94 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 12. 



ing of some locality in the region about San 

 Antonio, Texas, he has either discovered a 

 new fact or made a very unfortunate blun- 

 der. As the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher {Mil- 

 vulus forficatus) is a common bird through- 

 out the greater portion of Texas, it seems 

 most natural to assume that this is the 

 species which Nehrling had in mind, al- 

 though the accompanying wood cut unmis- 

 takably represents M. tyrannus. In either 

 case the matter is sufficiently important to 

 call for a prompt and full explanation. — 

 William Brewster, Cambridge ^ Mass. 



Golden Eagles. 



The capture of two Golden Eagles has 

 come prominently before our notice. One 

 that is now in the possession of Mr. Roe 

 Reisinger, of Meadville, Pa., was taken 

 about two miles from Miller's Station, in 

 Crawford County, December loth, 1881. 

 This Eagle was seen to leave a dead animal 

 which lay in a field near a wood. On a Fri- 

 day morning a hiding place was built of 

 some rails and a hunter secreted himself 

 at 3 A. M. next morning, ani waited till 

 nearly noon, but the bird did not return. 

 The following night he did the same and at 

 8 A. M. Saturday morning it came and was 

 shot. The hunter carefully removed the 

 entrails and took the bird to Mr. Reisinger. 

 Without the entrails it weighed exactly 

 ten pounds and five ounces, and meas- 

 ured from beak to end of tail,, 3, feet and 

 5 inches; across the wings, 7 feet;., colors, 

 as Audubon gives them to the letter, except 

 that the tail from the base is almost two- 

 thirds pure white; eyes, dark hazel; sex, 

 male.. Mr. Reisinger proposes to preserve 

 the skeleton after it is prepared in good 

 shape. Mr. Reisigner evidently fully un 

 derstands how to preserve a valuable speci- 

 men for future study and ornament. 



The specimen mentioned doubtfully in 

 our December number proved to be a 

 Golden Eagle. As we have not heard from 

 the owner direct we append a description 

 from the Hartford Times, which Mr. Rei- 



singer informs us is a correct description of 

 his bird, except measurement, which is given 

 above. It appears there was some contro- 

 versy about the Connecticut specimen, in the 

 Hartford Daily Times, between Dr. Wm. 

 Wood and several others. The following 

 is the description: " It is believed that this 

 bird in possession of Henry Wedge, of this 

 place, is indeed the Golden Eagle. The 

 feathers on the top of its head are of a 

 golden orange color, or inclined to be of a 

 dark yellow. They are narrow, pointed, 

 and very distinct in these respects. Below 

 the head, and passing down the neck, the 

 feathers are of a reddish brown. Its breast 

 is a deep, dark brown. The feathers on its 

 wings, each side of its breast, are of a red- 

 dish brown, while the general color of its 

 body is the same, but not quite so strongly 

 contrasted. Its legs are feathered to the 

 toes. Its claws are black and feet yellow. 

 The end of its beak is black, and the basal 

 part bluish. At the base of the bill the 

 skin case is naked. Its eyes are of a bright 

 orange brown, as nearly as they can be de- 

 scribed. From four to five inches of the 

 end of the tail is a blackish brown, and from 

 six to eight inches from its body it is white, 

 with dark spots joining the blackish or 

 purplisli feathers, filling out the end of its 

 tail. The length of the bird is about thirty- 

 four inches, from its head to the end of its 

 tail. From tip to tip of its wings it is six 

 feet and four inches." — S. A. Munson, 

 River to a, Conn. 



\Vhitney Owl. 



C.APT. CH.\S. E. BENDIRE, U. S. A. 



For the discovery of the Micrathene 

 7i>hitneyi {Coues"), the smallest Owl known, 

 we are indebted to that indefatigable nat- 

 uralist, Dr. J. G. Cooper, now living at 

 Hayward, Alameda County, California, to 

 whom we are also indebted for a great deal 

 of original information respecting many 

 of the rarer Pacific coast birds. 



Dr. Cooper secured the type specimen ot 

 this little Owl, an adult male, near Fort 

 Mohave, California, April 26th, 186 r, and 



