43 



THE OOLOGIST. 



in each set that is noticeably deficient 

 in marking if not entirely destitute of 

 the characteristic spots and blotches. 

 This fact is easily explained. If the 

 last egg laid was without marking, the 

 others evidently exhausted the secre- 

 tion of pigments for the time so that 

 when the plain egg passed through the 

 oviduct the glands contained no color 

 with which to mark it. If the first egg 

 lacked coloration, the color had prob- 

 ably not been secreted when that egg 

 was laid. This would indicate that the 

 egg-producing functions at that time 

 were not quite in harmony. It is usual- 

 ly the last egg that is slighted in the 

 respect of marking, although numerous 

 cases are on record where it was the 

 reverse. If a bird be captured or 

 frightened when a half-formed egg is 

 about to enter the oviduct the egg will 

 be laid prematurely und it will be de- 

 fective in marking. On the other 

 hand, over excitement or debility of 

 the organs in question may cause the 

 egg to be richly colored. Further, old 

 birds in some instances seem to deposit 

 more color than young, mature individ- 

 uals of the same species. 



In some eggs the shell is fine grained 

 and glossy; this class is more common- 

 ly white and translucent, as in the 

 Woedpecker family. In others the 

 shell is dull, more porous and conse- 

 quently better adapted to absorbing the 

 colors. Some eggs have an enamelled, 

 pitted appearance, others have no 

 oleaginous exterior as the ducks. Col- 

 lectoi's, it seems to me. cannot help 

 noticing these difterences in shell 

 structure as they handle and mark the 

 eggs of various specie'* The composi- 

 tion of the shell of c >■,,.,« has a decided 

 bearing upon the co.uration. If por- 

 ous the color will be absorbed 'giving 

 the tint a softened appearance; if fine 

 grained the pigment will be deposited 

 upon the surface, imparting a bright- 

 ness to the color which will augment 

 the attractiveness of the specimen. 



Oologists, no doubt, have noticed that 

 some eggs with tine te.xture, glossy ex- 

 terior and red markings may be dam- 

 aged when fresh by handling with wet 

 fingers. Under these conditions the 

 colors are liable to soften and come oft' 

 when touched, leaving the marking 

 considerably lighter in tint than origin- 

 ally. For example, some of the beauti- 

 ful eggs of certain species of Flycatch- 

 ers are liable to this injury. 



These subjects and kindred studies 

 which concern the particulars of the 

 science of oology are worthy of the 

 young student's careful consideration, 

 and I should like to expatiate more ful- 

 ly upon them at some future time. 



Octocoris in Western New York. 



FOR THE OOLOGIST BY B. S. BOVVDISH. 



It is now some eight years since Oc- 

 tocoris took a prominent position in my 

 ornithological interest. 



Whether or not the bird had always 

 been abundant in Ontario Co. I will 

 not say, but certain it is that the bird 

 did not attract great attention on my 

 part until about '89 or '90. 



It is a comparatively few years ago 

 that Octocoris, or Eremophila as it was 

 sometimes called, had not branched out 

 into the numerous sub-species which 

 were so suddenly developed, when com- 

 paratively little had been definitely set- 

 tled regarding its exact distribution 

 and breeding range, students generally 

 of that day regarding the bird of our 

 locality as simply Octocoris alpestris, or 

 Eremophila alpestris . 



For the past few years it has been 

 my eft'ort to ascertain just what per- 

 centage of the birds entering our limits 

 (i. e: those of Western New York) 

 were the true alpestris and what were 

 praticola. 



So far all my efforts to include the 

 alpestris among our birds have failed, 

 save on the authority of E. H. Short 

 who includes it in the "Birds of West- 



