4 



NATUBAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



1 



Oological Peculiarities. 



With the the exception of occa- 

 sionally finding albinos there is 

 very little written in regard to oo- 

 logical peculiarities, such as natur- 

 al formations of objects on the 

 shells of eggs of the different spec- 

 ies of birds. We have been very 

 successful in securing some exceed- 

 ingly rare curiosities in the line of 

 natural objects 

 on the ground 

 color of eggs, 

 whi c h m a y 

 prove interest- 

 ing to oologists. 

 The markings 

 are distinct and 

 of a dark shade 

 of color and the 

 objects are very 

 plainly recognized by anyone at 

 glance. It is extremely marvelous 

 how the figures are formed on the 

 shells of eggs as to represent birds, 

 etc., but, however considering the 

 numerous blotches and various 

 crosslines on one egg of certain 

 species, the formation of some 

 object would, rarely, naturally be 

 the result. It is the common Red- 

 and-Buff-Shouldered Blackbird 

 that unintentionally possesses the 

 most artistic skill, and she is an 

 artist of considerable notoriety and 

 ability. 



The engravings, which are exact 

 reproductions, will enable the read- 

 er to get an idea as to how they 

 are, although to personally examine 

 the eggs would prove more inter- 

 esting. 



The above cut is an oddly shaped 

 egg of the above mentioned Black- 

 bird with the figure of a gull on the 

 side. 



No. i is an egg of the same spec- 

 ies and represents a hound. The 

 objects on eggs No. i, 2 and 3 are 

 all on the larger end. 



No. 2 is the exact profile of a 

 duck and is decidedly the finest 

 and truest represented of the four 

 of the objects illustrated. It is 

 also an egg of the same species. 



No. 3 is an egg of the Baltimore 

 Oriole and the object being so 

 small the engraving does not justly 

 give it due credit, for a personal 

 examination reveals a quail on 

 nest with straws distinctly visible. 



This may, perhaps, not hardly 

 seem comprehensive to some read- 

 ers; the markings on eggs being in- 

 clined to represent objects (espec- 

 ially birds, ) but, however, it is de- 

 cidely true. These odd oological 

 specimens, should, of course, be 

 seen to be appreciated. 



Other peculiarities in the collect- 

 ion is a set of 13 eggs of the Ameri- 

 can Coot which contains a runt egg 

 that measures 1.45x1.02: an odd- 

 shaped egg of the Black-throated 

 Bunting which measures 1.10 in 

 length; two albinos of the King- 

 bird, and a set of the Western 

 Meadow Lark which contained 5 

 and 7 of the Cowbird. Twelve 

 eggs for a Meadow Lark to incu- 

 bate is quite a nest full. — The Nat- 

 uralist. 



[From extended observation, 

 made during the past fifteen years, 

 the editor of Natural Science 

 News has found that albino and 

 abnormally marked and colored 

 eggs are not of unusual occurence 

 while runt and double-yolked spec- 

 imens are nearly if not quite as 

 frequently found among birds as 

 among our domestic fowls, in fact 

 he believes that from a series of 

 1000 specimens collected at ran- 

 dom from birds when compared 

 with the same number taken from 

 a poultry yard, when its occupants 

 have proper food and range, that 

 the greater per cent of "peculiar" 

 eggs will be found in the bird se- 



above article calls to 



nes. 

 The 



mind, an egg in a set of Baltimore 

 Oriole's which the writer collected 

 in the season of '81 upon the larger 

 end of which was plainly scrolled 

 in extraordinarily well formed char- 

 acters the very appropriate word 

 "sin". Conscience smitten, he 

 has not had the hardihood to disturb 

 a nest of this most beautiful and 

 interesting of our northern birds 

 since. A friend had an egg of this 

 same species upon which was very 

 perfectly delineated a web with oc- 

 cupant of the Spider. — Ed.] 



Columbian Museum Burgular- 

 ized. 



On Saturday afternoon. Jan. 26th, 

 a case full of jewels and rare coins 

 were stolen from the Field Colum- 

 bian Museum. 



Director F. J. V. Skiff of the 

 museum states that the intrinsic 

 value of the property stolen would 

 not exceed $500, "There were," 



says Mr. Skiff, "forty-one pieces of 

 oddly designed hammered gold or- 

 naments, consisting of ear-rings, 

 bracelets and finger-rings, that 

 w r ere valuable to the museum only. 

 We might duplicate them, but it 

 would take considerable time and 

 expense to do so. They were pre- 

 sented to us by W. Vernon Booth, 

 and we are of course sorry to think 

 that we have been so unfortunate 

 as to lose them. " 



The case from which the jeW'elry 

 was taken was shown by Mr. Skiff 

 to a reporter of the Chicago Record, 

 and on it the marks made by a bur- 

 glar's "jimmy" were plainly dis- 

 cernable. There was but one guard 

 in the eastern section of the Muse- 

 um at the time the robbery oc- 

 curred, and the Egyptian room was 

 unusually dark, owing to the sky- 

 light in the roof being covered with 

 a heavy sheet of snow. 



An Insect Sale. 



A curious auction sale was held 

 in December in New York — that of 

 2,000 insect specimens owned by 

 the New York Entomological Soc- 

 iety, for the benefit of their print- 

 ing fund. The prices obtained 

 ranged from 10 cents for large-sized 

 brown moths, Tclea polyphemus, to 

 S2. 50 for brilliant western moths — 

 Kodiosoma tricolor. Another west- 

 ern moth, Aim ilia roseata, brought 

 $2. 



Some beautiful specimens of 

 Papilio sarpeton, or tailed African 

 butterfly, of rich metallic color, 

 brought Si. 50 each. Gorgeous- 

 winged Arizona butterflies and 

 brown Florida bettles brought 

 five cents each. 



The prices realized were much 

 lower than at a former sale. — 

 Country Gentleman. 



From a Tree to a Newspaper. 



A Cincinnati man describes for 

 a reporter of the Inquirer of that 

 city, a novel sight he saw recently 

 at a mill devoted to making paper 

 of pine tree pulp. "I was invited 

 to select a tree, which I did and it 

 was cut down for me in the morn- 

 ing. I watched it during the day 

 undergoing the various processes 

 of paper making. At six o'clock 

 that evening the tree was paper. 

 At midnight a portion of it was 

 sufficiently dry to be taken to a 

 printing office, and a few of the 

 next morning's papers were printed 

 on this product. From a tree to 

 a printed newspaper in twenty- 

 four hours is probably the best 

 time on record. " 



