and the ascent begun, the birds are 
beside themselves with rage, and 
dash at the intruder with angry 
shouts which really stimulate en¬ 
deavor where they are intended to 
discourage it. 
How fatal is the beauty of an 
egg-shell! There be those of us who 
have drunk so oft of this subtle 
potion that the hand goes out in¬ 
stinctively to grasp the proffered 
cup. Besides, the product of an 
Olive-side’s skill is of a very special 
kind,—a rich cream-colored oval, 
warmed by a hint of living flesh, 
shadowed by lavenders 
and splotched with saucy chestnut. 
It is irresistible! But, boys, don’t 
do it! We are old topers ourselves; 
public sentiment is against us, and 
our days are numbered. It is right 
that it should be so. Besides that, 
and speaking in all seriousness now, 
while it is desirable and necessary 
that a few representative collections 
of natural history should be built 
up for the public use, it does not fol¬ 
low that the public good is secured 
by the accumulation of endless pri¬ 
vate hoards of birds’ eggs—whose 
logical end, in ninety-nine cases out 
of a hundred, is the scrap-heap. You are probably one of the ninety- 
nine. Think twice before you “start a collection,” and then—don’t! 
Taken in the San Jacinto Mis. Photo by the Author 
A DIFFIDENT OLIVE-SIDE 
No. 178 
Western Wood Pewee 
A. O. U. No. 462. Myiochanes richardsoni richardsoni (Swainson). 
Synonyms.— Short-legged Pewee. Richardson’s Pewee. 
Description. — Adults: Above deep grayish brown or grayish olive-brown, the 
pileum with dusky mesial streaks, the quills and tail dusky; a lighter shade of grayish 
brown continued around sides and across breast, lightening on chin and throat, where 
905 
