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THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



end of the eggs. The markings on both 

 species are not sharply defined, as on the 

 eggs of the Field Sparrow, but instead they 

 have a mottled appearance, and they can be 

 distinguished from eggs of the common 

 Sharp-tailed Sparrow by their smaller size 



The eggs of both Nelson's and Leconte's 

 Sparrows will never be common in collec- 

 tions. The birds are very local and breed 

 north of the United States, and on account 

 of their shy habit of running through the 

 grass like mice their nests are hard to find. 

 It will be seen from the foregoing notes 

 that it takes both time and perseverance to 

 procure their eggs. 



Waltkr Raine. 



Toronto, Canada. 



GOLDEN EAGLES. 



Within the last few months this section 

 of the state has been visited by an unusual 

 number of these grand birds. Within a 

 radius of a half dozen miles of our little 

 city, seven of them have been taken. 



The first was secured over on "Oiler" 

 creek by a coon hunter. The hunter's 

 attention was directed toward it by its loud 

 snoring. Hissing on his dog, the Eagle 

 showed fight, and the hound was rapidly 

 getting the worst of the encounter when 

 the man hurried to the rescue. In the 

 pale moonlight he was not sure whether 

 his strange antagonist was bird, bear or 

 wildcat. Nor was he given much time to 

 ascertain, for the great bird at once left the 

 dog and made for the hunter as a foe more 

 worthy his attention. 



With every hair standing on end he 

 made one desperate blow at it with his 

 axe. Luckily it fell on the Eagle's head, 

 rendering it hors (hi combat. 



Two more were captured in November 

 in steel traps baited with chickens. At 

 this time one of them is in the pos.session 

 of a young farmer and is alive and well. 

 A few nights ago it killed a small dog that 

 had the audacity to attack it, and in the 

 morning it w^as half eaten up. The plum- 

 age of the other one was so bedraggled 



that no one of our local taxidermists would 

 purchase it. On the Sunday following the 

 owner drove fifteen miles to a neighboring 

 saloon town, and, trading it for a dollar's 

 worth of whisky , came back most gloriously 

 drunk. To what base uses has this noble 

 bird been reduced ! a drawing card in the 

 business place of a dispenser of ' ' chain- 

 lightning." 



The other Eagles have been secured by 

 the members of our ornithological club, 

 skinned and two of them mounted. 



Dr. W. S. Strode. 

 Lewi St on, III. 



NESTING OF THE RAVEN. 



I think everyone has noticed the fact, 

 mentioned by Dr. Coues in his Key, page 

 15, that a Raven or Hawk in populous dis- 

 tricts, spend much of their time in trying 

 to save their skins, while in a new country 

 they have not learned, like Indians, that a 

 white man is "mighty uncertain." While 

 spending the month of June, '87, in the 

 northern part of Colorado on a horse ranch, 

 I had a splendid opportunity for observing 

 this trait of large birds. We were some 

 forty miles from a railroad or town, 

 and Swainson's and Western Red-tailed 

 Hawks were as common as Doves. I 

 found a number of Hawk's nests within 

 reach from the ground and some on the 

 ground. Perhaps the most noteworthy 

 nest was of a Raven. This nest contained 

 six eggs, and was in a scrubby willow 

 not above ten feet tall. The nest was 

 reached while standing on the ground. 

 It was very deep and carefully lined with 

 rootlets and other soft materials. 



S. Bob White. 



A refreshing and in every way excellent 

 publication is the Nidiologist, published 

 at Alameda, California, under the efficient 

 editorship of Henry Reed Taylor. Any 

 one at all interested in the birds of our 

 country will be charmed with its monthly 

 menu of good reading. — Sports Afield. 



