September, 1881.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
55 
I in the last five years hoping lo find Albinos, 
' but without success. On the 20th day of 
' August, however, on Fort Hill, in the town 
: of Groton, I saw a cinnamon-colored crow 
! in a company of the normal plumage, and 
whether on the ground or flying, or perched 
on a tree, his strange dress made him con- 
;Spicuous among his fellows.— J. M. IV. 
Those “Brants.”—Corrections. 
I promised to wiite you again in case I 
learned anything farther this season in re¬ 
gard to the Brant eggs found by me last 
year at St. Clair Flats. I found the same 
eggs this year but failed to see any birds 
that could be mistaken for the Brant. On 
June 29th, while going through the marsh 
of North Ridge of middle channel, I found 
a nest of the same eggs as those of last year, 
and which I supposed to be the Brant 
Bernicla brenta) from the fact of seeing 
a pair of birds about the size and color of 
the Brant in the vicinity. I have since 
Jearned that they were not Brant’s eggs. 
June 29th, 1 found four nests contrdning 
leight and ten eggs each. The nest was 
jbuilt in fine grass growing in water from 
jten to eighteen inches in depth. The nest 
was composed of fine grass and raised about 
jiix inches above the water in a tuft of green 
Ijrass, the tops of the grass being woven 
ogether over the nest, forming an arch. 
The nest contained ten eggs, varying in 
shape and size,—the largest being 2 5-8X 
I 14-16 inches, the smallest being 2 7-16X 
I 13-16 inches—color, a greenish white; the 
jihell rough like a goose egg. I marked the 
iiest and worked in the vicinity all day, but 
lid not get a glimpse of the bird Several 
imes I saw Ruddy Ducks {Erismatura 
Vubida) near by but paid no attention to 
hem, as the eggs were so large and the 
lucks so small that I did not think it likely 
0 be the Ruddy’s nest. I was puzzled. 
1 approached the nest from time to time, 
;ach time watching to see the bird leave 
ihe nest, but was each time disappointed. 
The eggs were warm and the nest appeared 
! to havt just been left by the bird. While 
j hunting around I fcmnd other nests of the 
: same kind and built in the same way. As 
[ I could not see the bird I began examining 
J the nest Among the down in the lining I 
j found three feathers, very small, but show- 
1 ing the color of the feathers on the breast 
j of the bird. Now I had something to help 
! me and I took the eggs and returned to 
I Detroit 
I examined feathers of Brant, Velvet 
> Duck, Surf Duck and all other Ducks I 
I thought likely to lay an egg of that size, and 
! was disappointed to find a difference in 
1 them. At last I went for a female Ruddy, 
I and pulled out several feathers. On com¬ 
paring them under a glass I found them to 
be the same, only the fresh feathers being 
a little brighter than the ones taken from 
the bird mounted four years ago. I made 
this discovery July first, in the morning; in 
the evening I started again for the flats. I 
found a nest of eight and watched it. 
While going to the nest through clear water, 
(as I was tired of pushing my boat through 
the grass) I saw something, drop out of the 
nest into the water and sink. I hurried for 
ward and saw a female Ruddy Duck swim¬ 
ming under water for a clump of rushes a 
couple of rods away. It was all very plain 
now. The bird, instead of flying off the 
nest, would simply dive and swim under 
water to a safe distance. The fact of the 
eggs being so large and with a rough shell, 
led me to look for a large bird and some¬ 
thing of the Goose order. 
I am well satisfied that it is nothing 
but the Ruddy Duck, and will willingly 
take back any of the eggs sold last year by 
me supposing they were the Brant. From 
not seeing the Brant—or the bird I sup¬ 
posed was the Brant—this year, I came to 
the conclusion that I was either mistaken, 
or the birds were there accidentally. I now 
am quite certain that I was mistaken in the 
eggs, and that they belonged to a different 
bird from the ones I saw at the time of 
finding the nest last year. 1 secured a few 
sets of Red Head Duck, {Ayikega ameri- 
cana) and Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri.) 
— IV. H. Collins, Detroit. 
I 
