Jan., 1919 THE SOLITAIRES OF SHASTA 21 port, namely, the white with palest possible blue-gray tinge, and the definitely light blue type. In this set one egg appears almost pinkish as to ground, by reason of the diffusion of red markings, and the probable -,?arming effect (?f the contents. The more pronounced type is of the palest niagara green; while' the markings of both are of ochre red and prussian red. These six sets of eggs reposing in nests "taken with the bloom on", now occupy an entire drawer in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Oology. Only one of those who gaze upon them is able to recall a flood of delightful mem- ories (Bert alas! is exiled at Santa Cruz).; but with these authoritative trophies for a text the Director will be able to point out to hundreds of others something of the "meaning of things'", and to fill the minds of strangers with a sharp un- rest until they too have heard the Solitaire sing on Shasta. Santa Barbara, California, Decemlier 1, 1918. NESTING OF THE SIIORT-EARED OWL IN WESTERN WASHINGTON By E. A. KITCHIN WITH FOUR'PHOTOS BY E. A. KITCHIN AND J. H. BOWLES T HAS heretofore been..an unsettled subject, though much discussed among the bird men of this vicinity--that of the local nesting of the Short-cared Owl (Asio flammeus). Though the birds are common in the fall and winter, no records had been established of their breeding here. Our Tacoma tide-flats cover several square miles of territory. Through the center runs a road that acts as a dyke, keeping out the tide that at one time cov- ered nearly all thi? region, especially in the winter when the highest tides occur. Deep sloughs that twist and turn, intersect this whole section and act as. chan- nels for the waters of the incoming and outgoing tides. In the ?vinter the Short.- cared Owls are generally flushed from the edges of these sloughs where they hide most of the day, under some over-hanging grass or weeds. Judging from various descriptions of nesting locations east of the Cascades, the proper places to search seemed to be where the grass or cover was long enough to afford good concealment for the large clutch of white eggs. I knew a 'sixty-acre tract 'on our flats answering this description, lying well above the summer tides. Last year I worked back and forth over this ground, using up several precious Sundays, but failed to locate a nest or even to flush a bird; and ?vere it not for the fact that on one certain'afternoon I saw two pairs of owls skimming back and forth in search of food, I would not have tri.ed again. Firmly convinced that they did not use this heavily grassed section, I resolved this year to try the edges of the sloughs, their habitation in the winter months, the result being that two nests were found and photographs and records made. My first effort this year (1918) was on May 6. Securing a stick about eight feet long, I traveled up the side of one slough and then down the other, keeping the length of the stick from the edge, and after about two hours of this was re- warded by flushing the owl from her "nest and four". When she jumped she scattered three of the eggs out of the nest but none was broken. The nest was placed in a very open position and the eggs could be seen sixty feet away. A
