36 



THE OOLOGIST. 



left the tree. I went up and soon had 

 the wood cut away so I could see the 

 eggs. There were five of them, one of 

 which was a runt and as they were 

 somewhat incubated 1 took the runt 

 and left the other four in the nest, think- 

 ing Mrs. Red-head would finish incuba- 

 tion. 



Then I went through the woods find- 

 ing four more nests, one containing six 

 fresh eggs, one in the very top of a tall 

 dead hickory with five fresh eggs, one 

 with five newly hatched young and the 

 other with only three badly incubated 

 eggs. 



This took me about two hours, after 

 which I was back at the first nest and 

 not seeing the bird I concluded to go 

 up and get the balance of the set. I 

 was very much surprised when I reach- 

 ed the nest for I saw only two eggs 

 whei-e I had left four only two hours 

 before. After descending I searched 

 carefully all around the tree for the 

 fragments of the missing eggs but none 

 could be found. So I left the woods 

 and just as I had got into the field I 

 heard Mrs. Red-head and looking 

 around I saw her at the nest cavity. 

 She looked in for several seconds, then 

 walked around the tree, flew to a near- 

 by tree then back looking in the nest 

 again and even went to the ground 

 looking for those eggs. I watched her 

 for ten or fifteen minutes and then 

 came home. When I left she was still 

 at the nest. Now had she carried the 

 missing eggs to another tree and come 

 back for the others? 



The runt egg measured .82x.61 in., 

 while one of the normal ones measured 

 .96X.75 in, Verdi Burtch, 



Penn Yan, N. Y. 



has been a correspondent qf C. L. Raw- 

 son of this city for over 20 years. Mr. 

 Rawson has presentation copies of his 

 sumptuous work. Life Histories of 

 North American Birds, and autograph 

 copies of all his ornithological mono- 

 graphs. He has also, among many oth- 

 ers, eggs with Capt. Bendire's original 

 data, sets of American Raven, White 

 Pelican, Sage Cock, Mountain Partridge, 

 Cactus Wren and Bendire's Thrasher, 

 first collected and determined by the 

 captain at Malheur Lake, Oi'egon, and 

 at Rattlesnake Creek, Arizona. 



[The above clipping from a Norwich, 

 Conn, paper, falls into our hands just 

 as the OoLOGiST is going to press and 

 we trust that the information it conveys 

 may be erroneous. 



Capt. Bendire's death at this time 

 with his "Life Histories of North 

 American Birds" unfinished, would be 

 one of the heaviest blows dealt the 

 advancement of American ornithology 

 of the century.— Ed.] 



Well Known Oologist Dead. 



Capt. Charles E. Bendire,- Curator in 

 Oology in the National Museum, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, whose death has just 

 been announced at Jacksonville, Fia., 



Hotels and Summer Boarding Houses- 



The West Shore Railroad list of Hotels 

 and Summer Boarding Houses for the 

 season of 1897 is in course of prepara- 

 tion. This list will embrace all the ho- 

 tels and summer boarding houses on the 

 lines of the West Shore, Wallkill Val- 

 ley, Ulster & Delaware, Stony Clove & 

 Catskill Mountain, Kaaterskill, Catskill 

 Mountain & Cairo andDelaware& Hud- 

 son Railroads. 



In order that the list may be made as 

 complete as possible, and that correct 

 information may be given to those seek- 

 ing summer homes; hotels, summer 

 boarding and farm houses desiring sum- 

 mer boarders are requested to address 

 C. E. Lambert, General Passenger Agt., 

 West Shore Railroad, 5 Vanderbilt 

 Avenue, New York, for blank form on 

 which to give the desired information. 

 No charge is made for representation 

 in this list. 



The West Shore's book for 1897, en- 

 titled "Summer Homes and Tours," 

 will be the handsomest ever issued. 

 The size of the book has been increased 

 and elegant new half-tone cuts ai'e now 

 being engraved. It will be entirely re- 

 newed throughout. 



