THE OOLOGIST 



129 



Beebe and Hartley of South American 

 birds will prove of great value. 



"1 had the honor of securing the 

 first authentic set of eggs of Toucan, 

 together with the first photos of young 

 Trumpeter, and a full series of Hoat- 

 zin, showing the reptilian characters 

 of the young in detail. 1 have twelve 

 photos showing day old Hoatzin craw- 

 ling about among the branches with 

 the ease of a lizard; also old birds on 

 nest, eggs, etc. 



"We have sent a fine collection of 

 animals, birds and reptiles to the 

 park, including Bushmaster, Boa, Fer 

 de Lance, monkeys, Laba, Sloth, Ant- 

 eater, Haka Tiger, small rodents, frogs, 

 lizards, toads, parrots, vultures, a host 

 of small birds and above all, a live 

 Cock of the Rock in perfect condition. 

 This, 1 believe, will be the first live 

 ])ird of this species ever to be shown 

 m The United Sattes. 



I am working in intensive entomol- 

 ogy, working out the life histories o^ 

 touth American Wasps, and the sis' 

 Qificance of their behavior and illus- 

 trating my work with photos and col- 

 or plates, charts, maps, etc. This 

 seems to us the best way to show the 

 importance of our new found field in 

 Guiana. 



"One interesting event of the trip 

 was a visit from Theodore Roosevelt, 

 who is a close personal friend of Mr. 

 Beebe. He spent two days with us 

 at Kalacoon, hunted and tramped with 

 us and made us all love him the more. 



"Would that 1 could give you full de- 

 tails of all the above, but of course, 

 we are reserving all of the "big stuff" 

 for the Society, who will publish our 

 work, and to whom we are all under 

 obligations. 



"With best wishes and regards to 

 you and THE OOLOGIST, 



"P. G. Howes." 



A Strange Experience. 

 On April 23, 1916, I found a nest of a 



Cooper Hawk fifty feet up in a maple. 

 The tree stood at the edge of a small 

 slough in a comparatively dense 

 woods. The nest bore the appearance 

 of having been recently completed. On 

 April 30th I again climbed to the nest 

 hoping to find a full set of eggs but 

 I was disappointed as the nest was 

 empty. 



On May 7th, when I visited the nest 

 I found one plain bluish-white egg. Ex- 

 actly one week later I climbed the 

 tree, confidently expecting to see a 

 full clutch of eggs in the nest. But 

 1 was thoroughly disapopinted and sur- 

 prised to see the same egg, dirtier 

 than when I first saw it, lying in the 

 bottom of the nest. By this time I 

 was becoming disgusted with the 

 hawks and finally concluded that there 

 was no hope of my securing a full set 

 of eggs, so I did not return to the 

 nest. 



This is the first time that 1 ever 

 heard of any species of hawk laying 

 only one egg. It has never been my 

 experience at least, and of all ac- 

 counts of the nestings of the various 

 species of hawks, which 1 have read, 

 not a single one contained anything 

 of a similar character. Perhaps some 

 one has had such an experience, if so, 

 I would like very much to hear of it. 



Ralph R. Wilson. 

 Jonesburg, Missouri. 



J. Claire Wood. 

 J. Claire Wood was born at Salina, 

 Michigan, July 27, 1871, and died at 

 his home at Detroit, Michigan, June 

 16, 1916. By his death the oological 

 and ornithological fraternity of the 

 United States loses one of their 

 brightest and most beloved members. 

 He was widely, well and favorably 

 known throughout the length and 

 breadth of this land as a careful, ac- 

 curate observer and conscientious 

 collector. And no man sent specimens 



