. The Oölogist for the student of birds, their nests and eggs . rowing collection of myfriend. Around on the other side ofthe tree there was an unfinished Wood-peckers nest which we investigated,succeeding which he proceeded to chopout the lesser bird and in resting be-tween strokes of the hatchet the came-ra caught him. The usual bunch ofsmall sticks is shown protruding fromthe hole in the tree and without these there is very little use in chopping in-to the nest of one of these birds, for,even though the nest be new and thebirds ever so anxious there is everyprobability that it will contain
. The Oölogist for the student of birds, their nests and eggs . rowing collection of myfriend. Around on the other side ofthe tree there was an unfinished Wood-peckers nest which we investigated,succeeding which he proceeded to chopout the lesser bird and in resting be-tween strokes of the hatchet the came-ra caught him. The usual bunch ofsmall sticks is shown protruding fromthe hole in the tree and without these there is very little use in chopping in-to the nest of one of these birds, for,even though the nest be new and thebirds ever so anxious there is everyprobability that it will contain noeggs. They seem to complete thislattice work of twigs after the fullnumber of the set has been laid ratherthan when the horsehair lining is putin, and it is a sure protection againstmice and snakes and possibly againstthe English Sparrow, if that pest evergets so far west as this. There areliterally thousands of such trees asthe one here shown scattered oversouthern California and it is no exag-geration to say that in nearly every THE OOLOGIST. *\ (,«) 151. one of them, especially in suitablelocalities, there will be found a Wrensnest during the months from the lastweek of April to the end of June—andpossibly later. It has been my ex-perience that sets of seven predomi-nate in the eggs laid by this bird, butfrequently sets of eight and nine arefound. Small sets of five and six areusually incomplete and if left may ormay not be filled, just as the bird hap-pens to feel about it. I have left smallsets after having chopped a huge holein the tree and had them completed;on the other hand, I have left them in a nest scarcely disturbed from itsfirst condition and found them aban-doned when I came again. The great-est number of sets of this Wren that Iever found in one day was nine, andthey ranged in size from seven to nineeggs, all fresh, all easily collected andall safely blown, a feat I have notequaled though I have taken manysets since. This was in 1902, I believethough I am
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