May, 1889.] 



ANT> OOLOGIST. 



In Massachusetts, however, there appears to 

 be a much smaller per cent, of instances where 

 injury or death resulted from these causes 

 than in other parts of the country, and during 

 the last ten years I have only found three in- 

 stances where birds have been disabled or 

 killed by contact with telegraph wires. The 

 first instance was that of a Mourning Dove, 

 during the fall of 1879. The next, a Swamp 

 Sparrow in September, 1886, and the last, that 

 of a Fox-colored Sparrow, in April, 1888. 



Of accidents from other causes I have record 

 of four more cases, one of a Snowbird, which 

 flew against a window in broad daylight; an 

 Acadian Owl, which struck a brilliantly lighted 

 window in the evening; a Flicker, which upon 

 skinning was found to have a deep dent in the 

 dome of the skull, much like one so frequently 

 made in Derby hats; and one, moi-e unusual 

 than all the others, — the case of another 

 Flicker which I found dead in an excavation 

 formerly occupied by one of his species as a 

 nest. This was on February 22, 1886, and the 

 feet of the bird were frozen to a sheet of 

 ice on the floor of the cavity. Undoubtedly 

 the bird had taken refuge there during a rain- 

 storm, and a sudden change of temperature 

 had frozen the little water that had blown in 

 by the wind, and thus the poor bird was im- 

 prisoned until his death. 



Harry Gordon White. 

 Amesbury, Mass., April 10, 1889. 



A Series of Florida Eggs of the Bald 

 Eagle. 



I have lately had an opportunity of examin- 

 ing a series of twenty-six sets of forty-seven 

 eggs of the Bald Eagle (Halkeetus leucocephalus) 

 which were all collected in the Indian River 

 region of Florida, in two seasons, by Dr. Wil- 

 liam L. Ralph, of Utica, N.Y. So large a 

 series from one locality being unrecorded, so 

 far as my information goes, I found the data 

 exceedingly interesting, so, hoping that the 

 readers of the O. & O. will be interested also, 

 I write this. Some of the noticeable items of 

 the data are, — 



1st. The early date of collection. Think of 

 collecting a set of eggs " slightly incubated " 

 on Nov. 25th! Some might question whether 

 this should be called "early" or "late." 



2d. The number in the sets. Of tlie three 

 sets of one each, two were perfectly fresh 

 (probably not complete), and the third was 

 deserted; therefore, it would be practically 



correct to say that the number in each set was 

 two; while many of the books say three and 

 even four. 



3d. The size of the eggs. The average is 

 2.76x2.14, while the size given in all the books 

 at my command (except Ridgway's last) is 3.00 

 x 2.60, or thereabouts. 



4th. The shape of the eggs is far from 

 "nearly spherical" as given in most of the 

 books. 



5th. The slight variation in size of these 

 forty-seven eggs. The length: average, 2.76; 

 extremes, 2.98 and 2.46. The breadth: average, 

 2.14; extremes, 2.26 and 1.96. It seems to me 

 this is an exceedingly small variation in eggs 

 of this size. 



6th. The distance of the nest from the 

 ground is constant enough to attract attention. 

 The distance was always measured. 



Having thus put my conclusions before my 

 premises, in hopes of making the latter more 

 interesting, I now give the data: — 



No. 1. Dec. 16, 1886. 2.70x2.16; 2.84x2.20. 

 Neai-ly hatched; height of nest, 56 feet. 



2. Dec. 24, 1886. 2.81x2.23; 2.98x2.21. 

 Nearly hatched ; height of nest, 65 feet. 



3. Jan. 3, 1887. 2.84x2.12; 2.76x2.10. Near- 

 ly fresh ; height of nest, 56 feet. 



4. Jan. 26, 1887. 2.73x2.12; 2.69x2.13. Al- 

 most fresh ; height of nest, 57 feet. 



5. Feb. 3, 1887. 2.46x2.00; 2.52x2.01. One 

 addled, one nearly hatched; height of nest, 50 

 feet. 



6. Nov. 25, 1887. 2.71x2.10; 2.81x2.15. 

 Slightly incubated; height of nest, 58 feet. 



7. Nov. 30, 1887. 2.62x1.96; 2.79x2.20. 

 Nearly fresh; height of nest, 64 J^ feet. 



8. Dec. 3, 1887. 2.69x2.07; 2.71x2.02. 

 Slightly incubated; height of nest, 64 feet. 



9. Dec. 5, 1887. 2.84x2.20; 2.88x2.16. Near- 

 ly hatched; measure lost. 



10. Dec. 5, 1887. 2.80x2.23; 2.83x2.25. Fresh; 

 measure lost. 



11. Dec. 6,1887. 2.87x2.15; 2.75x2.11. Near- 

 ly fresh; height of nest, 59 feet. 



12. Dec. 7, 1887. 2.79x2.14; 2.81x2.15. 

 Slightly incubated ; height of nest, 50^ feet. 



13. Dec. 7, 1887. 2.83x2.05; 2.88x2.14. 

 Height of nest, 50J^ feet. 



14. Dec. 7, 1887. 2.79x2.26; 2.76x2.21. 

 Height of nest, 52 feet, 10 inches. 



15. Dec. 13, 1887. 2.69x2.15; 2.72x2.11. 

 Slightly incubated; height of nest, 75 feet. 



16. Dec. 10, 1887. 2.78x2.20; 2.70x2.17. 

 Height of nest, 59 feet. 



17. Dec. 16, 1887. 2.82x2.23; other broken. 

 Height of nest, 48 feet. 



