OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



ARTHUR E. PETTIT, 



Chairman. 

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Address all communications to Oologist's Ex- 

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EDITORIAL. 

 — The Loon will again be issued Jan. 

 1, 1890, as a quarterly, illustrated, and 

 we think after the style of Footers Semi- 

 Annual. 



— The New England Naturalist, by 

 by Geo. H. Clark, 53 Harvard Street, 

 Brookline, Mass., is, we are informed, 

 to be issued Jan. 1, 1890. The Ameri- 

 can Osprey, P. B. Haskell, Pub., Ash- 

 land, Ky., is also announced for Jan. 

 1, 1890. We extend to both a hearty 

 welcome. 



—Prize Competition— First prize to 

 Geo. H. Clark, second to Fred Card, 

 third to Hollo Beck. A special set has 

 been forwarded to Mr. Underbill for his 

 receipt. Those receiving honorable 

 mention are Stewart C. Lewis and sev- 

 eral others. 



— So far we have received no com- 

 ments on the method of applying ar- 

 senic, given by Mr. Underhill in last 

 issue. This method, especially when 

 offered by Mr. U., should be given at 

 least a trial. 



— Oologieal Instructions is announced 

 for January 1, 1890, by F. W. Stack, 

 Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and will, we are 

 advised, contain complete instructions 

 for all branches of the science. Among 

 those receipts valuable are how to make 

 your own egg-drills, embryo hooks, &c. 

 at about one-eighth price charged by 

 the large dealers. It will doubtless 

 meet a long felt want. 



— Those parties desiring extra ropy 

 of supplement to this number may ob- 

 tain it by sending ten cents in stamps 

 to this office. To our regular subscrib- 

 ers the price is five cents per copy. 



THE SAGE GROUSE. 



The Sage Cock {Gentrocercus tiropha- 

 sianus) is a bird with which, I believe, 

 my readers are but little acquainted. 

 An inhabitant of the great artemesian 

 plains of the West and Southwest, this 

 bird is the largest of the American 

 Grouse ; an adult male frequently at- 

 taining a lengtb of thirty inches and a 

 weight of six or seven pounds. The 

 female is considerably smaller than the 

 male, but similar in markings, the 

 throat of the latter being colored black 

 and white, while in the former it is 

 plain white. The upper parts of both 

 birds are a mixture of black, gray and 

 brown in color, with the lower parts of 

 the breast and abdomeu black. 



The mating season begins in March 

 or April, and at this time the male bird 

 bears a striking resemblance to that 

 familiar figure of the New England 

 farm-yards, the Turkey -gobbler, as, 

 spreading out his tail like a fan, he 

 wheels and struts before the admiring 

 hens, endeavoring to charm the longed- 

 for bride into accepting him as a part- 

 ner in the joys and griefs of avbmatri- 

 mony. His mate once chosen, the male 

 at once becomes a very Paladin, doing 

 battle against .all comers, and now it is 

 that those terrific bird battles, common 

 among gallinaceous birds, take place 

 between the rival lovers. 



Choosing a suitable nesting site on 

 the ground, usually beneath the pro- 

 tecting shelter of some convenient 

 sage-bush, the hen scratches a slight 

 hollow, in which, after scantily lining 

 it with a few blades of dried grass and 

 sage twigs, the eggs are deposited. 

 These, varying in number from six to 

 fifteen, are a buffy green in color, of 

 various shades, dotted and speckled 

 with brown. In size, the eggs average 

 about two and one-quarter inches in 

 length, by one and one-half in width. 



The hunters and trappers of the West 

 have named the. Sage Cock the " Injun 

 Killer" and "Walking Quinine;" its lat- 

 ter appellation having been bestowed 

 upon it in consequence of the peculiar 

 acrid flavor of the bird's flesh, which 

 is caused by the sage leaves, a standard 

 article of food with this Grouse. By a 

 strange provision of nature, the bird is 



