I'HE OOLOGIST. 



121 



whatever, has beeu said about the 

 birds themselves, the himting and 

 shooting of wild fowls, their resorts 

 and j)oiuts of interest on the river. 



Wild fowl shooting now is not what 

 it was tifty years ago, at least that is 

 what thej- say. Nevertheless it at- 

 tracts many himtei's still, and at some 

 points is very good. The lakes and 

 sloughs are a great rendezvous to the 

 ducks and geese in their migration. 

 Among the most noted of hunting re- 

 sorts on the river is Spring Lake, situ- 

 ated some twenty or thirty miles below 

 Peoria. Others of / probably equal 

 im])()rtance are found at other points 

 of the river, but I pass on. 



Interesting objects are the heronies 

 of the Gt. Blue Heron, American White 

 Egret and Cormorants. It is also re- 

 ported that the Wood Ibis has been 

 found at Potato Lake, in the southern 

 portion of the valley. 



The Bald Eagle and the Fish Hawk 

 are not unknown in this vicinity, and 

 not a few eyries exist in the noble trees 

 in the bottoms. 



Of the beauty of this river I could 

 say much, if spat-e were mine. Nat- 

 ure has equally endowed it with in- 

 teresting and beautiful features, as it 

 has with its birds, its trees and its 

 Howcrs. 



Wm. E. Loucks, 

 Peoria, Illinois. 



VIRGINIA RAIL IN CALIFORNIA. 



On the first of October, 1892 while hunt- 

 ing, a friend of mine shot a male 

 Virginia Rail, the skin of which I now 

 have. The bird was standing on the 

 bank of a rushing mountain stream 

 near here. It must have been sadly 

 lost, as I never before saw any water 

 birds in such a locality. I do not find 

 the occurrence of the Virginia Kail 

 recorded West of the Rockies. Would 

 like to hear from others on th's subject. 

 Joe Gkinnell, 

 Pasadena, Cal. 



FEBRUARY COIfTEST. 

 One-hundred and thirty five Judges- 

 Prize winners and credits received by 

 each were as follows: — 



1. The American Osprey. SIS. 



2. California Vulture. 372. 



3. Collecting Black Vulture Eggs. 

 276. 



4. Collecting in Chi<-ago. 256. 



5. Scientific Osteology for Ama- 

 teurs. 226. 



The following were each awaixled a 

 duplicate of the tifth prize: 



A Collection of North Carolina Birds 

 Eggs. lo4. 



Some Sparrows in Minnesota. 135. 



A years subscription to the OiiLOGiST 

 was awarded: 



A Lucky Day. 96. 



Only thirteen Judgos named liie 

 Avinning articles :ind only 07ie their 

 exact order. 



The Judges prizes were awarded as 

 follows: 



1. No. 123— O. E.Crooker, Madison, 

 Wisconsin. 



2. No. 107— A. G. Prill, M. D.,Soda- 

 ville, Oregon. 2, 1, 4, 3, 5. 



3. No. 116— Edmund Heller, River- 

 side, Cal. 1, 2, 4, 5, 3. 



4. No. rSd—S. B. Baker, Lexing- 

 ton, Ky. 2, 1, 5, 4, 3. 



5. No. 33— A. R. Hutchinson, Gaines, 

 N. Y. 3, 1, 2, 4, 5. 



Above we designate the prize won 

 — the Judge's recorded number — their 

 name and address and the order in 

 which they named the winning articles. 



The following were each mailed a 

 copy of the World's Fair Almanac. 



E F. Murch, Maine. 



Arthui" Lohman, Wi.sconsi i. 



E. Baxter, Indiana. 



Bert Gillette. New York. 



Wiilter Truitt, Kansas. 



L.Geo. WoodrutV, New Ynrk City. 



R. C. Alexander, Michigan. 



J. V. Crone, Iowa. 



All prizes were mailed Marcii 20th. 



