Potent SPU BOING e BeU UG bers N il 
they are becoming more and more numerous and are state-wide in distribu- 
tion. The reason for this change of heart is just one more item on the long 
list of ornithological puzzles. 
Speaking of puzzles brings to mind a very peculiar one which our guide, 
a University of Georgia zoology professor, and I encountered in a young 
broomsedge field. Our two sprightly entomologists were scouring the 
premises for black widow spiders when they suddenly waved and yelled to 
us in the excited manner that means a find. We dashed to the spot, expect- 
ing a black widow or a rare insect, but instead they cautiously pushed aside 
the tall grasses to reveal a tiny nest. Neatly woven of fine grasses, it was 
more perfectly round than any I had ever seen and held three pure white 
eggs asin acup. The eggs looked a bit longer and more pointed than most 
I knew and I hesitated to name the owner. The Georgia professor was a 
bird man, however, and he identified them as possibly a Bachman’s sparrow. 
This seemed too good to be true —— to hear that rare bird and find its nest 
all in one day! I examined the eggs more closely and in a new light this 
time. The professor was still not convinced of their identity but felt fairly 
certain that Bachman’s was the best possibility. I had confidence in his 
judgment. After a last look, we replaced the grasses carefully and left the 
nest for other collecting. A short time later I was surprised to see our 
two entomologists back at the exact spot where we had examined the nest 
before. A suspicion planted itself firmly in my brain but didn’t bear fruit 
until several days later when I had a reason to glance through “Oklahoma’s” 
field notes. There, under the heading “Georgia broomsedge field” were listed 
as collected “3 lizard eggs’ — and no bird eggs mentioned. I knew then 
that those two insect fiends had pulled a fast one —- weaving a pretty little 
grass nest themselves and planting the lizard eggs in it. How they must 
have been laughing silently as the professor and I puzzled over the eggs’ 
owner, and put it down as a possible Bachman’s sparrow! And how they 
razzed me for not recognizing lizard eggs when I saw them, after they 
finally did admit the hoax. The fact that the eggs were in the wrong 
habitat was a poor alibi; I had to regain my reputation the hard way! 
fl fl iss 
Florida Birds as Seen by a Northerner 
By C. W. G. EIFRIG 
WHEN A BIRD OBSERVER comes to Florida from the north, to the state where 
the summer spends the winter, to take up his residence there, he very likely 
does so with great expectations and anticipations as to the wealth and 
variety of Florida birdlife. Does not Howell in his monumental “Florida 
Bird Life” list 24 subspecies alone that have the name of the state in their 
vernacular designation?* And do not earlier ornithologists in their accounts 
*They are, each preceded by the name of the state: cormorant, duck, red-tailed and 
red-shouldered hawks, Insular red-shouldered hawk, bobwhite, crane, clapper rail, 
gallinule, screech owl, burrowing owl, nighthawk, blue jay, jay, crow, chickadeée, wren, 
bluebird, pine warbler, prairie warbler, yellowthroat, redwing, grackle, cardinal, grass- 
hopper sparrow. 
