lower branches she dropped down behind the trunk and flew to cover up the creek.
This nest was made in a crotch of an oblique part of the tree, somewhat separated from the main portion, furnishing a most exposed site. The nest in the preceding season had been lined with bark and binder twine, most of which yet remained. A few downy owl's feathers had been added to make the structure habitable, and there the climber found three eggs. As there was water below the nest I had to jump a portion of the stream to receive the eggs; and as usual in such instances, my elation at finding the products 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 incubation 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 I reached home, but found no more owl's nests. It is needless 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 merely 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.
"They 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 they 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.
The Bullock's and Arizona Hooded Orioles.
by J. F ILLINGWORTH, PALO ALTO, CAL.
OF ALL the birds that visit Southern California in the spring the orioles are certainly the 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 bullocki) arrives in Los Angeles Co. several weeks before the Arizona Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucculatus nelsoni). From my migration notes for the last four years Bullock's arrived March 19 to April 10 and the Arizona Hooded from April 4 to May 1 , but usually the latter came late in April. The 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 lessen the danger from the winds. It is interesting to note that the young birds are much less skillful
