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THE CONDOR VOL. IX to ten or fifteen pairs, in company with the Black-capped Tern. They lay some- times two, but nearly always three eggs. These are very handsome, being a beau- tiful deep rich olive-green. They are spotted especially near the larger end, with chocolate brown. The spot? are of unequal intensity, some darker, some paler, with every intergradation. Mr. H. E. Dresser in describing these eggs says: "They cannot be mistaken for any other Gull, except perhaps those of zYema sabinii. From . the latter, however, they may be dis- tinguished by being decidedly green in tone of their color, whereas those of Xema sabinii are not so, and by having the surface of the shell dull and glossless, whereas the eggs of the Sabine Gull are somewhat g?ossy. The young Rosy Gulls, says Butur- lin, are very lively and clever little creatures. As soon as they see an ?. ? intruder they try to creep thru the ?. grass to the water, and swim away to some distance, even if the waves are DOWNY VOVNG OV eI? ?OSX' GV?; s?ov'r comparatively heavy. If you lie well OI?E-ItALF NATI, JRA? SIZE hidden, after several minutes the little creatures begin to swim about, re- turning to the ground or the wet grass whence you disturbed them and uttering cries as they search for their mother. When caught, they peck your finger, peep and quack, but are not much frightened. ?Lancasler, Massachusells. THE PRAIRIE FALCONS OF SADDLE-BACK BUTTE By P. B. PEABODY EW birds have so completely aroused my enthusiasm and won my heart. I came to know them, superficially, many years ago. Two successive sum- mers, thru the generosity of the shy, black-eyed son of a Pittsburg million- aire, I spent two successive months of August in Manitou Park. The lad, for some strange reason, had taken a sort of fancy to me; tho I, as Chaplain of the boarding school, had barely spoken to him. And so I had the rare joy of long, ideal days in the most beautiful spot in all the world; among birds of rarest inter- est. Here, with "Orlando" as a quiet but most sympathetic companion, I ex- plored the mesa and the foothills, finding there, among the many other hawks that battened on the vast prairie dog towns far down the mesa, an occasional winnow- ing Falcon. The supreme delight I found in examining the nest-cavities long occu- pied by the Prairie Falcons in the red sandstone monumental rocks is just as thrilling today as it was those August days, over twenty years ago. The genuine bird man never grows old!