 fuss about the amusingly, shiftless 

 style of nest they are building. They 

 certainly lose many more "sticks" 

 than are made to stay in place at the 

 forking of some horizontal branch, 

 from four to thirty feet from ground, 

 and as far out from the tree or sapling 

 as may be. 



This nest is so flimsy that the bird 

 might be convicted of "criminal care- 

 lessness" toward the young bird or 

 "squab," for if the egg does not 



anticipate the accidental downfall the 

 offspring is more than likely to do so. 

 Here in lies a chief factor in his 

 decrease; this, with the encroachments 

 of the ever-lurking Crow, which de- 

 stroys eggs and young. 



Upon this slight structure is deposit- 

 ed one creamy white, smooth, shiny 

 egg, which may be easily seen from 

 below. I have not taken a set of two 

 eggs. Before me is an egg kindly 

 presented by my brother, the Rev. H. 

 L. Preston, collected by him in April, 

 1873, an early date for this latitude as 

 those other sets were taken in May. 

 This egg is elliptical, wrought to the 

 faintest suggestion of a point at one 

 end, being almost equal ended, the 

 outlines are very even. Incubation 

 was advanced. The measurements 

 are 1.40 x 1.05. 



One summer day in 1900 while I was 

 driving along the dusty road a fine 

 adult male of the species flew close by 

 me and alighted in a small willow, 

 where he sat looking about for a little 

 time, then flew swiftly out across the 

 fields and he was gone, the last one I 

 have seen, and this creature of the 

 passing time, like his native groves, 

 has disappeared. 



An Egg Collecting Trip in Frankiin Co., 

 Indiana. 



The morning of May 21, 1902, equip- 

 ped with a complete set of oological 

 tools, I started out for the White Water 

 River, which is about four miles from 

 my home, (Oak Forest, Franklin Co., 

 Indiana.) 



It was a bright, beautiful May morn- 

 ing, not a breath of air stirring, the 

 green grass covered the ground, the 

 trees and flowers were in their full 

 bloom and splendor, the birds were 

 singing sweetly from every bush and 

 tree, while the females were busily 

 engaged in their household affairs. 



The object of this trip was to secure 



