88 



THE OOLOGIST. 



The Chapparal Cock. — {Geococcyx 

 Calif ornianus.) The fleetness of this 

 bird is proverbial, but I fear my friend 

 B.'s statement was hardly verified. He 

 said : " Now, if you see anytliing nin- 

 niug across the prairie so fast that it 

 looks like a black string, that's one." 

 I must admit, however, that they man- 

 aged very dexterously (if not fleetly) to 

 keep out of range during the four weeks 

 I was in their "range." Only three 

 skins now in my collection call up re- 

 collections of Southwestern Texas. I 

 do not wish to be un<lerstood that I 

 could not have taken more, as those 

 were taken along the roadside while 

 traveling. 



I heard the note only once. It re- 

 sembled the guttural note of the yellow- 

 billed cuckoo. I have noted the chap- 

 paral cock on Red River, north bound- 

 ary of Texas as far east as 97 '^ west 

 longitude, but it is rare here. 



G. H. Ragsdale. 



Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs 

 or the Birds of Ohio. — The above work 

 is progressing finely, and we learn that 

 the publishers are willing to accept a 

 few more subscribers for the colored 

 edition, which is not large, and will 

 never become a drug on the market, but 

 like all other works of its class will in - 

 crease in value with age. Address the 

 Publisher, Mrs. N. E. Jones, Circleville, 

 Ohio. 



Curious Nests. — For years Vernon 

 Depot, Conn., has been noted for Robin's 

 nests ; four or five being built on the 

 brackets at one time. One in particular 

 was repaired year after year until finally 

 an entire new nest was built on the old 

 one, even laying a foundation, making 

 a complete two-story nest, the first in- 

 stance of the kind ever coming under 

 our observation. 



Valuable Stock Destroyed. — It is 

 reported that during Thanksgiving 

 night, seven black swans, two cygnets, 

 three Muscovy ducks, and three Chin- 



ese geese were killed in one of the ponds 

 in Central Park. The destruction is 

 supposed to have been the work of vag- 

 rant dogs. The birds v ere all valuable. 



Great Crested Flycatcher. — We have 

 received a set of eggs from Mr. Moses 

 B. Griffing, of Shelter Island, N. Y., 

 containing the unprecedented number 

 of seven. They were taken from a bird- 

 box, and were quite fresh. 



King Fisher. — Nov. 22 a specimen 

 was seen at Lake Snipsic, Rockville, 

 Conn., although most of the lake was 

 covered with ice at the time, and it was 

 freezing hard and a strortg wind blowing. 



YoLKLESS Grass-finch Eggs. — Moses 

 B. Griffing writes that he has a set of 

 three eggs of the above variety, that 

 were devoid of yolk. They were small- 

 er than Field Sparrows' eggs. 



Rare Birds at Denm^r. — Last Oct- 

 ober, several specimens of Glossy Ibis 

 {Ibis ordii), one each of Surf Duck 

 (P. berspicellata), and Goshawk {A. 

 atricapillus) was taken here. Mr. Ru- 

 dolf Borcherdt, a Taxidermist who has 

 the above, tells me that during twelve 

 years residence here he has seen but 

 very few of the Ibis, and that the latter 

 two have never before been taken in this 

 locality. D. D. Stone. 



[Our Correspondent has our tJianks 

 for devoting his time during his travels 

 to keep us posted on his observations in 

 the various places that he is visiting.] 



New Publication. — In a letter recently 

 received from Mr. Ernest D. Wintle, of 

 Montreal, we learn that a new Monthly 

 Magazine is to be started. Mr. Wintle 

 writes as follows : " We are about to 

 publish a Monthly Journal here devoted 

 to Canadian shooting, fishing, and nai. 

 ural history, and to be called "The Can- 

 adian Sportsman and Naturalist." Sub- 

 scription, $1.00 a year. Advertisements 

 on reasonable terms. Any communica- 

 tions to same can be addressed to me at 

 present. 



