THE OOLOGIST. 



Sale of an Egg of the Great Auk. 



Dear Sir: — My father has sent me the 

 following particulars of a sale of an egg of 

 the Great Auk, which might be of interest 

 to the readers of the Oologist. 



Yours &c.,'W. R., Toronto, Ont. 



"At Mr. Stevens's auction rooms, London 

 this week, Dec. 14, a large number of Oolo- 

 gists assembled to witness the sale of an 

 egg of the Great Auk. Before offering it, 

 Mr. Stevens remarked that in 1880 two 

 broken eggs of this bird were sold by him 

 and that they fetched 100 guineas and 102 

 guineas respectively; this being eqtial to 

 $1,000 for the two eggs. Of the recorded 

 eggs twenty-live are in eighteen museums 

 and forty-one in nineteen private collec- 

 tions, forty-three out of the sixty-six being 

 in Gt. Britain. The first bid was made at 

 50 guineas ($250.), and the egg was event- 

 ually knocked down to Mr. L. Field at 160 

 guineas (equal to about $820). A rather 

 high price for a bird's tgg." 



«-»-» 



Nesting of the English Sparrow. 



Seeing so much in the papers about the 

 "Torments" the "English Sparrows" I 

 thought I would write of what I observed 

 the summer of '87. There is one place 

 Where I go three times a week on a delivery 

 wagon, that attracts my attention, and that 

 is a very large button-wood tree, that 

 contains twenty-one nests of this bird. 

 The nests are from 9 to 15 inches across the 

 top, and scattered all over the tree; it 

 makes a curious looking tree. Another 

 nest of this bird is not more than 25 yards 

 from the store where I work, and the nest 

 was placed in a dead rose bush, not more 

 than six feet from the ground, but no eggs 

 were laid, they left the nest for some reason. 

 P. C. Washburn, Taunton, Mass. 



Bank Swallow. 



soar far up into the sky. 



Their burrows are somewhat similar in 

 construction to the Kingfisher, only smaller, 

 being about four inches in diameter, and 

 about two feet deep. At the end of the 

 burrow is placed the nest, which is usually 

 made of grass, feathers, or small sticks, 

 and lined with down. Sometimes only a 

 few sticks put together seem sufficient. 

 The eggs are five or six in number, and 

 when fresh, are of a delicate pink hue. 

 They measure about .50 x .08. 



C. F., Princetown, N. T. 



During the breeding season, these grace- 

 ful little cteatures are constantly seen 

 skimming over the water, now and then 

 dipping in, then executing a graceful curve, 



A Day with the Herons in Florida. 



On the 27th of April, 1886, with a 

 couple of companions, I started for a place 

 called Bird Pond, of which I had heard 

 much from the natives of that vicinity. 

 Bird Pond, as it is called, is a small pond 

 densely surrounded by trees and is full of 

 button-wood bushes, varying in heighth 

 from four to twelve feet. It is situated 

 about twenty miles south of Gainesville, 

 Florida, in Alachua Co. In spring hun- 

 dreds of Herons come to breed at this pond. 

 When we reached the place, we climbed 

 trees to get a good look at the pond, which 

 was a beautiful sight to the collector's eye. 

 There were hundreds of Herons, some sit- 

 ting on their nests, some flying, and some 

 wading in the water. The beautiful "White 

 Egrets and Great White Herons and their 

 dark cousins the Louisana, Little Blue, and 

 Great Blue Herons all joining their notes 

 in one confused medle y , made pi easant music . 

 After getting a good look we descended and 

 prepared to wade, for w T e had no boat and 

 if we had we could not have propelled it 

 through the thick bushes. We then started 

 forth gathering the eggs in our hats, while 

 the terrified Herons quacked and flapped 

 over our heads. The nests of the Little 

 Blue Herons were simply a few st'cks 

 placed loosely together in a bush, varying 

 from four to eight feet from the water. 

 The nests of Egrets and Night Herons were 

 similar only a little larger, while the 

 nests of the Snake Bird were much 

 more bulky, and lined with green twigs. 



