THE OOLOGIST 



11 



laid him low had completely severed 

 the extensor metacarpal muscle at the 

 elbow and although the wound had 

 healed the joint had become hardened 

 and there was no power in the wing 

 beyond that point; the outer primar- 

 ies were very poorly developed and all 

 were much abraded from dragging on 

 the ground. There were no other 

 signs of injury. The stomach was 

 empty except for a little rabbit fur 

 from it's last meal and was strangely 

 contracted in the middle so that it was 

 a perfect hour glass in shape. The 

 crop held fully a pint of water. All 

 through the hot weather it was very 

 evident that it was carrying water in 

 the crop, which sometimes was dis- 

 tended to the size of a ball and would 

 swing from side to side as the bird 

 moved about. It would be interesting 

 to know if carrying water in that way 

 is also a trait of it's natural wild state. 



If any reader of The Ooligist thinks 

 he has ever tackled a hard proposition 

 in a bird skin he should try a Condor. 

 One of the experiences that I shall al- 

 ways remember with interest is the 

 skinning of that little bird. If there 

 was a square inch of skin or a feather 

 that was not attached to the body by 

 at least one muscle I am sure I must 

 have overlooked it. 



One should always be ready to try 

 anything once and the experience was 

 unique and especially interesting as 

 the opportunity will probably never 

 be offered again. 



C. S. Sharp, 

 Escondido, Cal. 



Ivory-billed Woodpecker Not Yet 



Extinct 

 No doubt bird conservators will be 

 interested to know that at least a pair 

 of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers are still 

 alive in Florida. The writer's expec- 

 tations to get a clutch of their eggs 

 was up in "G" this spring; the birds 



were chiseling a hole in a green cy- 

 press tree, on returning two weeks 

 later expecting to find a full clutch of 

 eggs, found instead that a swallow- 

 tailed Kite had built a nest in the top 

 of the same tree and the Woodpeckers 

 no where to be seen or heard and all 

 efforts to locate them again failed. 

 Climbing found the hole they dug to 

 be six inches deep and two handsome- 

 ly marked eggs in the Kite's nest, but 

 still I felt disappointed. If some 

 selfish person doesn't find these birds 

 and kill them to give to some museum 

 or private collection, this pair of birds 

 will multiply, but no laws or appeals 

 can save them. It is just a chance of 

 not being found by the would be ex- 

 terminator, as the expanse of country 

 is so vast and unsettled, one could 

 kill hundreds (if they could be found) 

 and carry them off and it would not 

 be known. 



A few years ago a man from Michi- 

 gan was down here collecting and re- 

 ported that he had taken the skins of 

 a young Ivory-billed Woodpecker. I 

 did not believe it at the time, but now 

 ] do. I will say to those in a colder 

 climate, 'come and enjoy this wonder- 

 ful climate with us when you like, we 

 will be glad to see you, but don't kill 

 our birds that are so near extinction. 

 If you will kill them and we catch you 

 at it, we will prosecute you to the full- 

 est extent of the law.' 



In my several years studying birds, 

 I found to my satisfaction that birds 

 do possess reasoning faculties and do 

 use them. Recently I saw a female 

 Prairie Warbler gathering feathers in 

 my yard, following her I found her 

 nest. Ten days later I climbed again 

 and found the nest empty and a por- 

 tion of the nest missing, then I con- 

 cealed myself and watched the nest. 

 In a few moments the bird came and 

 took away a portion of the nest. On 

 following her, found the second nest 



