142 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



The ground color of the eggs varies even in 

 the same set from a dirty cream to a very dull 

 buff, though some eggs will be found nearly 

 white. The color perhaps becomes darker as 

 the eggs have been ex])osed for a time to the 

 light, large sets as a rule showing the greatest 

 variation. 



In a typical egg the spots are about the size 

 of a pin head, distributed over the entire egg, 

 but much thicker at the large end. In color 

 the spots vary from a brown to a deep lilac, 

 the superficial markings being brown and the 

 deep shell markings lilac. 



In a set of fourteen eggs they are blotched 

 and washed with the coloring matter much as 

 specimens of the Red-shouldered Hawk are, 

 the spots often being the size of a dime. I do 

 not think the brown spots can be readily washed 

 off as in many birds' eggs. One egg in this 

 set of fourteen has a very light ground color 

 while another has a dark buff ground color, 

 but is almost unspotted. In one set the spots 

 are almost clustered at the large end, covering 

 a space about the size of a dime. 



In size the eggs vary from 1.55 to 1.90 long, 

 and from 1.16 to 1.29 broad in inches. 



A set of eleven eggs measure 1.83x1.24, 

 1.82x1.21, 1.84x1.24, 1.86x1.23, 1. 90x1. 17, 

 1.79x1.17, 1.79x1.24, 1.81X1.20, 1.75x1.25, 

 1. 80x1. 26, 1.77x1.26. Asetof nine — 1.65x1.26, 

 1.64x1.23, 1.64x1.22, 1.63x1.21, 1.62x1.23, 

 1.63x1.23, 1.61X1.23, 1.55XT.21, 1.62x1.23. A 

 set of eleven — 1.69x1.25, 1.68x1.29, 1.70x1.27, 

 1.65x1.24, 1.72x1.26, 1.73x1.27, 1.73x1.23, 

 1.68x1.26, 1.65x1.29, 1. 70x1. 26, 1.73x1.27. 



A set of fourteen average 1.64x1.26 and the 

 average of fifty eggs is 1.69x1.24. Davie gives 

 1. 1 2 broad as the average, but this seems small 

 for Illinois specimens. 



The young Rail leave the nest as soon as 

 hatched, and are often found in the hay fields. 

 They can run through the grass at an almost 

 incredible speed, and it took the united efforts 

 of five men and two dogs to drive one from a 

 small ]jatch of grass that I might have a shot 

 at it. Sometimes one will sit until you reach 

 out your hand for it before leaving the nest, 

 when it will either slip out in its runway or fly 

 a few feet and drop in the grass again. 



The females are rather (piarelsome, and I 

 have seen one drive a Gallinule away from her 

 nest though I was only a few feet away. The 

 people living near the swamp sometimes say 

 they will destroy Ducks' and Hens' nests. 



A. C MURCHISON. 



Kewanee, 111. 



.Mk. Hknrv C. Higoins, Cincinnalus, N. Y., is in 

 charge of the Division of Nesting for the Warbler Re- 

 port of the Wilson Orn. Chapter of the A. A. 



A PHENOHENAL LIAR. 



" Dr." J. C. Smmh, of West Everett, Mass., the 

 fraud e.vposed in March " NiD," is not a mere boy, 

 as we supposed, but an old-time offender. The audac- 

 ity of this Smith, whose other name is J. F. Jones 

 (of Maiden, Mass.), is equal to the inexhaustible 

 ranjj;e of his imagination and the appalling depth of 

 his depravity. Jones is a " corker " in the fraud line. 

 We are indebted to Mr. Frank H. Lattin for the in- 

 formation that this Smith, alias Jones, actually in- 

 serted an exchange notice in our IVIay number passing 

 untler his old name of "J. F. Jones." Examination of 

 the scrawled postal of Jones shows it to be identical 

 with the handwriting of Smith. We here quote Mr. 

 Lattin, and let us hope that this publication will lead 

 the postal authorities to bring the pestiferous Smith- 

 Jones shortly to book : 



" Friend Taylor : May ' Nin ' at hand. It's well 

 up to the mark. I think, however, that Dr. (?) Smitk 

 has a good one on you. Smith's right name was 

 'Jones,' of Maiden, Mass. I ran him in about ten 

 years ago ; rankest fraud ever was ; worked ' Lattin ' 

 f/ (?/, genuine Ivory-billed Woodpecker eggs (King- 

 fisher, Screecher, Dove, etc., eggs). Had full history 

 of hairbreadth escapes among everglades after 'em ; 

 gave General Grant, Ben Butler, etc., etc. (Queen 

 Vic, perhaps), as references. We all bit. I got a 

 dandy set, and did not ' smell mice' until his 'collect- 

 or' sent more, and then others began to write me for 

 advice, etc., in reference to his Ivory-bills. He sent 

 me his photo, and when he saw in my natural history 

 paper that I was married he sent me a set of 'solid 

 silver ' tablespoons (never came — stolen in mail, you 

 know). 



" I wrote him what was what — 'twas in '85 — and 

 never heard from him again until February, '92. 

 Then it was ' Dr. Smith.' Of course I knew him to 

 be ' Jones ' at once ; in fact, letter was postmarked 

 ' Maiden ' (only about one and a half miles from Ev- 

 erett, and both suburbs of Boston). 



" I toyed with him awhile and then told him who 

 he was, and that I was to give him a gratuitous write- 

 up. He replied on a postal, and has never written 

 me since, and I've had two many irons in the fire to 

 write him up, which was my business to have done. 

 Now I am convinced that the ' Dr. J. C. Smith,' whom 

 you mentioned on page 122 of the May ' Nil),' and the 

 'J. F. Jones,' who has an exchange notice in your 

 exchange column of May, are one and the same, and 

 that both are none other than my dear old friend, 

 'Jesse F. Jones, taxidermist,' alias ' Dr. J. C Smith." 

 It's rich, but such is life. Yours, L.\ttin." 



Here is one of a score of " Dr." Smith's prize com- 

 positions by which it will be apparent to Ornitholo- 

 gists that he has doubtless long been using the mails- 

 for fraudulent purposes : 



"West Everett, i-i6-'95. 

 "Chester Bari.ow, Esq. 



"Dear Sir: I don't Know, sr, about sending you 

 such skins as the Labrador Duck & the Guadalupe 

 Petrel or Gull, on my first Trial Trade. As you wish 

 to make the exchange, and are a stranger to me, I 

 think I shall not send you these skins on the first 

 trade, but shall send you other Ducks skins by 

 Freight. I don't propose to send skins that are worth 

 their weight in Gold on a wild-goose chase, to a 

 stranger without some good security, they are hard to 

 get and I have been caught to many times, and as 

 to Gold Eagle eggs, I have 3 set of 4 each, but will 

 take those you have at list price in trade, they are 

 common eggs, here and you must give me a Very good 



