Second Series. 



Vol. I. No. 4. 



Fourth Quarter. 1905 



A MAGAZINE OF NORTH AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 



Published Quarterly at Floral Park, N. Y. I Price. Sl.no Per Year. 30 Cents Per Copy 



Published Octobee 31 st. John Lewis Childs, Editor 



Plate VII. Eggs of the Carolina Paroquet 



( Con urns carolinensis) 



THE eggs of the Carolina Paroquet are known only from a few specimens 

 laid by birds in confinement which were in the possession of Robert 

 Ridgway, of Washington, D. C. Three of these eggs are in our cabinet and 

 were laid on the following dates: one on July 5th and one on July 12th, 1901. 

 Concerning these two eggs Mr. Ridgway writes under date of November 

 19th, 1 901: "Having learned that you are forming a first-class collection 

 of birds' eggs, I write to offer you two eggs of the Carolina Paroquet. Eggs 

 of this bird are so extremely rare that to the best of my knowledge not a 

 single private collection in the world contains one, nor, indeed, any public 

 museum except the United States National Museum, and all of these pos- 

 sessed by the latter were laid by birds belonging to me. The eggs are not 

 absolutely perfect, having been slightly dented on one side, the one on 

 which the hole for blowing is drilled, but this slight defect does not in the 

 least detract from their appearance when viewed from the opposite side, nor 

 from their value as specimens. The eggs were laid July 5th and 12th re- 

 spectively by the female of a pair which I captured alive in March, 1896, 

 near Lake Okechobee, Florida. This species is now very nearly extinct 

 and will undoubtedly become completely so within ten years." 



The third egg in our cabinet was laid on July 29th, 1902, concerning 

 which Mr. Ridgway writes under date of August 7th of the same year: 

 " On July 29th my female laid her first egg of the season, which I took. 

 Two days later she laid another which I started to take, but both birds pro- 

 tested so energetically that I allowed it to remain in the nail keg. In fact, 

 they told me very plainly, both by actions and words, that they had use for 

 it. They now have at least two more eggs. There were two when I last 



