THErOSPREY. 

 Letters. 



A 1,1 VE RAT EATEN BY A GREAT BLUE HERON. 



Washington, l>. C, April 1 , 1901. 

 Editors of the < >sprey: 



In response to your request I send an account 

 of the capture of a rat by the Great Blue Heron 

 at the Washington Zoo. It swallowed the rat, 

 which was half grown. 



The squeal of the rat was heard; and the 

 Heron stalked out of his house, taking big step-.. 

 all his feathers raised, with this squealing rat 

 in his beak. After swishing the rat about it the 

 water tank several times, he swallowed it while 

 still alive. Then he settled down to digest it. 

 but during the day he disgorged the rat only 

 partially digested. 



Sincerely. 



Walter King Stone. 



CURIOUS HABIT OF A CORMORANT AND REMOVAL 

 OF STONES FROM STOMACH. 



Washington. I). C, April 1901. 

 Editors of the Osprey: 



A rather interesting surgical operation was 

 performed last summer by Mr. W. H. Blackburn 

 of the National Zoological Park, which would 

 have been successful had it been cooler weather. 



< hie day one of the young Florida Cormorants 

 was noticed sitting down and unable to rise. 

 On being- lifted he was f< lund to he full of stones 

 which could be heard grating" together. Mr. 

 Blackburn promptly cut him open and took front 

 him two pounds of stones, one of which was irre- 

 gular in shape, and at least 3% inches in its 

 longest dimension. The bird being sewed up 

 lived five days, and the wound had begun to 

 heal when he pulled the stitches out with his 

 hooked bill, and opened up the wound; conse- 

 quently he died. 



Sincerely, 



Walter King Stone. 



Prices of Audubon's Birds of America 

 and Ornithological Biography. In response 



to an inquiry of a subscriber in the OSPREY for 

 December last, we gave prices of some copies "I 

 Audubon's "Birds of America" sold at auction. 

 We now give some supplementary data. 



Bernard Quaritch was (he lately died) for 

 many years the most extensive dealer in expen- 

 sive second-hand books in London, and fre- 

 quently issued catalogues of different sections 



of his stock. In one (No. 181) he advertised sets 

 of a couple of Audubon's works. "The Birds of 

 America" (4 vols.) and the "Ornithological 

 Biography" (5 vols, i were listed together at £350 

 (about SI. 750). They were described as "uni- 

 formly bound in half blue morocco by Lewis." 

 Four other copies of the "Ornithological Biog- 

 raphy" were listed at /;4, 4s., £5, £5, 12s. 6d., 

 and £7, Ids. respectively. The last was the 

 "author's presentation copy to William Yarrell," 

 the English naturalist, and a "proof portrait" 

 with "autograph affixed" was "inserted"; it 

 was bound in "calf extra by J. Clarke." 



Quaritch's Prices for the "Auk" and 



"Ibis." — Application for price of back volumes 

 of tin- ". In/;" are occasionally made. A set was 

 advertised in August. 1898, by Quaritch | No. 1*1 > 

 for £8. 10s. (about S42). The set had the 14 

 volumes from 1K.X4 to 1897 and the first twelve 

 were bound in half morocco. 



A complete set of the Ibis from 1859 to 1895 

 inclusive with general index. (38 volumes,) "half 

 bound in morocco gilt." was listed at the same 

 time for ,£85 (about $425) over -11 a volume. 



Large Price for Audubon's Princeps 

 i >cr wo Edition. We have been favored by Dr. 

 Ruthven Deane with a note on a recent sale of a 

 copy of tlu- first octavo edition (1840-44) of Au- 

 dubon's "Birds of America" which gives the 

 record price of the work. It is an index of the 

 flourishing times we are now enjoying. The 

 edition is not what bibliopoles call rare and the 

 high price may be the expression of an unusu- 

 ally tine copy richly bound or some other extra- 

 iii ' His circumstance. — Editors. 



Michigan, March 31, 1901. 

 Editors of the < »sprey: 



I read with interest your "Recent sales of 

 Audubon's Works." In regard to the original 

 8vo. edition. 7 volumes, a tine set sold at the 

 too. a. Balcom sale in Boston, February 5. 1901, 

 for $308, which is said to be the largest price 

 ever realized for this edition at auction. At the 

 Cox sale in New York in 1900, a set brought 

 -211. At the Ives sale in 1891, a set brought 

 1192.50. To keep your readers posted you may 

 like to mention this in your next issue. 

 Yours truly. 



Ruthven Deane. 



Notes. 



The DEATH of Dr. G-USTaV HarTLAUB de- 

 prives ornithology of a veteran laborer who had 

 reached unusual distinction as well as length of 

 years. Doctor Hartlaub was born in Bremen, 

 Nov. 8, 1814, and died in his native city. Nov 

 20, 1900, having thus passed his 86th year. His 

 father held an eminent position in Bremen, 

 having been the chief of an old mercantile 

 house as well as senator of the free city. The 

 son, after a preliminary course in the university 



school, went to the universities of Bonn, Berlin 

 and Gottingen, and attended lectures on medi- 

 cine and natural history, finally gaining- the 

 degree of M. D. Soon afterwards, he visited 

 the chief European cities, and then returned to 

 take up the practice of medicine, which he fol- 

 lowed till near the end of his life. 



His first published contribution to ornithology 

 appears to have been in 1841 in the form of a 

 description of the later celebrated Little Sheath- 



