42 



THE OOLOGI8T 



heard them as they whistled in the 

 air, now and then one or two of them 

 alighting on the prairies. This bird is 

 being rapidly killed out faster than 

 they are breeding. This is what I 

 prophesied a few years ago. They 

 come in from the North in large 

 bunches, stopping on the prairies to 

 feed on grasshoppers, and the hunters 

 would hunt them from a buggy, as 

 you could get close to them in that 

 way and thousands were slaughtered 

 every year. Now six or seven is con- 

 sidered a large number in this state. 



Great Tailed Grackle Very Tame 



This extra large Grackle, v^ich is 

 twice the size of the Purple and Boat- 

 tailed Crackles is found to be plentiful 

 in and around San Antonio, Texas, 

 where I have found them breeding. 

 These birds are very tame and will 

 come up close and let you feed them. 



Many people call them crows, as 

 they are so large. One old Grackle 

 with his tail pulled out by some boy, 

 was on a lawn, jumping up and down 

 as if he were having a fit. He kept 

 this up until nearly all of the Grackle 

 inhabitants of the park had crowded 

 around him, then they danced around 

 and left. They must have been hav- 

 ing a meeting to figure out what went 

 on with the Bob-tailed Crackle's tail. 

 R. Graham, 

 Ft. Worth, Texas. 



RICHARD C. HARLOW INJURED 



A press dispatch in "The Buffalo 

 Courier," March 9, 1921, comes to us 

 which is published below. Mr. Harlow 

 is one of America's leading, if not the 

 leader of Field Oology. No man is bet- 

 ter known as a collector, and no col- 

 lector's specimens stand higher. 



We extend to Bro. Harlow our sin- 

 cere sympathy, having been through 

 the mill several times as the result of 

 our love for this character of speci- 



mens, we know whereof we speak. — 

 R. M. B. 



State College, Pa., March 9.— Dick 

 Harlow, coach of the Penn State box- 

 ing team and assistant football coach, 

 had a narrow escape from serious in- 

 jury or possible death today while con- 

 ducting a search for rare birds' eggs 

 over in the fourth range of the Seven 

 Mountains. Only his presence of mind 

 and great strength saved him when he 

 went over the side of a ninety foot 

 cliff and landed with a crash at the 

 bottom. 



Harlow is one of the leading authori- 

 ties on bird lore in the Uijiited States 

 and every summer he has been em- 

 ployed by the Smithsonian institute 

 on expeditions into northern Labrador 

 in search of rare birds' eggs. 



Swing Over Cliff 



In order to inspect a nest of ravens, 

 the Penn State coach, who stands over 

 six feet tall and weighs in the neigh- 

 borhood of 250 pounds, was forced to 

 swing himself over the cliff, slide 

 down a rope, and then swing in under 

 the over-hang to where the nest was 

 located on a six-inch ledge. When 

 about mid-way down the rope, a loose 

 rock dislodged itself up above and 

 came hurling down on Harlow's head. 

 Stunned by the blow, he managed to 

 retain his hold on the rope as he went 

 sliding to the bottom, and thus broke 

 the worst of his fall. 



After lying unconscious for about a 

 half hour, Harlow managed to make 

 his way to Coburn, where he found a 

 conveyance to bring him back to State 

 College. One hand was cut to the bone 

 and the other badly seared by the 

 rope, his head was severely bruised, 

 and liis body was a mass of cuts and 

 bruises, but fortunately no bones were 

 broken. 



