May, 1881.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



23 



Importing Game Birds. — The Daily Ore- 

 gonian, contains the following extract from 

 the Hon. O. N. Denuy, U. S. Consul Gen- 

 eral at Shanghai, China, to Mr. A. H. Mor- 

 gan, of Portland, Oregon: "I mentioned 

 in my last that it was my intention to try 

 and stock our state with some of the finest 

 varieties of game pheasants found in 

 China, and to this end I have been collect 

 ing them for some months past. I am 

 sending by the ship Otago, of Port Town- 

 send, care of Captain Royal, about sixty 

 Mongolian pheasants, to be turned loose in 

 various sections of the state. I^lso send 

 eleven Mongolian sand grouse. These 

 birds have very peculiar shaped feet, re- 

 sembling somewhat those of a mole. I 

 also send seven Chefoo partridges. I am 

 collecting other varieties which I will send 

 in due time, some of them are beautiful 

 birds." 



Females Preponderating. — Capt. Charles 

 Bendire, stationed at Fort Walla Walla, 

 Washington Territory, writes that he has 

 been quite successful in taking skins the 

 past winter, and notes that among the 

 Raptores, the females greatly preponder- 

 ate. In seven specimens of the Prairie Fal- 

 con, Hierofalco mexicanns polyagrus. 

 There are only two males. In eight speci- 

 mens of Black Merlin, ^salon Colum- 

 barious suckleyi, there was but a single 

 male. In four specimens of the American 

 Rough legged Hawk, Archibuteo lagopxis 

 sancti Johannis there were no males. The 

 owls were more evenly divided as to 

 sex. 



Oological Notes from St. John. 

 White Winged Crossbill — I am on the 

 search for the nest and eggs of the wliite 

 winged Crossbill, I know they breed here. 

 I think it was in the third week of Janua- 

 ry, 1875, I was out moose hunting and 

 started a big buck, and in the chase I 

 found him making a circle, and cut through 

 a bunch of trees to gain upon him. On 

 my way through the thick wood, I stopped 

 to adjust a strap on my snowshoes I found 



myself face to face with a white winged 

 crossbill on her nest, the high bank of 

 snow under me bringing my head about 

 level with the nest. As I approached 

 closer to examine it she flew to a branch 

 close by, where I was enabled to carefully 

 examine and identify her. The nest was 

 placed in the fork of one of the main limbs 

 of the tree and was composed externally of 

 the long gray moss which grew in large 

 patches on most of the trees in this vicini- 

 ty, and so much resembled these patches 

 of moss as to be difficidt of detection. In 

 the inside was a lining of softer moss, and 

 between the lining and the exterior were 

 small twigs interlaced. In the nest were 

 three eggs of a bluish-white ground color 

 having dashes of red upon the large end. 

 But like the exquisite in Richelieu who be- 

 ing filled with fate had no time to discuss 

 ambition, so I, filled with the excitement 

 of the chase and my ears tingling with the 

 magnetic chonis of the dogs, had no time 

 for bird's eggs and hurried on, thereby 

 losing what now, no moose or dog could 

 tempt me from securing. 



So far as I know there is only one of 

 our citizens who has any claim to be an 

 Oologist; Mr. Jas. W. Banks. He has 

 collected and carefully identified some sev- 

 enty varieties of eggs, some of them of 

 very rare species. As he is a close observ- 

 er and enthusiastic, he will no doubt add 

 largely to his collection during the coming 

 season. 



SoLiTAKY Sandpiper. — Mr. Banks found 

 a nest of the Solitary Sandpiper on July 

 3d, 1880. It was on the shore of a lake on 

 the suburbs of the city, about 200 yards 

 from the edge of the lake on a di-y spot in 

 the midst of a rather swampy patch of 

 meadow. There was no attempt at nest 

 building, the eggs being laid in a mere 

 indentation in the ground, apparently 

 scratched out by the parents and without 

 lining of any kind. There was 3 eggs in 

 the nest and in boring one it was found to 

 contain a well developed embryo. There 

 were no broken shells near the nest, nor 



