18 



THE OOLOGIST. 



to be daunted with these incidents and after 

 getting my bird passed on. 



At the grand tumult my shot had created 

 among these "denizens of the forest," I rais- 

 ed my eyes and endeavored to see whence 

 the birds flew. Of course scores flew up 

 from the water, but my attention was given 

 particularly to those which rose from the 

 trees, their presence there giving a fair in- 

 dication of nests. I immediately proceeded 

 in the direction of a lighter spot, where the 

 trees were less thick and the sun penetrated. 

 Just as I reached there, an interesting spec- 

 tacle called forth my attention, — one that 

 will be impressed on my memory for some 

 time. At the moment I looked into the 

 space, I heard a splash and an angry '•^hronk" 

 and saw a Great Heron with his neck ex- 

 tended and part of a large fish in its mouth. 

 A White-headed Eagle had evidently ob- 

 served the fish from above, and knowing 

 no doubt that it Avas a good opportunity for 

 a meal, it pounced down, and just as the 

 Heron had its head between its mandibles, 

 the Eagle seized the protruding part in its 

 talons. The Heron liad a decided hold of 

 the fish ; so did the Eagle, and unable to 

 meet the sudden and unexpected resistence, 

 drew the bird into the water and fluttered 

 down upon it. During this the Heron was 

 making strenuous efforts at swallowing the 

 fish, and the portion in the possession of the 

 Eagle was quite small. I expected to wit- 

 ness a grand combat, and was in hopes of 

 reporting the scene somewliat in this man- 

 ner : Battle between an Eagle and Crane ; 

 the latter torn in pieces by the infuriated 

 king of birds, &c., but my disappointment 

 can scarcely be imagined when the cow- 

 ardly bird releasing his hold fiew away as 

 quick as his pinions would carry him ! The 

 victorious Crane calmly swallowed the fish, 

 though rather large, and coolly stationed 

 himself on the identical spot where he was 

 standing previous to his encounter. I was 

 amazed and much interested, and pictured 

 to myself the oft-related fierce wars with 

 the Fish Hawk. 



I meditated for some time on the incident 

 I had witnessed, but was soon made aware 



of the approach of a storm, which here is 

 generally accompanied with a terriffic wind, 

 and I did not desire to be caught in a hur- 

 ricane in the swamp, for the trees, being 

 loose are often blown down. Accordingly 

 I took a straight line for the coast, and on 

 my way could not forbear shooting a beau- 

 tiful Snowy Heron. Reaching our house 

 just in time, I set about depriving my bird 

 of its skin. I opened its stomach and ova- 

 ries to study their constrxiction and con- 

 tents, and in the former found the usual 

 constituents of the Heron's food. Making 

 a note of this I examined its posterior ova- 

 ry. I found in the passage a Avell develop- 

 ed and shell-inclosed egg, which undoubt- 

 edly would have been deposited within 

 half an hour. The inner ovaiy contained 

 two undeveloped eggs. The skin of this 

 bird was elegant, and as I was obliged to 

 remain in the house, I took particular care 

 to make a good specimen of it. Mr. Plen- 

 derhast, one of the botanists, asked me to 

 mount it, and though its bulk would debar 

 its safe transportation some, his request 

 was complied with and he now has it in his 

 library together with several others that 

 McPherson and myself obtained. 



TO BE CONTINUED,. 



IBircls^ J^ggs and JSTests. 



Species mentioned in this issue : — 

 Fish Hawk, American Swan. Royal 

 Tern, Wilson's Tern, Burrowing Owl. 



44. Fish Hawk. 



Within the last five or six years the P. 

 caroUnensis has been found breeding ex- 

 ceedingly abundantly, especially on the At- 

 lantic coasts. Their distribution certainly 

 is extensive, and for the last two years, they 

 have been breeding on our small streams, 

 in out of the way localities. 



The nest is nothing more than an im- 

 mense layer of sticks and twigs, placed in 

 the top of a tree near the water, and is often 

 as low as fifteen feet from the ground, and 

 not unfrequently in the vicinity of houses, 



