THE OOLOGIST 



riety sets showing color or markings 

 out of tlie common. 



Your readers will probably like to 

 know what I consider some of the 

 best eggs as regards colouration and 

 I would say without hesitation that 

 those of the Black and Yellow Gros- 

 beak of northwestern India (perissos- 

 piza icteroides) are among the most 

 handsome eggs in the world. Of a 

 dark stone ground color they are 

 beautifully scrawled in a zone with 

 deep black markings and are about 

 the size of a Jay's egg (actually 1.03 

 by 0.08 inches). 



Another thing some U. S. collectors 

 would envy me is a large series of 

 Tree Sparrow and White-crowned 

 Sparrow from Labrador from whence 

 I have also some Pine Grosbeak 

 sets. 



It is curious how often the type of 

 egg seen in the Chipping Sparrow 

 recurs throughout the family. It is 

 more or less the type favored by the 

 Bullfinches, and also by Carpodacs 

 Propasser and several other genera. 

 White eggs are not at all common. 

 Apart from the well know white 

 eggs laid by several of the North 

 American Sparrows the only other 

 large group of white eggs are found 

 in the Mountain Finches (called 

 Leucosticte in the States but Monli- 

 fringilla by our authors). Our Euro- 

 pean example, the central European 

 form, is not so rare but it breeds in 

 the high mountain ranges and is not 

 often seen in collections. I am hop- 

 ing to make a trip to the Alps to get 

 some myself one day. 



Even in this small kingdom we rec- 

 ognize two distinct species of Cross- 

 bill and it is a trying thing for me to 

 own to that, though one form breeds in 

 the pine woods here within a mile of 

 my house 1 have not found it and 

 some of my friends, who do not 

 specialize in Finches' eggs have! 



I hope I have said enough to make 

 some of your readers realize the ad- 

 vantages of specialization in a whole 

 family. See how readily I would 

 part with choice sets of the swallow 

 family's eggs to a swallow man for 

 something he did not esteem in 

 Finches! We could all help each 

 other instead of all wanting the same 

 things and what experts we should 

 be in our own spheres! 



K. L. Skinner, 



Dec. 4, 1918. England. 



J. J. RYMAN 



Another of our ornithological friends 

 lias passed on. J. J. Ryman of Palm 

 Beach, Florida, died August 8, 1918. 

 Mr. Ryman perhaps was not as well 

 known to readers of The Oologist as 

 some, but he had a fine collection of 

 birds and eggs and was most enthu- 

 siastic. Over a year ago he wrote, "I 

 am over 64 years old, next February, 

 and can climb the tallest tree still." 

 Which shows the true spirit of a 

 naturalist. Mr. Ryman has five boys 

 in Uncle Sam's service, a record any 

 family can be proud of. 



Thomas H. Jackson. 



Sandpipers 



By S. S. Dickey, Washington, Pa. 



A few days since while I was rid- 

 ing on a train 1 chanced to pass a 

 little marsh and was gladdened by 

 the sight of two solitary sandpipers 

 that gracefully flew away from their 

 feeding places in the boggy grounds. 



This incident brought to mind a 

 recollection of a boyhood experience 

 with my first sandpiper. There were 

 three of us boys who loved to fre- 

 quent frog ponds to snag the croak- 

 ing greenbacks and hear the trilling 

 toads. One bright warm day as we 

 approached a pond that lay quite near 

 a creek we spied a strange and fas- 

 cinating bird which waded in the 



