THE SCIENTIST. 
77 
A iliindsouic rrcsent. 
This iiiorning the writer was the rc- 
oipeiit of a handsome nest and contents. 
It came neatly wrapped in paper and 
was presented by the finder, Harry li. 
VVamsley. 
After removi!!^ the paper, a fine nest 
of the White-rnmped Shrike wan dis- 
closed. But the ef^gs! Great Scots! 
Tliere were tliree of them, of a pale sky 
blue, streaked and blotched with bright 
cobalt. As the varacity of friend 
Wamsley was not to be questioned for a 
moment, here certainly was sometiiing 
new, or, a freak. On sharp scrutiny, 
however, suspicions were aroused, which 
were fully confirmed on glancing- at W.'s 
smiling countenance. 
Very cleverly done, indeed! A micro- 
scope could hardly detect the deception. 
Harvy quite properly destroyed his 
painted eft'orts and substituted the orig- 
inal set of six Shirke eggs, ihe data of 
which we give below : 
JVo. G22 a [A. O. U.]. Name. White- 
rum ped Shrike, 
Locality. 1000 ft. S. and 620 ft. W. of 
the N. E. Cor. of Section 35; Township 
50, IST. ; Kange 3^^, W.;in Jackson county. 
Mo. 
Date. May 5, 1891. Set 6. 3far k A-dl. 
IdentUij. Certain. Incubation. Slight. 
Collector. H. Walmsley. 
Nest. Placed in a bunch of dead grape 
vines in a Walnut tree, about twenty-five 
feet from the ground ; composed of small 
sticks, twigs, grasses and vines, as an 
outer covering over a cup of grasses and 
soft vegetable fiber; topped with feathers 
and lined with soft cow's hair. 
Marine Reservations. 
S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smith- 
sonian Institute, is making an eff"ort to 
have certain islands along the Pacific 
coast reserved as places of refuge for 
marine mammals, several species of 
which ;ar(juiUO\v threatened with extinc- 
tion. He especially refers to Amak 
Island and to the Farallone Islands. It 
is reported that the Secretary of the In- 
terior, John W. Noble, will favorably 
consider Prof. Langley's suggestion, to 
the end that the islands referred to, and 
possibly others, maj% in the near future, 
be ]-eserved for breeding grounds for the 
large ocean mammals, many species of 
which are on the verge of extermination. 
This project should, and will, receive 
the hearty endorsement of natural- 
ists, scientists and thinking men genei- 
ally, the world over. 
"The Commonwealth of Australia," 
"The Commonwealth of Australia,'' 
the United States of the South seas, by its 
own desires nominally still a part of the 
British empire, is, never-the-less, prac- 
tically an independent republic. 
With a constitution modelled partly 
after ours and partly after Canada's this 
•'Commonwealth" has taken a step, the 
importance of which, can not be foretold 
by the horoscope, though, as early as 
1861, we find in ''The Wonderful Story of 
Ravalette." written by Dr. P, B. Ran- 
dolph, the prediction: "India and Aus- 
tralia will become respectively an Em- 
pire and a Kepublic." The Empire may 
come, but the Republic is already a 
fact. 
Here in Kansas City we have witnessed 
the workings of the election laws of Aus- 
tralia, with excellent results. In time 
they will, no doubt, be universal. 
All exchange of practical ideas has 
been eff'ected between two great Re- 
publics, 
Devoid of a "Race Question" or 
' 'Negro Problem ;" so remote from other 
nations as to preclude war, and the 
expence of a large army; with re- 
sources as varied and endless almost, as 
those of the United States, if she con- 
tinues to avail herself of the experiences 
of other nations, coupled with her own 
good judgment, who can say what the 
future of the young commonwealth may 
d(!velope'? 
