March 1887.] 



A^D OOLOGIST. 



39 



about its geographical distributiou. A series 

 of seven sets of eggs of this species, all col- 

 lected by Mr. Single}', in Lee County, Texas, 

 are now before the present writer, and may 

 l)e thus described : 



Set I. April 20, 188(i. Three eggs. Xo. 1 : 

 1.96xl.(>7. Bluish white, entirely unmarked, 

 with the exception of a few brown specks, 

 which are not perceptible until closel}' lookeil 

 for. No. 2: 2.11x1.61. Dull white, blotched 

 with dark brown, forming an indistinct and 

 faint wreath near the larger end. Xo. 3 : 1.96 

 xl.54. Dull white, faintly blotched with dark 

 brown. The markings are nearly all at the 

 larger end. 



Set II. April 12, ISSO. Three eggs. No. 1 : 

 2.15x1.69. Bluish white, entirely unmarked, 

 except two small dark brown spots near the 

 smaller end. No. 2: 2.19x1.68. Dull white, 

 marked with four small dark brown spots, and 

 a few indistinct brownish specks. No. 3 : 2.12 

 xl.66. Bluish white, thickly marked with light 

 brown blotches and spots. These are dispersed 

 all over the surface. 



Set III. April 9, 188.5. Two eggs. No. 1 : 

 2.00x1.73. Dull white, thickly marked all 

 over the surface with spots and blotches of a 

 faint lilac. No. 2: 2.02x1.68. This is a most 

 pecuharly colored egg. The ground color is of 

 uniform light yellow; over this light brown 

 spots and blotches are spread all over the sur- 

 face. These look as if thej^ had been lightlj' 

 brushed over while fresh lengthwise, from the 

 larger to the smaller end of the egg. 



Set IV. May 18, 1885. Three eggs. No. 1 : 

 2.12x1.70. Dull white, thickly speckled all 

 over with dark brown. Slightly nest stained. 

 No. 2: 2.01x1.73. Dull white, faintly spotted 

 with dark brown. Badly nest stained. No. 3 : 

 2.02x1.67. Dull white, spotted and speckled 

 with dark brown. The markings are more nu- 

 merous at the smaller end, and the egg is badly 

 nest stained. 



Set V. March 22, 1886. Three eggs. Xo. 1 : 

 2.11x1.67. Bluish white, marked with a few 

 blotches of dark brown. The general appear- 

 ance of the egg is almost unmarked. No. 2: 

 2.13x1.67. Dull white, blotched and streaked 

 with dark brown. Slightly nest stained. No. 

 3 : Bluish white, spotted with dark brown, 

 mostly near the smaller end. Has a few lilac 

 shell markings. 



Set VI. April 20, 1886. Three eggs. Xo. 1 : 

 2.09x1.69. Bluish white, faintly spotted with 

 light brown and lilac. Xo. 2: 2.07x1.73. 

 \Vhite, boldly blotched with large spots of lich 

 reddish brown, tending to become confluent 



near the smaller end. A beautiful egg. Xo. 3 : 

 2.08x1.73. Bluish white, heavily marked with 

 lich reddish brown at the larger end almost ex- 

 clusively, where the markings are confluent 

 and cover the end of the egg. This specimen 

 and Xo. 2 of this set are the handsomest eggs 

 in the series. 



Set VII. April 22, 1886. Two eggs. No. 1: 

 1.98x1.59. Dull white, streaked with light 

 brown, becoming confluent at the smaller end. 

 No. 2 : 2.02 x 1.57. Dull white, boldly blotched 

 with bright reddish brown, the markings tend- 

 ing to become confluent at the smaller end. 

 Nest stained, ilr. Singly shot the female pa- 

 rent of this set of eggs, so that there can be no 

 question as to their identification, but he states 

 that otherwise he would have been disposed to 

 regard them as belonging to the Swallow-tailed 

 Kite {Elanoides forficatus)., as he considers they 

 resemble very closely some eggs of the latter 

 bird that he has taken. To the present writer 

 their resemblance to certain eggs of the Bi-oad- 

 winged Hawk (Buteo penn.^i/Ivanicux), is far 

 more apparent. — .J. P. N. 



On December 24th I shot five American Ci'oss- 

 bills, two males and three females, out of a 

 flock of about twenty-five, they were in an old 

 corn field, about seven miles from Waco. 



("HAS. D. Olukight. 



Waco, Texas. 



Mr. F. B. Webster lately drew my attention 

 to a Sharp-tailed Grouse wiiich he had just fin- 

 ished skinning. The right leg had leceived a 

 shot which was imbedded in the knee joint, and 

 the leg and foot was apparently lifeless and 

 shriveled, the toes being very brittle. Strange 

 to say the bird was very fat and in good con- 

 dition. 



We have i-ecently had some experience with 

 the preparation of Sharp-tail Grouse for our col- 

 lection, and in the determination of sex, we 

 were somewhat surprised at the utter impossi- 

 bility to decide before dissection, as light and 

 dark plumaged birds of large, medium or small 

 size would prove to be either males or females 

 regardless of any conformity to exterior con- 

 ditions. 



White Sviikkel. During the month of No- 

 vember, 1886, a pure white squirrel with pink 

 eyes and lips was shot in Oxford, Conn., and 

 sent to a taxidermist in Philadelphia. It was 

 about the size of our common grey squirrel. 



P. E. Hatch. 



