tiiK Hawk icy k Oknitii 



oi.ocikt ANI> OOI.OCilST 



59 



^OOLOG[Y.^ 



LaHoyt, Henry Co.. la., Moh. 10, '88. 

 Messrs. Webster & Mead. 



Dear Sirs: — March number of the 

 H. O. and O. at hand, and must say- 

 it is a daisy. 1 am an oologist, and 

 on January last 1 found a nest of the 

 great horned owl, with two fresh 

 eggs, which is the earliest. I ever 

 knew it to breed here. The nest was 

 in an old snag, about ten feet from 

 the ground. The owl could be plain- 

 ly seen and I could almost see the 

 eggs while standing on the ground. 

 1 had frequently noticed her on the 

 snag, but thought she was roosting 

 there through the day. At the time 

 I found the nest, the snow was on an 

 average of two feet deep. This is 

 the second nest of this species that 1 

 have ever found. 



Red-tailed hawks are plenty here. 

 I found eight nests in one season; 

 they nest here in February andJune, 

 raising two broods. They always 

 use the same nests each year unless 

 they are distui bed. 1 once found a 

 nest in which they had only laid one 

 egg, so I went away, leaving it until 

 they had finished the set. 1 visited 

 the nest four days afterward, but 

 that egg was gone and they never 

 used that nest again. I have never 

 found a nest yet of the red-tailed 

 hawk but what it was in a tall tree, 

 and always leaning over a ravine. 

 They trouble the farmers' fowls a 

 great deal, often killing the largest 

 hens. I once set a steel trap by a 

 hen which they had killed and next 

 morning I had the male. 



Tours truly, 



James C. Jay. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR PROPERLY 



FORMING COLLECTIONS OF 



BIRDS' EGGS. 



If the identification has been effect- 

 ed only by obtaining a good view of 

 the birds, the fact should be stated 

 thus: "Bird well seen," "Bird seen," 

 or "Bd. mi.," as the case may be. 

 For eggs not taken by the collector 

 himself, but brought in by natives, 

 or persons not having a knowledge 

 of ornithology, the local name or the 

 name applied by the finder should only 

 be used, unless indeed it requires in- 

 terpretation, when the scientific 

 name may be added, but always ■with- 

 in brackets thus: "Toogle-aiah 

 (Hquatarole helvetica)'" the necessary 

 particulars relating to the capture 

 and identification being added. Eggs 

 found by the collector, and not iden- 

 tified by him, but the origin of which 

 he has reason to think he knows, 

 may be inscribed with the common 

 English name of the species to which 

 he refers them; or if it has no appel- 

 lation, then the scientific name may 

 be used, but in that case always with 

 a note of interrogation (?) after it, or 

 else the words "Not identified." If 

 the collector prefers it, many of these 

 particulars may tie inscribed symbol- 

 ically or in shorthand, but never un- 

 less the system used has previously 

 been agreed upon with persons at 

 home, and it be known that they 

 have a key to it. Each specimen 

 should bear an inscription; those from 

 the same nest may be inscribed; but 

 different nests, especially of the same 

 or nearly allied species, should never 

 be so marked that confusion can pos- 

 nibly arise. It is desirable to mark 

 temporarily with a pencil each egg 

 as it is obtained; but the permanent 

 inscription, which should always be 

 ink, should be deferred until after 

 the egg has been emptied. The num- 

 ber terminating the inscription in all 



