98 
THK CONDOR 
I Vol. Ill 
lower branches she dropped down be- 
hind the trunk and Hew to cover up the 
creek. 
This nest was made in a crotch of an 
oblique part of the tree, somewhat sep- 
arated from the main portion, furnish- 
ing a most exposed site. The nest in 
the preceding season had been lined 
with bark and binder twine, most of 
which yet remained. i\ few downy 
owl’s feathers had been added to make 
the structure habitable, and there the 
climber found three eggs. As there 
was water lielow the nest 1 had to jump 
a portion of the stream to receiv'e the 
eggs; and as usual in such instances, 
my elation at hnding the ])roducts of 
this second Bubo overcame my ordinary 
caution and I landed one foot plump 
into the freezing water. The second 
.set was soon placed in safety, however; 
the height of the nest was thirty-eight 
feet from the water. It is interesting 
to note that during all the proceedings 
incident to our spoilation of this nest, 
the head of the family sat quietly in an 
adjacent thicket, and was not observed 
until we were about to leave the place. 
The eggs of the first set varied in in- 
cubation from fresh to abundance of 
blood. Two of them had been clawed 
by the heavy feet of the sitting bird, 
but the claw mark of one came in such 
position, being about the middle of one 
side, that it could be used for the drill 
hole. The other showed three claw 
perforations, and only one of them 
could be hidden by the drill. The eggs 
of the second set were fairly fresh, one 
showing some blood. It is evident that 
setting or incubation begins with the 
laying of the first egg. 
This paper should properly end here, 
but the peculiar part of the record is 
yet to come. Of course I visited all the 
old nests along the creek bottom until 
1 reached home, but found no more 
owl’s nests. It is needle.ss to look for 
hollow trees in these bottoms, for none 
of the trees grow large enough to have 
a cavity that will contain a Horned Owl 
crosswise. The foregoing applies mere- 
ly to the cottonwoods and aspens of the 
creeks, not the pines of the mountains. 
But this is not the peculiar thing I 
meant to mention. 
Upon our arrival at home, my wife 
with proper curiosity desired to see the 
products of the day’s outing. Having 
learnedly told her on previous occasions 
that owls’ eggs are always white, I un- 
packed the two sets and spread them 
out before her. 
“Why, I thought you said they were 
white,” she exclaimed. 
“The}' are,” I averred. “Don’t you 
call that white?” 
“Of course not,” she replied, with a 
smile at my apparent ignorance of 
colors “Can’t you see that thev are 
green?” 
And sure enough, Mr. Editor, those 
eggs of the Western Horned Owl have 
a decided greenish tinge. They are 
really not white at all. 
W W I??! 
The Bullock’s and Arizona Hooded Orioles. 
I!Y J. F ILLINGWORTH, PALO .ALTO, CAL. 
O F ALE the birds that visit South- 
ern California in the spring the 
orioles are certainly tiie most 
interesting. Every bird lover knows 
what a thrill of pleasure passes through 
him as he notes the first return from 
the south. Usually the Bullock’s 
Oriole (^Icterus Inillocki) arrives in Los 
Angeles Co. several weeks before the 
Arizona Hooded Oriole {Icterus cuccula- 
tus uelsoid). From my migration notes 
for the last four years Bullock’s arrived 
March 19 to .\pril 10 and the Arizona 
Hooded from April 4 to May i, but 
usually the latter came late in April, 
d'he males of both varieties precede 
their mates by about two weeks, and 
the nest is commenced shortly after 
the arrival of the females. The adult 
Bullock’s Orioles generally give theirs a 
firm support between two or more 
small branches, or place it in a crotch 
so as to le.ssen the danger from the 
winds. It is interesting to note that 
the Aoung birds are much less skillful 
