THE OO*.OGIST 151 
The Limpkin. 
(Aramus vociferus) 
The Limpkin—a sort of connecting 
link between the Cranes and_ the 
Rails—is the only representative of 
its family found in North America. 
The natural habitat of this peculiar 
bird, so far as the United States is 
concerned, is Florida, though it is 
occasionally found as far North as 
South Carolina, and is accidental] in 
Texas. It ranges throughout portions 
of the West Indies and _ Central 
America. In some places it is re- 
garded as a game bird; in others the 
natives have a strongly seated pre- 
judice against using it for food. The 
general color is olivaceous umber 
brown. It is about 26 inches long, 
and has an extent of wing of about 
40 inches, It varies much in size 
and proportions. 
The natural home of the Limpkin is 
in the swamps, and its. ordinary 
habits are similar to the Rail. Its 
food is mostly snails. Its nest is com- 
posed of weeds, grass and the like, 
forming a large mass with a depres- 
sion in the center, Generally placed 
among the tallest grasses not far from 
the water. 
The eggs number from seven to a 
dozen; though eight or nine is the 
usual number. They are large beauti- 
ful specimens, averaging 2-4.by 1.5-8 
inches. The ground color is rufous 
splashed usually at the larger end 
with small burnt ochre spots. 
Formerly this bird was exceedingly 
common in parts of Florida. There 
are now but few specimens in most 
parts of Florida where it was formerly 
very common. One of our correspon- 
dents, writing in regard to this bird 
a few day ago stated, “The Lampkin 
is now nearly gone. Where formerly 
my collector could procure’ several 
hundred eggs each season, a bird is 
now rarely seen, and the eggs are 
practically unknown, 
The eggs of this species are among 
the most beautiful and attractive that 
the oologist can place in his cabinet, 
and we are illustrating in this issue, 
one of the finest series of eggs known 
at present, in the cabinet of Thomas 
H. Jackson, at West Chester, Penn- 
sylvania. 
ae = 
Announcement, 1911. 
During 1911 THE OOLOGIST will 
be published as it has been during 
the past year, We promise no more 
for 1911 than we promised for 1910, 
viz: eight pages of reading matter 
and one half tone for each issue. 
Anything more must be regarded as a 
gratuity tendered by the _ present 
Management to its patrons. We ex- 
pect to be able to continue along the 
lines that we have followed since we 
bought the magazine and do more 
than we promise; but we do not 
undertake so to do. 
However beginning with the first of 
January, if we can accumulate 
sufficient copy through the courtesy 
of our contributors, we propose devot- 
ing separate issues of THE OOLOGIST 
to separate families of birds, grouping 
all articles as near as may be relating 
to each separate family of birds in 
different issues. 
At present it is our purpose to issue 
the January number devoted almost 
entirely to the birds of the Isle of 
Pines, concerning which little has 
been written and almost _ noth- 
ing published except what has 
appeared in the columns of THE 
OOLOGIST. 
The February issue will be mostly 
devoted to the native Wild Fowl of 
the North American continent and the 
March issue to the Birds of Prey. 
