THE OOLOGIST 



185 



way, is the only place I have seen al- 

 bino eggs) where a nest of two typical 

 eggs and two young were found. The 

 second chick to emerge had not as yet 

 gotten its down dry and it came from 

 a practically, pure white shell. 



Naturally a proper study of this 

 phase of nature would be to watch the 

 successive stages of a 'skimmer chick 

 born in an albino shell and so learn 

 if the deficiency of pigmenting in the 

 lime shell would follow the bird to 

 maturity and be evident in its plum- 

 age. Such a study is hardly practic- 

 able but next year Professor Glenk 

 and I intend making the experiment 

 of rearing skimmers from albino shells 

 provided, of course, we find the albino 

 eggs. 



In Darwin's "Variation of Animals 

 and Plants Under Domestication" men- 

 tion is made that "two brothers mar- 

 ried two sisters, their first cousins, 

 none of the four or any relation be- 

 ing an albino; but the seven children 

 produced from this double marriage 

 were all perfect albinos." 



Does this point out a possible solu- 

 tion to the mystery of the albinistic 

 eggs of the Black skimmer found on 

 Breton Island? Does it mean that 

 mating has taken place between two 

 birds from the same nest? If it does 

 why were not all of the eggs in the 

 clutches that contained albinistic spe- 

 cimens, white? Why is an egg, evi- 

 dently not the first nor the last laid, 

 so lacking in pigment granules while 

 the others from the same oviduct have 

 the spots and splotches that make 

 them things of beauty to the observer 

 and collector. 



I am frank to admit that I have not 

 studied bird eggs very thoroughly — 

 my greatest interest has always been 

 seeing them in the bird's own nest 

 and left strictly alone — and there may 

 be a simple answer to the occurrence 

 of the white eggs among the skimmers 



of Breton Island, an answer some 

 reader of THE OOLOGIST has on the 

 tip of his typewriter. I, for one, would 

 be interested in knowing it. 



And, a last question, is it proper to 

 term these white eggs albino eggs? 

 Are they really albinistic in the ac- 

 cepted sense? 



Frank B. Armstrong. 



Through the columns of the last 

 issue of the Auk we learn of the death 

 of Frank B. Armstrong of Brownsville, 

 Texas. Than he no better known col- 

 lector and field oologist existed in 

 North America and we believe that 

 Mr. Armstrong in his time supplied 

 more specimens of this character to 

 museums and private institutions than 

 almost any other man living; hundred 

 of which now rest in our case, many 

 having been received direct and others 

 from all parts of the country by ex- 

 change and with the collections we 

 have purchased. We have always re- 

 garded Mr. Armstrong's specimens as 

 absolutely reliable and authentic and 

 indeed are sorry to miss from our 

 ranks this veteran of fifty-three years 

 of age. 



Sora Rail. 



Richard F. Miller of Philadelphia, 

 Pennsylvania, reports the finding of 

 four Sora nests this year in North- 

 east Philadelphia in the city's limits, 

 where they are not supposed to breed 

 by local ornithologists, containing 

 seven, nine, eleven and twelve eggs 

 respectively. 



North Platten, (Nebr.) City Schools. 



Biology Department 



Local Faunt. Birds No. 4. 



The following is a composite list of 



all the birds seen on Bird Day, May 



15, 1915, by the members of the 



Meadowlark Bird Club of this city. 



Miss Laura Murray, a teacher in the 



