729 



close to the body iinil also at tlie base of the skull, the 

 flesh of the ueiU was allowed to i-eiiiain aiul the bill 

 of some biid of piey was held securely to oue eud of 

 the mass by fine wire; the second head was mannfac- 

 tuied from, breast meat (apiiarently). and feathers of 

 body with the bill of an Owl. Tliese two bogus heads, 

 with those of a lot of Hawks and Owls and three or 

 four common Weasels, twenty in all. were seen in Ihe 

 office of a justice of the peace, ready to burn when lit- 

 got a good hot fire started in his stove. 



TURKEY BUZZ.\RDS AND SP.A.RROWS. 



The Turkey Vulture (Fig. 1). was paid for as an 

 "Eagle-hawk,'" which was described by the scalp hun 

 ter who got the bounty for it as "being very bad on 

 poultry, especially young turkeys." The English 

 Sparrow (Fig. 2), with the heads of some other birds — 

 Hawks and Owls — and an immature male Pine Gros 

 beak and a common Robin — came to Prof. S. F. Baird 

 from county commissioners or other ofBclals in the 

 western part of Pennsylvania, in 1885 or 188C, as the 

 heads of birds of prey. The fact that these and other 

 remains of both birds and mammals were sent to 

 Prof. Baird and officers of the Pennsylvania State 

 Board of .Vgriculture for identification shows plainly 

 that the officials who sent them were sincere in the 

 belief that they were heads of some species of bird oi' 

 mammal mentioned in the scalp act of June 23, 1885. 



The heads of the Pheasant or Ruffed Grouse (Fig. 

 1). and the Sharp-tailed Grouse (Fig. 2), came from 

 Prof. Baird's collection of Pennsylvania heads. The 

 Sharp-tailed Grouse is not found in this Common- 

 wealth in a wild state, but the birds are common in 

 manv of onr markets. 



