THE OOLOGIST. 



101 



To me the ldon's voice is music, as heard 

 <m the lake while fishing or in camp as one 

 sits near the fire. The sound of the com- 

 mon notes are nearly cloo loo loo loo. There 

 are notes, Ko aichee loo loo loo, which arc not 

 so common, and more particularly ut- 

 tered during the nesting season. The com- 

 mon call notes are qui ho, which I have 

 heard imitated so closely by a friend of 

 mine, that a distant loon would answer at 

 once. There are notes also resembling 

 gutteral chucklings and whinneyiugs, diffi- 

 cult of description. 



In conclusion would say that the expres- 

 sion ' 'Crazy as a loon, " cannot be applic- 

 able to this species. If any one thinks 

 the loon a fool, let him try to shoot one. 



Eggs of Mississippi Kite. 



I notice what a correspondent (H. Y. B.) 

 says in the May number of the Oologist, 

 about the eggs of Mississippi Kite, and as 

 his article is liable to create the impression 

 that the eggs of this species are marked 

 with "brown or black." I'll give a full 

 history of all the eggs of which I have any 

 knowledge. I published the first authentic 

 account of the nest of this species (with re- 

 marks on the eggs) "Ornithologist and 

 Oologist" of November, 1886. The pre- 

 vious number of that journal contained an 

 account of the finding of a nest of Mississ- 

 ippi Kite containing one egg blotched and 

 spotted with brown. The female was shot 

 from the nest and on dissection another egg 

 was found in the oviduct; this egg was 

 "faint bluish-white" and "unmarked." 



In the article referred to above I stated 

 it as probable, that like some of the other 

 Raptores the Mississippi Kite sometimes laid 

 spotted eggs. In commenting on this, Capt. 

 Charles E. Bendire of the TJ. S. National 

 Museum, in the January, 1887, "O & 0" 

 has this to say. "We have four of these 

 eggs" (in the National Museum) "all out 

 of different nests . All are as Mr. Singley 

 states; a didl bluish or greenish white, and 

 absolutely unspotted. There is a bare pos- 

 sibility that an occasional egg of this species 



is more or less spotted, just like in Cooper's 

 and the Marsh Hawk; but as a rule they are 

 unspotted." 



The eggs known to collections so far are 

 the spotted one referred to above ; those 

 collected by Col. Goss vide "The Auk." 

 January, 1885, four eggs collected by the 

 Messers Rachford of Beaumont, Texas. 

 Seven set6 taken by Col. Goss in Southern 

 Central Kansas in 1887, vide "The Auk" 

 October, 1887. One set of two eggs taken 

 by me in 1887. The six eggs mentioned by 

 "H. Y. B. " in May number of this Magazine ; 

 and four sets taken by me during 1887; as 

 well as a set of two eggs taken this season. 

 I also had one egg of this species brought to 

 me last season; making fourteen eggs of the 

 Mississippi Kite that I have seen. Five of 

 the nests contained two eggs each, one three, 

 and another one; while another nest had 

 three young in it. 



All of these eggs were pale bluish white 

 unmarked, with the exception of a set of 

 two eggs and for some time I was inclined 

 to think these were marked by the birds, 

 until it struck me that if it was a nest stain 

 it would be, presumably, tannic acid and 

 an application of iron in solution proved 

 this to be the fact, as the iron combined 

 with the acid and made an inky blotch 

 where it was applied . If "H. Y. B. " will 

 carefully treat his marked eggs with Muri- 

 atic acid he will see the markings disappear. 

 Now as all of these eggs with one exception 

 were unspotted, I think I am safe in say- 

 ing that your correspondent was in error 

 in saying "With these exceptions, all the 

 other konwn eggs this bird are, I believe, 

 spotted with brown or black. ' ' I also call 

 upon the editor of the Oologist to prove 

 that the eggs are not "pure white" but of a 



bluish tinge. 



J. A S. 



An egg of the Great Auk, a bird now 

 extinct, was sold in London a few days ago 

 for $1,000. 



