THH OOLOOIST 



169 



thing happened. Jays began to ar- 

 rive, attracted by the cries of the old 

 bird, until five were on the scene. The 

 snake refused to move until the fifth 

 came, then, evidently frightened by 

 the number of his opponents he glided 

 away. Fred L. Fitzpatrick 



Bethany, Neb. 



Mocking Birds Eggs. 



The eggs of the mocking bird seem 

 to vary very greatly in this county 

 (Harrison Co., Texas). During the 

 last two years I have taken eight sets 

 of these eggs, six of these had four 

 eggs each, one three, and one five. 

 Most of these sets vary in color and 

 size. The set of three were very light 

 and unusually large, measuring 1.01 

 X .80, 1.00 X .80, 1.03 X .82. 



Another unusual set was a set of 

 four that were very small and heavily 

 marked, they measure .88 x .75, .87 x 

 64, .87 X .65, and .79 x .60. 



A. D. M. 



A Runt. 



Last spring I took a set of chipping 

 sparrow eggs, three of these eggs 

 were the normal size and one was a 

 decided runt. This set measured, .87 

 X .51, .86 X .50, .86 x .48, .54 x .52. 



These eggs as a rule have very 

 little variation either in size or color. 

 Out of about a hundred nests of these 

 birds that I have examined in the 

 last three years this is the first runt 

 that I have found. A. D. M. 



.Copy. 

 We are, as usual, out of copy. Our 

 giving our readers sixteen and twenty- 

 four pages each month, instead of the 

 twelve pages promised, has exhaust- 

 ed the supply, and it is up to you, Mr. 

 Subscriber to furnish some more, for 

 we are very sure you do not wish to 

 see The Ooologist deteriorate. — The 

 Editor. 



Proposed Revision of tlie By-Laws of 

 The American Ornithologists Union. 



I wish to address all working orni- 

 thologists and oologists in the United 

 States and Canada, — through the col- 

 umns of THE OOLOGIST. For a num- 

 ber of years, there have been many of 

 the working ornithologists and oolo- 

 gists who have not been satisfied with 

 the present by-laws of the American 

 Ornithologists Union. This dissatis- 

 faction has been shared alike by "Fel- 

 lows", "Members" and "Associates" of 

 the Union. We have seen in a mild 

 form from time to time this dissatis- 

 faction expressed in the columns of 

 the "Auk," only to be sidetracked and 

 dropped with but small notice and 

 courtesy. 



I have just received the annual cir- 

 cular letter from the O. O. U., stating 

 my dues for the ensuing year are now 

 due, and asking for new members, etc., 

 etc. Each year as I look over this 

 communication I ask myself "Shall I 

 continue in the A. O. U., and what can 

 I offer a new member as an induce- 

 ment to have him join the 'Union'?" 

 Carefully looking through the pages of 

 the by-laws I can find no inducement 

 to offer him, nor do I see any induce- 

 ment offered me to continue in the 

 Association after this year, should the 

 by-laws not be changed. I have no 

 quarrel with my officer or class 

 of member of the A. O. U., my quarrel 

 is with the by-laws. We all know that 

 the A. O. U. was only a continuation 

 of the "Nuttall Club" and when re-or- 

 ganized and incorporated in 1888, near- 

 ly all active members at that time 

 could be, and were, embraced in the 

 class of "Fellows" and "Members". Ac- 

 tive members since that time have in- 

 creased, so much so that now many of 

 the most active workers are in the 

 Associate class. The by-laws have re- 

 mained the same, not keeping pace 

 with the changed conditions, How 



