28 



THE OOLOGIST. 



nell's Thrubh, which might better have 

 been left unpriced; and Brandt's Cor- 

 morant, obviously common, though 

 with no price, should have been about 

 40 cents. Boneparte's Gull should be 

 $6 at least. Haven't seen the bbl. full. 

 The printers certainly led me a devil's 

 chase, as when they worked in Passen- 

 ger Pigeon at 5 cents and caused me 

 thereby to reprint four pages, but I 

 wish the next man (and no better than 

 the Oologist's editor can be suggested) 

 more luck, and hereby subscribe in 

 advance. 



H. R. Taylor. 

 Thanking friend Taylor for his prompt 

 reply in the same spirit in which I con- 

 ceived my review I would only add, I 

 agree that Swallow-tail Kite is entitled 

 to more than Everglade but think the 

 difference too much. Also agree that 

 White-faced Glossy crowd the demand 

 just now. It was some such conditian 

 in 1895 and 1896 that induced Lattin 

 to make the drops on Gt. Black-backed 

 Gull, Cabot's Tern, Tex. Cardinal, 

 Pine Warbler and Sennett's Thrasher, 

 yet these all proved to be mistakes. 

 —Editor. 



Owing to pressure of work in our 

 engraver's office followed by an un- 

 avoidable delay in printer's hands, 

 partly caused by our new standard 

 catalogue, we are very late with Feb- 

 ruary issue. We regret it as much as 

 you. We note in current issue of 

 "Young American" that we are not 

 the only ones wite these troubles. 



March will be on time. 



A FRAUD PAR EXCELLENCE. 



During the past seven months the 

 Editor has been quietly investigating 

 what appears to be the tail of the 

 worst of all egg frauds. 



Some chapters in his history remind 

 one of the notable records accredited 

 to certain stamp fiends. 



I have traced his record back for 11 

 years and as a successful "Big Game" 

 hunter he seems the shining light. 



In late years he has operated from 

 Floral Park, Nyack and New York 



City addresses. I am not at liberty to 

 cite all his triumphs. They foot up 

 into the hundreds and are all on the 

 same plan. 



The two extracts below I publish by 

 permission. 



Stanford University, Cal., 

 Dec. 26," 1904. 

 Editor • ^ Oologisf" : 



Dear Sir:— "It seems to me that 

 the next crook to get roasted should 

 be one C. L. Brownell, formerly of 

 Floral Park, N. Y. His present ad- 

 dress I do not know, but if the number 

 of kicks registered to date is any cri- 

 terion, in Brownell we have about the 

 smoothest bilk that has made a repu- 

 (but no character) for himself, for a 

 long time. Eminently respectable in 

 his methods, (he represents himself 

 to be the manager of a well known 

 magazine) he has had no trouble in 

 doing every one with whom he has 

 had dealings. I hesitate to name some 

 of those who have been skinned, as I 

 am afraid that Brownell is a tender 

 spot, but I am willing to confess to 

 having been done to the extent of 

 !};61.50 exchange value in Raptores and 

 Warblers. 



Brownell did not go out for small 

 game, and this may to some extent 

 account for his success as a fraud. 

 Once he had obtained eggs, he never 

 concerned himself with acknowledging 

 their receipt. Threats availed nothing 

 and he does not care for opportunity 

 to justify his dealings. Apparently 

 "the nine points'' satisfy him, and as 

 he seems to desire further advertise- 

 ment, I am strong for giving it to him. 

 Thinking that he had run out of post- 

 age stamps, or needed the money, I 

 wrote to his Post Master, who informed 

 me that he knew Brownell personally, 

 and that C. L. Brownell had received 

 my eggs, and would settle up. That 

 was all the satisfaction that I ever got, 

 but compared with others who have 

 run up against Brownell, I think that 



