THE OOLOGIST 



55 



Bald Eagle's Behavior Towards 

 Biplane 



I happened to be passing the month 

 of December 1917 at Seabrook, Texas. 

 This is a small resort village situated 

 about half way between Houston and 

 Galveston. At that period it was no 

 unusual sight to observe one or more 

 biplanes in flight, almost daily; a gov- 

 ernment aeronautical training field 

 having located near the latter city. 



However, the intent of this note is 

 to record the spectacle of a Bald 

 Eagle, and a biplane flying in prox- 

 imity, possibly not more than five hun- 

 dred feet apart, both traveling at low 

 elevation and in the same direction, 

 the bird being lowermost and in ad- 

 vance of the machine. 



During this observation, which con- 

 sumed several minutes, and lasted un- 

 til the Eagle passed beyond yision, i' 

 appeared not in the least perturbed 

 by the incessant and penetrating noise 

 of the engine of the biplane. 



Paul Austin Smith. 



Wilson Snipe Breeding at Toronto, 

 Ontario 



(This record was published briefly 

 in the Auk by J. H. Flaming. Ontario 

 Bird Notes. Fleming. The Auk, Vol. 

 XXX page 226.) 



As this is probably the only breed- 

 ing record for Toronto, and as As- 

 bridge Marsh is now only a memory, 

 it would perhaps be advisable to pub- 

 lish the full particulars. 



The nest was found twenty feet in 

 front of the shooting platform of the 

 Stanley Gun Club, on the north shore 

 of Asbridge Marsh, by Mr. R. 

 Buchanan, on May 12, 1910. In an in- 

 terval during a Saturday afternoon 

 shoot at clay pigeons, his setter came 

 to a point close to the club house and 

 on investigating Mr. Buchanan was 

 surprised to find a Wilson's Snipe's 

 nest containing four eggs. The female 



had been sitting right under the guns, 

 during all the shooting on this busy 

 Saturday; gun wads had fallen all 

 around her and many must have 

 struck her on the back. A number 

 were on the lining of the nest, one of 

 which can be seen in the accompany- 

 ing photograph. 



On May 26, the late Mr. S. T. Wood 

 and I visited the nest and flushed the 

 female when we were ten feet away. 

 The nest was a shallow depression in 

 the dry ground, in the center of a 

 clump of green marsh grass ten inches 

 high; close to the water and the edge 

 of the rushes. It was lined with a 

 few pieces of dry grass and a number 

 of gun wads that had fallen in after 

 the eggs were laid on May 29. I visited 

 the nest again and made several 

 photographs. The eggs were not dis- 

 turbed, and hatched several days later. 

 Mr. Hiram Albert of the Stanley Gun 

 Club brought me the egg-shells as a 

 memento. In every case the chicks 

 had emerged through a small opening 

 al one end and the greater part of the 

 shell was left intact. 



J. A. Munro, 

 Okanagan Landing, B. C. 



Dec. 8, 1917. 



A CORRECTION 



In the Oologist for February 1918 

 my reference to Mr. E. R. Adams 

 should have read "A p.reparator for 

 the Biological Survey" instead of a 

 "Collector." 



H. O. Green. 



MARCH ISSUE LATE 

 The March issue of the Oologist was 

 late, not because of the fault of the 

 editor nor the printer, but owing to 

 the fact that the express company 

 was late in delivering the copy, mail- 

 ing envelopes, etc., to the printer. We 

 hope it will not happen again, 



