122 



THE OOIOGIST. 



well what these unseen eggs are like. 

 We have birds whose eggs are un- 

 known and eggs whose birds are 

 unknown. I have in my collection at 

 home the white egg of a rail, which, 

 although it differs in color from other 

 rails' eggs, we still know is the egg of 

 a rail, but we don't know which rail 

 laid it. The rufous-headed bristle- 

 bird is peculiar to Victoria, but the 

 only eggs I ever obtained were got by 

 a friend at Lome. One peculiarity 

 about eggs that I have noticed is that, 

 while the main tone of the American 

 and European birds is blue, that of 

 Australian birds is distinctly red. 

 Less than a third, I should think, of 

 the eggs of Australian birds are. white. ' ' 

 What are your methods and equip- 

 ment in searching for eggs? 



"Very little— a tomahawk and an 

 egg basket. Most birds build low in 

 warm scrub. It's largely a matter of 

 going quietly, constantly ' keeping 

 your eyes open, and making the most 

 of the daylight. A discriminating 

 ear is also a guide. It finds a signifi- 

 cance in bird notes that the untrained 

 ear does not discover. But most 

 finds come from the eye— the fleeting 

 glimpse of a bird darting silently off 

 through the scrub as she leaves the 

 nest. It is a strange circumstance 

 that as soon as I had got all the ma- 

 terial for my book I lost the tomahawk 

 I had carried for years. I took it as an 

 omen that my work amongst nests 

 and eggs was finished." 



Most people will hope not. Mr. 

 Campbell, from the very nature of the 

 wholesome outdoor life to which his 

 leisure has been given,- is still a young 

 man, and as he strides along through 

 the bush the man who keeps with him 

 for a day is a good athlete. His work 

 is a fine and fascinating contribution 

 to natural science, much more gener- 

 ously recognized, perhaps, amongst 

 the scientists of England and Germany 

 than in his own country. Perhaps in 



the material sense he would be better 

 off if he had given his leisure to crick- 

 et or some other game that commands 

 the universal approval of Australians. 

 Only a few know the value of the 

 work he has done, but by those few it 

 is appreciated. Lately I received the 

 third volume on bird life issued by 

 the Geological Survey of Canada; the 

 annual reports of the Agricultural and 

 Forestry departments of New Zealand 

 give much space to the subject. In 

 Australia it has been left to a private 

 individual to do out of his own means 

 and leisure the work which the state 

 has done elsewhere. He has been 

 elected a colonial member of the Brit- 

 ish Ornithologists' Union— an honour 

 limited to only ten persons in the 

 world; while the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union has elected him one of 

 its corresponding "Fellows." All 

 honor to him that his work has been 

 so well done- 



Nesting of the Dotted Canon Wren in 



Alameda county, California. 



By Stanley G. Jewett. 



On May 8, 1905, while collecting 

 bird skins and eggs in the Upper Al- 

 ameda Canon in the Livermore Mts. 

 of Alameda county, California, I had 

 the good luck to find a nest of the 

 Dotted Canon Wren, C. m. punctulat- 

 us. The nest was discovered by acci- 

 dent, as most good things are, on the 

 8th of May, when it contained two 

 eggs and the set of five was completed 

 on the 11th and added to my collection 

 on the 12th. Both male and female 

 birds were observed up and down the 

 canon on several occasions so the 

 identity is complete. The female was 

 sitting above side of nest in cleft of 

 rock when we came to photograph it, 

 in its gloomy retreat amid the rocks 

 beside the roaring waters of the wild 

 gorge. 



The nest was composed of a mass of 



