This page needs to be proofread.

80 THE CONDOR [ Vol. II le?vs' eggs. On May 2 I lay behind a ridge with field glasses and watched a female,evidently just off the nest, but after having gleaned along two ridges for thirty minutes each, she slipped over one of them and then winged her way so low over the prairie that I lost sight of her. Saturday, May 2, found me afield in a new quarter, and late in the after- noon, in crossing the highest part of a large area of of fenced prairie, I excit- ed the attention of a pair of curlews, tho'a number were moving here and there in the pasture. Having little time then to give the place extended search, I took the opportunity to walk out to the pasture on the next after- noon. Upon reaching the same quarter, a male curlew sharply whistled his dis- pleasure at my proceeding, and as I ad- vanced up the ridge he occasionally flew at me with angry movement. Thus working around the place, follow- ingthe clews given by the male, I soon determined that the nest was with- in a linfited area, how limited I had little idea at the time; and setting up a shattered shoulder blade that had long bleached on the prairie, I began careful search for the supposed nest. Starting from the bone as a center, I would trace a radius of about one hundred yards, then walk about forty feet in an are of the circle, and walk back to the center. Thus I searched quite carefully every part of the semi-circle on the side of the bone where I seemed to attract most at- tention of the owners, but two hours of search found me ready to give up the quest, baffled as usual. Besides, it was Sunday, and I had brought nothing to carry home the eggs in, anyway, so wended my way homeward pondering upon the deceitfulness of the curlews. Monday afternoon, May 2, again took me afield to the appointed place. My bone still stood as a landmark, and again the male flew angrily toward me, turning abruptly upward as he passed me, giving a loud swish with his wings as he checked his forward flight. I had all along noticed that he came at me chiefly from a particular direction, and was thus causing me to search on the side of the bone from which he came. Changing my tactics, ! determined to search ?nore closely in the direction he pointed as he flew at me; and walking in that direction about a hundred yards from the bone, after a few minutes I saw the female flattened upon the ground with tail toward me, about twenty feet away, her head and neck lying upon the ground in front of her invisible to me. My first thought was that I had stumbled upon a dead prairie chicken, so flatly was she sitting upon her .nest; but as I took several steps to- . ward her, she flew low from the nest for about thirty feet, then fluttered along the ground with flapping wings, de- scribing an arc of a circle about forty feet distant from me. As I was out for eggs, however, I paid but little attention to the parental ef- forts of the mother to mislead me, and was soon bending over my first cur- lew's nest. It was a well made struct- ure, placed in a shallow depression be- side a low pile of dried cow manure. The nest was made of dried weed-tops, the rim being elevated one and a half inches above the surroundings. The cavity was eight inches across and two inches d'eep. The general appearance of the nest gave the impression of its being quite elevated. There were four eggs, handsomely colored and marked, placed with small ends together in the nfiddle of the nest. Incubation had scarcely begun. Three of the eggs had a ground of light greenish olive, thick- ly marked with blotches of dark umber and chocolate; the fourth egg has a rustler appearance, both in ground color and in markings. The eggs in this set measure about 270 by 200 inches. Many persons think it strange that having found the object of so long a quest, the ornithologist is not satisfied, but desires to add other similar speci- mens to his cabinet. Most of the mere-