THE OOLOGIST. 



Occasionally a huge tree was selected 

 by the Hawks which was iusurmount- 

 able, and which existed for years with- 

 out a robbery of the coveted eggs. But 

 at last we w^ere honored with an enthus- 

 iastic collector who knew no danger 

 and was indefatigable with climbing 

 irons and blow pipe. He soon scaled 

 all difficult trees and I feel safe in say- 

 ing that there is not a tree in this sec- 

 tion which will cause him to falter. 



The Red-stioulderetl Hawk is a very 

 noisy Inrd, and without doubt the nois- 

 est species we have. This is especially 

 noticeable tluring nest-building and at 

 the time when the young leave the nest. 

 At the latter time a family of Hawks 

 will easily convince an uneducated 

 stroller that there are a dozen or more 

 screamers in a pat\;h of woods. 



Although the bird does not seem to 

 have the attachment for a particular 

 nesting site which the Red-tiil exhibits, 

 still it is rare for a pair of birds to quit 

 a locality unless the woods are cut 

 down. Year after year the Red-should- 

 ered Hawk returns to the same patch 

 of woods and submits to spoliation by 

 the town egg-collector. 



Auld Lang Syne. 



Of all the various scientific recrea- 

 tions, few will dispute that nature pre- 

 sents the widest and most edifying 

 fields in which to exerci.se our thoughts. 

 For an intelligent mind, nature has a 

 natural inspiration! The boundless 

 ocean, the lofty niountiau, the majestic 

 river with its surrounding landscape, 

 are each to him a "chef d'<Kuvre" of a 

 unique past Master, against which the 

 feeble, though nolde efl'orts of our 

 mightiest minds, stand rebuked, as the 

 merest trivialties. 



Everything in nature, commands our 

 unqualified admiration: from the; lowly 

 weed to the noble oak, and the multi- 

 colored birds, insects and flowers, nat- 

 urally turn our thoughts to Him who 

 made them. 



This study of nature, in which tiu' 

 poorest inilividual may participate, pre- 

 sents such an intiiiite variety of sub- 

 jects, as almost to bewilder the imagi- 

 nation, and it would reijuire thousands 

 of years, for its greatest devotee, to 

 gain an insight into the knowledge of 

 its wonders. However, by pursuing 

 one of the various lines of study, one 

 may hope to become toleral)ly profic- 

 ient in its mysteries. 



In choosing any special i)ath, om^ 

 must l)e guided, so to speak, by the 

 chemical artinity, or rather inspiration, 

 as well as by circumstances and re- 

 sources. For me, 'Ornithology," al- 

 ways has been,- and is still with Oology 

 the most delightful study extant. 



I doubt not that the majority of tlie 

 collecting subseril)ers of the Ookogist 

 hold the same oj)iuion with myself. 



I further expect, tjiat with me, many 

 of your readers would admit that col- 

 lecting specimens has l)een intimately 

 linked with souic of the proudest and 

 happiest moments of their lives The 

 delight one feels in the wood, field or 

 along the banks of the stream, (on cer- 

 tain occasions, when some rare, unex- 

 pected set is met with and .M'cured for 

 the cabinet) is untranslatable, and can- 

 not be adequately described on paper. 



1 recollect twenty years ago. when a 

 mere child, the inexpressible joy 1 felt 

 on linding a crow's nest (corvus coroiie) 

 in Englanil, with three eggs. I thought 

 they must surely be ravens, they were 

 so large and beautiful; and I rememi)er 

 also with what regret I left two for the 

 old bird, according to instructions in 

 my bird book, which was, if I remem- 

 ber correctly, the Wvx. J. C. Atkinson'.s 

 lirifisli Jiirds, Kijijs iiwl Nests. 



The first Kestreh /■V/A!o7V«?jm»c///m.v) I 

 took, containing six very line eggs, gave 

 n)e uidimited pleasure, I rat«'d them 

 Peregrine p'alcous' at least. 'J'he cir- 

 cumstances are still fresh in my mem- 

 ory. I was then <derk in my uncle's 

 store, and worked from 7 a. m. till 7 



