THE OOLOGIST. 



from a nest of this species a rabbit, a gray 

 squirrel and what seemed to be the half- 

 eaten carcass of a raccoon ! This may 

 sound incredible, but let me try and verify 

 it from my experience with a Hawk last 

 season. I sent a climber up to a nest of 

 the Red-tailed Hawk, and he threw down 

 a gray squirrel, eight red squirrels and nine 

 ' chipmucks,' Later on, a farmer built a 

 brush house under the tree and lay in wait 

 for the Hawks the greater part of two days. 

 He was at length rewarded by seeing the 

 female approaching slowly with something 

 unusually heavy in its claws. Just as it 

 struck the nest and was trying to lift its 

 quarry into it, the farmer fired and brought 

 down the Hawk with its talons firmly im- 

 bedded in a woodchuck ! This gives color 

 to the person's statement and belief that this 

 formidable Owl, with its stronger arma- 

 ment and fiercer Avays, may even overcome 

 a 'coon just from its hollow tree, emaciated 

 in frame and no stronger for its three months 

 hibernating. At any rate their rapacity is 

 surprising, whether we regard the quantity 

 they provide their young — often as shown 

 making their nest a perfect shambles — or 

 whether we wonder at the size of the ani- 

 mals they contrive to overpower. But most 

 astonishing is the sustaining power of their 

 wings, which enables them to lift such an 

 amount of dead weight. Clearly we have 

 much to learn even here in levitation, and 

 these feathered marauders of the night may 

 yet serve to point us some moral in aero- 

 statics. J. M. W. 



To Young Oologists. 



[The following letter from an old and ex- 

 perienced collector, contains advice which we 

 would commend to the perusal of all collect- 

 ors, and especially to students just forming 

 a cabinet. — Eus.] 



TITHAT is your object in making a col- 

 ' ' lection of eggs? Is it from mere cu- 

 riosity ? Only a desire to know how many 

 varieties you can collect? The same ob- 

 ject you have in collecting stamps, &c. ? 

 If so I fear your collection will not be large. 



for when you have obtained about a hun- 

 dred varieties and it is more difficult to ob- 

 tain new kinds, your interest will abate ; 

 you will either neglect or sell your collection. 



If your object is not to store your mind 

 with knowledge, — to have each specimen 

 suggest such thoughts that shall have their 

 own peculiar interest, you had better not 

 begin a collection. 



If you will begin aright, your interest 

 will increase with your collection. Let an 

 old collector advise you a little and if the 

 advice is followed you will thank him in 

 after years. 



First, — Every specimen you obtain, learn 

 by observation and study all you can about 

 the bird ; its time of arrival, time of nest- 

 ing, position and kind of nest, food, habits, 

 and all its peculiarities. Make notes about 

 each variety of bird and their eggs. On 

 the index margin of the page write the sci- 

 entific and common names of the bird with 

 its catalogue number. 



Second, — When it is possible to obtain 

 several sets of eggs, study the variations, 

 and place iu your cabinet those eggs that 

 show most fully the variations in mark- 

 ings, &c. 



Third, — Study the relation of one bird 

 to another and compare their eggs. 



These are simple directions, easily fol- 

 lowed. Begin with a definite purpose to 

 improve yourself as well as your collec- 

 tion, and you will soon have occasion to won- 

 der at the increase of your interest and 

 knowledge. D. 



Henceforth under this head will be 

 given the description of the eggs and ^est 

 of one or more species of North American 

 bird in detail, from many of the prominent 

 oologists of the country. This has been 

 deemed advisable from the fact that the 

 shorter descriptions are necessarily too re- 

 stricted and general. With this plan in 

 view, we are assured that collectors will 



