THE OSPKEY. 



13 



Notes. 



The Living Birds of the Zooi^ogicai, Gar- 

 dens of London, at the end of 1898, were 1,363 in 

 number. There were also 818 mammals and 

 475 reptiles and batrachians. 



The Dresser Collection of Birds has been 

 acquired by the Manchester Museum, we learn 

 from Natural Science. This collection was 

 made by Mr. Henrj- Di'esser, author of the great 

 Birds of Europe in 8 volumes, mainly with re- 

 ference to that work. It however is rich in rep- 

 resentatives of the families of Bee-eaters and 

 Rollers which Mr. Dresser has monographed. 

 It contains about 10,000 skins, amontj^ which are 

 "several types and numerous rarities". 



Birds from Siam. — The National Museum 

 has recenth" received a fine series of birds from 

 the province of Trong, Lower Siam, Malay Pe- 

 ninsula, collected and presented by Dr. W. L. 

 Abbott, already well-known from his travels and 

 explorations in the far East. This series, re- 

 ceived in four instalments, numbers over 1,500 

 specimens, and contains representatives of 

 many rare species from this region. Among 

 the interesting species maybe mentioned Macli- 

 cciliaiiiphus alcimis, a curious crepuscular hawk, 

 which feeds on bats; Lophotricrchis kiencri, 

 another rare hawk; and Thaumatihis; i^igaiitca, 

 a large ibis originally described from Cochin 

 China, and hitherto known only from the type 

 specimen in the Paris Museum. Many other 

 species of interest, especially' among the small 

 birds, are also cor.tained in the collection. C. R. 



A Collection of the Birds of the Phil- 

 ippines and other animals will be sent to the 

 Great American Exhibition at Omaha to illus- 

 trate the Natural History of the Archipelag^o. 



A Record of Slaughter on Prince Schwar- 

 zenberg-'s g-ame preserves has been published. 

 39.000 grouse and 6,000 ducks and geese were 

 killed besides 27,000 hares, 250 boars and 200 

 deer. 



Experimf;nts on Young Chicks have been 

 made by Dr. Edward Thorndike and noticed in 

 Nature. About sixty chicks of all ag^es were 

 studied, and some remarkable instances of in- 

 stinctive muscular co-ordination and emotional 

 reaction were observed. 



Forgery of EciGS is a crime not unknown in 

 America. It is also committed in Europe. A 

 dealer in objects of Natural History was re- 

 cently exposed in Paris, who had made "Fly- 

 catchers" eggs into those of the Silk-tail" "and 

 Waxwing and Larks' eggs into Nightingales' ". 

 Duck eggs were also transmuted into those of 

 Falcons. 



The Osprey nest at Top of Pole in 

 Swansf;a, Mass., figured in the June number of 

 the Osprey (p. 156) has been identified by Mr. 

 H. S. Hathaway. The cut was made on the 

 order of the former editor, but he was unable to 

 give any further information than that furnish- 

 ed on the page referred to. Mr. Hathawaj- has 



kindly sent the following information, "in 

 regard to the photo of the Osprey 's Nest. I 

 have since learned that the nest was occupied 

 by the bird, in 1896-97-98, but was not occupied 

 this j-ear. The way in which they came to build 

 on the pole was this. Formerly they built a 

 nest in the crotch of a tree near this hfjuse, and 

 it was continually tumbling down, and the owner 

 of the land, seeing their predicament, erected 

 the pole for them to build on, and they very 

 readily consented to place their nest on its 

 platform. — In Portsmouth, R. I., this year a 

 pair built their nest on the flat steeple of a 

 church, and laid their eggs, but the church 

 people thought they were a nuisance and pulled 

 it down. 



Nest of Bald Eagle. — The photograph re- 

 produced in the accompanying illustration was 

 sent by Mr. Georg^e G. Cantwell, and represents 

 a nest examined by him. It should have ap- 



peared in connection with his article on the 

 "nesting of the Alaska Bald Eagle" in the 

 Osprey for January, (p. 66. 67,) but was not sent 

 by the editor in time for insertion. 



Curious Nest Materials used by Ospreys. 

 — I have been much interested in the varietj' of 

 articles with which Ospreys decorate their nests. 

 In one. I found a feather duster which had lost 

 its handle; another had a piece of iron barrel 



