OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



suiting the action to the word he raised 

 his gun to his shoulder and pulled the 

 trigger. In his excitement Fred pointed 

 his gun so near Jim's arm, that I held 

 my breath, so fearful was I that Jim 

 would receive tiie contents of the gun 

 (000 buck shot). Luckily there was a 

 few inches between the barrel and arm, 

 and Jim escaped the loss which for a 

 moment I was fearful he would sustain. 

 At the discharge of the gun, we ran 

 forward and found that Fred had shot a 

 beautiful specimen of the Southern 

 wild cat. (Lynx rufus). 



" I knew I'd hit him 'cause I aimed 

 for his eyes " remarked Fred. "Yes" 

 retorts Jim, " and you nearly took the 

 arm off me, next time we'll let you go 

 ahead and we'll follow." . 



This cat was one of the largest I had 

 ever seen, measuring I afterwards found 

 3 feet 4 inches from tip to tip. 



After making a ' ' catch " for the cat, 

 we continued on in search of more 

 ''boodle." While moving slowly along 

 I chanced to glance up into a tree a few 

 yards away and what should I see there 

 but a sedate old specimen of a barred 

 owl. I raised one hand for the others 

 to stop, and cocking both battels of my 

 gun, I carefully crept forward. When 

 within about twenty -five feet of him I 

 pulled up and fired. With an unearthly 

 screech the owl came tumbling down, 

 and upon my running forward to pick 

 him up. I immediately perceived that I 

 had caught a tartar. The owl was only 

 wounded and seemed determined to 

 make a stout resistance. At this time 

 James came forward and delivered me 

 from my difficulty by grabbing the owl 

 by the neck and breaking its back. 



We picked up our second trophy and 

 proceeded. As we neared the banks of 

 a creek another owl flew off from a 

 neighboring tree, and I tried a snap 

 shot at it but missed. We continued 

 on until stopped by the creek, and con- 

 cluded to begin our return march. 



On our way back James shot a Florida 

 crow (Oorvus americanus fioridanus) 

 Avhich was roosting quietly upon a limb 

 of a palmetto tree. 



Arriving at our cat " catch " we drew 

 lots as to who should carry him. The 

 choice fell upon me, so giving my gun 

 to Fred, I shouldered our trophy and 

 we began our homeward march. My 

 burden was not very heavy at first, but 

 we had not gotten far, before it seemed 



to weigh a ton, fit actually weighed 48 

 pounds) and I was not sorry to see the 

 house loom up in the distance, and to 

 be able at last to deposit my burden 

 upon the floor for the family to admire. 

 He was the most beautiful specimen of 

 a lynx that I ever saw either alive or 

 stuffed, spotted like a tiger with long, 

 rich fur. 



The boys Fred, and Jim both agreed 

 to give me the skin for a specimen, but 

 unfortunately before I came north, the 

 skin became ruined from laying in a 

 damp place, and I thus lost one of my 

 most valued specimens. 



I turned in, that night about as happy 

 a young man as ever shouldered a gun. 

 Oh ! how in memory we look back 

 upon a successful collecting trip and 

 think, " Oh ! if I only were there now." 



August 25, 1889. 



A Battle in Mid-Air. 



BY J. E. G. 



A few winters ago while spending my 

 vacation down home, in the southern 

 part of Georgia I witnessed a battle 

 between two hawks, a Red-tailed and 

 a Red-shouldered. 



I was out hunting, and was creeping 

 up on some ducks that were feeding 

 near the bank of a small river, when I 

 heard the scream of a Red-tailed Hawk, 

 and on looking up saw a smaller hawk 

 flying towards it with great rapidity, 

 and to me, looked as if there was going 

 to be a collision, but when within a few 

 feet it changed its course so as to just 

 miss B. borealis. On close inspection 

 I saw that the larger hawk had some 

 small animal in its claws, and I saw 

 what the fight was about. Lineatus 

 would make a dart as if to strike its 

 cousin, but seem to lose courage at the 

 critical moment, and change his mind, 

 and course. This was kept tip for some 

 time, when in one of its attacks it came 

 too close for comfort for the Red-tailed, 

 as he immediately turned over on his 

 back, and presented his claws. But 

 alas for the Red-tailed. 



That move cost him his dinner, 

 Lineatus instantly seized the prey and 

 with half closed wings sailed to the 

 earth, and took cover in an oak scrub. 

 Old Borealis gave chase, but was too 

 slow. The ducks in the meanwhile 

 had taken themselves off. 



