THE OOLOGIST. 



W hen placed before a m in or it craned 

 its neck toward its reflection and com- 

 pletely deceived attempted to sidle up 

 to its supposed brother, fluttering to the 

 floor in its eagerness to reach it. 



During the 8th I fed it between thirty 

 and forty house flies, seven sunflower 

 seeds and three bits of gravel. The 

 end is soon told. 



On my return from a short walk in 

 the afternoon of the same day, I was 

 unable to find it anywhere in the room, 

 but it was finally discovered between 

 the folds of a quilting frame where it 

 had crept to die. Upon dissection I 

 found five flies, two bits of gravel and 

 two sunflower seeds (the flies partly di- 

 gested) in the proventriculus or true 

 stomach, while the gizzard contained 

 four whole sunflower seeds and the 

 remanents of the shell and pulp of an- 

 other, together with three bits of gravel. 

 The two extra pieces of gravel were un- 

 doubtedly fed to it by the parent birds. 

 In its weakened condition, ihe sunflow- 

 er seeds had proved too much for the 

 bird's grist mill. 



It is pure white without a dusky 

 mars upon it, straw-colored beak, flesh- 

 colored tarsi, and eyes of deep pink, the 

 pupil and ins indistinguishable. The 

 skin is also perfectly white. Altogether 

 a perfect albino. 



Not possessing a series of skins of im- 

 mature birds of this species, I am un- 

 able to compare rneasurements but feel 

 sure my specimen is undersized. 



I became really attached to this truly 

 beautiful little bird in the brief time I 

 possessed it. 



Fkank L. Burns, 

 Berwyn, Peuua. 



William MoGlair- 



William McClair died Wednesday, 

 May 15, 1895, at his home in Ballston 

 Spa, N. Y., after a short illness of 

 quick consumption 



He was born Jan. 20, 1874, at Balls- 

 ton Spa. The writer flrst formed his 



acquaintance at the Ballston High 

 School, and soon became his Arm friend 

 and companion in many a day's ramble. 

 He was an ardent lover of nature's 

 works, in particular the birds, and 

 spent much of his time with them in 

 their haunts. 



His particular hobby wes collecting 

 Hawks' eggs, annually visiting and 

 levying upon them. Hawks' eggs of his 

 procuring are scattered, so to speak, 

 all over the United States, from Maine 

 to California, in the cabinets of brother 

 collectors, by whom he was always 

 known as dealing- in a considerate, 

 painstaking and liberal manner. 



His collection numbered about three 

 hundred and thirty species of eggs, in 

 singles. He did not believe in the sci- 

 entiflc ('•') practices of taking all the 

 eggs and precluding whole generations 

 of birds. 



He was of a quiet, retiring, unobtru- 

 sive disposition, unselfish to a fault, 

 kind hearted and gentle. His friend- 

 ship was highly valued for it was true 

 friendship, and his loss will be deeply 

 felt by all who knew him. An ex- 

 pression heard on every side testifies 

 truly of him, "He was a good bov!" 



B. A. G. 



The above should have appeared in 

 October Oologist, but through an ov- 

 ersight was ommitted. — Ed. 



