May 15, 1882.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



123 



the gunners of Rhode Island in 1830. De- 

 cember 11, 1871, 1 saw in a Halifax market 

 three fine males in perfect pliunage of the 

 King Eider, and never since : and liere 

 may be mentioned, though certainly not 

 owing to Arctic curi'ents, that about twelve 

 or fifteen years ago a specimen of the Great 

 extinct Auk was discovered by the late 

 Lord Bishop of Newfoundland and pre- 

 sented to a gentleman in Halifax. It had 

 been dead a long time and was only feathers, 

 skin and bones, and was found buried under 

 guano at the Funk Islands by the Bishop 

 himself. I think this to be the last speci- 

 men noted. Of the more Southern spe- 

 cies, which, caught in the circles of the 

 Southern cyclones, are whirled down upon 

 us, may be added a Purple Galinule, shot 

 at Hiilifax, February, 1870, a few days after 

 the cyclone in which the City of Boston 

 perished, and Her Majesty's transport, 

 Oronte, sm-vived, on the banks of New- 

 foundland. The Florida Galinule was also 

 taken near Halifax, May 23, 1880, after po 

 recorded storm. After a heavy storm, Nov. 

 15, 1876, was taken near Halifax, and 

 mounted by Mr. Downs, a Frigate Pelican 

 or JIau-of-War Bird, and again after a fu- 

 rious gale, September, 1870, which de- 

 stroyed numbers of shipping and boats, 

 was shot far in the interior of the Prov- 

 ince, a Tropic Bird, this rosy favorite of a 

 tropical sun, with its scarlet beak and long 

 red tail, must have found but a poor rest 

 among the spruce firs of Nova Scotia. 

 To these may be added a female Cardinal 

 Grosbeak, shot February, 1871, at Hali 

 fax — thermometer 14 degrees below zero — 

 very fat and lively, a Blue Grosbeak mounted 

 by Mr. Downs, and a small tlock of Red- 

 wing Blackbirds, yoimg males and females, 

 on Devil's Island, near Halifax, in Novem- 

 ber, after the storm of Oct. 12. 1871. This 

 ends my list of personally observed l)irds, 

 but as tliere has been some commiuiica- 

 tions lately upon the matter, I may add 

 that tlie ^\^lite-winged Crossbill (C. leu- 

 coptfi-d) is known to hatch in February. 



the female setting upon her eggs, with the 

 the snow all around her, were seen in the 

 pine woods of the Dutch village near 

 Halifax in February. Chief Justice Sir 

 William Ritchie assured me that he had 

 seen them in his own woods, near St. John, 

 breeding in February, our coldest month. 

 — jr. Bernard Gilpin, Halifax, JV. /S'. 



The Osprey and its Prey. 



We were sitting upon the piazza facing 

 south, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 

 The river runs past the house at about 

 eighty yards distance. Suddenly I heard 

 a wild scream of exultation. I thought it 

 was an eagle, but, looking up, there over 

 the river was a flock of crows who were 

 attending a convention in a neighboring 

 grove. Passing through this noisy flock I 

 saw, rising heavily, a large bird weighed 

 down by something which he bore in his 

 talons. After rising above the crows, he 

 passed directly over our heads, bearing 

 away aci'oss the rice fields towards the dis- 

 tant wood. Then I recognized, with a 

 shout of satisfaction, a magnificent Osprey. 

 bearing in his grasp a giant cat fish, the 

 fisli appearing even longer than the bird, 

 and it was a hard tug for even her power- 

 ful wings. I could plainly see the feelers 

 projecting from the cat's jaws, and recog- 

 nized the shape of his head — while the 

 plumage of the beautiful bird was glisten- 

 ing plainly in the sunlight. It was a 

 grand sight ! I think the Osprey was a 

 female — it being too large, it seemed, for a 

 male, for, as you well know, "the mare is 

 the best horse," " the wife wears the 

 breeches," in this case — the female being 

 the more powerful and beautiful bird in 

 the raptores generally. — Jiev. J. Bachman 

 Ifafikell. White Hall, S. C. 



G.\ DWELL Duck in R. I. — A collector 

 brought to us a fine Female Gadwell Duck 

 which he shot at Newport, Sunday, Feb. 26. 

 It is the first capture in this State as far as 

 I am aware. — Fred. T. Jetirk.i. I'ror.. R. I. 



