94 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 6--No. 12. 
ing of some locality in the region about San 
Antonio, Texas, he has either discovered a 
new fact or made a very unfortunate blun¬ 
der. As the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher \Mil- 
vulus forficatus) is a common bird through¬ 
out the greater portion of Texas, it seems 
most natural to assume that this is the 
species which Nehrling had in mind, al- ; 
though the accompanying wood cut unmis- j 
takably represents M. tyrannus. In either j 
case the matter is sufficiently important to ^ 
call for a prompt and full explanation.— 
William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. 
Golden Eagles. 
The capture of two Golden Eagles has 
come prominently before our notice. One 
that is now in the possession of Mr. Roe 
Reisinger, of Meadville, Pa., was taken 
about two miles from Miller’s Station, in 
Crawford County, December roth, 1881. 
This Eagle was seen to leave a dead animal 
which lay in a field near a wood. On a Fri¬ 
day morning a hiding j)lace was built of 
some rails and a hunter secreted himself 
at 3 A. M. next morning, and waited till ‘ 
nearly noon, but the bird did not return, i 
The following night he did the same and at [ 
8 A. M. Saturday morning it came and was 
shot. The hunter carefully removed the | 
entrails and took the bird to Mr. Reisinger. ' 
M ithout the entrails it weighed exactly I 
ten pounds and five ounces, and meas- i 
ured from beak to end of tail, 3 feet and ' 
5 inches; across the wings, 7 feet; colors, , 
as Audubon gives them to the letter, except 
that the tail from the base is almost two- 
thirds pure white; eyes, dark hazel; sex, | 
male. Mr. Reisinger proposes to preserve ' 
the skeleton after it is prepared in good ! 
shape. Mr. Reisigner evidently fully un 
derstands how to preserve a valuable speci- j 
men for future study and ornament. 
The specimen mentioned doubtfully in j 
our December number proved to be a | 
Golden Eagle. .As we have not heard from | 
the owner direct we append a descrijition 
from the Hartford Times, which Mr. Rei- 
! 
singer informs us is a correct description of 
his bird, except measurement, which is given 
above. It appears there was some contro¬ 
versy about the Connecticut specimen, in the 
Hartford Daily Times, between Dr. Wm. 
Wood and several others. The following 
is the description: “ It is believed that this 
bird in possession of Henry Wedge, of this 
place, is indeed the Golden Eagle. The 
feathers on the top of its head are of a 
golden orange color, or inclined to be of a 
dark yellow. They are narrow, pointed, 
and very distinct in these respects. Below 
the head, and passing down the neck, the 
feathers are of a reddish brown. Its breast 
is a deep, dark brown. The feathers on its 
wings, each side of its breast, are of a red¬ 
dish brown, while the general color of its 
body is the same, but not quite so strongly 
contrasted. Its legs are feathered to the 
toes. Its claws are black and feet yellow. 
The end of its beak is black, and the basal 
part bluish. .\t the base of the bill the 
skin case is naked. Its eyes are of a bright 
orange brown, as nearly as they can be de¬ 
scribed. From four to five inches of the 
end of the tail is a blackish brown, and from 
six to eight inches from its body it is white, 
with dark spots joining the blackish or 
purplish feathers, filling out the end of its 
tail. The length of the bird is about thirty- 
four inches, from its head to the end of its 
tail. From tip to tip of its wings it is six 
feet and four inches.”— S. A. Munson, 
Riverton, Conn. 
Whitney Owl. 
C.\PT. CH.\S. E. nE.VDIRE, U. S. A. 
For the discovery of the Micrathene 
wliitneyi {Coues'), the smallest Owl known, 
we are indebted to that indefatigable nat¬ 
uralist, Dr. J. G. Cooper, now living at 
Hayward, Alameda County, California, to 
whom we are also indebted for a great deal 
of original information respecting many 
of the rarer Pacific coast birds. 
Dr. Cooper secured the type specimen of 
this little Owl, an adult male, near Fort 
Mohave, California, .April 26th, i86i, and 
