80 



OKNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. IS-Xo. 5 



hollow and (iDvotail his layer of the lofr-cabiti. 

 Flyintjin ilitl'ereiit clirections, they would often 

 time their arrival at the same moment, working 

 in harmony and for the most part in silence. 

 They have a variety of flutings and signals 

 when startled, and only when pouncing on 

 Crackle or cat are the harsh notes heard. 

 When thoroughly alarmed, they go to tlie tops 

 of some lofty elms near by, or to a hill across 

 the way. From here, early in the morning, 

 comes that cnrious ventriloquial note, exactly 

 resembling the cry of the Ked Shouldered 

 Ilawk. It is to the full as louil, and I never 

 could distinguish the calls. Neighbors have 

 said to nie for several days. -'There's a hen- 

 hawk hollcrin' upon the hill !" The deception 

 is so great, 1 would myself take oath to the 

 same thing, if I did not know the noise pro- 

 ceeded fi-om my pair of semi-domestic Blue 

 Jays. 



King Rail in Louisiana. 



nV W. C. .WF.RY, M. D. 



On the 24tli of XIar<-h I met three small boys 

 who were returning from the field with dogs 

 and guns. Besides a half dozen hares which 

 one of them carried on a string over his 

 shoidder, was a King Kail (E. eh'iiiins) tied by 

 the leg and in the hands of one of the boys. 



It seems that the Rail had been pointed by 

 their dog, flushed and shot at. She returned 

 immediately, however, to the spot where she 

 had been flushed first, and allowed herself to 

 be captured by the boys. 1 asked permission 

 of the owner to examine the bii-d, and observing 

 a protuberance near the vent, 1 pressed it, and 

 received in my hand a mature egg. This egg 

 measures 1..54x 1.22. The ground color is dull 

 white, blotched and spotted with rusty brown, 

 also specks of the same color and indistinct 

 spots of lilac. The brown spots are largest and 

 irregularly scattered over the surface. They 

 vary in size from fifteen hundredths to the 

 one hundredth of an inch in diameter. I re- 

 turned to the marsh with one of the boys, who 

 not being able to locate the tussock of bulrush 

 where they had captured the Kail, our search 

 for the nest was fruitless. 



Death of Edmund Ricksecker. 



BV J. p. N. 



On .\pril 15, 18S8, Mr. Edmund Ricksecker 

 died at Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where for 

 many years he had his home. His name has | the kindness of the author. 



long been connected with the study of oology, 

 and at one time he was the possessor of a col- 

 lection of eggs which was unusually complete, 

 as collections then were formed. He had col- 

 lectors in Texas, California and Iowa, besides 

 other localities, and those in the first mentioned 

 State sent him many rare set of eggs that were 

 almost, if not entirely, new to Science at that 

 time. 



His name was a connecting link which joined 

 those of the early students of oology, like Dr. 

 Brewer and others, to those of the present day, 

 and his loss will be deeply regretted by his 

 many friends in all parts of the country. 



James A. Wright. 



It becomes our painful duty to announce the 

 decease, at the age of 42, of Mr. .James A. 

 Wright, at one time an Associate Editor of this 

 magazine, he having been crushed in a 

 machine, the operation of which he was observ- 

 ing, his arm being entirely torn from his body, 

 from the eftects of which he soon expired. 



Mr. Wright was lioru in Gananoque, Ontario, 

 (Canada, from whence at the age of 21, he emi- 

 grated to California, >vhere he spent about ten 

 years of his life. He then returned to his na- 

 tive place, and there first imbibed the love for 

 Natural History. 



Coming to Boston about 1882, he gave much 

 attention to the study of Entomology, and the 

 next year engaged in the Natural History busi- 

 ness in company with Mr. Frank A. Bates, at 

 73 Hanover street, which partnership existed 

 for three years. Duing this time he gathered a 

 very large collection in his favorite science 

 which bade fair to place him, had he lived, in 

 the front ranks of Entomologists. 



Naturally of jocose and lively habits, be en- 

 deared himself to all who were intimately as- 

 sociated with him. 



He was an indefatigable collector, and his 

 collection numbers many thousand specimens. 



His decease is a great loss to the science of 

 Entomology. 



List of the Birds of Onondaga County. 



The Biological Laboratory of Syracuse Uni- 

 versity has issued a Bulletin of the above title. 

 The author is Mr. Morgan K. Barnum, and the 

 work he has given in the LL-^t is very creditable. 

 It gives 204 .Species, with brief remarks on their 

 distribution, and contains Appendix I, giving 

 (juotatious from Kathburn's Catalogue, and II, 

 iving migration notes for 1SS4. Received by 



