212 



THE OOLOGIST. 



and if the weather is cold and the snow 

 deep so as to render it hard for them to 

 get food they will pick large holes in 

 the backs of the more feeble cattle, and 

 as the sore becomes numb from cold 

 they continue their destructive work till 

 the critter becomes too weak to resist 

 the battle and give themselves up to 

 the mercies of this terrible pest. 



Except iu the breeding season this 

 bird is one of the hardest of the feather- 

 ed family to hunt. If you do not want 

 to shoot them they are tame, but as 

 soon as a gun arrives on the scene the 

 Magpie is sitting in a distant tree be- 

 yond the reach of any marksman. And 

 if you do get a fair shot at one by some 

 keen stratagem of yours, the many nois- 

 es that hundreds were making before 

 the report of the gum are all quiet now 

 except the rustling of wings in the un- 

 derbrush. And in a minute or so they 

 may be seen rising from all parts of the 

 low brushy creek bottom and gathering 

 in flocks they wing their way far from 

 the p'.ace where you are standing in 

 hopeless medidation. You might as 

 well turn homeward now as one shot on 

 a mountain stream will drive every bird 

 far up the creek and keep them on close 

 lookout for several days. 



However in the breeding season they 

 can be shot easily, as they try to protect 

 their eggs from plunder. 



What can be more delightful than to 

 start out on a collecting trip early in 

 the morning with a basket and after 

 roaming over the rugged mountain side 

 up one gorge and down another breath- 

 ing the pure and bracing air of the west- 

 ern highlands. To return home and 

 find that you have taken ten or fifteen 

 clutches of beautiful fresh eggs. 



I would like to tell you more about 

 the habits and tricks of this interesting 

 bird as seen in the clear sunlight wing- 

 ing its way from tree to tree; and as a 

 mounted specimen it is a grand work of 

 art to study the different expressions 

 and casts of mind that can be brought 



out by the different possitions the tax- 

 idermists may place him. 



All I can say to the readers of this 

 and to the lovers of science is that the 

 study of Ornithology and Oology, is a 

 grand and elevating science. It is one 

 iu which a true searcher after truth may 

 see the height and breadth that the hu- 

 man mind is able to expand to. 



Then let us all, through the elevating 

 and ennobling study of this science 

 mould our life after the pattern for 

 which we were created, and placed in. 

 this great cycle of life and decay. 

 W. T Shaw, 



Bozeman, Mont. 



MAY CONTEST. 



Sixty Judges. 



Prize winnei's and credits received by 

 each were as follows: 



1. Among the Snake Birds. 219. 



2. Raptoi'es of Omaha. 140. 



3. California Quail in New Zealand. 

 139. 



4. Short-billed Marsh Wren. 103. 



f. \ Plumage. 82 

 ' | Courtesy and Business in Ex- 

 changing. 82. 



The following were awarded one 

 year's subscription to the Oologist: 



Life of Alexander Wilson. 58. 



Prairie Horned Lark. 52. 



Below we name the winners of the 

 Judges' prizes and the order in which' 

 they named the winning articles in 

 their decisions. 



1. No. 11 — A. R. Hutchinson. 

 Gaines, N. Y. 1, 2, 3, 5, 4. 



2. 1— W.H.Myles, Hamilton, Ont. 

 1, 5, 3. 2, 4. 



3. 3— Ed. Doolittle, Painesville, O. 



1, 3, 4, 5, 2. 



4. 28— Jno. S. Fiddes, Jackson, Minn, 

 4, 1, 5, 2, 3. 



5. 56— B. C. Rhodes, Toulon, Ills. 



2, 4, 3, 5, 1. 



A World's Fair Almanac was award- 

 ed to S. H. Robbe, Belleville, Mich. 



