THE OOLOGIST. 



small animals, liald Eagles may be 

 distinguished from Fish Hawks, which 

 they so much i-esemble, easily, by their 

 <vhite heads, which show up very con- 

 spicuously even though a long distance 

 off. They nest abundantly along the 

 Indian River, and Prof. Maynai'd says 

 that he has never found a nest from 

 which another nest was not visible. 



The}" build in piiu' trees, and their 

 uests, which are made of sticks, are 

 about as large as a tip cart, and usually 

 difficult of access. They lay their eggs 

 as early as January, sometimes even in 

 December, and try to raise one brood 

 of two young ones each jear. 



Prof. Maynartl caught a pairof young 

 Baldheads one year when he was camp- 

 ing at Mr. Sackett's grove on the Ba- 

 nana Creek. He had them around 

 camp when they got large enough to 

 get around pretty fast, and one day one 

 of them was missing, for which Mr. 

 Maynard offered live dollars reward. 

 A few days later Mr. Sackett spied 

 young Baldhead on the ground, not 

 far from his house, and putting both 

 hands together very much like a boy 

 would in attempting to catch a ball, he 

 made a grab for tlie Eagle. But Bald- 

 head made a grab for him at the sanu; 

 time, and caugiit him by the knee with 

 one claw, Avhih^ with the other he 

 caught Ijoth thumbs. Mr. Sackett was 

 in a prett,y U.K. He could not get hold 

 of the Eagle to choke him as l)oth hands 

 wei'e held, so he tried to Ijite his claw 

 ;iuil thus get his hand free. But the 

 Eagle, instead of letting go, immediate- 

 ly caught him by his mouth, holding 

 him as in a vise and all doubled up. 

 He had to stay in that uncomfortable 

 position until Mrs. Saek<!tt came ami 

 cut the Eagle's head oil'. 



5. Oray Snipe {Macrorhftiiiph/t.s gn's- 

 f>/j<.) 1 found these to be very abund- 

 ant along the west bank of the Bana- 

 na River, and, unlike the Wilson's 

 Snipe, which 1 found there also, they 

 ffy in Hocks. 1 saw a large Hock light 

 on tlie edge of tlie river one da}', and 



by making a detour and creeping up, 

 we succeeded in getting aljout half a 

 bushel of them in five successive shots; ' 

 Now don't think I wa.'s slaughtering 

 these poor, innocent birds— kind reader 

 merely for the love of killing, for every 

 one of them was eaten— even to a plate 

 of them which we had all cooked for 

 suijper, and a wild-cat, possum or 

 something stole and ate up. 



Mingling with the Snipe might be 

 seen an occasional Killdeer, and Pec- 

 toral Sandpipers also seemed to be 

 fond of their company; Yellow legs did 

 not associate Avith them, liut wcjuld 

 shirk for themselves along the shore; 

 either singly or in small parties. 



The Gray Snipe, like the Wilson's 

 Snipe and most all shore birds, is a 

 green looking bird with its long legs 

 and longer, soft tipped bill well adapt- 

 ed to the use it is applied. Its whole 

 frame seems to be on as long and slim 

 a ]^lan as i)ossible, which gives it an 

 appeaiauce. when flying, of being a 

 large bird— and it is large according to 

 measurements— which is changed to an 

 appearence of being a very small Ijird 

 when it is skinned oi- i)lncked. But it 

 makes \\p in quality what it lacks in 

 quanity, foi- though small. A number 

 of tliem make a very good meal for the 

 hungry collector. 



Clarence W. Rowley, 

 Ellis, Mass. 



Ornitholcgy and Bicycling-. 



I think the most healthful, instructive 

 and pleasing exercise one may take, is 

 to roam in the country, through forest 

 and meadow, and over brook and 

 stream, in pursuit of the study of birds; 

 and I think the second most healthful 

 and pleasing exercise is bicycling; aside 

 from walking, there is no exercise that 

 puts every part of the body so in mo- 

 tion as does bicycling; and I venture to 

 say that there is no exercise that so 

 builds u]) the muscle; and now combin- 



