-S 'Avr 



ISSUED IN BEHALF OF THE SCIENCE WHICH IT ADVOCATES. 



Volume II, 



SEPTEMBER, 1876. 



Number 7, 



ilfii' torn 



Species mentioned in this issue ; — 

 Black-necked Stilt, Great Horned Owl, 



Golden Plover, American Avocet, Red 



Phalarope. 



518. Black-necked Stilt. 



DRAWN FROM 



NATURE. 



This bird is closely allied to the Avocet, 

 and its distribution and characteristics are 

 nearly identical. It is very abundant in 

 the vk'est, and is found especially on the al- 

 kaline lakes of that region. It is also found 

 on the Atlantic coast. Its breeding hab- 

 its conform with those of the Recurvirostra 

 americana (517). The nest resembles 

 those of the majority of waders, being flat 

 and composed of grasses, sometimes lined 

 with any available softer material, and plac- 



ed in a shallow depression in the ground. 

 Wilson states that the nests are added , to 

 and strengthened after the eggs are laid 

 and incubation has commenced, but with 

 exception that this- may be true under spec- 

 ial circumstances, it is generally discredited . 

 The eggs are four, and, like those of most 

 of the Limicolce, are blunt at one end and 

 tapering at the other, a shape known as 

 pyriform. The ground color is buffy-drab. 

 Over this are distributed pretty evenly, me- 

 dium sized spots — some perhaps large 

 enough to be called blotches — of chocolate 

 brown. There are a very ^cw neutral tint 

 markings. The usual sizes are frpm 1.75 

 to 1.80, by 1.15 to 1.25 inches. The ac- 

 companying engraving is taken from a spec- 

 imen in my collection. 



48. Great Horned Owl. 



This bird, like all the members of its 

 family, lays white eggs. The nest is plac- 

 ed either in the hollow of a decayed stump 

 or upon the upper limbs of an evergreen 

 tree, usually in swampy localities and al- 

 ways in very dark woods. It is a rough 

 structure, made primarily of sticks, and 

 lined with a few coarse straws. Often in 

 the case of a nest in a hollow, there is scarce- 

 ly anything to merit the name of nest. The 

 eggs are usually four, sometimes five, but 

 seldom six. They are Avhite, very thick 

 shelled, quite spherical and measure on the 



