THE OOLOGIST. 



41 



Ornithological Notes. 



Game birds of every species are plentiful 

 this year. Ruffed Grouse are probably 

 more abundant in the Middle States than 

 they have been in the past five years. 



An albino Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo bo- 

 realis) was taken at Brighton, Livingston 

 County, in Mich., a short time since. Ex- 

 cepting the primaries and tail and some 

 few dark feathers on the back, the bird was 

 entirely white. 



The following item iu the Forest and 

 Streaui may be of some interest to the cu- 

 rious : ''A bantam hen belonging to John 

 Logan, near Mount Holly, some time ago, 

 discovered a s'itting Partridge in a field, and 

 driving its hen from her nest, took po.«ses- 

 sion of the eggs herself. She now proudly 

 cares for fifteen young Partridges." 



Mr. W. H. Ballou sends us the follow- 

 ing items : On the southern coast of Lake 

 Erie, west of Sandusky Bay, Turkey Buz- 

 zards and Ravens are often seen, but sel- 

 dom east of that. The former are found 

 in flocks of twenty or thirty iu the woods 

 behind the great marshes, and the latter oc- 

 casionally iu pairs along the beach. These 

 marshes are also the breeding groiuids of 

 immense numbers and varieties of water 



birds Mottled Owls {Scops asio) 



are exceedingly sought after and killed by 

 the fifihermen of Maumee Bay, Ohio. They 

 are picked and used as bait in catching cat- 

 fish during the summer. The fishermen 

 state that during this season of the year 

 they are very tender and flavored sufficient- 

 ly to meet a cat-fish's idea of a square meal. 

 The fish, however, are just as eagerly sought 

 after by the good people of Toledo, and the 

 Owls rlo doubt take sweet vengeance in 

 clawing over the offal of the fish left by the 

 fishermen, during balmy summer evenings. 

 [We should judge by the foregoing that 

 these Owls were in great excess in the a- 

 bove mentioned locality. Were it not so, 

 a law against this practice might contribute 

 considerable toward the protection of Ohio's 

 birds.] 



The Extinction of Birds. — A recent 

 number of Harper'' s Weekly contains an 

 item relative to the extinction of certain 

 birds : ' ' The fact of the extinction of many 

 formerly well - known animals by human 

 agencies is well established, and according 

 to Pelzeln, this fate is now impending upon 

 quite a number of species, at least of birds. 

 Referring to the fact of the disappearance 

 of the Great Auk, or Northern Penguin, of 

 the ^pyornis of Madagascar, of the Dinor- 

 nis of New Zealand, of the Dodo, etc., he 

 adduces sundry additional instances as less 

 known. Among these are the JVotornis al- 

 ba, or White Rail, of Norfolk Island, a spe- 

 cies of Gallinule, and the Por^ihyrio Stan- 

 ley I of Lord Howe Island. Of a second 

 species of JVotornis from New Zealand Mr. 

 Walter Mantell obtained two living speci- 

 mens, the last, it is believed, of the race, 

 with quite a number of their fossil bones. 



"Of the Nestor Parrot {Nestor produc- 

 tus) of Gould, from Phillips Island, no liv- 

 ing specimens are now supposed to exist. 

 The last one known was a cage bird in Lon- 

 don in 1851. Quite a number of specimens, 

 however, are in public museums. 



"According to later advices, the Sickle- 

 bill bird of the Sandwich Islands (Drepa- 

 nis pari/iea), the leathers of which were 

 used for the production of the royal robes, 

 is no longer to be found living. The Star- 

 ling of the island of Reunion {Freyiliqnis 

 varlus) has not been seen alive within re- 

 cent years, although several specimen- vere 

 obtained by Professor Savi in 1844. 



" The Labrador Duck ( Ca^nptokmnus 

 labradoi'ixs) of America is ranked among 

 nearly extinct species, and is said to be 

 more poorly represented in museums than 

 even the Great Auk. There is, however, 

 good reason ttf believe that this bird is still 

 abundant in the arctic seas, and that it may 

 yet be brought in in considerable quantities. 



"The Dodo Pigeon of the Samoan Is- 

 lands {Didif/K'Nlus), the Apteryx and the 

 Stringops of New Zealand, and the Forest 

 Rail ( Ocydronius sylvestris ) of Lord 

 Howe Island, are also believed to be very 

 nearly extinct." 



