206 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 12-No. 12 



being of a very lig:ht yellowish brown color all 

 over, but niueh litjhter than the typical egg of 

 this species. Tlie othei- two eggs in this set 

 are of a uniform light l)luish white, entirely 

 unmarked. In appearance they resemble large 

 eggs of the Blue Grosbeak {(hdraca ccerulea) 

 but they are of a fainter bluish tint : .90 x .69 ; 

 .85X.70; .82X.68. 



Set II. June 7, 1887. Two eggs. Incubation 

 slight. Bird on nest. Both the eggs in the 

 set are of the same light l»luish white tint th.it 

 the two of Set I. are. They also show not the 

 slightest indication of any markings : .85 x .67; 

 .87 X .69. 



Both the nests were 1)uilt in the same bush 

 (a plum sapling) at a height of about three 

 feet from the ground. Mr. Hoxie has no 

 doubt that both were laid by the same bird. 



A Rare Gull. 



BY J. C. CAHOON. 



One of the men at the Monomoy Life Saving 

 Station, informed me a short time ago that he 

 siiot last winter an entirely pure white gull. 

 To-day, I received a full description of this 

 bird, which, without doubt, is the rare Ivory 

 Gull (Pago2)hilce hurma). It was shot on the 

 first of December, 1886, after a fresh blow from 

 the northwest. It was kept a long while at the 

 station, and as it was not considered rare by the 

 men, nothing was done with it, and it spoiled 

 and was thrown away. The description which 

 the men gave me at the station was as follows : 

 Color of gull, entire pure white; bill, dark; 

 eyes and feet, black; in size, between a kitti- 

 wake and a lierring gull. This coincides with 

 the description of tlie beautiful Ivory Gull, 

 this being the only entirely pure white gull in 

 the sub family Larinoe. of North American 

 birds. Coues' Key says : Arctic seas of both hem- 

 ispheres, coming southward in winter, but 

 rarely to United States. 



It is to be much regretted that this elegant 

 bird could not have been saved, as it would 

 have made a valuable specimen, being in full 

 plumage. 



Black Rail in Philadelphia. 



A fine specimen of the Little Black Rail, 576 

 Ridgway check list, was killed at the mouth of 

 big Timber Creek, about seven miles from this 

 city, Sep. 22nd. 



W. J. Sherratt. 



Double Nest of the Parula Warbler. 



IIV R. B. MCLAIOHLIN, STATESVU.LK, X. C. 



Some years ago while out in search of eggs, I 

 noticed some moss hanging to a dead limb of a 

 maple sapling. Its resemblance to a bird's 

 nest was sufficient to induce me to climb up, 

 although I was not sure what it was. This 

 proved to be a double nest of the Blue Yellow- 

 backed or Parula VV^arblei- {Compsuthlypiii anier- 

 icana) and a single bird, reiterating a feeble 

 note of distress, flew about me as I cut oft' the 

 limb. 



Getting it safely to the ground, I found two 

 eggs in one nest and one in the other. The 

 two eggs were perfectly fresh and easily blown ; 

 the one egg had settled to one side of the shell, 

 partially dried and could not be blown, which 

 shows it had remained in the nest for some 

 weeks. 



My opinion is that a nest was built, one egg 

 laid and for some cause — possibly the death of 

 the male bird — it was deserted and another 

 one was built beside it, the full number not 

 havine: been laid when found. 



The Golden Eagle in Connecticut. 



BY ''J. M. \V.,"' NORWICH, CONN. 



A good specimen of a young Aquila was shot 

 in Preston. New London Countj^, in October by 

 Mr. Graile, and is now mounted in the collec- 

 tion of Mr. Geo. H. Martin of this city. 



Like the full-grown young of most of the 

 Rapaciiv^ in life this eagle was bulkier than 

 adult specimens, while it equalled them in 

 height and alar extent. It is an unusual record 

 for Connecticut for a Golden Eagle to linger a 

 week in one locality, but in that time he had 

 killed twenty hens for Mr. Graile, and it was 

 when returning to feed on the body of a turkey 

 he had killed that he was in turn shot by the 

 irate farmer. 



White eg(}S of the kingbird. While ex- 

 amining the collection of a friend in Ulster Co., 

 N. Y., I was shown a nest and eggs of the 

 Kingbird, (Ttjranmis carolinensis), which dif- 

 fered from the usual type, as the eggs were 

 perfectly white. The identification was correct. 



H. Taylor. 



Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 



