206 



THE OOLOGIST 



Bald Eagles. 



My experience with the Bald Eagles 

 this year (1911) was unusual. 



I expected one set at least from 

 Maryland as the birds were seen and 

 nest located, and why the eggs were 

 not taken is more than I can answer 

 now. 



My young man in Delaware report- 

 ed early in February that his Eagle 

 tree had been cut down by a farmer, 

 so I did not expect anything from 

 there. 



I had given up all hopes of getting 

 any this year, as it seemed there was 

 always something in the way of get- 

 ting Eagle eggs, when my young man 

 from Delaware turned up at my house 

 on the 11th of March, with four eggs. 



When he opened the box and lifted 

 the lid, I saw he had four eggs. 

 "Well,"' I said, "two sets of two." 

 "No," he said, "they all four came out 

 of one nest." 



The expression on my face must 

 have been a study, as I was aware 

 that a set of four was very unusual, 

 and the set was exceedingly rare. 



He said he thought the nest had 

 been deserted, but some one saw the 

 birds there, and told him about it, and 

 he found the nest was rebuilt. 



It was a very large affair about five 

 feet wide by four feet high, and so 

 large he had to make a hole in the 

 side in order to take the eggs out. 



They were taken March 9th, a lit- 

 tle late as a usual thing, but I found 

 them fresh and blew them with small 

 holes. They are large eggs measur- 

 ing as follows: 3.00x2.20; 2.95x2.31; 

 2.89x2.22; 2.87x2.22. 



If any one has another set of four 

 I should like to hear from him. 



Last year (1910) I failed to report 

 any collections of the Bald Eagle eggs 

 because I had nothing to report, and 

 the prospects this year looked bad un- 



til last night, when a boy came to my 

 house with four eggs. 



He said they were taken on the 9th 

 inst. from a maple tree forty feet up 

 in Delaware. I saw he had four eggs, 

 and asked him where he got the other 

 set. "They all came cut of the one 

 nesf he said. "What!" says I. "a set 

 of four?" "Yes," he said, "a set of 

 four." 



I never heard of a set of four of the 

 Bald Eagle before, and think it must 

 be unique. 



The eggs are large in size, measur- 

 ing 3.00x2.20, 2.95x2.30, 2.89x2.22, 

 2.87 X 2.22. 



They were fresh and I blew them 

 with very small holes. They are of a 

 uniform shape, pointed like a pear. 

 Would like to hear from any one who 

 knows of another set of four. 



E. J. Darlington, 

 Vv^ilmington, Del. 



A Rarity. 



George F. Guelf took November £3d, 

 near Hamlin, N. Y., on Lake Erie, a 

 young male Barrow's Goldeye, an ex- 

 ceedingly rare bird for Western New 

 York. On dissection it was found to 

 have taken no food since leaving salt 

 water; the contents of the stomach 

 were finely ground up, but contained 

 unmistakable evidence' of salt water 

 Crustacea. 



A Partly Albino Redwing. 



On June 3, 1909, at Pompton Junc- 

 tion, N. J., in a small swamp adjacent 

 to Pompton Lake, a partly albino Red- 

 winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeni- 

 ceus) was found by the writer. 



Tfiis bird's plumage was wholly nor- 

 mal with the exception of the feathers 

 of the lower back and rump which 

 were a glistening white. This bird 

 was in company with a number of oth- 

 ers of the same species which were 

 nesting in this vicinity. 



Louis S. Kohler. 

 Bloomfield, N. J. 



