THE OOLOGIST. 



107 



Of course the eggs look like othpr 

 Crow's eggs, but much smaller, and at 

 times a small American Crow and a 

 large Fish Crow will look just alike, 

 and measurement alone will not identify 

 them. 



The last egg laid is sometimes beauti- 

 fully marked. 



American Osprey— This well known 

 bird is fast decreasing in South Jersey, 

 especially around the brackish waters. 

 I see no accountable cause for this, ex- 

 cepting every year several old dead 

 limbs break off with the nests. 



Every set a collector gets of this bird 

 he well earps First, he generally has 

 a hard tree to climb, then a dead limb 

 to go out on, and when that point is 

 reached he strains every nerve to reach 

 over the nests, which are sometimes five 

 feet high. About that time out comes a 

 farmer and cries nut, ' come down out 

 of that tree and leave them Hawks 

 alone." 



I have never known the old birds to 

 strike, but they have come very near 

 my head. 



They lay from two to four eggs. 

 Three is the usual number and four I 

 consider very rare. I have collected 

 eggs for eleven years and have only 

 found three sets with four. A series of 

 these eggs are the prettiest specimens 

 in a collector's cabinet. I can say right 

 here that I never saw the eggs in the 

 same set of like appearance. One egg 

 I have in my collection is nearly un- 

 spotted with a cream ground. 



Wm. B. Crispen, 

 Salem, N. J. 



New Books. 



Mr. Chupes and Miss Jenny. The 

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Ihe captive history of two robins who 

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Taxidermy. Comprising the Skin- 

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With the Wild Flowers. From 

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A delightful vo ume giving flower 

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