I 
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Tacoma* Wash. 
Dec*28,1916. 
Dear Mr. Brewster: 
It is possible that my annual letter may not 
be quite due, but the spirit mores me so I am getting in a day 
or two ahead of time. 
I took no eggs new to my collection this year as the 
the way matters stood made it practically out of the question 
for me to get away from the vicinity of Tacoma.. However, I took 
enough good Bets from around here to enable me to add a number 
of new and interesting eggs by the exchange route. My collec- 
tion now numbers 760 varieties on the A.O.IT. list, and I am ex¬ 
pecting two or three new sets shortly after the first of the 
year. I am especially anxious to get a set each of the Short- 
tailed Hawk and the Gyrfalcon (I'.r. gyrfalco ). so. if by any 
chance you know of anyone who has them for exchange, you will do 
me a great favor by letting me know about it. 
It has been an exceedingly interesting year from a 
bird skin point of view as something* new or rare seems to be 
putting in an appearance at very short intervals. The Baird’s 
Sandpiper, for example, has been unknown to me in this state for 
the twenty years that I have been here,yet last fall it was 
comparatively common on the Tacoma flats. I am wondering if 
they will be like the Lesser Yellow-legs that were common in 
the fall of 1913,which is the first and only time I have ever 
known them to occur here. 
