Oct. 1887.] 



A:^rD OOLOGIST. 



167 



highest limb of a cypress tree. As I raised ray 

 gun he raised his wings to fly away, but the 

 bright sight of the gun was already showing 

 against his breast, and a movement of my fin- 

 ger on the trigger ended his sojourn on earth 

 forever. 



My specimen proved to be a fine old male. 

 When I picked him up at least twenty fishes 

 two to three inches long diopped out of his 

 mouth. It was so very hot I was prevented 

 from preserving the specimen entire, but his 

 wing that once carried him far above the reach 

 of men with their death-dealing weapons hangs 

 over my desk as I write, and I wish that it 

 might tell me the storj^ of its wanderings from 

 its nest in a southern swamp to an ornitholo- 

 gist's study. 



There were probably two hundred and fifty 

 Ibises in the flock, and also about tliirty Snowy 

 Herons, making quite a tropical scene. Tlie 

 next day I went to the pond again but there 

 were only about fifty Ibises and perhaps half a 

 dozen Herons. 



On July 19th I went again but the pond was de- 

 serted, save for the Purple Grackles who seem- 

 ed to be chanting a death dirge for the slairt; 

 for the negroes seeing an easy way to get a 

 dinner, and the fisherman seeing that the large 

 birds would be good to bait nets, had invaded 

 their ranks with seemingly every murderous 

 implement known to man and spread destruc- 

 tion on every side. Go there now and see the 

 white feathers on every side, silent witnesses 

 of the campaign going on against the feathered 

 tribes from one ocean to another. 



On August 7th I saw about fifty Ibises on the 

 island but these soon left and only the remains 

 of their murdered comrades are left to tell the 

 sad story. 



Our New England Raptores ; The 

 Number of Eggs in a set. 



BY FKEDEKIC H. CARPENTER. 



The numerical quantity of a set of Baptores 

 eggs has of late drawn out considerable discus- 

 sion, but no more than the importance of the 

 subject demanded. At the suggestion of a 

 friend, I began, over a year ago, to collect data 

 from various sources, relative to this question. 

 Numerous replies were received, but sufiicient 

 information was not received from the west to 

 correctly judge of that extensive locality and 

 the prolificness of its rapacious birds. 



It is simply impossible to acknowledge the 

 assistance which I received in New England : 

 suffice to say that without it I could have ar- 

 rived at no results whatever, and to each indi- 

 vidual I can but repeat my thanks, as privately 

 expressed ere this. 



I regret that dry statistical tables has been 

 deemed the best form in which to present the 

 accumulated data. The entire six New Eng- 

 land States are represented, and it was a note- 

 worthy fact that geographical range had no 

 visible effect upon the size of the sets, thereby 

 not necessitating any consideration of that in- 

 fluence. 



With the assistance of kind friends I hope 

 that the investigation can be continued with 

 the western varieties. No reference has been 

 made to published records and all evidence 

 offered is direct from the collectors, covering a 

 period of many years ; one gentleman sending 

 a record of twelve years observation. Full 

 complete sets are only recorded. 



Marsh Hawk, {Circus hudsonius) . 

 18 sets of 3 

 48 " " 4 

 67 " " 5 

 11 " " G 



Sharp-shinned Hawk, {Accipiter velox). 

 94 sets of 4 

 37 " " 5 



Cooper's Hawk, {Accipiter cooper i). 

 112 sets of 4 

 57 " " 5 



17 " " G 

 Red-tailed Hawk, (Buteo horealis). 



42 sets of 2 



G3 " " 3 



Red-shouldered Hawk, {Buteo lineatus). 



104 sets of 2 



393 " " 3 



84 " " 4 



9 " "5 



Broad-winged Hawk, {Buteo latissinms) 



13 sets of 2 

 4 " "3 



Bald Eagle, {Halicetus leucocephalus) . 



18 sets of 3 



Duck Hawk, {Falco peregrinus noivius). 



2 sets of 2 



2 " "4 

 Pigeon Hawk, {Falco columharius) . 



1 set of 4 

 Sparrow Hawk, {Falco sparverius). 



14 sets of 4 

 11 " " 5 



