July 1891.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



109 



Our museum is now open to the imblic. Sub- 

 scribers to the O. <k O. ;ire eordhillv invited to 

 cull. 



Walter H. Buss called ii few days since and 

 repcu'ted that M. S. ('ulver of Medford, Mass., 

 in .July, lsi)0, found the nest of a Ruby-throated 

 Hummer, located about ten feet from the 

 ground. Upon securing, found it contained 

 one egg of the ("owliiid, which completely 

 filled it. This is an addition to the lists of 

 tenements occupied. 



There is no difficulty in securing the wings 

 and backs of the Scarlet Ibis, but it is n long 

 time since we have seen the whole skin of that 

 bird in condition suitable to mount. 



The popularity of the .Japanned insect pins 

 seems to be increasing with our entomological 

 friends. Our first experiment, the exporting 

 of 200,000, was considered as one of doubtful 

 success, but we think they will be the pin of 

 the future, certainly they do not disfigure a 

 collection like the bright ones. 



Of all the eggs that are seen in collections 

 we belive that none attract the eye and excite 

 so much comment as those of the Emu or Aus- 

 tralian Ostrich. The eggs mea.sure about 

 :")..")0 x:;.(iO, and are in color a dark green, 

 nearly the same shade as the Holland kitchen 

 curtain so common in use. The birds are 

 yearly becoming more scarce. It is reported 

 that the eggs retail in Melbourne at £1, and in 

 this country from $2. .50 to $o..")0. They are 

 very hard to obtain, being picked up in small 

 lots by our American dealers. For the past 

 two years we h.ave been securing all that were 

 olfered and now have enough to ofler them to 

 the subscribers of the O. ifc O. (only) at the 

 reduced rate of SI. 50 each, as long as they 

 last, if applied for before September 1st. 



Ostrich eggs are another novelty much 

 souglit after liy the collector. Some five years 

 since, at a time when they were being sold at 

 $5.00 each, we made an arrangement with 

 an importei', a gentleman interested in ostrich 

 faitning in the West, and were enabled to offer 

 them to our subscribers at •'?1.50 each. The 

 result has been that since tl^at time we have 

 handled over 5000. Other dealers werw forced 

 to fall into line ai:d the established price is 

 $1 50. We find it difficult to fill our wholesale 

 orders. 



Many of our rea<lers when they wish to take 

 a hunting nip vaeaticni invariably allow 

 thoughts of Florida to loom uj) in their nniiils. 

 Now there are other sections that in our 

 opinion offer inducements that slioidd not be 

 lost sight off. We i)resent to your attention a 

 report made by Mr. Attwater, <ine of (uir sub- 

 scribers, which cannot fail to interest 

 sportsmen. 



Southwestern Game. 



Professor H. P. Attwater. a naturalist well 

 known in many sections of the Uniteil States 

 an 1 Canada an<l particularly so in Texas and 

 Louisiana by reason of his valn.able museum 

 of collections which has been exhibited 



throughout the entire South, has just returned 

 from a tour of the coast coiuitry of Southwest 

 Texas with a view of looking to the varieties 

 of game and fish of that section. The pro- 

 fessor was sent out by the Aransas Pass Railway 

 I Company and his report submitted to City 

 Ticket Agent Everett of San Antonio is pub- 

 lished in full below. 



"In accordance with your instructions I 

 proceeded to the Gulf Coast on November 2(ith 

 and spent two weeks in the vicinity f>f Rock- 

 port and C'rupus Christi for the purpose of 

 procuring specimens of the birds and fish 

 peculiar to that region, and especially those 

 classed as game, and to gather information on 

 this subject that would be of interest to sports- 

 men, hunters and others. 



"On account of the great number of species 

 that come under my nt)tice, and fin-ther, that 

 it would be impossible, in the short time I had 

 at my disposal, to do justice to the whole sub- 

 ject, I have thought best on this occasion to 

 confine myself chiefly to a brief i-eport of the 

 game I foimd in that region, and later on to 

 prepare a more comi>lete list of my observa- 

 tions, which will also include the fish and the 

 rest of the birds. 



" 1 spent one week on the main land and the 

 remainder of the time camped among the 

 islands in Aransas Bay. I was prepared to find 

 a great game country, and will simply say that 

 it far exceeded my expectations. 



"After considerable experience in ornitho- 

 logical exploration during previous years, 

 among the great water fowl regions of the 

 Northern Lakes, Minnesota, and the North- 

 west, I do not hesitate in pronouncing this the 

 finest game region I have ever come across. 

 Geese, Ducks, J^nipe and Plover of various 

 kinds were seen in countless numbers, and 

 Swans, Pelicans, Cranes, Herons, ('urlews, 

 Sandpipers, and many varieties of Gulls and 

 Terns were very numerous. 



"(Juite a number of fishermen make a busi- 

 ness at this time of the year to hunt ducks 

 for market, and in convcr-sation with one jnan, 

 who had just come into Hockport from the 

 mouth of the Gaudalupe River with MOO C'an- 

 vas-backs, I obtained some interesting notes. 

 In the fall of 1S8S I was making observations 

 of migrating birds at Mitchell's Bay, on the 

 Canadian side of Lake St. Clair, one of the 

 most celebrated duck grounds in Canada, and 

 find on refertnce to my notes that the number 

 of ducks killed by this man alone this year 

 exceeds the entire'nmount as registered in two 

 of the pi incipal club houses during the whole 

 season in the locality mentioned and averaging 

 six guirs a day. 



•■The regi()n around Aransas Pass is the 

 natin-al winter aliode of a great many varieties 

 of water fowl. It is here they lind their 

 favorite food among the shallow Ijays, channels 

 and marshes which extend for hundreds of 

 miles along the gulf in Texas, and it being 

 their natural winter home they lose much of 

 that shyness which they display during their 

 miirration to and from their breeding grounds 

 in the far north, consequently they are more 

 easily approached and bagged. 



"Rabbits are common everywhere; three 



