RIDGWAY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 15 



the body of an animal become cold when the Vulture, which only 

 a short time previous was out of the range of human vision, makes 

 his appearance. Circling about for some time, they finally alight 

 on the ground, at first at some distance from the animal, as if to in- 

 vestigate and make sure that ail is right, at last one, more courage- 

 ous than the rest, stealthily makes his way to the head and tears out 

 the eye. I did not see them strip the skin from the animal. 



33. Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). (Swallow-tailed Kite). 

 On March 26th a pair were seen flying north. These were the only 

 ones seen. 



34. Circus hudsonius (Linn.). {Marsh Hawk). Many 

 were seen migi'ating northwards. 



35. Accipiter velox (Wils.). [Sharp-shinned Hawk). 

 Several were seen on the various trips taken. One was obtained 

 April 7th. 



36. Aquila chrysaetos (Linn.). {Golden Eagle). Just 

 across the reef north of Corpus Christi a nest of this bird was seen. 



It was conspicuously placed in the top of a large oak and was 

 composed of large twigs loosely thrown together. 



37. Polyborus cheriway (Jacq.). [Audubon's Caracara). 

 A set of the eggs of this bird was brought to me on April 15th. 

 Specimens of the bird were not taken, although seen quite often. 



38. Megascops asio mccallii (Cass.). {Texan Screech 

 Owl). Four miles west of Corpus Christi, March 26th, a female 

 was taken off her nest, which contained two eggs of a dull white 

 color. A peculiar accident happened to the eggs, which is, I think, 

 worthy of note. In some way one of the eggs got cracked in the 

 nest, thus letting out some of its contents. This albuminous sub- 

 stance caused the other egg, which lay by the side of the broken 

 one, to adhere to the parent bird's breast. Upon the removal of the 

 bird from the nest, the egg hung on sufficiently long to reach the 

 outside, when it dropped off and fell to the ground. The nest was 

 built in a dead ebony tree about five feet from the ground. The 

 male was also captured alive, and the pair made very interesting 

 pets about my friend's house. 



39. Bubo virginianus (Gmel.). (Great Homed Owl). Com- 

 mon in the timbered country north of Corpus Christi. A fine pair 

 was obtained March 29th; these were undoubtedly migrants. They 

 are much lighter in color than nort'hern specimens, which seems to 

 be characteristic among the avian fauna in general in the South, es-> 

 pecially of land birds of a tawny color. 



