THE OOLOGIST. 



123 



G. H. G., Baltimore, Mil., queries as 

 follows: Will some of our older orai- 

 thologieal reatlers answer? 



"Through your query eolumu I would 

 like to learn something eoncerniug the 

 distinction between Harlan's Hawk 

 {Buteo horcalis harlani) and the com- 

 mon Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borcaiis). 



1. Has the i^o/"t'«/t.s .at any stage of 

 development a yellow eye? 



3. Is the tarsus in Borcalifi not fc^uth- 

 ered half way down the front? 



3. Has the Borcaiis never the incis- 

 ion in the primary feathers? 



In others words are the distinctions 

 maele by Mayna'-d quoted in Langille, 

 p. 97, now considered accurate 1 have 

 a specimen corresponding to that des- 

 cription, but since I have seen several 

 specimens labeled "Red-tail," I feel 

 that I may not be safe in labelling mine 

 otherwise." 



J. C. G., Montgomery, O.— 'Twould 

 be a hard matter to decitle from your 

 description whether your eggs are those 

 of the Red-tail or Red-shouldered Hawk. 



The Am. AVoodcock nests very early, 

 but your date, March 22d, we think 

 more than ordinarily so. 



J. E. S., "Joi'dan's Manual," is a 

 standard and inexpensive key and text- 

 book on the "Vertebrate Animals of 

 Northern United States." 



G. K. B., wishes to know the use of 

 the comb-like projection on the middle 

 •toe of the Nighthawk, a)id other mem- 

 bers of the Goatsucker family. 



G. W. M., Moberly, Mo.— The young 

 Red-headed Woodpecker does not have 

 a red head. 



Harry R. Painton, of College Park, 

 Cala., writes of taking a linely marked 

 set of two eggs of the Golden Eagle on 

 March 14th. 



H. A. H., Ediiiburg, Ind. — 'J'he signs 

 and abl)r('viati(>ns used to indicate the 

 age and s(;x (jf a bird are as loUows: 



yg — young; ad— adult; sign of the 

 planet Mars — male; sign of the i)laiu^t 

 Venus— tVmale. 



H. W. Carriger, of Sonoa Co., Cal., 

 took three nests of the Anna's Hum- 

 mingbiivl on March 2d. 



^Ir. K. Alkinsou, of Dime I>ox, Texas, 

 writes tliat the Turkey Vulture fre- 

 quently kills i)igs and lambs, very rare- 

 ly 3'oung calves and that only in two 

 occasions has he been able to closely 

 appr<>aeh them wjien on the nest. Mr. 

 A. has been on the Range stock-raising 

 for the past twenty-five years and his 

 observations cover that period. 



Hugh Hartman, Ft. W^ayni;, Ind., 

 writes that a flock of about twenty-live 

 Passenger Pigcions was reported as 

 staying in th(^ woods eleven miles north- 

 east the city last fall. 



F. L. Englebert, Des Moines, la., 

 writes that he has found Caustic. Potash 

 very etlective in removing embryoes» 

 and says: 



•'Dissolve in Avater to form a solution, 

 and insert into the egg by means of a 

 blowpipe or syringe, the process being 

 repeated, after washing out each egg 

 before each insertion, until the eml)ry<> 

 is all eaten and removed, and being ani- 

 mal matter, is easily acted upon and 

 dissolved by the potash. (Jri'at care 

 must be taken, however, not to allow 

 any of the solution to get upon the 

 hands or into the mouth, as it has 

 about the same elTect as lye, but is not 

 so dangerous to handle. I have seen it 

 successfully used for several seasons 

 past, and used it with success nij'self 

 last season." 



U. L. Hertz,, of Napa, Cala., says that 

 the English Sparrows persist in making 

 a hay st:u'k of their palm trees but, ha.s 

 cooled their ardm- a little by taking 45 

 eggs at a single i"aid. 



Harry Smis.sen, of Snyder, Tex., took 

 a set of two eggs of the Bald Kagle on 

 June 20, '90. 



F. S. H., Chagrin Falls, O.— Taxider- 

 mists use arsenic or pr(!.servative (arsen- 

 ic and alum) as an insect pn^ventative. 



The readers of the OoLOtii.sT are 

 most certainly up with the times — the 

 latest is from Mr. R. C. Watlers, of 

 Baltimore, ~wli(» pi'op.ises to slaiiglit'T 

 the English Sparrows by the million 

 tlu-ough the agency of electricity— a 

 cleverly executed drawing illnstrat(!S 

 the battery and eleclniculion perch or 

 wire in position, — operator "picssiug 



