86 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 6-No. 11. 
V 
Chaparral Cock. 
1 am sorry that I appear to use conflict¬ 
ing terms in descriptions of the eggs of the 
Chaparral Cock. I have probably had as 
much experience with the eggs of this bird 
as any one and ought to know. I have 
over a hundred eggs in my collection and 
can send you samples for illustration, if de¬ 
sirable. Instead of clear white, I should 
have said dead white, or dull white, or im¬ 
maculate, to designate that they were un¬ 
spotted. Without gloss they certainly are 
and smooth, although occasionally there 
are chalky patches adhering, comparable to 
the eggs of the Brown Pelican, only not 
nearly so prominent nor so frequent. As 
to my second term, opaque white, I mean 
wholly in the sense of being not transpar¬ 
ent. The egg when fresh, addled or blown, 
has the same appearance, provided of 
course they are equally clean outside. By 
taking a tray full of Pelican’s eggs and a 
tray full of Road-runner’s in the same 
light, the latter are a little more dense or [ 
gray, but not enough of the gray, or ash, I 
or light-blue tinge to be called tinted, and 
when not compared with chalk would be 
simply white. I have taken eggs of Brown ! 
Pelican and Chaparral Cock and exam¬ 
ined by holding alternately to strong day¬ 
light with the eye looking into the hole on 
the side and the small, dull yellow or buff 
is shown in both species. The color looks 
more vivid or intense in the Pelican’s egg, 
which I conjecture to be on account of the 
larger egg allowing more light into the inte- j 
rior. Allowances must be made for my 1 
first paper, for it was my first effort to | 
describe eggs, at best quite a difficult thing 
to do understandingly and clearly. Who ; 
shall say but color blindness causes much ; 
disagreement in describing colors of eggs? 
I have thought of giving quite a little arti¬ 
cle on this large Cuckoo and will gladly | 
await the forthcoming article in the OoLO- j 
GIST. As to sets, I have two sets of [ 
nine each, three of eight, five or six of 
seven each and six each, and from that 
down. I have in alcohol the contents ^ 
of one nest as follows: Five birds 
and three eggs, the largest bird about 
three times the size of the smallest 
just out, and the freshest egg I think 
would take at least four days to hatch out. 
The parent I shot as she left the nest. 
With such irregularity is it any wonder that 
there exists such conflicting accounts of nid- ' 
ification?— Gto. B. Sennett, Meadville, Pa. 
P. S.—A word more in explanation of 
the eggs of the Chaparral Cock. I fear I 
may have been misled again in regard to 
the chalky blotches occasionally on them. 
I have examined a still greater number 
than when I wrote you, and while a few 
have such splashes, yet they are so few 
that it ought scarcely to be taken into ac¬ 
count at all. So please don’t lay any stress 
upon that marking. I presume no other 
collector would notice it.— Geo. B. Sennett. 
House Sparrow in Maine. —In a late 
number of the ORNiXHOLOGtST I spoke of 
the House Sparrow as breeding in this vi- 
cinity. By reference to the first part of the 
article it will be seen that I referred to the 
vicinity of Bangor and only to that locality. 
It is very well understood that the first 
House Sparrows known to have been 
brought to this country were brought to 
Portland, Maine, in 1858, by a Mr. Deblois. 
They bred there and increased rapidly, and 
are now common in that city and vicinity, 
where they breed every year, as they do at 
other points in our State. They had not, 
however, previous to this year been sup¬ 
posed to breed in this locality, that is 
Bangor. I make this statement lest I may 
have been understood to refer to the State 
in general.— H. Merrill, Bangor, Maine. 
Monkey-headeu Owl. —There is a pair 
of Owls here which are said to come from 
middle Texas and are known by the above 
name. The owner says there are only sev¬ 
en known. The eyes are very small, with 
no tufts, and in every respect they look to 
me like a Barn Owl; bill white and slender. 
Hooded Merganser. —I have also seen 
a specimen of the above Duck in confine¬ 
ment, which is said to be rare.—//. A. Berry. 
