THE OOLOGIST. 



15 



A Simple Contrivance — Solicited. 



In regard to "T. S. B's" article in 

 the last No. of the Oologist, I would 

 say that he may take the eggs from 

 most Woodpeckers' uests, without de- 

 stroying the cavity, in the following 

 maimer: 



Take an old tin spoon, bend the han- 

 dle at right angles; fasten a piece of rat- 

 tan or any other elastic substance, 

 about two feet in length and the less 

 the diameter the better. (I have often 

 used small green twigs, which answer 

 the purpose first rate), then bend the 

 bowl of the spoon a little sidewaj'S. 



When about to use it, introduce the 

 spoon though the entrance to the cavity 

 and by using the "reflector" and exer- 

 cising a little care any number of sets 

 may be taken, without danger of break- 

 ing an egg. Never attempt to take out 

 more than one egg at a time. Of 

 course this device will not prove satis- 

 factory in every case, but can be used 

 in the general run. 



There are numerous other contrivan- 

 ces, such as cutting out a neat square 

 block near the bottom of the h<;le and 

 placing it back again after procuring 

 the egg, etc., etc., but the former. I 

 have found to be most serviceable of all. 

 As to ascertaining whether and when 

 there ai*e any eggs in a King Fisher's 

 without disturbing it I advise him to 

 keep a constant and careful watch over 

 the parent birds and use his own judge- 

 ment. 



Sometimes th(? eggs may be disclosed 

 with the aid of a good dark lantern, 

 when the burrows run straight. 



"Stack," 

 Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 

 [When ye editor was doing Field 

 Work he found that a piece of common 

 fence wire about 2 ft. in length with a 

 loop from 1 to 2 inches in diameter 

 made in one end to which he attached 

 a minature net or bag of mosquito net- 

 ting having a depth of from one-half to 



one inch. The wire could be bent at 

 times of using to adapt itself to any hole 

 and the net made the risk from eggs 

 rolling out very slight. Ed. 



Capture of a Trumpeter Swan. 



It may be of interest to readers of 

 the Oologist if I give a little statement 

 of my capture of a Trumpeter Swan. 

 Early in this month, Nov. 1889, while 

 lying for ducks in a boat, in evening, 

 on Slaughter Beach Marsh, a flock of 

 12 to 15 came directly over me, and I 

 succeeded in winging one which came 

 down Avith such velocity and weight, 

 that I am satisfied that either myself or 

 the boat could not have survived the 

 shock had it struck either; but fortu- 

 nately it missed us Ijy about twenty 

 feet. 



Time, Nov. 8, '89; Full moon; Weight 

 17i pounds; Length — extremes: Bill to 

 tail, 4 feet six inches; Bill to end of 

 toes, 7 feet; Feet projected six inches 

 back of the tail feathers; Wing tips, 7 

 feet; Color Pure white; Sex, Female 

 Age Old and Black feet, 25 to 100; 

 Flesh, very sweet and good; Pelt moun- 

 ted and to be seen at my house. 



As I desired to preseiwe the specimen 

 in good shape, I first tried my knife in 

 the roof of her mouth cutting to the 

 In-ain, but they are said to be long liv- 

 ed and she succeeded well in extending 

 it after the broken wing and sticking. 

 Then I tried to drown her but soon 

 perceived it was taking in air through 

 the body; supposedly through a 

 wound, so fave up trying to drown it, 

 carried it to camp and hung it up by 

 the heels when it l^led more freely; but 

 still had life enough to soil the plum- 

 age if allowed to struggle. My com- 

 panion brought the lantern and I exam- 

 ined for the shot hole but could not find 

 none. 



It soon became evident that the bird 

 was breathing, through her broken 

 wing we could hear it and feel the air 



