78 



OROTTHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-No. 5 



victims to the taxiilerinist. Will some oue vvlio 

 liiis kept a record of the sex of the specimens 

 that have passed through his hands for a series 

 of years, please send a note to the O. & O. as to 

 this? 



The breeding date must be a very nncertain 

 one — that is, its limit in point of time is very 

 wide. I have detected young as early as Feb- 

 luary 8th, and a sitting bird on May 8th, that 

 liad not hatched on the 2lst of that month. 

 Tlie jieriod of incubation is also probably over 

 four weeks. Spy glass observations are not 

 very accurate means of determining a fact of 

 this nature, l)ut 1 tliiuk that I have seen a bird 

 upon the nest for tliirty-two consecutive days, 

 my point of observation being a mile and a 

 quarter by the Coast Survey Chart. The nest 

 was for many years in plain sight from my 

 door, and I was enabled to watch tlie move- 

 ments and jjositions of the birds foi hours at a 

 time. And here let me note that the real 

 "spread eagle," or, as it might be called the 

 " dollar"' position, was frequently assumed by 

 the parent birds wliilt standing upon an upper 

 limb and watching the young consume tlieir 

 food. It is a position tliat is often ridiculed, 

 but proves nevertheless to be a natural one. 



The other day I found a. new Eagle's nest. 

 How much pleasure is expressed to me in those 

 few words! Although I cannot turn to a well- 

 tilled cabinet of egg-shells, and write a page or 

 two on comparative measurements, shapes and 

 shades, 1 have found a new nest. Why the 

 mei-e fautgives me so much pleasure I cannot 

 say. I can never hope to obtain from it any 

 oological treasures. I certainly do not intend 

 to " lay" for the occupants with my rifle. But 

 the same old, glad, joyous thrill comes back 

 every time. There was the t)ig unmistakable 

 mass half hidden in the green top of a giant 

 pine tree, and it was the first time I had seen it. 

 The sky was blue, the wind was soft, the sea 

 was silvei'y and gentle. 1 looked and saw what 

 I had often seen before, but still there is another 

 happy spot that cannot be effaced from that 

 strange thing we call our life. 



[After Mr. Hoxie's sarcasm, we " closet 

 oologists" (as they delight to call us), must 

 needs hide our heads, but may I be permitted 

 to mention that the breeding dates of this bird, 

 even in South Carolina, are probal)ly much 

 earlier than he thinks? 



Two sets of eggs of this species (each con- 

 taining two), in the far fiora " well-tilleil" 

 cabinet of the present writer, were collected 

 respectively at Tampa, Florida, on December 

 3, 1SS4, and Merritfs Island, Florida, on Decem- 



ber V.i, IBS.'?. It is therefore exceedingly prob- 

 able that tlieir laying commences in South Car- 

 olina much before February, as stateil by Mr. 

 Hoxie.— .J. P. N.] 



In Embrvo. 



liY- .J. M. W., NOKWICH, CONN. 



A cracked Bubo's egg from a nest riddled 

 witli HB shot, taken on the Saturday eve before 

 the bli/.zard, and some broken egg-shells of 

 Barred Owl |iicked up on the ground April 11, 

 comprise my record for the Slrigidm this sea- 

 son. Ajn-il 13, a second nest of Great-Horned 

 was found holding one lusty squab, with parts 

 of four rabbits, two squirrels, and other 

 quarry. Some wild oologist of merit stole my 

 Barred OwPs eggs as they were laid, and, 

 though fairly attributable to crow, grey squir- 

 rel, or raccoon, yet I had to take the usual 

 blame for being in bad company, for the pair of 

 owls gave me a worse scolding than I ever re- 

 ceived from wren, jay, thrush, or noisy Accipi- 

 ti-r. 



A cocker-spaniel pointed me a cluster of 

 broken egg-shells of Woodcock, and, April 5, I 

 picked up a female Woodcock killed by flying 

 against the telegi'aph wires. First and last, I 

 have picked up anil had sent to me a dozen 

 woodcock killed by the nmrderous wires. This, 

 of course, cannot represent a tenth of tlie mor- 

 tality fi'om this cause in this one neighborhood 

 alone. Tlie injury is usually about the head, 

 the bird's mandibles being broken. In every 

 instance, the dead birds have been found in the 

 mating or breeding season, and in the present 

 instance the eggs were nearly ready for extru- 

 sion. 



April 14, I saw a Red tail fly oft" such a high nest 

 in such a horrible black oak with lindiless 

 trunk and rotten chipping bark, I would not 

 let my climber risk his neck. 



One Red-Shouldered, April 1.5. was so- far 

 from home, I contented myself with two fresh 

 eggs, and another nearer by, April 14, was at 

 such a dizzy height. I took these eggs when I 

 almost knew the clutch would be increased, as 

 this bird had laiil " fours" continuouly for four 

 years. 



April 17, I failed to locate a female Mottled 

 Owl and her eggs, though I climbed lialf ad.iy 

 among a grove of old beech trees in city limits, 

 flnding the male in his day-hole filled witli feath- 

 ers of Bluebird and House Sparrow. Big beeches 

 with no lower limbs are about the me.anest to 



