30 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 2 



Clarke & Morgan, who mounted it and it is now 

 on exhibition in Raleigh. 



HoRNEiJ Laisk, {EmiiojjhiUi iilpextriii). Four 

 of these birds were lately shot near Raleigh, l)y 

 Jim Busliec, a boy of about fourteen. The,v were 

 in a flock nuniberinj; in all about eighty or a hun- 

 dred. Is not this ratlicr southerly tor them to be 

 found y 



HooDKu Meugaxbek, (Lop/wdyfcs i-)iculliitu>i). 

 A ver}- tine male .specimen of this bird was shot 

 on or about Jan. 9th, near New Berne, and pre- 

 served by Clarke & Morgan of that city. The 

 oidy other instance of its occurrence I know of, 

 was a female killed a year ago near New Berne. 

 Fisri Duck, (M. m. itmerimiinH). The com- 

 monest of the Mergino" round New Berne. I)ut 

 not cimimon at that, and specimens in full plum- 

 a.gc are scarce. A pair of males in full plumage 

 were shot there the first week in January and ]ire- 

 served bj' Clarke &. Morgan. 



Trn.AiiK, (Anthus huJurkianiis). Fairly plen- 

 tiful in eastern Carolina during the Winter 

 months. 



PiNii Finch. (Vhfymiintrin pin hk). Ilavefound 

 these birds to be fairly common liere this winter, 

 having .seen them several times since last writing, 

 and al-ways in company with the Gnldrtnchcs, 

 (Clii-ysfiiiiitrU ti-inlix). 



Observed the followin.g species at New Berne 

 during the fir.st week of January: Kingfi.shcr, 

 (Ccryk alci/fDi,) Thrasher, {Ilarporhyiirhasrvfux,) 

 White-bellied Swallow, (Taeh i/ci iicta bicukir.) 

 Towhee, (Pipihi (■rythriiplithidinuH,) Rusty Grackle, 

 (Scolccaphiiyiix fen'iiffiiiciix,) etc.— // Jf. d- C. S. 

 Briiitley, Rdlrigh, N. V. 



Bl.ACK-CIIINNKD SPAHHOW, (SpisfUll ((tn'ijiijn ris). 



A tine male of this rare species was shot liv Mr. 

 R. B. Herron on Slover Mountain, (near Colldii, 

 !San Bernardino Co., Cal.,) April 3!Sth. and a sec- 

 ond .specimen taken by myself in the same locali- 

 ty the 2'Jth. L'uder date of May 2. 1M,S4. J[r. L. 

 Bclding writes me from San Diego, as follows, 

 regarding this species: "Frank E. Blaisdell of 

 Fovvay Valley, in this county, shot one a few 

 days ago, and Mr. F. Stephens sent mc a list nf 

 San Bernardino birds recently, in whidi ii is 

 .given as a very rare Summer resident of llie foot- 

 liills."— CTrtA. W. Gmiii, Gniiid Riijiiils, Mich. 



Eggs of TitE Caiiacaiia Eagle. — I have been 

 presented with a beautiful set of eggs of the Cara- 

 cara Eagle, (PoU/boruK rhenioay). The nest was 

 found in Burnett County, Texas, in 1882. (exact 

 dale not known.) in a large Live Oak situated 

 solitarily on a bare hill, and was about twenty 

 feet from the groimd, composed mainly of .sticks 

 and lined with coar.se grass, leaves and weeds. It 

 was large and bulky with slight depression. The 



eggs mea.sure 2. 44 by 1 . 86, and 2. 38 by 1 . 86. The 

 shorter egg is the most inclined to be pointed at 

 one end, but it is hard to fell which is the snn\ll 

 end of either of them. The ground color of the 

 longer is considerably lighter than that of the 

 shorter, but both are of a rich cimiamon brown, 

 tJiichiy blotched with broTu of different shades. 

 The longer has one side entirely free from blotches, 

 the bare part extending from one end to the other 

 so that by holding the egg in a certain position 

 with one end slightly inclined from you. there is 

 not a blotch to be seen. The color there is rather 

 lighter than the reifb gi-ound color of the egg. 

 Wlien taken from the nest they were fresh iind 

 the same color that they are now, so the variation 

 between tlie two sides of the egg is natural. I 

 would liUc to know if that .-ariation between two 

 sides of an egg is a common occurrence. It cer- 

 tainly makes a very queer looking egg. — I'niil/nx 

 n,i!,Jii-iii, Clerehtitd. Ohio. 



Irswuii SpAiiHow. — I would like to infcirni 

 you that on March 24, 1883, I shot a male Ips- 

 wich Sparrow, (P. priiicfpii,) and on Nov. 2(), 

 1884. another. The first of these has been identi- 

 fied l)y Frof. Vcri-ill and Mr. T. B. Osborne, and 

 the .second is just like the fir.st, except that the 

 yellow above the eyes is almo.sl entirelj' wanting, 

 and the plumage is altogether more dirty looking. 

 — Lonix Ji. Bishop, ]\'tir Hmiii, Conn. 



Ai.ni.No Red Sijm'HEi,. — 1 have jusi mounted 

 a jjure white Red Scpiirrel, slmi ne.ir this place: 

 also mounted a Ruffed Grou.se, alxjuf one-third 

 white, taken a short time ago. — ./. C. Cnhvon. 

 Tiiuntoo. J/„.w. 



Bn-TKii.N.— (.)n Dec. 11. l.ssl, I obtained a line 

 Bittern, (Botinirtm kntiyinoKiiii,) which rose from 

 some rank gra.ss on a piece of boggy ground I 

 was passing over. Examination showed that one 

 wing had been broken but was entirely healed. 

 This, perhaps, may explain why it was detained 

 until so lale in the season. —.S. Alhirt S/„iir. ffoinji- 

 tou. A. //. 



Black Swan's Ecuis. — I have jnst received 

 from Tasmania some beautiful sets of freshly taken 

 and ijerlectly prepared eggs, which were packed 

 and labeled with exceeding care. Largest amonir 

 these are tlie eggs of the Black Swan, (Clienopsix 

 (ilriil(i). They are three in number, and of a light 

 blue green color, twelve inches in oblong circum- 

 ference and nine around the bulge The Swan 

 are less abnndant in Tasmania than a few years 

 ago when their eggs were used lai'gcly for culinary- 

 purposes. These eggs were obtained from Adven- 

 ture Bay Lagoon, Bruin Island in 1884.— .l/>.v. 

 -S. L. Ohii-hylher. 



