112 



THE OOLOGIST 



making further search to see if two 

 broods are reared in a season. 



1 also have letters from a few Oolo- 

 gists having between six and seven 

 hundred species, who have none of 

 this kind. I am sorry I obtained no 

 eggs to describe, but as I described 

 them in April, will let it go at that. 

 FRED TRUESDALE. 



Turkey Buzzard (Cathartes aura.) 



This set was taken by me in Nueces 

 County, Texas, May 10, 1898. The 

 eggs were placed on the bare ground 

 at the foot of a large mesquite tree, 

 which was surrounded by a dense 

 thicket of thorny bushes and pear cac- 

 tus. The locality was an infrequented 

 side hill not far distant from Penitos 

 Creek and about one and one-half 

 miles from the Nueces river; a hot, 

 dry spot, but one which is often se- 

 lected by this species in South-west 

 Texas. The creek at this point is a 

 mere arroyo or dry creek bed and the 

 hill slopes towards the south-west. 

 The eggs were fresh and the runt egg, 

 as is usually the case in a perfect 

 runt, was infertile, containing no yolk. 



In such a location as this, the bird 

 usually sits close and will not leave 

 the eggs unless the intruder makes a 

 near approach, and it is often neces- 

 sary to beat up the bushes well to 

 flush her. It was especially true in 

 this ease, for there were no trails or 

 paths leading near enough to alarm 

 the sitting bird and the growth of 

 thorny bushes was so dense that it 

 was necessary to crawl under them to 

 reach the spot. 



D. B. BURROWS. 



Runt Set of Catharista urubu. 



This set was collected on February 

 28th, 1909, in Florida and was on the 

 ground beside a dead palmetto tree 

 that had been blown over. The set 



measures 1.75x1.30 and 2.95x1.95. 

 The smaller egg was laid two days be- 

 fore the larger one. The largest egg 

 of this set has a pale bluish ground 

 color spotted with brown and lavender, 

 and the spots are mostly confined to 

 the larger end. The small egg is of a 

 darker bluish ground color with de- 

 cided lavender markings that appear 

 to be under the shell. The egg is not 

 spotted with large spots like the larger 

 egg but is blotched over with two 

 shades of brown and dark lavender, 

 and the entire surface of this egg is 

 speckled with fine dots of dark brown 

 which do not show up in the picture. 

 The only other egg I ever saw just 

 like this was one of a set that I sent 

 to Ed. J. Court and another egg of a 

 set taken from the same nest as the 

 one sent him and which I now have in 

 my collection. These two normal 

 sized eggs and the runt are the only 

 three marked in this manner that I 

 have ever seen. This runt egg has 

 many small elevations or warts most- 

 ly around one end that appears to be 

 the smaller end, altho the egg is prac- 

 tically equal ended and it is hard to 

 see much difference. This runt set 

 was found within a few rods of where 

 a runt set was laid the year before 

 and possibly was laid by the same 

 bird. I did not see this other runt set 

 but was told of it by the man who 

 first directed me to the set I collected. 

 The second set collected from the 

 same nest this year was normal. 



O. E. BAYNARD. 



NEW YORK NOTES. 



In Grand Island in the Niagara Riv- 

 er, a fine specimen of the White-faced 

 Glossy Ibis was taken this Spring. The 

 only record of one taken in the State 

 of New York dates back to 1844. 



We also took a fine set of five eggs 

 of the Spotted Sandpiper a few years 

 ago, and this season were lucky enough 

 to find a beautiful set of seven spotted 

 Sandpiper eggs. 



OTTAMAR REINECKE. 



