182 



THE OOLOGIST 



counted twenty-two all told. The writ- 

 er took a male species in fall plum- 

 age. This is a late record. Mr. H. S. 

 Swarth has taken specimens in this 

 locality as late as June 19. C. B. Sin- 

 ton took two specimens from a large 

 flock at Santa Cruz Island, October 

 21, 1908. The fall migration is late 

 July to October. Spring migration, 

 late April to June. 



The Phalaropus lobatus breeds in 

 the northern part of the northern hem- 

 isphere. In America they breed in 

 Alaska to Labrador and Greenland. 

 They go South in winter to Guate- 

 mala. 



There is not among all our waders 

 a more dainty, exquisitely colored bird 

 than the Northern Phalarope in its 

 fall and winter plumage. "Face, line 

 over one eye and under parts white; 

 line under eye, and back of head, 

 dusky; under parts mainly gray." 



Alfred Cookman. 



Road Runner. 



The Road Runner is what I would 

 call a beautiful bird. His bill is long 

 and curved, with big head and short 

 neck, around his eyes are red and 

 other bright colors, which makes him 

 have a graceful appearance. The body 

 is chunky and nearly all feathers with 

 short stubby wings, long tail and short 

 feet which are like a Kingfisher has, — 

 two toes in front and two behind. 

 These short feet are put in use very 

 often as this bird rarely ever flies, 

 but his feet makes up for all of this. 

 I will willingly say that he can out- 

 run a race horse. They will eat any- 

 thing from a lizard to a fish. These 

 birds are not found in large woods as 

 they prefer the open, their regular 

 haunts are road sides along small 

 creeks where the timber is scattered 

 and small viney thickets. They build 

 their nests in low trees and bushes of 

 sticks, manure, and trash. They are 



poorly constructed, in a flat round 

 shape. The nest is never over ten 

 feet from the ground and that is un- 

 usual, but I have found them as low 

 as two feet from the ground. The eggs 

 are double shelled and snow white. 

 Without giving any measurements, I 

 would say they are about the size of a 

 bantam chicken's egg. The usual sets 

 are from four to six, although I found 

 a set of seven and Woodruff Yeates 

 found a set of ten, but I think two 

 birds must have laid these eggs. 



R Graham. 



Osprey. 



On October 3, 1915, while driving 

 through the country just southwest of 

 Urbana, Illinois, Professor Smith and 

 I saw an Osprey sitting on one of 

 the cross-arms of a telephone post 

 along the road. The bird did not fly 

 but sat calmly watchful as we passed 

 by. Walter A. Goelitz. 



Albino Eggs of the Black Skimmers. 

 By Stanley Clisby Arthur 



Ornithologist of the Conservation 

 Commission of Louisiana. 



A person, animal or plant exhibiting 

 an abnormal congenital deficiency of 

 coloring matter is called an albino. 

 The term is applied to plants which 

 are white through a lack of chloro- 

 phyl; to an animal whose coat is 

 white whereas the type color may be 

 brown, black or gray; to a bird whose 

 plumage is white instead of being col- 

 ored like its species. 



Since the discovery of albinism 

 among the negroes of West Africa by 

 Portugese mariners many hundreds of 

 years ago this curious phase of nature 

 has attracted the close attention and 

 study of those scientifically concern- 

 ed. Albinism, according to the best 

 authorities, is most common and most 

 marked in the negro and Indian races 

 and it occurs in all parts of the world 



