200 



THE OOLOGIST 



May 7tli I received word from my 

 friend that he had discovered tlieir 

 new nest on the cliff, about a mile 

 further down the Bay, and next day 

 I set out to investigate. This time 

 the site chosen was on a small shelf 

 of rock and was absolutely inacces- 

 sible. Being anxious to get one of 

 these old Ravens for my collection, I 

 decided to lie in wait till they re- 

 turned for as in the other case both 

 birds left at our approach. After 

 much patient waiting and scheming I 

 surprised the birds as they were re- 

 turning to the nest and I succeeded 

 in bringing one down. Its bare un- 

 derparts — which were noted on pick- 

 ing up the bird — instantly told me I 

 had shot the sitting female and I 

 must confess I was sorry, for I feared 

 I had broken up the home. I had 

 hoped to get the male bird. The fol- 

 lowing day I visited the nest again 

 from the beach and was surprised to 

 see the faithful old male fly from the 

 nest as I approached. With my glass- 

 es, I hid behind a rock 300 yards 

 away and waited. In about three 

 quarters of an hour he appeared over 

 the bluff, directly above the nest, but 

 though I had not moved and consid- 

 ered myself well concealed, he saw 

 me and with a frightened "yelp" dis- 

 appeared again in the direction from 

 which he came. The following Sun- 

 day, May 16th, my friend went to the 

 nest and reported to me that there 

 were two Ravens about the nest. The 

 old male had taken himself a new 

 mate. This incident was especially 

 pleasing to me, for I had feared that 

 with this ancient bird — as with that 

 other Raven of renown — it might be 

 a case of " nevermore." 



Some weeks later I learned that 

 the young Ravens had flown and were 

 four in number. When skinning the 

 bird I had shot, I found three old 

 scars from shot wounds on the breast, 



and the skull was exceedingly thick 

 and quite filled with bony tissues. 

 Summing up all the evidence, the 

 small size of the eggs and only four 

 in number; the exceedingly wariness 

 of the birds; the scars on the bird I 

 had shot and the fact that ledge had 

 been so long occupied, leads me to 

 the conclusion that the bird I have in 

 my collection had survived the storms 

 and famines of many a bleak Nova 

 Scotia winter. Up to the present 

 time I have no authentic data con- 

 cerning the longevity of the Raven. 

 Perhaps some reader of The Oologist 

 can give me some accurate informa- 

 tion on the subject. The general con- 

 census of opinions seems to be that 

 these birds attain great age. 



R. W. Tufts, 

 Wolfville, Nova Scotia. 



The New Game Laws, 

 We have had occasion to examine 

 the "Conservation Laws of the State 

 of Maryland" with reference to the 

 question as to whether or not this 

 law prohibits persons holding a cer- 

 tificate permitting them to collect 

 birds, their nests and eggs for strict- 

 ly scientific purposes only, have the 

 right to exchange the specimens so 

 collected under such certificate to 

 other persons engaged in the same 

 character of collection, and who will 

 use the specimens for the same pur- 

 poses. 



It is the opinion of the editor, both 

 as a scientist and a lawyer of some 

 thirty years' standing, that this law 

 does not prohibit a person who holds 

 a certificate entitling him to collect 

 birds, their nests and eggs for strict- 

 ly scientific purposes from exchang- 

 ing the specimens thus collected un- 

 der such certificate with other per- 

 sons engaged in making similar col- 

 lections, and who will use them for 

 strictly scientific purposes. 



