THE OOLOGIST 



151 



tawny-olive; wing and tail feathers 

 varying from rufous to richest nut; 

 top of head and hind neck plain dark 

 brown, throat and line over the eye 

 nearly white; breast and foreneck 

 deep cinnamon or rufous; sides, 

 flanks and axillaries brownish black, 

 distinctly barred with white; under 

 tail coverts white, coarsely spotted 

 with blackish; bill dusky brown on 

 top and tip, base, and lower mandible 

 mostly yellowish brown; eyes reddish- 

 brown; legs and bill tinged with red- 

 dish in high plumage. Length, 17-19 

 inches. 



The eggs vary from a dull white to 

 cream or pale buff, sparsely dotted 

 and spotted with reddish brown and 

 lilac. Size from 1.55 to 1.72 long by 

 1.25 broad, averaging 1.67 by 1.12. 



It is a fresh water species. 



It is very rare in our locality. To 

 my knowledge only several sets were 

 taken. In May, 1891, the late George 

 Harris, in South Buffalo, shot a King 

 Rail and brought it to me. In mount- 

 ing it I was surprised to find a well 

 developed egg in the body, which is 

 now in my collection. May 30, 1894, 

 my son Albert found a handsome set 

 of ten eggs in rear of Point Abino, now 

 a much frequented pleasure resort on 

 the Canadian side near Buffalo. June 

 S, 1902, my son Edward found a fine 

 set of twelve eggs in the Tonawanda 

 Swamp, Orleans Co., N. Y. The nest 

 Avas composed of sedges on swampy 

 ground. Now the Tonawanda Swamp 

 has gone out of existence. Too bad. 

 Besides these I have a fine set taken 

 May 20, 1903, at Rail Lake, Cook Co., 

 ty, 111., by G. A. Abbott. 



Ottomar Reinecke. 



goodly portion of Mr. Barnes' last visit 

 there was spent in a hospital in Los 

 Angeles, as the result of falling from 

 a tree while hunting birds eggs. It is 

 to be hoped that the nesting season 

 for California birds is over and that 

 this trip will not result similarly. 



From the European War. 



A further letter from Major O. C. C. 

 Nicolls, R. G. A., gives us the sad 

 information that he is at present con- 

 fined in a hospital in London, and is 

 uncertain as to when, if ever, he will 

 get out. We are very sorry that mis- 

 fortune has visited itself upon our 

 friend Nicolls. 



The letter also contains among other 

 things, the following: 



"I can add one other incident from 

 a letter recently received from one of 

 the oflficers out there (in Loos) in my 

 old battery. He said a nest had been 

 found in a huge shell which had the 

 top blown off, but as he is not a con- 

 noisseur in birds he merely described 

 the eggs (four) as speckled, and as 

 this includes those of a wide range, 

 from the Golden Wren to the Golden 

 Eagle, with many more beyond the 

 latter limit, the event is not of much 

 scientific interest I am afraid, except, 

 perhaps, to show that even birds are 

 getting callous out there. (They cer- 

 tainly weren't when I was there) as 

 this anxious mama apparently depos- 

 ited her goods quite close to the firing 

 line." 



In California. 



The Editor of this little magazine is 



spending a short vacation period at 



Hollywood, California, visiting his 



mother. It will be remembered that a 



Notes on the Feeding Habits of the 



Dusky Horned Owl. 



(Bubo virginianus saturatus). 



By J. H. Bowles, Tacoma, Wash. 



A short time ago I sent in to THE 

 OOLOGIST a few notes on the breed- 

 ing of the Wood Duck in western 

 Washington. On the night of Novem- 

 ber 12th, the male duck met with an 

 unfortunate ending, as it was found 



