38 



THE OOLOGIST 



by a sportsman last winter.. 1 



— We have learned tliat the forest on 

 the island of Grand Meuan is bein-^ con-; 

 sumed by fire. Collectors will regret to 

 read this, as the island is one of the best 

 known nesting localities for sea birds in 

 America. 



— Mr. O. B. Deaxk, of Springfield, 

 Mass., has received two Albino Robins — ' 

 young, taken from the nest. As usual the 

 eyes are pink ; bill and legs yellow. 



— Nov. 28th, ult., one Snowy Owl re- 

 ceived. Weather moderately cold, with : 

 some snow and rain for the past ten j 

 days. D. D. Stone, Oswecjo N. Y. 

 ■ <«> ' 



Omelettes au Naturel. 



TN a foot note to Wilson's article on the 

 -*- Fish-hawk, it is related that a man 

 took a Fish-hawk's egg into a Cape May 

 tavern, ^d had it made into egg-nog. 

 The anecdote goes on to say that both the 

 smell and the taste of the mixture acted as 

 a violent emetic, and the tippler was forev- 

 er cured of a 'penchant' for Fish-hawk's 

 eggs. This squib has again and again 

 made its appearance in newspapers, al- 

 manacs and school-books. Though of no 

 scientific interest, yet the effect of all 

 this is that we are led to believe that the 

 Osprey's egg is most nauseating, which is 

 far from being the fact. If the story is 

 true, and the effect was not of the imagin- 

 ation, then the egg was rotten. Though, 

 indeed, it may be an open question wheth- 

 er the 'Jersey Lignming' dispensed over 

 the seaside bars in the time of Wilson and 

 Bonaparte Avould not upset a man's stom- 

 ach without any such novel combination. 

 Gastronomically speaking, the Fish-hawk's 

 Q^^ is a great improvement on the eggs of 

 the ButeoH. The egg of the Ked-should- 

 ered hawk has a peculiar rancid taste like 

 old olive oil. This is always its charac- 

 teristic. Fresh eggs of Cooper's hawk 

 have a flavor like raw peanuts. This is 

 not true of our other Accipiter, for the 



eggs of the sharp- shinned Hawk are not 

 unpleasant. The eggs of the Barred Owl 

 and Mottled Owl are both edible when 

 newly laid. The yolk of Herons eggs is 

 good, but the albumen is tough and 

 rather indigestible. Game-birds' eggs are 

 all very nice, those of our Ruffed Grouse 

 being delicious. The yolk of our rapac- 

 ious birds is sti'aw colored and quite small, 

 noticeable small in the case of the Fish- 

 hawk. Crow-Black-birds' eggs have a 

 yolk of a bright red color, quite large 

 considering the size of the bird and egg. 

 The yolk of the egg of the common Tern 

 is also briglit red, which upon boiling chan- 

 ges to a fine salmon color, and cut in hal- 

 ves, these eggs make showy and excellent 

 garnishes to dishes at the tables of seaside 

 epicures. The eggs of all our small birds 

 are sweet and wholesome, and as a rule it 

 is proper to say that all eggs are edible. 

 There are some restrictions on a few of the 

 sea-bdrds' eggs, which are a little fishy, and 

 unpalatable, cooked in certain ways ; but 

 j this is sufficiently set forth in books of 

 I maritime litoral adventure. In conclusion, 

 I to revert to the Fish-hawk's eggs. I 

 j would say that 1 do not reccommend them 

 i as articles of table luxury ; but I will re- 

 ; peat that though the food of the Osprey is 

 ; wholly of fish fishy, yet the eggs when 

 I fresh, are not nauseous either to the taste 

 ! or smell, and certainly lack the strong ran- 

 I cid flavor which we find common to the 

 i eiTirs of the Buteos. 



Prairie Chicken or Pinated Grouse. 



l\/fR. Fred T. Jenks of Providence writes 

 us that he has secured a pair of the 

 above birds from Martha's Vineyard, 

 which witii Naushou lying near it seems 

 to be the only- place in the Eastern States 

 where these birds have not been extermi- 

 nated. Cu these two islands they are 

 known as Heath Hens, but are not very 

 plenty. It would be interesting to com- 

 paie these specimens with others from the 

 West, and note the difference that a long 



