4r^ .^7 ^3 — FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY f Bound at] lA.M.N.H., k 1907 THE OOLOGIST, FOR THE STUDENT OF BIRDS, THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. VOLUME XIV. ALBION, y. Y. : FRANK H. LATTIN, PUBLISHER. 1897. A. M. EBD Y, PRINTER AND BINDER, 1897. INDE.X TO VOLa, XIV. A Collector's Diary 49 A Day with the Raptores 42 A Finishing Touch 84 Alaska "for a Big Time," In 20 Alberta, The First of June in 23 An Early Morning in Southern Ohio. 65 A Prolific Goldtinch in Captivity 88 A Valued Suggestion 26 Beck, R.H 78 Bendire, Major Chas E 36, 37 Blower, A Novel Egg 62 Bird Day, Observe 48 Bird Lists and Bird Songs 89 Bird Skins, A Hint or Two 73 Bird Nesting Suggestions 80 Birds Nests for a Collection, Mounting 84 Birds of a Louisiana Marsh, Three. . .75 Birds of My Window Tree, The 83 Birds, The Return of the 80 Bittern, Nesting Habits of the Ameri- can 81 Bobolink in Literary Fields and Fields of Grass and Clover, The 45 Breeding of the Mourning Warbler. 102 California Birds, Notes on a Few Southern 67 Canvas-back, Nesting of the 64 Captive, My Transient 63 Cardinalis cardinalis 93 Chicago Parks, The White-rumped Shrike in 74 Chimney-swift, Nests of 72 Climbers, A Substitute for. 58 Collector, The Egg 60 Collecting Contrivance, A 52 Collecting, Early 28 Collecting Eggs of Scarlet Tanger. . .52 Collecting Ladle, A 103 Colony of Woodpeckers, A 13 Contopus Virens, Persevering Nest- ing of 92 Cowbirdism, Forced 96 Correction, A 41 Crane. The Sand-hill 33 Crossbill in Maine, Nesting of the. . . .94 Davis, N. L 78 Diary, A Collectors 49 Dogs, A Couple of 62 Ducks, A Variety of Minnesota 88 Early Collecting 28 p]gg Blower, A Novel 62 Egg Collector, The 60 Eggs of Warblers in the Collection of J. P. Norris, Jr., List of Sets of. . .104 Flycatchers in New England, Tyrant. 39 For Closer Union 30 Freaks and Other Notes, Two 86 Friends, Two of My 69 Gnatcatchers, Mockingbirds and 57 Goldtinch in Captivity, A Prolific 88 Grouse in the Pine Regions,Pinnated.l9 Grosbeak, Pine 25 Gull Island, New York 53 Gulls in the Reservoirs of New York City 92 Hawk in Hardin Co., Iowa, The Red- tailed 28 Hawk in Western New York, Red- shouldered 85 Hawks, Red-tailed and Red-shoul- dered 51 Humming-bird, A Nest of the Ruby- throated 71 Illinois, Grasshopper Sparrow in 95 Incubation 18 lyadle, A Collecting 103 Larks Nest, Queer Place for Horned, 80 Louisiana Marsh, Three Birds of a. . .75 Louisiana, Rallidjo of Southern 90 Maryland, From 78 Minnesota Ducks, A Variety of 88 Mockingbirds and Gnatcatchers 57 My Transient Captive 63 Nature Study 99 Nature Study for Public Schools 61 Nest, An Unusual Site for a Robins. .87 Nest Building of the Swallows, The. .29 Nest "Off the Ground," Towhee's.41,8a Nest of the Ruby-throated Humming- bird, A 71 Nest of American Redstart Contain- ing Freak Eggs, Feather-lined 99' Nest, Queer Place for Horned Lark's. 80 Nest within a Nest, A 58 Nesting Habits of the Am. Bittern. . .81 THE OOLOGIST Nesting Habits of the Black-throated Green Warbler 99 Nesting of the Canvas-back 64 Nesting of the Crossbill in Maine 94 Nesting of Clarke's Nutcracker 100 Nesting of Cordopus vzrews, Perseveri'g92 Nesting of the Road-runner in Lam- pasas Co., Texas 78 Nesting of Zenaidura Macroura,Eav\y72 jNests, A Series of 79 Nests for a Collection, Mounting Birds 84 Nests, For Inaccessible 52 Nests of Chimney-swift 72 New England, Tyrant Flycatchers in 39 New York City, Gulls in the Reser- voirs of 92 Northwestern Ornithological Associa- tion, Report of the Third Annual Meeting of the 55 Notes on a Few Winter Residents of Edgecombe Co., N. C 26 Notes on a Few Southern California Birds 67 Notes from North Carolina 88 Notes on the Yellow- billed Magpie. . .15 Notes on the Virginia and Sora Rails. 21 Observe Bird Day 43 Ohio, An Early Morning in South- western 65 Oologist Dead, Well-known 36 Oologist, Something for the 9 Oologists' Association News.. 58. 69, 101 Oriole's Nest, A Peculiar Site for an. .17 Ornithologists, A Few Questions for.. 86 Ornithological Club, The Wheaton. . .14 Owls, Two Fierce Great Horned 87 Owls, Where are My Long-eared 96 Pigeon, The Passenger 14 Plover, To the 73 Posson, N. F 78 Queries Answered 103 Questions for the Ornithologists, A Few 86 Rails, Notes on the Virginia and Sora21 Rallidte of Southern Louisiana 90 Baptores, A Day with the 42 Redstart Containing Freak Eggs, Feather-lined Nest of 99 Red-tail, The Individuality of the 61 Road-runner in Lampasas Co., Texas Nesting of the 78 Robins Nest, An Unusual Site for a. .87 Scarlet Tanager, Collecting Eggs of. 52 Schools, Nature-Study for Public 61 Shrike in Chicago Parks, The White- rumped 74 Site for an Orioles Nest, A Peculiar. .17 Sparrow in Illinois, Grasshopper 95 Suggestion, A Valued 26 Sunday in the Woods 59, 97 Swallows, The Nest Building of the. .29 Tanager, Collecting Eggs of Scarlet. 52 The First of June in Alberta 23 To the Plover 73 Tool, A Handy 52 Toothpicks, Another Use for 64 Towhee's Nest 'Off the Ground" 41 Two Fierce Great-Horned Owls 87 Two Freaks and Other Notes 86 Union, For Closer 30 Venzuela, From 11,31 Vireo, Yellow-throated 15 "Warbler, Cape May 62 Warbler, Breeding of the Mourning. 102 Warbler, Nesting Habits of the Black- throated Green 99 Warblers in the Collection of J. P. Norris, Jr , List of Sets of Eggs of 104 Wheaton Ornithological Club, The. . .14 Winter Residents of Edgecombe Co., N. C, Notes on a Few 26 Woods, Sunday in the 59, 97 Woodpecker, Red-headed 35 Woodpecker, The Hairy 84 Woodpecker, The Redcockaded 85 Woodpeckers, A Colony of 13 Wren in Western New York in Win- ter, Carolina 62 Yellow-billed Magpie, Notes on the. .15 Yellow-throated Vireo 15 Zenaidura Macroura.Early Nesting of 72 ^6 VOL.t^XB^O. 1. ALBION, N. Y., JANUARY, 1897. Whole No. 128 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special annouucements, "Wants,' "Exclianges" "For Sales," Inserted In tills departmenr t or 25c per 2.5 words. Notices over 25 words, charged at the rate of one-haK cent per each additional word. No notice Inserted for less than 2.5c. Terms, cash with order. "Dealers" can use these columns at Regular Advertising rates, only, Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted in payment at one-third list rates. Exchange Cards and Coupons (subscription) will be accepted according to conditions stated thereon. WANTED:— The address of those persons who want to exchange skins and egg.s in sets or that will sell at less than ^^ catalogue rates. HARTLEY H. T. JACKSON, Milton. Wis. LOOK ! 360 choice birds' skins for S45, also many desirable eggs in sets and singles at low rates. Send for list. No exchanges. L.ZELL- NER, 1825 Oak St., Los Angeles, Calif. FOR EXCHANGE:— Single eggs of the fol- lowing: 9, 180, 183, ,364, one set of four of Taw- ney Owl. Want skins of Grou,=e or- Quail. A. J. JOHNSON, Taxidermist, 620 East Grand Ave., Des Moines, la. SKINS, stuffed specimens, curios, books, taxidermist instruments and material, etc., for a good 6'/^x8M portrait camera with lens or other photo goods. R. M. DALRYMPLE, Baker, O. J2t EXCHANGE NOTICE:— I Have a few fine sets of eggs, with full ddta, to exchange for A 1 sets of other localities. Send list to, FRANK C. NEWCOMER, 93 West Clinton St., Cleve- land.O. SEA SHELLS and Curios of many kinds, also large and small aquarium shells" in any quantity wanted, also Birds' Eggs of different kinds. Correspondence solicited IDA B. KIMBALL, New Cadiz, P. O. Hillsboro Co., Fla. J2t FOR SALE.— Butterflies of America'and for- eign countries in fine selections of 100 species at $.5.00; commoner species at $3.25 per 100. Mounted or in papers. Address HENRY L. ENGEL, P. O. Box 1404, Pittsburg, Pa. WANTED:— Sets containing runts, albinos, abnormally unmarked, or curiously marked or shaped eggs. Will give good exchange in eggs or will pay reasonable cash price. J. WAR- REN JACOBS, Waynesburg, Pa. FOR SALE:— Fine sets eggs of Eagle. Buz- zard, Hawk, Killdeer, Little Green Heron, Quail, Osprey and small common sets. Also mounted Bald Eagle. Owls, Quail, Woodcock and others. All cheap. Address with stamp. F.THEO. MILLER.. Heathsville, Northumber- land Co. , Va. WANTED:— A set of 4 ormore eggs of Sharp' shinned Hawk in exchange for rare sets or for reasonable amount of cash. Send full, com- plete description of sets. Other Raptores want-- ed. D. A. COHEN, Alameda, Calif. CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL. All En- glish branches taught by mail by an exper- ienced teacher. For particulars address with stamp, MRS. M. P. KELLY, Freestone, Sono- ma Co., Calif. TO EXCHANGE :— A fine lot of nicely mount- ed birds, large and small. Hawks, Owls, Ducks, Herons, Waders, etc. for common eggs in sets or singles. Write what you have. uHAS. K.. REED, Worcester, Mass. FOR EXCHANGE:— Bird's Eggs, Minerals, Shells, Curious, six^vol. Oologist, one vol. Natural /Science yews, oological papers and books, for Confederate and Old Paper Money. ROY HATHAWAY, Redkey, Indiana. TO EXCHANGE:— wLdical. Scientific and other books, OoLOGisTS*and other magazines, and birds eggs, for pocket camera, field glass. Indian relics or possibly birds eggs. E. J. BOTSFORD, Medina, N. Y. TAXIDERMISTS and Collectors:— Send stamp at once for our list of "Bii'ds and Mam- mals in the Meat." Can furnish 20 kinds of ducks and manv other desirable land and wat- er birds. Also have mounted birds for sale cheap. Address, COON and BURDICK, Mil- ton, Wisconsin. LOST:- If I don't send you one of those Mex- ican opals cut and polished ready for mount- ing at 25c per pair. Fossils, 3 for 10c. All pre- paid and your money back if you want it. R. L MORE, Decatur, Texas, I HAVE 1st class sets South Birds' Eggs- such as Duck, Blackbird, Whip-poor-will, HawKs and various others at Yo price for cash or for good stamps, clean scarce U. S. and good foreign. Send 2c stamp for list of Virginia, Louisiana and Florida shells, &c. All eggs sent postpaid. Reference. Merchant Exchange Bank. Bristol, Tenn. G. W. ROBINETTE. Flagpond, Va. J2t. THE OOLOGIST. □TO EXCHANGE:— Sets and singles. Sets are first class, genuine, and with data. Same wanted in return. JOHN LARSEN, 1496 W. Madison St,, Chicago, Ills. HAVE fine rare sets for exchange with ad- vanced collectors, want sets of Canada Grouse, Gyrfalcon, Duck Hawks, Kites, Raven, Pileat- ed Woodpecker, Pigeon Hawk, etc. Send lists. E. ARNOLD, Battle Creek, Mich, WANTED:— To hear from persons having Audubon's Caracara eggs, in sets with data to exchange: also send other duplicate traders, A. E. BIGELOW, Selma, Cal. TO EHCHANGE for sets:— Setsof Nos. 289, 316, 406, 477, 511, 498, .563, 59:^, 610, &22. 624, 687, 70.3, 704, 705, 453, 756. CHAS. R. STOCKARD,. Col- umbus, Mississippi, BIRD'S EGGS:— If you want low prices send 4c in stamps for our latest catalogue of all naturalists' supplies. CHAS. K. REED, Worcester, Mass. WANTED:— From the original collector eggs of many common species if in fine sets with full datas. Please send list of sets for ex- change. H. C, HIGGINS, Cincinnatus, N. Y. WANTED:— No. 6, Vol. I Nidologist. Will pay 60c for good clean copy. GEO. W. FARGO & CO., Kaukauna, Wise, I HAVE 172 specimens of foreign and native woods for sale cheap or will exchange for woods not in my collection, LOUIS W.HAHN, Box 36U, Silver Creek, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. TO EXCHANGE:— Birds Eggs of this local- ity for Eggs not mv collection. All letters an- swered. W. H. LOVELL, East Wilton. Me. GOLD, Silver and Copper Ores to exchange for Sea Shells and other Sea Curios, Mounted Birds or Aiitographs of any noted Person. F. O. NELSOiN, 412 S. Main St., Butte, Mont. FOR SALE at half prices a nice collection of birds eggs, some very rare. This is especially for beginners. Write for list. L. M. GAGE. 33 Centre St., Rutland, Vt. R. L. MORE is LOST:— If he don't sell .500 sets of Fossils at 10c for 3, prepaid. And 1000 Opals must go. All sizes and colors cut and polished ready for mounting at ViV^c each. Your money back if you want it. R. L. MORE, Decatur, Tex, SINGLES and imperfect sets— large holes, chipped or cracked. Send 60 cents for a box, ■data, also perfect set, worth 25 to 50 cents. BENJAMIN HOAG, Stephentown, N. Y. TO EXCHANGE:— Will give three old postal cards for each paper relating to ornithology or other branches of natural history. Send them on. E. A. DOOLITTLE, Painesville, Lake Co,, Ohio, "LIVING WORLD" a popular Natural His- tory devoted to Fi.sh, Reptiles, Insects, Birds, Mammals and Lower Invertebrates. Over 1200 good engravings— 3.50 ot mammals, 300 of birds, &c., &c. Over 7C0 pages, good type, good paper, elegantly bound in cloth and gilt, size 8x10 in. New. Will exchange for desirable eggs in sets or offers. FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, N. Y. SECRET for trapping Foxes. Sui'e, simple. Enclose stamp for answer. ALVAH G. DORR. ■Taxidermist and Fur Dealer, Bucksport, Me. WANTED:— A hustling greyhound, young and of good size, capable of catching foxes and rabbits. Give description and lowest cash price delivered to, A. H. WHITE, Bottineau P. O., N. Dak. WANTED:— First class shot-gun, 12 guage, in good condition: books on ornithology, zool- ogy, entomology, oology. Will exchange Al bicycle, '95 model: eggs in sets and mounted birds, THOS. H, BLODGETT. 217 E. Main St., Galesburg, 111, TO EXCHANGE:— Birds Eggs, Books and Magazines, Papers, Raymond speed skates and Curios for Books, especially on Ornithol- ogy and the Floral kingdom or an Auto- harp. FRANK L. BURRILL, 14 Huntington Ave., Aniesbury, Mass. CURRENT and back numbers of the Wilson Chapter Bulletin to exchange for literature re- lating to Birds, or for such current publica- tions, LYNDS JONES, Oberlin, Ohio. 70 1-3, 194 1 5 466a 1-4, 488 1-6, 611 1-4, 624 n-3, 6S7 1-4. 743a 1-4 and singles for sets. Land, Fresh-water and Marine shells for same. Un- oinidce a specialty. VERDI BURTCH, Penn Yan, N, Y. ARIZONA AZTEC RELICS for sale and ex- change. What have you to exchange? Write me todav and send stamp for list. BURT OGBURN, Phoenix, Arizona. TO EXCHANGE:— First class singles wilh data A. O. U. No's 292, 297a, 413a, .373d, 478, 530, 7f8, 619, .58Sb. 761a, 767. 721a, Ring Pheasant and others, for sets. ELLIS F. HADLEY, Day- ton, Ore. BUTTERFLIES:— I have twenty vols. Can- adian Entomoloqist. also reports in full for twenty years (1872 to 92). All in good condi- tion. A bargain if you are interested. CHAS. K. REED, Worcester, Mass. FOR EXCHANGE:— Chas. Reed's works, complete. Roller Skates, fine sets of this local- ity. Wanted: Goss' "Birds of Kansas," cam- era, work on taxidermy and eegs. CARL T. SMITH, Box 436, Chanute, Kans. FOR SALE CHEAP:— A large assortment of fine slides for the microscope, including many rare specimens. DR. J. HOBaRT EG- BERT, Cor. Washington and Harrison, Ave.. Holyoke. Mass. FIRST CLASS sets to exchange for sets from other localities. I have No's 316, 337b, 447. 499.530. 581c and .591d for exchange. J. S. APPLETON, Simi, Ventura Co.. Cal. FOR SALE or EXCHANGE:— Davie's Meth- ods in the Art of Taxidermy, ten vols, O. and (>.. five vols. OoLOGisT. one vol. Natural Science Neivs. two vols. Museum. F. M. RICH- ARDS, Farmington, Maine. SPOTTED SANDPIPER 1-4, Green Heron 1-4, Am. Crow 1-4, Least Flycatcher 1-3, Red- eyed Vireo 1-3, Wilson's Thrush 1-4, Cedar Waxwing 1-5. any three 50 cents, all for $1.00. BENJAMIM HOAG, Stephentown. New York. FOR EXCHANGE :— Cones Key, ^4th edition; Bird Nesting in Canada (cloth bound) and com- plete flies includine every issue and vols, up to date of the Oologist, Young Oologist. Nid- ologist and Museum. All in good condition, a'sb some desirable 1st class sets. I want Kodak (any size) or a good Watch. Must be in good condition. All answered. PAUL P. McGINTY,Jil2 Capitol Ave.- Atlanta. Ga. THE oOLOGIST. iii TO EXCHANGE:— Some nice sets or Screech WILL give U. S. cent (1836), 2 Sand Dollars, and Burrowing Owls, Kock Wren, Bronzed Cauri, Money, Gnawed, Lynx and Snakehead Grackle, Prairie Horned Lark, etc. for sets. Cowries for A 1 skins with data of A. O. U. 235 football and goods, musical instruments, or or 248. HARTLEY H. T. JACKSON Milton anything useful. HARRV L. HEATON, Park- Wis. vlUe, Mo. — FOR SALE:— Etrgs of Emue, $1.90: Rhea, OPALS, Mmerals, Cut Gems and Natural (South American O.strichV «v;.6eS:PeQgmn(data) History Specimens. Will buy, sell or ex- 45c: Macan (dat), 7.^c: Wandering Albatross •change. List for stamp. ROBERT BURN- (data) $2 20: Egyptian Vulture, (data) 45c: HAM, 15 Chestnut St., Providence, R. I. 51-25t Whooping Crane, (data) $3 (o. Address, ER- FOR SALE OR EXCHANGE.— Malachite, NEST J I. SHORT, Albion, N. Y. Crysocolla Chalcedony, Quartz. Azurite. Mon- i HAVE in my hands for sale a collection of azite and t rankline. Microscopic slide.s, Infu- singles m varieties listing at over $6) which I soriai earth 100 localitie.s. Trap-tufa and will .send prepaid to anv address in the U. S. rocks for sale or exchange for other minerals or Canada for only $1.. 50. List sent for 4c in oo,^J'''a°^^''5?td ni^''2.T^w*iH(S''°xl^^ ^f^^xT^ stamps. Address ERNEST H. SHORT, Al- PROF. ARTHUR M. EDWARDS, Newark, N. ^ion N Y J. O. & N. tf ' ' • . TiEAR SIR— T am anirioiis tohnve von sep a WOOD'S "American Botani.st and Florist" confctSn^'otthV^amorHerkhnerCountv 1° ^^^'^i'.^f 'l,^°„%^"°!^,f .V^ OTo^^"l^^^^ Crystals, hence Imake you this offer: If you ^° ^^ ^^.^^^^^5.^ lVt=^.- "1°"°'" a^^n^s^tol^s^rlle^^send^ou ^^/S^V^}^ ^^.^--^^^ «^«^^^Y by return mall, post-paid, 36 of these Brilliant JACKSON, Milton, Wis. Gems: if they please you send me 72 cents, if not satisfactory return the collection and it Ripans Tabules cure nausea, will be O K. Yours respectfully, A. B. CRIM, t-. • m i, i i, j i, MiddleviUe, Herkimer Co., N. Y. Ripans Tabules cure headache. THOUSANDS OF OLD BOOKS Have accumlated in the libraries of our public institutions, and those of prominent public men, both in duplicate and otherwise. Thev cost them nothing and oft-times are valued accordingly. They are. however, both valued and desired by specialists and parties interested. Perhaps you or your friends may have some of the identical volumes which I desire, crowding library shelves or stowed away in garrets, doing nobody any good; but had 1 thera I would not only appreciate them but might know of a dozen others who would do likewise. Look over my list of wants and if you have anvthing I desire or others write me, stating what you wish in exchange, and perhaps we can arrange an exchange which will be advantageous to each. I will exchange for single vol- umes—but the larger the exchange the better. I WANT Goveruiiieiit and State Reports:— Annual Reports and Bulletins of U. S. Geelogieal Survev. with V. V. Haydea in charge. Reports of Wheelers's U. S. Geological Surveys W. Of the lOOth Meridian. Reports of King's U. S. Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. Annual Re- ports of Bureau of Ethnology. Annual Reports of U. S. Geological Survey. Natural History of New York. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. U. S. Reports on Entomology Insect Life. I al.f. V. THE UOLOCilST THE following notices weve pent in for publi- cation prior to December last and the pub- lisher has reason to believe nearly, if not quite all to be •'live" notices at date of going to press. However, it is advisable to write the parties first, enclosing stamp or postal for reply. NOTICE: — Will sell a 38 cal. H. T. shot gun. for cash ; also have a 32 cal. revolver, good pair of opera glass, vols. 1 and 2 of Museum, vols. '90, '91 and '92 of the Ootogisf and Ornifkologist. a lot of other papers and some eggs to give for same. Write with stamp for particulars To R. P. SMITH WICK, IVIerry Hill, Bertie Co., N. C. FOR SALE: — Copies of Coue's Key, Goss's "Birds of Kansas," Davie's Key cloth bound. In perfect condition. CLARK B. IJAMS, 1549 34th St., Ogden, Utah. SHELLS, Starfish, etc. from the Pacific Ocean to exchange for books or anything of use to a collector of birds and mammals. J. O. SN\DER, Waterloo, Ind. EXCHANGE:—^ oTince ball from Gettys- burg, pieces of pottery from Ohio mound, 1 shell from South America, U. S. Button from Missionary Ridge for every 3 arrowheads. 2 four barreled pistols from Southern Battlefield for best offer in stone relics. Orders filled in rotation. Honesty guaranteed.. W. G. Mc- LAIN, Box .5.0, Edison, Ohio. FOR EXCHANGE:— Firf-t class sets of Hood- ed Warbler for other all right sets. Send lists and state how many vou want. THOS. A. SMITHWICK, Merry, Hill, N. C. RECEIPTS for Collectors and Naturalists to all sending before Feb. 1st 10 cents and ac- cepted receipt to be published in above, signed with your name and address. A. O. GARRETT, 615 S. Eddy St., Fort Scott, Kans. Want skins of 486. 487. 490. 492, 497, 499 .^05 395, 396. 399, 3.'52, 373, 382. 384, 64. 72. Offer skins, mounted birds and sets. P. K. OILMAN, Box 322, Palo Alto, Cal. WANTED:— To exchange a Qne English tel- escope, power 35 diameters, 37 inches long when extended. For best offer of books on birds and taxidermists' instruments. THOS. F. LILLY, 99 Union St., Memphis. Tenn. TO EXCHANGE :— Packet of 20 different can- celled Foreign postage stamps for every per feet Indian arrow head sent nie postpaid. Ex- change solicited E. S. BOGARDUS, Box tO. Belvidere, 111. WANTED:— A pocket kodak. Give descrip- tion and lowest cash price. C. H. DICKINSON, Grand Rapids, Minn. WANTED:— A stamp album, cloth, also a collection of stamps and stamps on sheets. Can offer Birds Eggs and Books on Birds. Send for lists. W. J. WIRT, Oak Orchard, NY. TO EXCHANGE:-Strictly first-class sets Of Ruffed Grouse, Water Thrush. Am. Goldfinch and Am. Bittern; al.so first class skins of Bar- red Owl and Horned Lark. Killed last April. For a revolver. B. F. BATCHELDER, Pots- dam, N. Y. FOR EXCHANGE: Back volumes of llus- eum, Ooi.OGiST, Popular Scieiice yeivs. Natural Science Xeivs. etc.. Scientific, Natural History and other Books and Birds Eggs. Wanted: First class skins A. O. U. 285, 300, 332, 473, .521 . 621, 701 and others. G. N. UPHAM, Coffeyville, Kans. OLD COLLECTION of stamps wanted In ex- change for ladies' gold watch (cost if.iO). Will exchange stamps with collectors. Send sheets and I'eceive mine. Stamp papers wanted. GEO. COULTER, Golden City. Mo. FOR EXCHANGE:- •78 1-3 3-2. 360a l.S-4 3-.5,. 373c 3-3, 385 1-4, 413 3-5, .531 6n-.5. 721a 2.5, 74.3a 1-8 1-6 4-5. Also other C(mimou Calif, eggs. LEE CHAMBERS, Santa Monica. Calif. WANTED:-Skinsof tmall mammals, with skulls. Offer in exchange, carefully prepared Reptiles and Batrachians from UTexas, in al- cohol. J. K. STRECKER, Jr., Waco, Tex. J2t I WILL exchange opera glasses 33..50 and $5.00; scissor, 65c: forceps. 6lic: blowpipe, 30c; rules or small microscope, f 1.25 for sets or sin- gles. L. D. SUMNER. Madison, Wis. COLLECTORS.— If you want fine specimens of bii ds in the meat or fresh skins this winter, send at once for our new list. COON & BUR- DICK, Taxidermists and Collectors. Milton. Junction. Wis. J2t FOR EXCHANGE :-Fraements of Aztec Pottery and pieces of shell bracelets for Indian relics, arrow heads preferred. BURT OGBURN. 321 East Jefferson St., Phoenix, Arizona. JOB PRINTING:— Our prices are, envelopes, per 100. 4oc: letter heads, per 100, ."iOc. All post- paid. Cash with order. LEDOUX SIEWERS, Salem, N. C. I WOULD like Coue'.s Key, last edition and Samuel's book of the Birds of New Encland. h'l.ve for exchani?e rare sets of eggs. ARTHUR W. BROCKWAY, Hadlyme, Conn. FOR SALE CHEAP:— Choice A 1 sets of Southern birds eggs with data. List for stamp. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, 4,57 Greene St , Augus- ta, Ga. - FIELD FOTES. We have a nice canvas bound note book for collectors who take sy- stematic notes in the field. Strongly bound so as not to wear out in the pocket. Single copies ten cents. One dozen copies one dollar. J. T. MARTIN, JR., 775 Genesee Ave., Cleveland, O. BEAT THIS! For 3;)a).E. F. W-AT-iOM, Kennebuuk Beach, Me. BULLETS. Shells from battlefields, Indian hatchets, axes, pottery, pestles pipestems to exchange for Indian relics or will sell. All an- swered T. B. STEWART, Lock Haven, Pa. TO EXCHANGE:— Double-bass over eighty years old, fine tone, good, condition, witii waterproof case, for good bicycle, not used . over one year, or camera. ROY VV. STRICK- LAND, Forestville, N. Y. FOR SALE:— An oil painting of Pikes Peak and Manitou Park. I am also collecting butter- flies from this locality for sale. S. F. WHKEL- ER, Boulder, Colorado. ' TO EXCHANGE :— Singles of birds eggs, col- lected in New Hampshire for those of other loc- . alities. Write for list. FRANK R. SANDERS, Laconia, N. H. CALCAREOUS tufa, petrified moss, crinold stems, fossils on limestone, for the postage, sending Ic for each oz. Wanted, many speci- mens for exchange for Indian relic:s aod good minerals; have geodes also. CORA JEWELL, .Shannondale. IndiaBa^ FOR EXCHANGE:— A 2 J cal. Remingoon Rifle, rim fire, for eggs in sets, also egg-i in sets to exchange for eggs not in my collection. A. W. PLUMB, Flint, Mich. DEPARTMENTAL Reports, Nests and Fggs. North American Fauna, Hooker's Natural History. Naturalists' Manual, Naturalists' Di.iectorv and others for first class sets of eggs, cash or offers. C. B. VANDERCOOK, Odin, 111. WANTED :— Pair of American Dipper skins, also set of eggs and nest. A No. 1 eggs and skins given aiid expected. E. B. PECK, York, N. Y. FOR SALE:— A 6x9 Job Press and complete outfit, also 4x5 Kodak for rolls or glass-plates. Will sell very cheap for cash. Parties interest- ed please write. GEO. GRAHAM. Drawer C, Gainesville, Fla. EXCHANGE or FOR SALE at cut rates No's 703,. 594, 611, 498 etc, alto Bantam chickens, But- terfiles and horned frogs cheap. W. H. BALD- WIN. JR., Greenville, Texas. EXCHANGE: Ari $18 Mandolin for a good camera, or best offer. Revolvers for best offers. LAWRENCE F. HEAPHY, M. D., 101 E. a6th St , New York City. FIRST CLASS sets of No's 194, 337, 339, 360 390, 467. 595. 624, 627, 674 687, 725, 756 and others for sets. VERDI BURTCH, Penn Yan, N. Y. WILL SELL my single barrel Forehand and Wadsworth breech-loading 12-gauge shot-gun for $5: original cost $13; in fair condition Write for particulars. W. p:. CLYDE TODD, De- partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. A COLLECTION of 225 Pacific coast and Ari- zona bird skins; 135 species. Price $90 Full list for stamp. G. F. BRENINGER, Santa Crux, Calif. WANTED to Exchange eggs. Will also buy some at '4 or reduced prices. Please write. GEORGE QUIGLEY, 25 West High St , Lock- port. N: Y. WANTED:— To exchange sets of this locality for sets of otber localities. Send list and re- ceive mine. OqIv first class sets given or re- ceived JOHN H, FLANAG.'^N, 29 Weybosset, Providence, R. I. TO EXCHANGE:- A large list of fine Mount- ed Birds and Skius. Indian Relics, Fossils and Minerals. Wanted eggs, good cloth-bound books and a Safety Bicycle. GEO. W. DIXON. Watertown, So. Dak. A NO. 1 set of Killdeer containing 4 eggs and set of Osprey of 2 with data for first one send- ing me Black (Guillemot, Am. Egret, Ruff Herring Gull, Gnll-billed Tern and Am. Eared Grebe. WILLIE B. CRISPEN, Box 17, Salem, N. J. TO EXCHANGE:— The following singles for sets with data: 337, 261, 7.58, 623a, 488, 221 316, 495, 441, 705. 511b. :-*87, 498. 704, .507, 652 .593 721 546, 725, 616, 467, 613, 63;l, .550, 120c and 126.' No cards answered. Address, DR. W. M. MARTIN, Wellington, Kas. LOOK HERE I I have just received a fine lot of ores from Montana, such as Gold. Sliver, Lead. Copper, Ruby Copper, etc. Will sell cheap or will exchange some for fine Indian relics, sets or standard books. Also have 50 sets Ring-billed Gull and 40 sets Double-crested Cormorant to exchange. GEO. W. DIXON, Watertown. So. Dak. THE OOLOGIST. THE following notices were j^ent in for yuhli- catton prior to December last ana the pub- lisher has reason to believe neaily. if not quite all to be -live" notices at date of going to press. However, it is advisable to write the parties first, enclosing stamp or postal for reply. EXCHANGE :— Eggs of this locality for eges of others, in sets onlv. Send list and receive mine J. W SUGDEN, 121 S. 7th West St , Salt Lake City, Utah. FOR SALE :— Send .o.5.'cents for sample of our work in taxidermy postpaid. Only one bird sent to one person at this price. G.'D. HULL, Charlestowu, N. H. TO EXCHANGE :-Volume 69 of Youths' Companion, for desirable singles not in mv collection. Please send list of eggs. CLAR- ENCE DAVIS. Branchport, N. Y. WANTED :--A new 5x7 folding kodak. Have a 1.5 foot paddling and sailing canoe to offer. Also want Washburn guitar for violin and sew- ing machine, or part cash. A.D.DUBOIS, 327 Doyle Ave , Springfield, 111. TO EXCHANGE:— Birds of Michigan by Cook, also over 1.301 well mixed stamps for e^-gs In sets, Indian relics or scientific books. TH05. POTTER, Dundee, Mich. WANTED :-Large Ostrich egg. State low- est cash price. Al-!o have sets lor exchange. Send list. OTIS TROTTER, Camp Point, Ills. I WANT good clean copies of the Auk. any numbers. Would like complete volumes. Also vol. I, Nidiologisf For same can offer well prepared sets Write for list. R. W. WILL- IAMS. JR.. Tallahassee, Fla. FOR EXCHANGE.— A collector's rane gun. a close shooter, for a double-barrelled shot-gun or cash. E. G. RUNYAN, 1008 I St.. N. W. Washington, D. C. EXCHANGE :— For best offer of 1st class sets with data. Complete file of N. S. Nfwr. 1 to fifi. also eggs tor same. wm. H. WARREN, Lock Box 80, Danielsonville, Conn. WANTED:— A good rapid lens for a (.^x7) or (6^x8^) camera. Will give good sets for same. T have sets to exchHnee for sets. Send lists. HARRY R. PAINTON, College Park, Calif. FOR SALE:— Bicycle, been u«ed eiaht months, wood rim. hall bearings. »•>.=> (-.-i-sh: also Richard's shot gun cheap. Reference First National Bank. T. F. COONEY, Sterling, Kan. FOR SALE or EXCHANGEi-rOne double barreled shot gun. breach loading and one Waltham coin silver watch. Wheeler move- ment, 11 jewels, in good running order. Eggs to exchange. C. B. HODGE, Sterliog, Kas. TO EXCHANGE: -Effgs In sets and single for sets of other localities. Indian relics or books. THOS. H. POTTER. Dundee, Mich. FOR EXCHANGE:-i/o horse power engine and boiler.m'f'd byGoodnow and Weightman. 1 muffled snare drum, 1 Sag^r bicycle saddle and $.= 0 worih of eggs to exchange. C. B. HODOE. Sterling, Kas. WANTED:— Coue's Key, Ridgeway's Manual and Maynard's Eggs, also a thoroughly trained pointer or setter. Can offer good exchange in A 1 .sets, singles, medical works or cheap for cash. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, Ahl. Greene St., Augusta, Ga. RKRF-: .Stanrolite-:— 'Tessellated Crystals, a. rare occurrence, am not aware of such having- h°en f)hserved save those at Charlestown."— IJi/rhcocA-'s Geology. pag:e]]0. Specimens pre- paid, 15c to $•-'. G. D. HULL.Charlestown.N.H. AN OLD stnnip collectirm for sale for $')0: contaiuine yOOO: iilso .300 loo.se stamns for sale for *l KENTG^iN BROS., 102 Fulton St., New Y,)rk. TO EXCHANGE:— A number of fine sets of each of the following: 6.37. 677. 681. ^Hi. ."ifiS, 4S8. •497, 68:^, 42.3. .316. rOl. 501 a. 7.=i-. 339. 201. 74. 7.i6, 610, 466. ''67. 7.51 ; fine skins of 6.37. 677. 681. 680. 683, 6.=i8. 6K. 648. etc. Wanted sets. Rapto'es and Warbleis preff'rred l^HILO H. SMITH, JR.. Mon^ House. St. Louis, Mo. FOR, SALE or EXCHANGE: -4i;5 Foniis Camera, 2'4x4 BaltJmoiean Printing Pre^s No. 10. 2'4x4 Tmtvpe Camera for Cornet, Guitar. Mandolin. .'ix7 or .5x8 Focussing Camera cr offers. Cheap for cash. GEO. GRAHAM, Drawer C, Gamesville. Fla. FOR EXCHANGE:— I have full spts of the following. A. O. U. No's: .'=8. 75 123, 194. 198. 29.3a, 325, .^26 3"7b. .3f 2, .3;3b, 37na. 410. 420a. 443. 495a. 496. .= 12. 573. .578 n-4 n-5. .594. 703. 70T. Thesft are mostly of my own collecting Will sell cheap for cash a few sets cf 58. 75. 126 and £93a. D. B. BURROWS. Casa Blan-'-a. Texas. SWAP or SELf^:- 1 Pocket Kodak, ' Koiiibi Camera, 1 23 calibrf» 7 shot revolver. 1 Scott's Imperial Stamp Album. 1 Scott's International Stamo Alhum: also 5. in and 25c novels and c^mic books and papei's of all kinds For best offer in cash or Indian relics. hOV ALEX- ANDER. Lock Box 315, Clarksburg, W. Va. I HAVpj a collection of about 42'> first class single eggs, many verv rare (partlv without data) which I would like to i-ell. Will send list camplete to any who mean business. Also a 4x5 Premier Camera (snap shot) and complete outfit for finishing IV^ dozens of pictures. Price new $30. will sell for $15 ca.sh. Ad'dress all letters to J. K AUMACK. Box £07, Ballston Spa.. N. Y. PERMO-(-orbotnferous and Cominche Cretac- eous fossil from Kansas. I to 3 each of ,35 spec- ies of fossils and 20 rock samples fossiliferous slabs. &c. for $.'or half the amount for $1. Send for list C. N. GOULD. Winfleld, Ky. FOR SALE:— One 8x12 Columbian l>^ver press in good condition (cost 556) with four chases, wrenches, etc . 6 fonts tvpe. furniture, leads, rule, stick, etc. Comnl^te .iob outfit $40 takes the whole outfit. THOS. H. BLOD- GETT. Galesburg. 111*. FOR SALT-" :— At a great bargain, a fine wall case 2i.ix3ftxnin. full glass front, containing the following finely mounted birds, viz: Pied- billed (irebe. Little Green Heron. Blue Jay. Scarlet Tanager. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Yel- low-shafted Flicker. Pewee, Yellow-billed Cuckoo Hairy Woodpecker. Least Sandpiper. Am. Crossbill. These at regtilar prices amount to over $22 Will be sold case and all for best offer over $7 ?0. purchaser pavine charges. GEO. W. DIXON. Watertowu, So. Dak. TO EXCHANGE:— A genuine Dueber gold- filled, hunting case, stem wind and set watch. Made by Dueter VVatCh Case Co. Fitted with an ll-,ieweled Springfield movement, fully war- ranted for five years. Have both geni's and ladies' sizp. brand new. Will exchange for $1.5.(0 worth of fine sets. GEO. W. DIXON, Watertown. S. D. M-3t. THE OOLOGIST. SCIENTIFIC Skins at H standard prices. Have perfect skins of following. niHle or fe- male. A. O. U. No's: 4, 6, 69, 71. 74. 106, ](», 131, lb7, li9, 141. 142, InO, 166, 167, 172a. 178. Ih7, 191, 194, 201, ml, 212, 214, 219, £21. £23. £24. 225, 280, 'd'^. 2.S9, 24i, 247, 254, 255, 256a, 258a, 263, 269, 273, t'76, 289, 292a 294a. 316, .S2.5, 331, 332, 333. 3.37b, 3.S9, 339b, 342, 357, 360a. 365, .367, 373, ;h73c, 375a. o78. 379a, 384, 385, 387a, 390, 393, 393d. 394. 394a. 397, 399, 402, 403, 404. 407. 409, 413, 419, 4J1, 424, 429, 430, 431, 433, 436, 439, 44 t, 447, 418, 452, 454. 457, 458. 459. 461, 462. 464, 466, 467, 468, 471, 473. 474b C e f , 478a, 481, 486, 488,491.492.493.491, 495. 497. 499. 501b. .^Oi. 504. 505a. 506. 5()7. .508. 509, 510, 511b, 515, 517. 517a. 518, 519,528. 529, 529a. 531, 533, 531. 536. 540. 540a, f40b, 542a, 542b. 546. .-46a. 54M, 549a, 5.52a. 554a. 551b, .^57, 558, 559. 560. 5t50a. 562. 563. :;67, 56rc, 573. 574, 580, .581. 581c. .5Hle, 584, 585, 585b. 587. 588a, E90. C91C. 59.5. 596. 597a. 599. 607, 611a. 612, 615. 618. 619. 620. 622b. 6.i7. 628. 6i9a. 631, 633. 633a. 536. 6)1, 615, 64rta.648. 65.J. 6.55. 656, 657, 661, 668. e65. 667, 668, 669, 674, 680, 68Ia, 683a. 685a. 686. 687. 697. 69"<. 701, 703, 706, 707. 707a. 7US. 710, 711.713,715 717a.7l9a.73la,725, 725a. 726. Ti&c. 727. 7«8. 731. 735. 73S, 742. 743a, 748a, 749. 751a. 7.=i3. 755. 756, 7.^8. 75ga. 7.=,9. 759b. 761. 761a. 766.767.768. Al.so nice sets with nests of most of the above species at ^i rates. EDMUND HELLER. 196 Rubidoux Ave., Riverside, Calif. "AUKS" Wanted.— I will allow .tOc each for any back number of the ■•Auk" you may have, if in good condition and sent prepaid. You to take your lull pay in Bird skins, Egga. Shells (showy or scientific). Corals. Echlno- derms. Fossils, Minerals, Indian Relics. Cu- rios or Novelties as listed in the Premium List Supplement. I can also use on same terms the following Numbers of the Oolo- GIST at prices quoted: June. 1888. 25c: July- Aug., 1886, 15c: Jan.-Feb., 1887 or Dec, 1886 with same attached. 20c; June-Sept.. 1887, 15c: Apr., 1889, 12c. All must be comjjleie. clean and in good condition. I will also accept back No's of the Ornithologist and Ooloqist or Nidiologist any issue and iii any quantity at 5c per copy on same terms. I can also use books on sub- jects pertaining to Natural History if in good condition and cheap, also A No. 1 sets of eggs with data at i4 "Standard" rates. Lists of books and eggs must be submitted for my se- lection or approval before sending. Address at once FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion. N. Y. WANTED to exchange with advanced Oolo- gists tbe present season. Can offer southern sets. Choice set3 for singles of :^5. 104, 112, 183. 188, 204, 205. 206. 328, 33ti. 352. 3.56 and Kmeu. DOCTOR M. T. CLECKLEY. 4=,7, Greene .St., Augusta, Ga. A-3t. DAVIE'S "NESTS and Eggs of North Amer- ican Birds." I want goad new or 2d hand cop- ies of either the 3d or 4' h editions. Will pay cash or give good exchange. Write stating what you want for vour copy. FRANK H. LATTIN. Albion. N. Y. "NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS." Vol. I com- plete. 1 .f-NS than ten complete vols. left. Will send yo.ionefor only Si. 00. Vol. II complete, 14 N I) . only 30 cents. Complete your tiles. Will furnish Nos. 1 and 2 at lOc each. All otheisric each or in lots of five or more 4c each, or ten or more 3c each. (Nos. 1 and 2 are always lOc per copy net.) FRANK H. LAT- TIN. Albion. N. Y. NOTICE TO TAXIDERMISTS: — 6'J/W2/. the famous man killing t-lephant to be electrocuted in Chicago, will be mounted here I h;ive ar- ranged to give lessons on her to a few assis- tants. Those wishing to take the course should correspond with me at once. PROF. WM. ALANSON BR VAN, University of Chicago, Chicago. J2t ORNITHOLOGY. OOLOGY, ENTOMOLOGY, MICROSCOPY, GEOLOGY, MINERAL- OGY, ETC Gleanings from Advancs Sheets of the "Amer- ican Newspaper Directory" for 1896 Among the papers in New York de- voted to above subjects, none has credit for so large a' regular issue as is accord- ed to the OoLOGiST, published monthly al Albion, and the publishers of the American Neivspaper Directory will guarantee the accuracy ot the circula- tion rating accorded to this paper by a reward of one hundred dollars, payable to the first person who successfully as- sails it. — From Printers" Ink\ issup. of April 22d, 1896. PHOTOGRAPHIC GOODS Of All Kinds. Developing and Printing, etc Catalogue and Price List free. CHARLES FOWLER, Princetown. N. Y., FRANK B. ARMSTRONG, TAXIDERMIST, and Collector and Dealer in Bird and Mammal Skins, Birds Eggs in fine sets. Mounted Birds and Animals. BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS. TAXIDERMISTS' GUNS, "d'u^nt' Pistols, Gun Cases. Shooting Shot Shells: also fSes^?„-; SPECIMEN HUNTERS. All kinds, all prices from $l.X) to $2.=i.U0. List free. Write for Taxidermists free list. JAMES H. JOHNSTON, PITTSBURC3. PA.. FREE EDUCATION. An education at Harvard, Yale or any other college or instution of learning in the United States, or in the New England Conservatorj' of Music, can be secured bj' any young man or wo- man who is in earnest. Write for particulars quickly. James D. Ball. 38 BromHeld St., Boston, Mass. CABINETS. Send 10 cts for photo of our speciality— Self Locking. T perches -Oak sam- ples by mail 8c. lUc and I5c : also stands, shields, glass cases, game panels. &c. Cabinets to or- der. HANA FORD CABINET CO.. i;«i and 141 W. Fulton St.. Grand Rapids, Mich. oSMOtf THE OOLOGIST Many Subscriptions to the OOLO- GIST have expired, or will expire with this issue. In the future the Publisher requires CASH IN ADVANCE. Hence, if you are one of the deliquent subscrib- ers, your subscription should be for- warded by return niail, if you wish the OOLOGIST continued to your address. February issue will go to press promptly on Feb. ist, and be mailed during the first we ek of that month- all Exchanges, advertisements and notes for that issue, must be forwarded by returm mail to insure insertion in that issue. LOGIST. VOL. fXENO. 1. ALBION, N. Y., JANUARY, 1897. Whole No. 128 Something- for the "Oologfist." There are doubtless few readers of the OoLOGiST who have not at times felt impelled to write something for this valuable magazine. These moods often come upon me, at least, and it is with this burden on my mind that I take the typewriter and attempt to write "something for thecOoLOGisx," trusting V for inspiration to produce something valuable, instructive and in- teresting. It has impressed me that the present need of ^ornithology is clear, definite accounts of one find, or of one bird, its nests and complements of eggs, rather than lists of finds which state no particulars or data advancing the knowledge already c recorded about the birds mentioned. The latter will perhaps satisfy mere collectors, but progressive naturalists want more in- structive details. In my earlier days I wasted much ammunition filing into the large Hocks of blackbirds passing over my head, but I never did mnch execution until I learned to pick out a victim upon which to concentrate my fire, and thus I often secured other birds besides the one which I had se- lected. I believe that a careful de- scription of one nest and its contents is of more scientific value than simple notices of many finds. We need more tangible information about the birds we now know in an indifferent sort of way. The recorded knowledge about many of our commoner birds is sur- prisingly small, and part of what we have is needlessly inaccurate, or basad upon data gathered from localities so dif- ferent from the districts within our reach that the facts ai'e largely unserviceable. Early last spring I became interested, in the actions of several pairs of Spar- row Hawks, and on referring to my files of the Oologist for the approxi- mate dates of nesting, I was surprised to find nothing of value except from Florida and California, where the nest- ing season opens so much earlier than in Illinois that the information was of no service. On consulting Davie's Nests and Eggs, an invaluable book for the student of ornithology, I found the very definite statement that the eggs of this species are usually deposited in April or in the first part of May, a pe- riod embracing time enough for ^the birds to rear their broods and leave the nest. The result was that .1 broke up one nest by investigating it too early, and allowed another set to become badly incubated befoi'e I decided to dis- turb the nest. The Sparrow Hawk is perhaps one of those common species, which are too well known to admit of their being written of in ambitious journals, but I am so constituted that I need more facts about this class of birds. My only find of value thus far this season has been a nest of the Red-tailed Hawk, my first set of this species, and what can be of more interest to the novice in collecting than his first set of Red-tails? The nest was in a large tree about forty rods away from a house in plain sight of the farmer's family.who "of- ten observed the loving demonstrations of the pair while they were preparing the premises for their occupancy. The nest was a structure of former years and evidently needed little repairs for the simple tastes of the rugged pair, a. few wisps of dried grass and several 10 THE OOLOGIST. pieces of cora husks being the only gar- niture added by the new residents. The site was a lofty shagbark hickory on the summit of a small slope covered by five or six acres of thin woods, the nest being visible from all sides as a sort of watch-tower, a veritable crow's-nest of observation. At night both birds were frequently' obsei'ved to sit side by side on the nest when the place was first se- lected, but later the female (apparent- ly) would occupy the nest at night while the other bird would take his station on the obliquely ascending branch below the nest near his mate. On March 21 I visited the nest in company with a boy who had volun- teered to do the climbing, for those who read my last article will remember that I am not a success in that line. My companion was raised in a river bottom in Missouri and had had no ex- perience with climbers, but his practice in coon hunting had qualified him for the task before him and he showed no hesitation ia attempting the ascent, preparing for it by removing his shoes and coat, and biting off a mouthful of the Missouri Twist he fished out of his pocket. I gave him careful injunctions about how to pack and lower the eggs, and then took my place on the anxious seat while he clambered up a grape- vine which partially entwined the trunk for about thirty feet and was anchored to a strong branch at that height, where the real work of climbing would begin, the trunk being too large to as- sist him in the ascent below the dis- tance mentioned. On reaching the first limb and rest- ing long enough to I'ecover his wind he pulled away the downward projecting bark until he could advance to the next favorable limb, and thus ascending he soon reached the nest, which was plac- ed in a fork of a branch ascending at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the main stem, the nest being about eight feet out on this branch. Throwing his leg up over the edge of the nest and looking into it he an- nounced "two eggs," and prepared to pack them according to the directions I had given him. The cavity of the nest was shallow, being one inch and a half deep and ten inches across. Af- ter lowering the eggs, he tied a knot in the rope at the top of the nest, and when afterward measured [the distance was found to be ninety-five feet. The eggs were quite fresh, one measuring 2.44 by 1.90 inches, tbe other measur- ing 2.42 by 1.9.5 inches. They are pale bluish white ?.nd are fairly well marked with irregular blotches of cinnamon and cherry brown. One of the eggs is marked more strongly on the half near the larger end, while on the other egg the spots are more numerous on the half ccntaining the smaller end. I wonder how many of the thousands of readers of the Oologist are familiar with the higher literature of ornithol- ogj') or of that class represented by writers like Olive Thorne Miller, John Burroughs and other sympathetic writ- ers of birdlore. The latter mentioned essayist is now being read and studied by the school children of America and the coming generation of ornithologists will not be so easily deceived as this one was, apparently, by the article in the February Oologist entitled "De- strnction of Birds." To. criticize the production of a fellow-contributor may not be in good taste, but there is an unwritten law of ethics which should reach anyone who imposes upon the many as well as the one who deceives a single individual. Not many months ago I was pained to read that a well- known collector, with whom I had ne- gotiated several exchanges in the past summer and whom I found perfectly reliable and prompt, was regarded as a fraud and his name was published as such. He had probably imposed upon a fellow collector in exchange, but when a contributor to the Oologist im- THE OOLOGIST. 11 poses upon the readers of this maga- zine the best of John Burroughs' essays as bis own, without using a single quo- tation, he should explain the remark- able parallelism of thought exhibited. This criticism is given charitably, but justice to the readers and contributors of the OoLOGiST demands that such things shall not pass unnoticed when known. The recorded occurrences of the Har- ris Sparrow in Illinois are so few that 1 desire to notice my capture of two in- dividuals of this species in this vicinity, reports of which were sent to the Or- nithologist and Oologist about the time that journal ceased to circulate and hence my notes remain unpublished. My first specimen was taken shortly after sunrise on the morning of Sep- tember 28, 1893. while I was out col- lecting birds for the examination of my class in zoology. I was walking along the bushy edge of the woods near a creek, when I observed two birds un- known to me flitting ahead of me in com. pany with a Hermit Thrush and several Brown Thrashers. I secured one of the two strangers, but as my time was limited I allowed the other Sparrow to escape. On examination of the bird and after consulting my JNatural History Survey of Illinois, Ridgway, I identified the specimen as Harris's Sparrow, which Ridgway describes as quite rare in this state. Thinking that I had made a mistake, I used Coues' Key. and again ended with the same result, so record- ing it in my journal. On the morning of Nov. U, 1893, at about the same time of the day I secured another bird which I 'again decided to be this rare species, this one being tak- «n along a hedge in the edge of the vil- lage, where it was flitting with migrant Sparrows. I now decided that either I was extremely lucky in thus finding this rare species again or that my iden- tification was at fault, and sent this in- dividual to the Department of Agricul- ture for identification, receiving notice in due time that I had correctly placed the specimens. I believe that a closer observation of the migrants of this re- gion would show this species far less rare than it has been reported. P. M. SiLLOWAY, Virden, Ills. From Venzuela. Editor Oologist; I promised your readers in my letter to your paper from Port of Spain that I would try and send them some word from the delta of the Orinoco. [Perhaps that letter may not have reached you for the boat, the ill fated- Juanaddy, which brought our party out from New York, struck on the rocks off St. Kitts on the return trip and •! have not learned wliether or not the mail, with our letters for the States was sav'ed. However as our party is settled for a time in camp at a place called Sacu- pana and I have leisure this morning I will communicate a few general notes relative to the ornithology of this re- gion. For the benefit of those who may be interested in knowing, I will say that t^iough they can find Sacupana given on the maps of Venzuela as a city there is no towu here, ^ot a single person, black or white, resides here and all we found in the shape of a habitation was a deserted Indian hut, which we are at present jointly occupying with taran- tulas, centipedes, scorpions, snakes and a host of rats, toads and insects numer- ous in species as well as numbers. I confess I hardly know just how to begin. I could speak of numerous ad- ventures and experiences on the differ- ent channels of the Orinoco, in the woods and in camp, which my search for ornithological lore have led me in- to. I might tell of having my canoe upset by a large manitee and of losing 12 THE OOLOGIST my gun, revolver, hunting knife, am- munition and medicines, besides money and other things, specimens, etc., in the river and after a desperate strug- gle in the swift waters, of reaching the bank, wounded by the vicious Caub fish, to be poisoned by some noxious plants and picked up a few hours later more dead than alive by a chance boat. But of these things I must speak later, if at all, and now I will tell of a few of the many birds I have encountered in this land of perpetual summer. Perhaps the birds best known in the ]^orth and which are residents here, are the Parrots, Macaws and Parro- quets. These birds abound in great numbers in this vicinity and it is no uncommon thing to see a dozen Ma- caws, both red and yellow, in the trees around our camp. Those who have known them in their haunts or even seen them in their captivity will have no trouble in recalling their harsh cry. This varies in tone according to the de- sire they wish to express. It is inter- esting to stand under a tree occupied by several of these birds when they are unaware of your presence, and I assure you they v/ill not long occupy a tree if they ai'e aware you are beneath it, and note their odd manceuvers while you listen to their very expressive Macaw talk. Thus I have watched and listen- ed to them many times and anyone who does not believe that animals have a separate and distinct language of their own would be convinced of the fact if they could share the opportunity I have enjoyed in observing thjs one bird. Standing under a tree thus em- ployed I have heard the Macaw's note of alarm as I made some movement which the sharp eyes of the bird delect- ed. It would be answered by the oth- ers, when if I made no further sign of my presence, some one of the birds, using beak and claws, would climb down to the one which bad first utterad the warning and they would confer, with beaks together, in a soft murmur- ing tone. Then they would both sharp- ly scan the place of my concealment.. After another beak to beak conference- they were seemingly satisfied that no alien was near one returned |to its un- finished guava and the other climbed back to its perch, and all the others, which had been waiting ready for flight, resumed their feast. If space would permit I could recount other equally interesting conversations be- tween the Macaws which [l have over- heard. The green Parrot, common in captiv- ity in the Stales, is very common here in its native state, (iet enough of them together and I am sure' they can out- scream the Macaws. Their voice is not so harsh and loud as that of the Ma- caw but it is higher and more piercing, and a dozen 'or more of them scream- ing together can make as discordant a medley as 1 ever listened to. You all have heard of Pigeon flights, but who ever saw a flight of Parrots, when thousands of birds could be seen over- head and on each s"de while behind was a line as far as the eye could see. About five o'clock one morning I wit- nessed the beginning of such a flight and when darkness shut down the Par- rots were still coming and how long af- ter this swarm of green plumaged birds continued I have no means of knowing. From whence they came and whither they departed I know not either. The pretty little Parroquets or "love birds," ss they are often called, are quite often seen in flocks'of from ten to twenty. This is contrary to the rule with Pan-ots and Macaws, which, no matter how many there are together seem to associate more closely in pairs. I would say more but my letter is al- ready quite long enough for this time.. Leslie O. Dart, Sacupana, Venezuela, S. A. May 21, '06. THE OOLOGIST. 13 A Colony of Woodpeckers Near to the edge of the great Potter SSwarup in Yates County there is an area of about one acre covered with a dense growth of cattails and swamp grass and grown up mostly with ash trees many of which are now dead stubs broken off at various heights thus making a typical place for the family of Ficidoe. to breed. On May 19, 1895, accompanied by Mr. Verdi Burtch I visited this place and after about three hours' observation we found that of the seven species of Woodpeckers indigenous to Western New York five were breeding in this . email area; therefore we have dubbed it "Woodpecker Colony." Flickek, Colaples aurates.. This fa- miliar"Ye]ler-hammers' " loud and rol- licking notes were apparently in all di- rections and were the first to attract our attention. Two nest holes were found and I took a set of 9, fresh to slightly incubated eggs from a cavity 15 feet up in a large bumpy old stub. This gnarled bumpy stub seemed to be a favorite one for cavity breeders to select, for two feet above the Flickers' hole was another occupied by a pair of Bluebirds whose home I did not dis- turb. Also on May 24, 189G, Mr. Burtch took a fine set of 4 eggs of the Ameri- can Sparrow Hawk from an old cavity 30 feet up in the extreme top. Red-headed Woodpeckek, Melan- erpes erythrocephalus . This tri-colored Woodpecker — whose querulous notes remind one of a tree frog — was to be seen dashing from tree to tree and we found one nest hole iu the dead top of a beech tree and 25 feet from the ground. The cavity was 15 inches deep by 6 in diameter. The set of 5 eggs were fresh and one was a runt. I took another set from an old dead cherry tree 20 feet up and in a cavity 12 inches deep by 5 in diameter at the top while the bottom was considerably larger. The set of 5 fresh eggs were laid on fine bits of rot- ten wood. Downy Woodpecker, Bryobates pub- escejis. But one pair of this social lit- tle Woodpecker were found breeding in 1895 and as Mr. Burtch collected the set I haven't full data. But on May 10, 1896, I took a set of five eggs from a smoothly chiseled hole 20 feet up in a small ash tree— it was 8 inches deep and the opening so small that Downy had to squeeze in order to get in and out. I had previously, on May 3, dug a small hole into the bottom of this nest hole but as only one egg had been laid I jabbed a small limb into the hole I had made and Mrs. Downy completed the set. Again on May 24 I took a set of five fresh eggs from a cav- ity 20 feet up in a live ash tree, prob- ably the second set of this pair. Hairy Woodpecker, Dryobales vil- losiis. We found two pairs breeding. Spying a rather large cavity in a live ash tree I approached and gave it a vigorous whack, and the effect was truly astonishing, for out of the bowels of that tree came the most unearthly shrieks and screams I ever heard. I amused myself for several minutes and as soon as the last shriek died away I would give thom a hearty "encore" and they would sing the next verse. Davie says that Hairy lays four eggs, rarely five, but judging from the sounds within there must have been at least a dozen. Both of these cavities were in solid ash trees and 15 feet up. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, Sphyrapicus varins. Mr. Burtch found a nest hole of this unsuspicious Sap- sucker in a partially dead ash. Mrs. Sapsucker came promptly to the en- trance on hearing raps without and as Mr. Burtch climbed to the cavity she ran up and down the tree near the hole in a nervous manner but soon flew to a near by tree while he dug into the nest, but alas! we were too early for no eggs had been laid. Hopefully we visited 14 THE OOLOGIST. the "Colony" again but the pair had deserted the locality. Although the Yellow-bellied Wood- pecker is a fairly common migrant it rarely breeds in Western New York therefore the taking of a set of their eggs here would have been of unusual interest. Potter Swamp is our main collecting ground. We have hunted along its edges, explored its jungles and went astray several times. At the south end the rookery of the Great Blue Heron looms up in the highest ash tree and near here we have taken sets of the American Bittern. Rails and Marsh Hawks. Farther on we come to the "Woodpecker Colony" and it is near here that the Scarlet Tanagers, Rose- breasted Grosbeaks and Maryland Yel- low-throats breed. There is much to learn of the ''avi fauna" in its sylvan retreats, therefore you may again hear from yours truly, C. F. Stone, Branchport, N. Y. The Passenger Pig-eon. Among the birds becoming rai'er each year is the Passenger Pigeon {Ec- tojnstes migralorious), especially so in Minnesota On the twenty-tirst of June. '95, it being a very bright day, I took my kodak and wandered out in the woods back of what is known as Oak Park, iu Minneapolis. I was sit- ting on a log near the outer edge of the woods, listlessly thinking. Imagine my surprise when a Passenger Pigeon alighted on a limb not twenty feet from where I was sittting. It did not stay there long however, but flew farther into the woods. I followed the course it took as nearly as possib'e, examining every tree carefully. I had probably gone about two hundred yards when I found the mate upon its nest, which was situated in a red oak tree. The nest was unusually high, being about twenty feet up, in the fork of a horizontal limb. It was ai very frail structure, consisting of v.. few long sticks, not quite as large as a clay pipe stem, on which were placed still small-, er sticks, also two green leaves. It had one very badly incubated egg in it, which was pure white and nearly oval. After marking the spot I went home for a shot gun to procure the birds. I got the female and egg and consider it one of the richest finds of the season. I have not read or heard of- the Pas- senger Pigeon being reported breeding- in this state for sevei-al years, and am almost positive there has not, been a set taken in Hennepin county within the- last three years. On dissecting the bird I found the stomach contained three acorns, sever- al grains of wheat, also a number of white berries. As near as I can learn (in former years) about the fifth of April is the time of their arrival and they have principally left the country by the first of November, although individual birds remain as long as the abundance of food is uncovered by snow. Oliver V. Jones, Minneapolis, Minn. The Wheaton Ornitholog-ical Club. On the evening of Oct. 14, 189G, at. the Ohio State University, Columous, O., a club was organized for the pur- pose of systematic study and research in ornithology and oology. Fifteen names of professors and students were enrolled at the first meeting and the future of the society looks very prom- ising. Raymond C. Osburn was elected president, E. B. Williamson vice-presi- dent and J. B. Parker secretary for the ensuing year. The club was named in honor of the late Dr. J. M. Wheaton, of Columbus, whose extensive collections of skina and eggs he bequeathed to the univer- sity. THE OOLOGIST. 15 The Oologist. A Monthly Magazine Devoted to OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Pubiisher, ALBION, N. Y. Correspondence and Items ot Interest to the student oC Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited from all. TKRMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: Single subscription '>0c per annum Sample copies .5c each The above rates include paj ment of postage. Each subscriber is given a card good for a Want, Exchange or For Sal"^ Notice. (This card Js redeemable at any lime within one year irom date thereon.) Subscription" can begin with any number. Baciv numbers of the Ooi.ouisf can be furnished at reasonable rates. Sena stamp tor descri|j- tlons and prices. C^'Remember that the publisher must be noil- fled by letter when a subscriber wishes uls paper slojrped. and all arrearages must be paid. ADVERTISING RATES: n cents per nonpareil line each insertion. 12 lines in every inch. Seven Inches lu a col- umn, and iwo columns to the page. Nothing inserted fir less tlian 2i cents. No "special rates." 5 cents per line is "net." -'rock bottom," "inside," -spot ca-h" rate from whicli there Is no deviation and n'l fommisslon to agents, if you wish to use o lines or less space It will cost you '2-3 cents: luo lines. Si.stage Stamps ot any denomination will be accepted for sums un- der one dallar. Makti Money Orders and Drafts payable and address all subsciiptions a-^d com- munications to FRANK II. LATTIN, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. eNYErtED *T THE POST C^FtCE AT I AS SeCONO-CLAS THE OOLOGIST.— The missing issues will not be made up: neither will double numbers be issued to catch up, hut all unexpired sub- scriptions will be extended seven months, in or- der that they will receive the full number of OoLOGisTS to which they :.ire entitled. All new subscriptions received since May 1, '96 will be- gin with this, January issue. Yellow-throated Vireo. Friend Lattin: As gooci a journal as is your Oolo- gist, it has, nevertheless, its defects. I supposed that there was no North Ainerieau bird that had not at some lime or other been written about in the columns of ihe Oologist, but 1 was very much surprised last night to find that from Vol. I, No. 1 of the Young Oologist down to date, it has never con- tained an article on the Yellow-throat- ed Vireo. Now why is this? Isn't there anyone who knows enough about this pretty bird to write an article about it for the Oologist? I wish you would please have this matter attended to, and for my own especial benefit, have someone write such an article. I want to know more about this bird. Before closing I will tell you about tlie queer and unusual nesting-site of a pair of these birds. I took a nest con- taining four eggs and one of the Cow- bird on Thursday last. The nest was in a small elm, which happened to be .growing right in the midst of our foun- dry plant, with the noisy turmoil of machinery and workingmen on every hand. Close on one side of the nest is a wagon -road, over which heavy team- ing of coke and iron is almost constant- ly being done, while on the other side, and within a few feet is the pipe store- house where cast-ii'on pipe is being blacked and piled all day with consid- erable noise, and where workingnaen are continually passing to and fro right near the nest. Yours quite materially, Neil F. Posson, Medina, N. Y., June 9, '96. P. S. Saw a Yellow- breasted Chat Memorial Day. Notes on the Yellow-billed Mag-pie. The Yellow-billed Magpie is a com- mon bird throughout California, and is resident whei'ever found, never migrat- ing to any extent, a'though in winter a few will straggle a few miles from the plains into the foothills, but never for any length of time. They frequent the level plains and valleys of California, THE OOLOGIST. nesting in rookeries in the small groves of white oaks and sycamores which dot the meadows. They nest early; com- plete sets may be expected as early as March 31, and young birds have been taken at that early date. The nest is Usually placed well out of reach, either in the lips of a horizontal branch or iu 'the extreme top of the ti'ee, but this is 'not always the case, many being built In the center of the tree, and once or twice I have found them on a horizon- tal limb or in a crotch. The nest is an elaborate affair, and is very frequently built on the remains of last year's nest. The foundation is laid of a batch of coarse twigs, averaging larger than a lead pencil, and very frequently are broken from living trees, as I have found them, in new nests, with fresh broken ends. The structure is then cupped with a solid, large cup of mud or horse-dung, with humerous twigs imbedded in it. This cup is generally about 7 or 8 inches in internal diameter and 5 or 6 deep, with walls about 1 inch thick. The interior is lined with a thick coating of very tine, hair-like grass- stems and horsehair and the whole is surmounted with a latticed dome of coarse twigs, in some cases two feet in height, but generally from about 10 to 15 inches, with a hole in one side for entrance. The Magpies spend a long time building their nests. Nests well under way in the fore part of February will not have the eggs until the first or second week in April. On March 31, 1895, we made our first trip to the rookery near here. Owing to the late rains the birds were not quite ready for us, so we secured but one set of eight fresh eggs, which wei-o taken from a large nest about 50 feet from the ground in a small oak. Sev- eral nests held "sets" of from 1 to 4 eggs which were left for future visits. On April 7 we again were on the scene bright and early and at once commenced operations. The first nest I examined was in a small white oak, in the topmost twigs and about 30 feet from the ground and held eight fresh eggs. After packing up I tackled the next one. This was in a giant white oak and situated in the extreme tip- twig? of a nearly uhorizontal branch about 40 feet from the ground and held six fresh eggs. On returning to this nest a week later I found the bird had one more egg. This was all I got that day though my two brothers each got a set or two. On April 10th, at another rookery, I took a slightly incubated set of five from a nest in a white oak 30 feet up, and a very highly incubated set of five from a locality very similar. In fact, of over 30 nests examined inApril andMay, '95, all, with one exception, were plac- ed in white oaks, at heights varying between 20 and 60 feet. The exception was one placed at the top of a locust tree, and at the risk of making a pin- cushion of myself, 1 took 7 highly incu- bated eggs from it on May 18th. On April 14th we again visited the rookery, this time with better success. The first nest examined was in an oak about 30 feet from the ground and held 7 fresh eggs. The next was similarly situated and held six very slightly in- cubated eggs. One nest was found to contain six young birds. On summing up we found we had four sets of six, four sets ot seven, and two sets of eight, all either fresh or very slightly incubated. On April 21st took one set of seven, incubation nearly f , two of six. incu- bation nearly 3, one of seven, incuba- tion i, one of eight, incubation i and a fresh set of six. The latest set taken was a set of six, about i incubated, on May 29. Of over 30 sets examined, none were larger than eight or smaller than five in number, and the greater were of six and seven eggs. The eggs show great variation in size, marking* THE OOLOGIST. 17 and shape. Some taken were short and rounded, others long and eliptical, Again some would be heavily blotched with lilac and buffy or purplish brown, while others would be minutely dotted with lilac, buffy and grayish brown. The markings are distributed over the entire shell. The average size is from 1.20 to 1.40 X .90 to 1.00. In coloration tlie Yellow-billed Mag- pie is a beautiful bird The plumage of the head, neck, breast, back and scapulars is a deep lustrous black, in high plumage with an iridescent tinge on the cranium; the belly is white; wings and tail black glossed on upper side with a beautiful greenish and pur- ple iridescent gloss, which attains high- est development in November, Decem- ber and January', becoming duller and less noticeable as summer adyances, till in the latter part of the summer it is hardly noticeable: a large wing patch and the lower border of scapulars white; feet black: iris brown; bill and skin about eye rich yellow. The size of the adult male will be about 19x23x10. An adult female will be similarly colored, but decidedly smaller, averaging about 18x21x8.75. The Magpie is a proverbially noisy bird. A group of three or four talking to each other can make noise enough for a dozen. He is an arrant thief and will steal and eat anything, worms, fruit, eggs or cari'ion. They are very fond of ripe tigs and can always be found in the fig trees. They are also very partial to eggs and are the contin- ued objects of vituperation for the tur- key raisers and farmers. One man I know of covered the entrance to his henhouse with a sack, hung like a cur- tain, •end treated each nest in like man- ner and then taught his hens to go in under the curtains to lay! He said that was the only way he could get an egg to eati The Magpies are very wary of man and will keep well out of shot gun range, though easily approached on horseback or in a buggy. Their flight resembles that of a Jay and their ap- pearance on the ground is rather hide- ous. They hold the tail at an angle above the horizontal and strut about with a pompous air. I caught a half-grown Magpie last year and tried to raise him by hand. His appetite was something enormous. He soon got so he would open his mouth and squawk whenever- he heard a footstep, so we called him "Oliver Twist," and he thrived on a diet of bread and milk, dry bread and egg and cornmeal. But one day he took cold and passed in his checks. They are said to be gitteckwith the power of speech, on condition there is an operation performed on the tongue, but as I never could find out whether the cord below the tongue was cut, the tongue slit, end cut off or tongue cut oft' altogether, I have never experi- mented. Henky B. Kaeding, Amador Co., Calif. I noted a set of 1-9, fresh, April 21, '96, the only 1-9 set I have ever found: also 1-1, incubation |1! Probably a Jay got the others, but this single egg was being incubated. H. B. K. A Peculiar Site for an Oriole's Nest. Last June, in the grounds of mySouth- ern California home, a pair of Hooded Orioles took a queer fancy to build a nest suspended under a banana leaf, growing from a tree some 203feet high, near my veranda. Now to those un- acquainted with the banana plant I will say that the leaves are often several yards long and more than a' foot wide, and presenting asj they do a broad sur- face to the wind, they become very much tattered and frayed by the time they are fully grown. But Mrs. O. did not know that apparently, for after having critically .surveyed the situation 18 THE OOLOGiS'I. for a few days she commenced to work, the male takinjif no part in the con- struction of the nest, l>ut keeping con- veniently near, and both uttering their rapid chu-chu-chu incessantly. Her only material was the librous strings from the leaves of the fan palm growing near by. These strings are as strong as common sewing cotton and many of them a vard in length. The nesl was placed about midway of the leaf and about 10 feet from the ground. I did not see the first days work, but my attention was attracted to it from the balcony above, by seeing her in the most intelligent and skillful manner puncture a hole from the under side of the leaf and push a string through, then come around 1o the upper side and pull it through, fastening it with a loop, for a guy. She fastened sevei'al other guys, and then proceeded to build quite a massive atfair of woven and twistad palm strings, the whole structure about six inches long, the nest itself about three inches deep; the remaining three being solidly packed with the strings. After a week or more of work the nest swung gaily out from under its green canopy. Swaj'ed by every breeze, a high wind often tossing the leaf perpendicularly in a way which to any but an oriole would have been per- ilous enough; but she trustingly depos- ited four eggs in it and in due time they were hatched. But as I had an- ticipated the leaf became torn and broken and things began to look inse- cure; and one morning I found her guy strings broken loose and the nest dang- ling at an angle of 45 degrees, with a young bird dead on the ground. With step-ladder and twine I righted and strengthened it, and the remaining three were reared in safety. M. L. Dodge, Chula Vista, Cal. Incubation. A year ago in marking the degrees of incul)ation on the several eggs of several good-sized setsi)f water birds, and in sub- sequently comparing the eggs in each setwiih one another, I made what was, for me, a partial discovery. Namely, that variations of incubation — degrees, in the same sets of eggs are probably much more common than we are ac- customed to suppose. This, by consequence, follows— that when the data for certain sorts of eggs are marked, — "Incubation advanced — " the information is scientifically mis- leading. Of course absolute scientific accuracy is unobtainable, in a necessar- ily abbreviated data, but a reasonable approximation to accuracy should al- ways, without question, be sought by every really scientific collector. Following up the practice begun up- on my Hei'on eggs, and gradually ab- breviating, to save precious time, I have gradually formulated a code of incubation marks, which would, I strongly believe, if widely adopted, carefully used and uniformly applied, give added interest to many a set of otherwise apparently uniform eggs, and throw considerable light upon little-kuown conditions, connected with the incubation of eggs. My plan is this: In blowing eggs, of all sizes, I try to note, very carefully, the exact condi- tion of the germ. If the egg be abso- lutely fresh — which comparatively few eggs are — the egg, if a good-sized one, is marked with an "O" beside the blow-hole, while, if the egg be small, the note i< made on the field-book. If there be the faintest trace of blood the mark is "b;"- if this condition is well pronouuK d the mark is "B;" if the em- bryo is visible an "e" is inscribed on the egg; :' fairly large, f-oft embryo is marked '•£;" while a large, tough one is honered with an "a." And then, if THE OOLOGIST 19 the young thingf have a little down started, the mark is "A." This is about as far as one can reasonably go; but since even a whilom set of eggs, that is almost ready to hatch may, if rai'e, be saved by the enthusiastic collector, such eggs might be appropriatly mark- ed "c," that is practically complete, or "C" if absolutely so. The complete code then would be as follows: "O-b-B-e-E-a-A-cC." But one further mark remains to be consid- ered, yet that nearly the most impor- tant of all — infertile eggs should be marked with an "I." The value and significance of such a code may partially appear by the cita- tion of an actual entry in my note-book for the current year, opposite a set of Sora, the eleven eggs of which are marked, respectively, "0-b-b-b-b-b-e-e- E-E E." Another set of thirteen eggs tells this story, "O-O-O-b-b-b-b-B-B-ee- e-e." The adoption of a code like this would be practically useless, unless such adoption should become practi- cally universal. The problem then of securing such uniformity would be overwhelming, but for the hope that the fathering of this little suggestion by our dear little Oologist may im- press the value of the idea upon a suffi- cient number of thinking oologists to give the idea a good start. If the thing "takes," as the politic- ians say, this might, perhaps, be a wise method of bringing the code into use. Until the code had come into wide use, and had become well understood, a whole line, or even two, on the data might be given up to the item "incu- b'n," each abbreviation being fully ex- plained. Then, in tilling out the data for, we will say the larger set of Sora mentioned above, the collector might set down over the "O" a "3;" over the ''b" a "4;" over the "B" a "2;" and over the "e" a "4." Indeed this "3-0- 4-b-2-B-3-e" style of abbreviation might profitably be used in any case. Readers of the Oologist will surely understand that I am not at all wed- ded to this particular code. Any other, which should give the same informa- tion, in more compact and scientific form, would be gladly welcomed. What I am aiming at is the adoption of some uniform, simple and reasonab- ly accurate system of symbols, easily and quickly markable on eggs, which system will tell us, with reasonable ex- actness, just when, relatively, the bird 'begins to sit, and how uniformly she sits, with other allied and equally valu- able information otherwise unobtain- able. "Too muchbother, "somebody growls. Yes, perhaps, my dear fellow; but you are not the sort of collector to whom this sort of communication is address- ed. P. B Peabody, St. Vincent, Minn. Pinnated Grouse in the Pine Reg-ions. Dui'ing the latter part of September I went upon a journey into a rather un- settled region seventy-tive miles north of Minneapolis. I did not go in pur- suit of birds alone but made observa- tions as I journeyed. We traveled by wagon and by foot as much as fifty miles and along the route I many times saw the Pinnated Grouse. As the character of the coun- try was such that I did not expect to see this bird I give a short description of it. A small river watered the region through which we passed and along its banks, and occasionally in tracts away from the stream, grew beautiful forests of tall maples. But the whole country is, for the most part, known in lumber- man's parlance as "pine slashings." The better timber has from time to time been felled leaving here and there a mammoth which for some reason was not cut. Fire laier swept this territory 20 THE OOLOGIST. but despite it all many trees still stand though scattered and lifeless. They are so towering and limbless that a dis- tant view gives them the appearance of many mast-heads outlined against the horizon. Raspberry bushes and sprout- ing poplars (the last of which I antici- pate will sometime grow to a forest) cover the ground and curl about the fallen logs. The land is slightly slop- ing, though in places the marks of the Great Glacier can be seen in pinched and rather barren ridges, and between every slope the alluvium has been washed down by the rain for ages until well grassed meadows have been form- ed. As I passed along I very often saw a Pinnated Grouse whirring over the ground and toward night-fall when the birds shift, several flocks flew by. One that sat in the road was so tame that the hind wheel of the wagon had. near- ly touched it before it moved away from the roadside. The driver said that it had been only three or four years since the advent of this bird into this country and that since then they had increased very rap- idly. Upon the day the closed law for shooting expired there was an abund- ance, but incessant hunting by sports- men and by Indians and espeuidly by men shooting for the market had great- ly thinned them. It was easy to see why the Prairie Hen should choose thih place as a home. It was practically open land and not forest and the bushes gave the birds good covering to hide under. Then also they like to spend the warm noon-days in the grass of the meadows and they found ample opportunity to do so here. The early habitat of the Pinnated Grouse was all of the territory west of the AUeghanies. Even as late as the early history of Minnesota I learn that they were not at all common so far west. The Sharp-tailed Grouse was then the prevailing species, but gradu- ally tha latter bird shifted away from us and the Pinnated Grouse came in. That bird too has shifted until they are far more abundant to the west of Min- neapolis. It is the general belief that this Grouse is an inhabitant of the prairie lands of the west, or lands that are par- tially prairie, and led by this belief I did not expect to lind them in the pine regions. There are doubtless many tracts, as I have already described, in the great forests of the northwest and the north in Canada, which would as readily serve for the home of the Pinnated Grouse as the one I have before men- tioned, if they are not so already. The soil upon which pine grows is general- ly poor and these regions are not des- tined to become so rapidly settled by farmers as the more fertile prairie lands audit is possible, that, with the gradual settlement of the prairie re- gions and the consequent persecution of the Prairie Hen, this bird may come to seek a home in these wilder places. H. M. Guilford, Minneapolis, Minn. In Alaska "for a Big" Time." Friend Lattin: Please discontinue my adv. in the OoLOGiST, as I am just about to start on a collecting trip to be gone until summer. Can you kindly give my cor- respondents notice through your pa- per? My post-oftice address is "Mc- Loud's Post, Houkan, Jackson's-P. O., Alaska." Will get mail once a month so send the Oologist there for the present. 1 am in for a big time — lots of rare birds — and a breeding resort in summer. Geo G. Cantwell. Dec. 10, 1896. Ripans Tabules cure indigestion. THE OOLOGIST. U I New Edition for '96 now ready. Latiin's Standard Catalogue of N. Am. Birds Eggs. Enlarged, revised, corrected and brought up to date of going to press. Giving all of the new A. O. U. changes and additions. Also divided and sub-divided into orders, sub-orders, families, and sub- families. Values are based on the 1893 ones which were determined by the compiler, from invaluable notes, suggestions and assistance from Major Chas. E. Bendire, J. Parker Norris, p]sq., and the late Captain B. F. Goss. ' In addition to these notes, which have been carefully reworked, the compiler has had suggestions from over Forty leading American Oologists, all of which have been . carefully considered and where advisable, adopted. \ Lattin's Catalogue has long been recognized by leading Oolo ^. gists as the '•Standard" and the new one will be recognized by \ the majority as being more consistent than any former one ^jA. The compiler, however, intends to issue a new one early in Mfni^ 1897— and desires the assistance of every working Ool'o- " J"^ ?^^*' ^^ niaking values, etc. On this account the new ^^^^i^ ' 1896 edition is offered at the following low rates: W^ ~Sv^^-^ Single Copy, 12c; 2, 20c; 6, 50c; 15, $1, postpaid. An extra copy will be mailed every purchaser gratis in wliich .Lliey cau 111 iiid . le ..• 1 umI IlIK UOLOGIhT. Don't Buy California Cuiiosities Common Stone Relics. Send for my special catalofiie of the finest, most rare AKROVV and tSl'KAR points of white flint, and terms on approval: fOu beautiful s-e- lect Axes. Celts. Hematite Plummets. Morta s. Pestles, Di-icoidals, Pipes, Mound Slates, etc.: Sweden and Denmark Stone Relics alsr>. Out- lines sent. Specify wants. Stock 15 uOOpiects. 100,000 Mineral & Fossil Specimens. Modern Buckskin Relics of the West. Catalogue for stamp. Kith Year. L. W. STILWElL, Deadwood. S. Dak. Mounted Tarantulas, Homed Toads, Scor- pions, Trap-door Spi- ders, n Specimen Collec- tions. Yucca Pincush- ions. &c. &c. Jnsi the goods for Curio and Shell Dealers to handle. Best work and lowest l)rices. Send for Wholesale Illii.strated Price List. G. W. TUTTLE, Pasadena, Calif. 1 ,000,000 Cuba! Cuba! Cuba! STAMPS! I have purchased 1,OCO,(00 unused Cuba stamps, which I offer to collectors, and others, at less than one-fourth catalogue price. I will send a set of 8 for luc: 10 sets for 50c. or £0 sets for $1.60. A set of 10 varieties, 12c. or 10 sets for fOc. An entire sheet of ICO 5c or 2nc Cuba stamps, only 25c. These are nice for framing, etc. These are all genviine old stamps, not good for postage any longer. Dealers sup- plied. Don't fail to order at once. Address, J. E. HANDSHAW, SMITHTOWN BRANCH, N. Y, Why not buy when prices are down? We can supply you with birds in good mount- able or fresh skins. Great Gray Owl $3 50 Arctic Horned Owl J3 o^i to 5 00 Hawk Owl 1 75 Richardson's Owl 2 2'i Snowy Owl $3 tO to 5 00 Richardson's Grouse 5 00 Willow Ptarmigan _ 150 White-tailed Ptarmigan 2 50 Greenland Kider 3 00 American Sc prize offer and list of two hundred Inventions wanted. THE QOLOGIST. NASALENE POSITIVE CUKE FOR Cold in the Head, Hay Fever, Catarrh. Deafness. $ioo REWARO for every case of Ca- tarrh or Deafue.ss (caused by Catairh) which we cannot cure with Masalene. when used ac- cording to directions. Sold by all first-class druggists or by mail at 23 ct-nto. Sample box 10 cents. The profuse discharge of mufus from the nose, the dropping of mucus fiom the nostrils into the throat, the accumnl ition ot mucus and the constant inclination to hawk and ex- pectorate, is arrested by the timejy use of Nas- alene. Office of thr agent-VV«rden i sing mng prison. \ Dec. 12, 1895. HrTNTEFi MEDICAT. CO. Gentlemen: — I havM use your "N'asaleue''and I hnd it very beneficial. I take pleasure In recommending it. Vours truly, O. V. SAGE, Agenc-vvarden. HUNTER MEDICAL CO., 54 E. 13 St., NEW-YORK CITY. 5 to 7 inch White Flint Spear Points from Pine County, 111 (a banner locality) and ."jOOU beautiful select Arrowheads-all the cream ol 30 OUO ])icked ov- er. Advanced collectors can Ket here what long they've sought. Can itirnish institutions full series of all know typt-s fn)m all over the U. S. .'• everal thousand Axes, Celts Hematites, Plummets. Stone Beads. Murtars. Pestles, four in. Discoidal«. nO Moupd Buildeis Pipes, in fact I have bought an entire large and rare collec- tion, the accumulation of ye ^ in 35c 10 spec, 2xli'o in 35c Sent by mail prepaid. 60 spec 50c 10 spec, ixlV^ in 35c 6 spec. 2xl>g in 35c 13 arrowheads SOc Labeled with name & locality. List free. Chester Co., Pa. ISAAC S. KIRK, Fremont, iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'iiiiiii 1111 111 iiiii'iiiiiiiii;iii!i!iii minis FRANKLIN I E ^HOUSE I Zl ESTABLISHED 1837 ^ § Cor. Bates & learned Sts., = I DETROBT, MICH. | ^ Only a Block from Woodward rnd — =: Jefferson Aves. .Very Central. — S Near All Car Lines. ZZ I»er Day, H. H. JAMES, Prop. | giiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 1 1 111 1 1 III 1 1 III II II 1 1 1 1 1 III nil 1 1 i 11 1 II I mi The Iowa Ornithologist. The only illustraled quarterly magazine In the Mississippi Valley, devoted to the study of birds. The July issue. Vol. l. No. 4 contains a full page Illustration of the Blue-winged Teal. Subscrip- tion 41c a year. Sample copy lOc. Jy 3t. DAVID L. SAVAGE, Editor. Salem. Iowa. THE NAUTILUS. A monthly devoted to the intesests of Con- chologists. Edited and published by H. A. Pils- bry. Academy of Natural Sciences and C. W. Johnson, Wagner Free Institute, Philadelphia Pa. Send for sample copy. THl'^ OOLOGIST. BOUGHT FOR CASH We want each of the following in bulk — quantities of lOO to looo pounds — and of a quality suitable for educational collec- tions, i. e., examples characteristic and typical of their kind. Cash will be paid, though better terms can be made on an exchange basis. lE^^Small samples must accompany all offers. Tetrahedrite CoUimbite Chalcedony Actinolite Limonile, (bright botryoidal surface) Asbestus Fibrolite Ozocerite Rhodochrosite Hypersthene Dewey lite Cerusslte Iceland Spar Strontlauite Chalcopyriie, (massive, pure) Annabergite Epsomlte Bournonite Petalite Natrolite Hornblende (crystallized) Pyroxene, Augite " Argentite Melaconite Granulite Petrosilex Talcose schist Pentamerus oblongus (Clinton Group) Calymene Niagarensis Hydraulic Limestone Bird's Eye Limestone Coal Fossils (preferably ferns) Leucopyrite Beautiful, rare, or well crystalized Minerals always wanted. Highest cash price paid. Catalogues Free. If You Desire To buy any Birds Eggs, singles or sets, or Bird Skins, send stamp for •'Natdralists' Bulletin," Vol. 2, No. 4. Notice the following bargains: Climbing Irons. Best made with forged spur (same as "Lattin" alway.s sold). Regular price $3 50; prepaid $3.25. I now offer them at $3 at purchaser's expense, or $2.60 prepaid. All strapped ready for use. Syringes. Just what you want for rinsing eggs. With glass instead of rubber reservoir, thereby enabling you to see just what you have in syringe. Just as good as the hard rubber ones at 35c. Each one in a box, 20c prepaid. Remember I handle the best Glass Kyes in the world. riecond-hand copies of following books: Ridgeway's Manual of N. A. Birds, leathei-. $4.33; Wells. Natural Philosophy (375 cuts) cost $1.25, 60c; •Wells,, First Principle of Geology, cost $1, 75c; Canadian Fossils, crinoids, cost $1.25, 10 full page plates, 55c; Canadian Fossils, Lower Silurian, cost $1, 10 full page plates, 45; Canadian Fossils, Cys- tidea and Startish. cost$1.50, 8 full page plates, 65c; Canadian Fossils, Graptol- ites, cost $2, 21 full page plates, $1; Raines' Bird Nesting in N. W. Canada, $1.35; Maynard's Butterflies of Eastern North America, colored figures of over 100 species, (out of print), $6. Any of these prepaid, at prices given. First-class skins of Snowllake at 12c. First-class skins of Black Squirrel at 65c each. No stamps. Address plainly, ERNEST H. SHORT, ALBION. N. Y. DR. A. E. FOOTE, WARREN M. FOOTE, Manager, DEALER IN Minerals and Scientific Books. 1317 ARCH ST., PHILADELPHIA, PA., U. S. A. 1 MPORTfi l\f T^ All unused exchange JJiLj W^v j /AJi J • coupons whose time of expiration occured between the dates of June 1, 1896 and February 1, 1897 will be accented in full payment for notices in these columns if mailed not later than April 1st. Quain's Anatomy. I want 10th edition camplete or any one or all of the following parts, viz: Vol. 1, Part 1. Embryology. n Vol. 3. Part 2. Nerves and Sense Organs. Vol. 3, Part 3. Viscera. Will give good exchange or cash. FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, N. Y. THE U0J.o(4|sr Taxidermy at Home. A great blessing ti> iiniiiteur collectors; while the best taxidermists cau learn many points of interest, as huudrerls of Testimonials from leading Naturalists can prove. Taxidermy Self Taught. Easv to Comprehend. One-tenth the Expense. One-fourth the Work of Old Style Grand Offer Good till June 1 , 1 896. If you will agree to mount a Bird i)y my Proc- ess and set the specimen on the peak of a build- ing or on a limb of a tree, exposed to wind and rain, I will send you full instructions, and one pound of prepared Compouud, enough to pre- serve 50 small birds, together with ditections to dress pelts with hair nn f'>r rngs, robes and hangings. All for 50 CENTS. MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., o Kalamazoo, Mich. Better Than a Shot Gun ! A Rare Chance LO olitain a high-grHde Op- era or FIELD GLASS at a very low price. The entire stock of Queen & Co.. Inc., being offered at great reductions, including some special forms for Naturalists. Send for circular No. 4H1 giving full descrip- tions and prices. J. G. GRAY, Assignee for QUEEN & CO.. Inc.. loio Chestnut St.. PHILADELPHIA. THE LITTLE MIDGET SELF-INKING RUBBER STAMP. Every Naturalist should have one. (^eri ( omplete with your name and addTess tor only 50 CENTS. K. BREWSTER MYERS, ivirr ot KubDnr btamps, '• C Mif r Stirrt. Vocfester. N. Y FLORIDA SEA SHELLS IN REACH OF ALL. As my business is collecting shells for dealers strictly, nnd has been for years. I am now able to offer at a very low price as my facili- ties for gathering and handling shells are good. Price of shells in rough f. o. b. : Melongena corona $"..50 per lOCo Fasciolara tulipa, 2 to 6 in _ 7.5i) do, distans, 2 to 4 inr-. 7.f 0 Fulgnr perversa, 3 to 6 in 7.h0 '• do, pvrum 10.00 " Olivaritpcularis 6.00 Pecten dislocatus 5.00 " Cythera gigantea lO.tO Docinadiscus 7.^() Natica canrcena T.iiO Strombus pugilis 7. .50 Horse Shoe Crab tails Siic per doz. Sea Urchin '4r:C Stinger Kay SSc Sand Dollar 2oc Sawfish Saws from 10c to $1.00 each. Air Plants, 6 to 12 in., 10c each. All my shells are guaranteed first-class. Reference Postmaster. Dunedin, Fla. Apply, A. J. BARNES, Dunedin, Fla. Wanted-An Idea Who can think of some simple thing to patent? Protect your ideas; they may bring you wealth. Write JOHN WEUDEKBDRN & CO , Patent Attor- neys, Washington, D. C , for their $1,800 prize offer and Ilac of two hundred Inventions wauted. Hosi.W. J. Bryan's Bock All wlio are interested in furtherinpr the sale ot Hon. yy. J. Bryan's new bonk should correspond immediately with the publishers. The work will contain . . . AN ACCOUNT OF HIS CAMPAIGN TOUR. HIS BIOGRAPHI, WRITTEN BY HIS WIFB BIS MOST IMPORTANT SPEECHES. THE RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1896. A REVIEW OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION, J^'" IM^ ••o AGENTS WANTED e.. Mr. Biyan li ,n s an- nounced his intention of devoting one-half of all roy.ilties to furthering the cause of bimetallism. There are already indications of an enormous sale. Address \V. R. CONKEY COMPA^JY, Publishers 341-331 Dearborn St...CK:CAGO pro. a. Revolvers, Jiifles, iiifc^Ete. for Price List. QuiiWorkl,PlttEbnrgJi,^l^ ^FINF^ NETS, TENTS, and *^ *-***" ^- *>-' » SPORTIN© C300DS. Every description of Guns, Rjvolvers, Ammu- nition and Sporting Goods at very lowest pric- es. We have something ot interest to you. H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. MINERrLS SHELL.S, etc. The White City Collections. 50 fine cabi- net specin ■ us, $3. 50 smaller size, $2. 50 ama- teur size, !. I . Printed name and locality with each speelinen. 50 Shells, Corals, and Marine Specimens. I'tily 53, lO;) Fossils, including fine Fish, Triloi te, Crinojds. Corals, Sponges, several fine 1 erns, etc.. only ^.s. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to $1, very showy. Taxidermy in all its branches at reasonable prices. Illustrated catalogue by mail, 10c. J.M.WIERS. Natural- ists Agericy," 357 W. VanBuren St., Chicago, 111. THE OOLOGIST XV 73^fin^^iSTA^A? FOR COMPIETE CJ^JM0&4 TAX1I3ERMIST ,^ 262 Mam St. Worcester, Mass. VJT^tmfSfjry^ ^ ^^cl' y^dpTcCd &^S (^Jk^^ d^n/tj THE ()OI.(M;iSI . "V - /K are novv^able to supply Collectors -with many RARE Species of birds and mammals from Northern and Arctic America, in fresh or carefully prepared Skins. Medal in Taxidermy Awarded for this Exhibit at World's Fair, Chicago, 1893 to Oliver Spanner & Co., Toronto, Canada. TAXIDERMY IN ALL ITS BRANCHES. Our Specialty: ^ORTHERN OWLS. Correspondence Solicited. Oliver Spanner & Co., 35» YONGE ST., TORONTO, CANADA. YOL. XIV. NO. 2. ALBION, N. Y., FEBRUARY, 1897. Whole No. 129 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special announcements. "Wants," "Exclianges" "For Sales," Inserted in this department tor 25c per 2.5 words. Notices over 2.5 words, charged at the rate of one-half cent per each additional word. No notice inserted for less than 2oc. Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted in payment at one-third list rates. FOR SALE:— Birds eggs la finely marked sets full original data and all guaranteed au- thentic. Send me $10 money order and I \v411 send you $60 worth catalogue value. Have «1000 which I must sell at once. GEO. W. DIX- ON, Watertown, So. Dak. TO EXCHANGE:— A 1 sets of 51a 1-2, 273 1-4, 305 1-11, 333 8-3. 3;i7 2 2, 488 1-4 1-5 ana good Bb cornet for good large Ostrich egg, curiosities or A 1 sets. CLARENCE B. HAKTINGER, Alden, Iowa. FOR EXCHANGE:— A solid gold open faced watch cost $7i, in good condition, for sets: also sets to exchange for same. W. H. CONNERY, 404 West New Houston St., Savannah, Ga. IN THE FLESH:— Great Amer. Sheldrake, males, 50c; Common Goldeneye. males. 40c; females each kind. 2.5c. ALVAH G. DORR, Taxidermist and Fur Dealer, Bucksport, Me. EXCHANGE:— Vol. 8 and 9 complete (ex- cept 1 number) of Cloautauquari for best offer of Al eggs in sets or skins with complete data. HARTLEY H. T. JACKSON, Milton, Wis. EGGS, Stamps, violin and a few books and papers to exchange for full blooded Plymouth Rock fowls. FRED A. GREGORY, Spring City. Tenn. OLD COINS to exchange for sets. Make offer in sets for Vol. 3 Nidiologist and Vol. 1 Natural Science News. OTIS TROTTER, Camp Point, 111. TO EXCHANGE :—Bingleys History of Birds, hair clippers, ice skates, cyclometer and min •erals for climbers, good sets and minerals. J. E. TEAGUE, Box m, Livermore, Maine. CLOSING OUT SALE: -I am in business that takes my entire time therefore must dis- pose of my stock of Natural History Speci- mens. 1 am running off special lists" in each branch and am selling way below cost, as I must get rid of them. Send for lists you are Interested in. Indian Relics, Birds Eggs, Fos- sils, Minerals, Polished Agates, Gem Stones and Mounted Specimens. GEO. W. DIXON. Watertown, So. Dak. WE ARE prepared to all orders for Rough Buffalo Horns at from 50 cents to II per pair. Horns Polished and Mounted at from $1..50 to $3 per pair. HIGH ART TAXIDERMY & FUR CO., 1519 Leavenworth St., Omaha, Neb. FINE LOT of mounted birds, mammals and bird skins, at any price they will bring. Great bargains. Fine Albino Deer. B. HARTLEY', West Haven, Conn. F2t EGGS for STAMPS:— Trade United States even. Foreign at two-thirds price. Old Gov- ernment reports for Stamps. EGBERT BAGG, Utica, N. Y. BICYCLES:— I want specimens, especially eggs, skins and mounted birds, also shells, moths and butterflies, in part payment— at full list rates— for the best line of wheals made. Write me before you buy. BENJAMIN HOAG, Stephentown, New Y'ork. A FORTUNE:— Patented. Ice creeper for horses. Can be carried in the pocket and put on and taken off in three minutes Will sell ?<7iOie United States right for $150. ca«/<. R. G PAINE, 1416 Rhode Island Ave., Washington, D. C. BIRDS EGGS, Books, Papers, mostly Natur- al History; Smith & Wesson Revolver; Winch- ester Rifle; Columbian Half Dollars; V nicUles; silver watch, cheap for ca'Jh. List for stamp. C. B. VANDERCOOK, Odin, Ills. FOR EXCHANGE:-Volume7of Oologist. a Shannon Bicycle Stand, value $5 and sets and singles for sets. W. H. CONNERY', 404 West New Houston St., Savanmh, Ga. HARVARD CAMERA and OntHt in good condition, cost f 1.75, will sell for $1 or exchange for Davie's Naturalists Manual and gUiss eyes, or taxidermist's instruments. OLIVER HOTCHKISS, Twinsburg, Ohio. MOUNTED Birds:— First class specimens of Hawks, Owls or small birds to exchange for common eggs in sets or singles. Send list of what you have or want. Also showr shells to exchange for eggs. CHAS. K. REED, Wor- cester, Mass. r Lo^ THE OOlAMilS'J' FOR SALE:— Black Chipmunk nicely mount- ed. What offers will you make? Address A. W. HOPKINS. Ashtabula, Ohio. WANTED:— 72 1-3. 75 I-S, 77 l-'2, 80 1-3, I'iB 1 2. 221 1 10. 294 1-2). 378 1-6. Can offer A 1 sets and singles. W. H. CONNERY, -101 West New Houston St.. Savannah, Ga. WANTED:— Every one that is in need of tirst class Taxidermist's or Egg tools to send 4 cent stamp for my latest catalogue. Full line of A 1 supplies. CHAS. K. REED, Worcester, Mass. Ffit WHAT HAVK you to exchange for following, viz: Mounted Birds, Animals, Steel Traps, Cane Gun. Bound Books, Banjo, etc.. (stamp). WM. MICHELPELDER, Elizabeth, N. J. I WILL send Magic Lantern, six slides. Polyoptican attachment and slides with in-' struction book, for $4,50 worth of good sets of different common Eastern eggs with data. Send list. M. E. MORGAN, Ontario, Calif. FOR SALE:— Have a Hawkeye tripod cam- era taking 4.x5 plates in pood condition which I must sell at on -e. First money order of %'r> takes it. GEO. W. DIXON, Watertown, S. D. TO EXCHANGE:— Fine .sets of first class western eggs, with data for sets not ia my col- lection. A. J. O'CONOR, JR., San Diego, Cal. WILL EXCHANGE several sets of 333, 417, (308 and many common sets for sets or singles. All letters answered. C. E. VAN ALSTINE, Burning Springs, West Va. PRINTING OUTFITfor SALE:— 3)i^x6 self- inking press (cost H'l) 3 fonts type, border, oases, ink. leads, furnittire. etc. Complete job outfit. JlO takes the whole outfit. THOS. H. BLODGETT, Galesburg, 111. TO EXCHANGE:— Sets of Cal. Brown Pel- ican, Far. Cormorant, Cal. Gull and Cassin's Anklet for any large eggs in sets. A. J. O'CONOR, JR., San Diego, Cal. FOR SALE:— At "rock bottom" prices, my entire collection of Natural History specimens. I must dispose of everything at once as I need all my time and money in other business, which I am engaged in. Large special lists in any of the following sent free, viz: Eggs in sets. Mounted birds. Minerals, polished gem stones, Indian Relics. Fossils and Books. Must sell and am offering at about ;4 wholesale rates. GEO. W. DIXON, Watertown, S. D. EXCHANGE.— Two well mounted black- tail deer heads; one seven and one 8 point. For best offer of first-class sets over $15 each. W. C. PELTON, Dickinson, N. Dak. TO EXCHANGE.— 4X.T focussing camera for autoharp, music box or offers. Desirable sets at }i and less. Exchanges respectfully solicit- ed. All eggs first-class. Write for prices. GEO. GRAHAM, P. O. Drawer C, Gainesville, Fla. FOR SALE OR EXCHANGE.-Some cut tourmalines and other gem stones, also Vols. of OOLOGI.ST. Want gem stones in rough, an- cient pottery, etc. Write. B. O. LONGYEAR, Agricultural College, Mich. WANTED.— Mdoiog'isi!. February, 1894: OOL- OGiST. April, 1884, June, 1888, January, Febru- ary, 1887, July, August. 1886, Jan., 1894. Will pay cash. V. L. BE ED, Hampton, Iowa. FOR S^LE. —Odd numbers of the Oologist and NidlologiM. A list of the birds of Frank- lin County, Iowa. Will exchange. V, L.BEED, Hampton. Iowa. FOR SALE.— f20 Bausch & Lomb compound microscope, 88 Odell typewriter: both in good condition. Will sell cheap for cash. Send stamp for description. HERBERT GODDARD, Decorah, la. J2t I HAVE 1st class sets South Birds' Eggs, such as Duck, Blackbird, Whip-poor-will, HawKS and various others at Yi price for cash or for good .stamps, clean scarce U. S. and good foreign. Send 2c stamp for list of Virginia. Louisiana and Florida shells. &c. All eggs sent postpaid. Reference. Merchant Exchange Bank. Bristol, Tenn. G. W. ROBINETTE. Flagpond, Va. J2t FOR FALE OR EXCHANGE.— Malachite, CrysocoUa. Chalcedony, Quartz. Azurite, Mon- azite and Frankline, Microscopic slides. Infu- sorial earth 100 localities. Trap-tufa and rocks for sale or exchange for other minerals or Microscope slides or Infusorial earths PROF. ARTHUR M. EDWARDS, Newark, N. J. O. & N. tf SKINS, stuffed specimens, curios, books, taxidermist instruments Tind material, etc., for a good 6V2X8>6^ portrait camera with lens or other photo goods. R. M. DALRYMPLE, Baker, O. J2t SEA SHELLS and Curios of many kinds, also large and small aquarium shells in any quantity wanted, also Birds' Eggs of different kinds. Correspondence solicited IDA B. KIMBALL, New Cadiz, P. O. Hillsboro Co., Fla. J2t COLLECTORS.— If you want fine specimens of bii ds in the meat or fresh skins this winter, send at once for our new list. COON & BUR- DICK. Taxidermists and Collectors, Milton. Junction, Wis. J2t. TO EXCHANGE:— A genuine Dueber gold- filled, hunting cas^e, stem wind and set watch. Made by Dueber Watch Case Co. Fitted with an ll-je"weled Springfield movement, fully war- ranted for five years. Have both gent's and ladies' size, brand new. Will exchange for $45.00 worth of fine sets. GEO. W. DIXON, Watertown. S. D. M-3t. DAVIE'S "NESTS and Eggs of North Amer- ican Birds." I want good new or 2d hand cop- ies of either the 3d or 4th editions. Will pay cash or give good exchange. Write stating what you want for vour copy. FRANK H.. LATTIN, Albion, N. Y. "NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS." Vol. I com- plete. Less than ten complete vols. left. Will send you one for only $1.00. Vol. II complete,. 14 Nos., only .30 cents. Complete your files. Will furnish Nos. 1 and 2 at 10c each. All others .5c each or in lots of five or more 4c each, or ten or more 3c each. (Nos, 1 and 2 are always 10c per copy net.) FRANK H. LAT- TIN, Albion. N. Y. NOTICE TO TAXIDERMISTS:— Gipsy, the famous man killing elephant to be electrocuted in Chicago, will be mounted here. I have ar- ranged to give lessons on her to a few assis- tants. Those wishing to take the course should correspond with me at once. PROF. WM. ALANSON BRYAN. University of Chicago, Chicago. J2t Ripans Tabules: one gives relief. Climbing Irons. THE OOLOGIST. iii CABINETS. Send 10 Cts for photo of our B» n A l&i 1/ § iM ^'or. Hates and speciality— Self Locking. T perches -Oak sam- H K fll 111 || § I ^ Lamed streets, pies by mail 8c. 10c and I5c : also stands, shields, BB II Wll B^&aB if n> r- -irn ^^ ■ i- glass cases, game panels. &c. Cabinets to or- B^ ^^•^^"b-'^^i^km^^ U t. T R U ! T, der. HANA FORD CABINET CO., 139 and 141 i UnBId" MITH W. Fnlton St., Grand Rapids, Mich. 58MOtf H U U 5 ll Kat^s. tx^O to^ IMPORTANT! COTpon "wlfol^tkne If , ^J^^^ <»°e ''^"c^ /roi» Woodward and expiration occured between the dates of June .'etrerson Aves Elevator Service, Steam 1, 1896 and February 1, 1897 will be accented in Heat, Electric Lijjhts, Tile Floors, Etc, full payment for noilces In these columns if H. H. JAMES & SON, Proo'rs. mailed not later than April 1st. ■ ~ O; 1^ M F R K5 R at bed rock prices. VJ 7^ J 1 1 li rv n. O Prices good until March 1 . 4x.5 Premier $l-i.-iT^ 4x.T Premo B 13.01) Best made spurs and frames, steel. Strapped i-^'? I^remo C. lO.O" already for use. •'^':' Pi'S™;? ^ « 50 . rt^ . 4X0 R. C. Co's Komet 7.7S Frice, a>1.25 per pair. PocketKodak. job, untn sold.. 4,00 _,_..-__. ,rTTii -..r All new and '96 models. F. H. Metcalf, Holyoke, Mass. Charl esFowler. Princetown. N.Y. THOUSANDS OF OLD BOOKS Have accumulated in the libraries of our public Institutions, and those of prominent public men, both in duplicate and otherwise. They cost them nothing and oft-times are valued accordingly. They are. however, both valued and desired by specialists and parties interested. Perhaps you or your friends may have some of the identical volumes which I desire, crowding library shelves or stowed away in garrets, doing nobody any good; but had I them I would not only appreciate them but might know of a dozen others who would do likewise. Look over my list of wants and if you have anything I desire or others write me, stating what you wish in exchange, and perhaps we can arrange an exchange which will be advantageous to each. I will exchange for single vol- umes—but the larger the exchange the better. I WANT Goverunient and State Reports:— Annual Reports and Bulletins of U. S. Geological Survey, with F. V. Hayden in charae. Reports of Wheelers's U. S. Geological Surveys W. of the 100th Meridian. Reports of King's U. S. Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. Annual Re- ports of Bureau of Ethnology. Annual Reports of U. S. Geological Survey. Natural History of New York. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. U. S. Reports on Entomology. Botany:— Any of Gray's or Wood's Text-Books and Publications. Lesquereaux & James, "Mosses." Tuckerman's ■"Lichens." Goodale's "Wild Flowers." Hervej^'s "Sea Mosses." Sar- gent's "Silva of N. A." Hough's "Am. Woods." Geology, Mineralogy and Palaeontology :— Any of Dana's, Winchell's, Miller's or Geiki^-s Works. Conchologyi— Any of Tryon's. Sowerby's, Gill's or Woodward's Works. Entomology:— Any of Packard's. Wesiwood's or Com&tock's Books. Any of Maynard's, Edwaio's or Scuuoer's Works on "Butterflies." Ornithology, Oology and Xaxidermy:— Works by any of the following: Balrd, Bendlre. Brewer, Brewster, Cassin. Chapman. Cory, Coues, Davie, DeKay, Fisher, Gentry, Goss, Hornaday, Mcllwraith, Maynard, Minot, Nuttall, Nehrling, Raine, Ridgeway, Shufeldt, Studer, Warren, Wilson. Also back number or volumes of any of the following publications: "Auk." "Ib's," "Ornithologist and Oologist," "Nidiologist." "Bird Books," Pamphlets and Publications are my speciality anc" I can use almost anything In that line advantageously either in large or small lots, old or new. Medical:— Quain's Anatomy, 10th ed.; Robe's Hygiene: Ziegler's Pathology: Campbell's Language of Medicine; Gould's Medical Dictionary; The National Dispensatory; Gray's Ana- tomy; Gould's Medical Dictionary: Holden's Dissector; Klrke's or Yeo's Physiology; White & Wilcox or Hare's Materia Medica; Reese's Toxicology ; Osier's Medicine; Park's or American Text Book of Surgery; Parvin's or Lusk's Obsteterics; Garrigue's or Keating & Coe's Gynecology ; In- gal's Laryngology; Duhring's Dermatology; Dana's Nervous Diseases; Kirchoff's or Blanaford's Insanity; Reese's Medical Jurisprudence; Klein's or Piersol's Histology. I also desire second-hand copies of any standard book, report or publication devoted to Ornithology, Oology, Geology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology, Zoology, Conchology, Botany, Micros- copy, etc.. etc. IaIso-v\-ant choice Birds Eggs in Sets -v^ith data; A 9io. t Mounted Birds and Reptiles; A Good Microscope; Indian Relics, and choice col- lections of v. S. or Foreign Stamps or Coins or offers. I CAN OFFER IN EXCHANGE New $15 Field Glass; '95 Harvard Bicycle; No. 2 ($33..50) Kodak, new; 23 vols. Harpers in patent binders; New set of Encyclopedia Brittanica; Set Johnson's Encyclopaedia. Morocco bound; Rand and McNally's $;i.i Business Atlas; New Yale Surgical Chair; New Gould Dental Chair; $25 Relief Map of U. S.; New $,i00 Upright Piano; $.50 Mineral Collection; $1000 worth of "Surplus" Stock as offered In '-Natural Science News" (copy for stamp) of April, '96 consisting of Min- erals, Fossils, Shells, Land and Marine Curios, Mexican Goods, Novelties, etc., etc. ; 7 foot Shark from the Plant R R. System's Exhibit at the Atlanta Exposition. Select Disarticulate Human one-half skeleton; Skeleton of Monkey: "Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burmah," 7 vol., 4000 pp. 1300 illus.; Jeancon's "Atlas of Pathological Anatomy" cost $36.75; a $45 Roll top Black Walnut Desk, good as new, l.'iO acres of Land near "Vineland, N. J. I will sell anything I offer for exchange cheap tor cash. Exchanges under $5 not solicited except for choice material or desirable books. Address, FRAKK H. l,AXXIN, Publisher of the Oologist, AL,BI0K, N.Y. THE OOLOGIST. A Few Items from my Spring Sale List. (Bulletin, Vol. II, No. 5). Send stamp for complete copy. SHOWY SHELLS. Crown Shell 20 Giant Scallop 10 Banded Fasciolaria 06 Cassidaria 08 Silver Lip 06 Leaf-backed Murex 05 Dotted Cone 18 Coat-of -mail Shell 10 Least Ear Shell 15 Lynx Cowry 05 Carneola Cowry 04 Helvola " 04 Ring " 02 Money " 03 Bleeding-tooth e2 Tessellated-tooth 01 Fla. Tree snail 06 Wavy Tree-snail 10 Bahama Snail 05 Toothed Snail (Brazil) 04 Peanut Shell 01 Cow-tooth Shell 03 Bubble Shell 03 Plate " 04 Worm " 02 Tusk ■' 01 Wheel " 01 Lightning Shell 01 Yellow Pea 2 for 01 Venetian Snail 3 for 01 Porcelain Shell 2 for 01 Zebra " 3 for 01 Louse " 01 Red Scallop, single valve 01 Asaphis '• '• 04 Mother of Pearl, single valve 10 Sun Shell, " " 03 These are all showy shells, sizes from less than an inch up to live inches. For $1.80 I will send you the entire lot prepaid, and include one fine six-inch Angel-wing Shell free. During the months of February and March I will send my "LEADEt" Shell collection of 61 species, (regular price $2.35). at .J2.00 prepaid. The "Chautauqua" collection. 37 species, (regular price $103), at $2 25 prepaid. MINERALS, 1 Agate 06 2 Calcite Crystal.... 03 3 Dolomite 03 4 Needle Tourmaline 02 5 Opal 10 6 Chalcedony CA 7 Chalcopyrite 03 8 Gold-bearing Quartz 05 9 Sphalerite 10 10 Staurolite 08 11 Graphite 04 12 Malachite 03 13 Azurite 05 14 Sulphur 0< 15 Burh-stone 05 16 Magnesite 03 17 Selenite Crystal 04 18 Beryl 03 19 Fluorite 03 20 Opalized Wood 03 81 Satin Spar 03 22 Quartzite 03 23 RoseQuartz 04 24 Granular Quartz 03 25 Albite 03 26 Psilomelane 05 27 Zlncite 28 Limonlte, 29 Garnetiferous Granite. 30 Geyserite 31 Lava. 06 05 03 05 10 32 Muscovite 02 33 Cannel as 34 Carborundum OJ 35 Barite 05 36 Chiastollte 10 37 Onyx 06 38 Crinoidal Limestone 04 39 Bournite 03 40 Tufa 02 41 Celestite 06 42 Quartz Crystal 08 43 Feldspar 04 44 Labradorite 06 45 Epidote 05 46 Chalcedony, in Zinc 06 These specimens average 1x1 in. Any of them except Nos. 1, 4, 8, 15, can be furnished, at double the price given, in size 2x2 in. I will send the entire lot prepaid for only $1.25 and include a fine Quartz Crystal //•««. BOOKS. Jordan's Manual of the Vertebrates ($-2..50)..$2 25 Hyatt's Insects, 13 plates, 223 figures ($l.Vi5) 80 Maynard's Butterflies of E. North Am.. 80 pages, 10 full page 10x13 in., plates with colored figures of about 100 species ($7. .50) 5 .50 Raines' BirdNestinginN.W.Canada,(S2.00) 1 35 Ridgewav's Manual of N. Am. Birds, leath- er ($7..5b) _ 4 32 Well's Natural Philosophy, (375 cuts, cost $1.25) 60 Well's Principles of Geology (illus., cost $1) 65 Canadian Fossils, Crinoids, 15 figures and 10 full page plates illustrating 40 species, (cost $1.25) .55 Canadian Fossils, Trenton group of Lower Silurian, 10 plates illustrating 26 species. (costSl) 45 Canadian Fossils, Cystidea and Starfish.il plates and 25 independent figures, illus- trating 34 species (cost $1.. 50) 65 Canadian Fos.sils. Graptolites. S3 plates and 30 figures, illustrating 66 species, (cost 12) 1 00 This, entire lot, postpaid, for only $2. .50. United States Geographical Surveys west of the 100th Meridian (Wheeler) Palaeontology. 586 pages text and 83 full page plates ; contains report of vertebrate fossils of the Southwest with figures ($5) 3 25 U. S. Geological Survey of Colorado, (Hay- den) 38 plates, 5 maps and 45 cuts and en- gravings 496 pages text($2..50) 1 32 U. S. Geological Survey of Idaho and Wyo- ming. (Hayden) 88 nlates, 710 pages text, ($3 50) ' 1 55 Palaeontogy of New York. 4th dist. (Ja.s. Hall) 70plates and 170 cuts, maps, etc. ,664 pages text, ($5) 2 65 Stamps not taken in amounts of over 35c. All orders over 50c prepaid at these prices. Under 50c, 5c extra for postage and packing. ERNEST H. SHORT, ALBION, ^f. Y. The OoLOGiST. VOL. XIV. NO. 2. ALBION, N. Y., FEBRUARY, 1897. Whole No. 129 Notes on the Virg-inia and Sora Rails. These interestiug water birds are very common summer residents of Tona- wanda Swamp, wlierever there is a wet marsh, or any other place that is covered with water, in which coarse grass, sedges, or cat-tails are growing. Both the Virginia and Sora Rails ar- jive here at the same time— about the middle cf April and nest side by side in some marsh or swamp. The Virginia Rail generally begins to nest about a week earlier than the Sora. The Virginia Rail commences to nest about the lirs't of May — as soon as the grass in the swamps gets tall enough for them to hide their nests in it, and nests until the middle of June. The Virginia Rail generally chooses a thick bunch of Ic^ng marsh grass as a nesting place. 1)U': I have found many in small bushes, and a few at the ba.^e of small saplings. When the nest is placed in a bunch of grass, the birds will build it up about six or eight inches from the water, and then carefully draw together the tops of the grass overhanging the nest and make a sort of bovver, which conceals the nest and makes it e.xceedingly hard to discover. On the21st of May, 18'J4, I visited a favorite breeding place of this Rail, which was a very wet and swampy place, the water being from six inches to two fnet deep, much of it being cov- ered nith moss and small aquatic plants. It was full of mire-holes, and I would often get in up to the waist. Long marsh grass, cat-tails, reeds, sedges and thick clumps of bushes, cov- ered the water in most places. I staid with the Rails about an hour and a half, and when I started for home I had three quarts of solid Rails eggs. of both the Virginia and Sora. I could have collected many more, but I did not take any sets that were not com- plete, or any that were badly incubated. Most of the Virginia Rail's nests were placed in large bunches of grass, but some were placed in low bushes and one or two were situated on stumps. They were nearly all well hidden, being covered over with long grass. They were composed of fine grass and reeds, some green and some dry, the nest being hollowed just enough to keep the eggs from rolling out. I have often visited the Rails since and have tkken many sets of their eggs, and examined hundreds that I did not take. I think I have seen within the last three years at least two thousand eggs of the Virginia and Sora Rails. They were, however, not nearly as com- mon last year as they were the year be- fore, and I find they change their nest- ing places when disturbed. The Vir- ginia Rail is more common than the Sora in this locality. The eggs of the VLiginia Rail in each set varies from seven to thirteen, but the number commonly laid is ten or eleven. They vary greatly in size, col- or, shape, and markings. My brother and I now have two hundred eggs of the Virginia Rail in our collection, out of which twenty-five selected specimens measure 1.24 in. long by .93 in. broad. Some are nearly round, while others are long and pointed. I have some eggs of the Virginia Rail on which the ground color is nearly pure white, hav- ing but very few spots on them, the spots being very small, and hardly any two alike in color, being dark brown, light brown, lilac, purple and many other colors. I have other sets on which the groundcolor is a very dark cream, almost brown, and covered with 22 THE OOLOGIST heavy blotches of dark browu, lilac, purple, etc. The Virginia Rail is not a shy bii'd, and I have often caught them on their nests. I have sometimes found nests on which the birds were sitting, and the old bird refused to leave the nest, and I was obliged to remove her. She would Hy a few rods from me, drop down into the grass, and turn and run up within a few feet from me, and then disappear again in the grass, uttering sharp cries as she ran. She would keep repeating these strange actions until I would leave the nest. The Sora Rail breeds side by side with the Virginia, choosing the same low wet marshes or bog holes. The Sora builds its nest in very much the same manner as does the Virginia Rail. The Sora is unlike the Virginia in actions, the latter being tame and the former shy. The Sora lays from seven to seven- teen eggs, and I have one set in my col- lection that contains twenty-two. I found and collected this set myself, and know that no person placed any extra eggs in the nest. Some people believe two birds oc- cupy the same nest when large sets are found but I think this is not true. I also think the whole set was laid by the same bird. It has always been a wonder to me how such a small bird as the Sora could lay sixteen or seventeen eggs in one set. I have found many sets contain- ing sixteen, and a few containing seven- teen eggs. By examining thirty-five or forty complete sets, I have found the number commonly laid is thirteen. The Sora is very shy around its nest- ing place. If anyone approaches its nest the bird will quietly vacate it and slip off into the grass. Although 1 have found hundreds of nests of this bird which contained eggs, I have seen but very few birds sitting on their nests. The eggs of the Sora, like those of the Virginia Rail, vary greatly in size, shape, and markings. Out of two hundred eggs of this Rail in our collection, twenty-tive selected specimens average in measurement 1.23 by .87 inches. I have three eggs of the Sora that are almost spotless, having one or two large blotches about one-third of an inch square on their surface, and also a few small dots besides. They were all in the same set, which contained twelve eggs, but all but these three were des- troyed by snakes or some other foe, as the shells were in the nest. The ground color of the eggs of the Soi'a varies from a very dark cream to a light brown, the markings being of a dark brown, purple, lavender or red- dish color. Nearly all the Soras and also some Virginia Rails, begin setting as soon as they lay the first egg, and continue to lay and incubate their eggs at the same time. As the Sora lays a large number of eggs it is almost impossible to find a large set that does not contain some badly incubated eggs, although the set of twenty-two I found contained only four or five eggs in which incubation was far advanced. The young of the Virginia and Sora Rails leave the nest as soon as hatched. These little Rails are very pretty, being covered with jet black down, and they are also very lively. They are good swimmers and it is a very hard matter to catch them, as they will hide in the grass, or swim off in the water. I have captured many of these little Rails, and taken them to my home. They will eat worms, fl.ies, or any insect they can' swallow, and seem perfectly contented during captivity. I have never kept them long, however, not more than two days, when I would take them back and leave them near the nest where the old birds could find them. The heavy rains during the spring of 1894 flooded the swamps, and I found THE OOLOGIST. 23 ■hundreds of incubated Rails eggs float- ing on the water, as it rose so rapidly the Rails could not get time to raise their nests. As soon as the water begins to rise in the swamps the Rails will commence to raise their nests. They tear the grass loose with their beak, that holds the nest down and as the water raises it, they will build under it, thereby keep- ing it from floating off, and f(jrming a solid foundation. Just when the 1894 flood was at its highest I procured a boat and rowed out into the deepest water in a large marsh of several thousand acres, which was all submerged but the tops of the grass, and in many places this was cov- ered with water also. I found a nest of the Virginia Rai/l on the top of the water which was three and one-half feet deep. Upon examin- ation, I found the Rails were obliged to raise their nest three feet to escape the water. They must have worked very hard to save their nest, for the water raised very rapidly. I also found doz- ens of other nests raised, but none so high as this one. The Vii'ginia and Sora Rails feed on worms, bugs, flies and all insects they can find. I think they also eat the ten- der roots and g:^isses. They do most of their feeding early io thtt morning, or after sun down at night. At these times une may hear their strange cries, as they wander through the grass. [n the later part of April, while out duck and snipe hunting, early in the morning or late in the afternoon, [have seen dozens of Rails, many of them coming within a few feet from me, in search of food. Although I have never eaten any, both the Virginia and Sora Rails are said to be good eating, and many are shot by hunters every spring. They are very easily shot, for when they fly, they will fly only a few rods and drop into the grass again. They are swift runners and it is no easy matter to catch one after it is wounded if the wound is not a mortal one. The Rails have many foes, and many nests are robbed of their eggs by weas- els, snakes, blackbirds and Marsh Hawks, although the later cannot dis- cover them vei'y easily, for the Marsh Hawk searches for its food while flying and a majority of the Rails' nests are covered over, making it hard to distin- guish them when the Hawks are above. Both Virginia and Sora Rails depart early, about the middle of August — just as soon as the young birds get strong enough to fly well. Dana C. Gillette, Barre Center, N. Y. The First of June in Alberta. For some weeks my friend Dr. George and I had been looking forward to a nesting trip to six small lakes about twelve miles southwe.'st of Innisfail. the special object of his trip being to secure eggs of the Canada Goose, that of mine being those of the Sandhill [ ?— Ed.] Crane, not of course limiting our take to these; but the Doctor's professional duties and a rush of work on the ranch had kept us both at home, but at length we were off, leaving "Linden Lodge," Doctor's place, at 4:45 a. m.. Monday, June 1, 189G. The weather was superb and after about nine miles of a drive over hili, valley, prairie and slough, we picked up our guide for the day at a small shack about three miles from the lakes, said guide being a thirteen year old boy who proved to have an astonishing knowledg'^ of the location of our destin- ation; for after the Doctor had secured a set of Bluebirds eggs not far from the aforesaid shack, the boy guided us, through a very labyrinth of sloughs, bluffs, hills and muskegs, to a lake where he assured us a "Goose nest had been robbed on an island last year." 24 THE OOLOGIST. After picketing out the team and taking a very cursory glance at the fine scenery to be viewed from this point we started to wade; before long a fe- male Mallard llew from a bunch of rushes and Doctor being nearest secur- ed the three eggs which were in her nest. Soon a Coot emerged from the rushes and again Doctor scored secur- ing one egg, in a few minutes I had come across a nest of the Red -winged Blackbird and from this time on their bright cheery note was to l)e heard throughout the day and we each secur- ed a tine set before evening. When we arrived opposite the island where w^e expected to find the Goose nest Doctor waded towards it and was soon up to his armpits; on arrival no Goose eggs were to be found but a Loon's nest and one egg, which having secured the return through the deep was made. After wading a short distance further. Doctor found nest and three eg?s of the Pied-billed Grebe; then having secured only my set of Red-winged Blackbird's my mercury went down to zero and I began to think that perhaps after all bird nesting was a wicked pursuit. After completing the circuit of this first lake, we wended our way to the next, somewhat larger, but with fewer rushes and having skirted along its shore for a few hundred yards, we saw through an opening in the hills a chain of sloughs and small lakes; we left the large sheet for later exploration and went the rounds of the new lot; we found no eggs, but saw a pair each of Wilson's Phalarope and Mallard and several pairs of Killdeer, but were too early-for the first and last and the Mal- lards Hew off in the direction of the large lake we had just left. Our guide now proposed a trip to a long narrow lake further west where (he said) there were lots of ducks and geese nesting, but after a long and wearisome walk over hills and through sloughs and nearly getting into a mus- keg, he was compelled to own up lo being at fault and so we set out, tired, hot and hungry for the second lake we had visited, arrived there we dispatch- ed the boy for the lunch basket and sat down to rest and blow oui- take, chiefly the former in my case. Soon the lunch arrived and after dis- cussing it we Sfct out to tiuish the large lake, soon I spied a pair of Loons on the water and on going forward a short distance 1 saw a conical heap of rushes bearing a depression at the top, a little nearer and 1 could see the eggs and with a i>hout I plunged through the in- tervening water with mucli splashing and soon had the two beauties iu hand. You who have had similar exper- iences can sympathize with me and realize the thrill of delight that shot through me as 1 gazed on my prize, perhaps not to be considered so by a veteran, but to the beginner, well you know how it is yourself! We secured nothing further at this lake but saw a pair of Canada Geese on the far side. On the way to the remainder of the lakes, which are much smaller and all in one valley, we passed through an old beaver meadow, which required five dams of a total length of about 200 yards, to make the necessary pond, which however was now deserted and dry. But I digress— we soon reached a tine reed_y lake and the Doctor started for a large clump of reeds near the cen- ter of it while I kept wellinshore, after wading nearly half way around I saw a large nest built amongst the rushes; it was about three and a half feet in diam- eter at the bottom, nearly a foot high and a good two feet across the top and to my unaccustomed eye an old one and empty, however as I drew near to take a closer look at its structure, intending to ask Doctor as to its identity, I caught sight of a white gleam and soon had the old rushes off, disclosing four eggs of the Canada Goose which I was enabled to identify by the arrival of the owners. IHK (lOLOGIST. 25 wholiowever made but a short stay and were soon out of sight. Soon I found a nest and three eggs of Pied-billed Grebe very similar in construction to that of the Canada Goose, just described, but of course much smaller; and the eggs were completely hidden by rushes strewn over them Doctor had in the meantime taken a set of eleven Mallard's eggs, having Hushed the bird. As we started for the next water I found a Coot's nest, buiit among the rushes being i)asket shaped woven of rushes and anchored to the standing ones; there were tive eggs in it and one at the hide, bu')yed up by some rushes, but the wavelets made by my wadiug sent it to llie i)ottom before 1 could reach it. While we were ihus engaged our guide, walking midway between the water and a bluff on higher ground than the shore had flushed a Spotted Sandpiper off her nest and four eggs, by actually stepping into it; two were broken and the other two fell to me. It was at the last lake that we saw Blue and Green-winged Teal and Shovellers but were too early for eggs. Having finished the lakes with no further finds, we returned to the rig, each taking on the way a set of Bronz- ed Grackle eggs, arriving we blew the balance of our take and started for home. On the way we called at a small lake about three miles from In- nisfail where Doctor showed me the nest where he had taken two eggs of Sandhill [? — Ed.] Crane the previous week; 1 was much interested in the large flat structure built of rushes and grass and anchored to standing rushes of last year; it was nearly tive feet in diameter and had a slightly noticeable depression in the centre, which was smoother in construction than the bal- ance of the nest. Finding nothing further here, we soon began the last stage of our home- ward way and (as they say of excur- sionists) arrived tired but well satisfied with our days outing. Wji. Geary, Innisfail, Alberta, Pine Grosbeak. Pinicola enudeator . This large and handsome Grosbeak is an irregular winter visitor in New Hampshire. One year scarcely one of these birds are seen here. Perhaps the very next they come down from the north in large numbers. When they do come down from- the snow bound re- gions of the north we first see them the last days of November. They remain with us until the last of March. At this time they disappear going I'ariher north to their breeding places. One day last winter 1 saw a flock of about twenty of the Grosbeaks getting their food, which consisted of weed seeds, apple seeds and bits of frozen apples. The birds greatly enlivened the winter landscape, I watched them for a long time highly entertained by their graceful actions. They did not show the least fear because of my pres- ence although I was at times within two rods of some of them. It has al- ways been a mystery to me how Gros- beaks and many other kinds of winter birds can live through our cold and stormy New Hampshire winters. They seem, however, in some way or other to find something to eat and a shelter in the time cf storm. I have never heard the Grosbeaks sing much during the winter months. Sometimes a few cle.ar liquid notes are heard from them which seem like music after hearing the harsh discordant notes of the Blue Jay. I have never heard of any one finding the nest of the Pine Grosbeak in New Hampshire. Should like to hear from any one acquainted with the breeding habits of this bird. Frank Sanders, Laconia. N. H, 26 THE O6LOGIST. The Oologist. A Monthly Magazine Devoted to OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Correspondence and Items of Interest to tlie student of Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited jfronj all, TERMS OP SUBSQRIPTION: 'isingle subscription r,oc per an num Sample copies 5c each The above rates Include payment of postage. Each subscriber Is given a card good for a Want, Exchange or b'or Sale Notice. (This card te redeemable at any time within one year from date thereon.) Subscriptions can begin with any number. Bacli numbers of the Ooi-OG IS r can be furnished at reasonable rates. Send stamp for descrip- tions and prices. C^-Remember that the publisher must be noti- fied by letter when a sub.scrlOer wishes his paper stopped, and all arrearages must be paid. ADVERTISING RATES: 6 cents per nonpareil line each insertion. 12 lines in every iuch. Seven Inches in a col- iimn, and iwo columns to the page. Nothing Insertel for less than 2) cents. No •'soecial rates," 5 cents per line Is "net,'' "rocic bottom," 'inside," "spot cash" rate from which ■there is no deviation and no commission to agents. If you wish to use 5 lines or less space it will cost you 2.) cents: loo lines, $5.00: lOOO lines, $50.00. "trade" (other than cash) advertise- ments will be accepted by special arrangement only and at rates from double to live times cash rates. Due Bills and Cards payable in advertis- ing will be honored only at regular rates in force at the date of issuance of said bill or card. Remittances should be made by Draft, Express or Postofflce Money Order, Registered Letter or Postal Note. Unused U. S. Postage Stamps of any denomination will be accepted lor sums un- der one dallar. Make Money orders and Drafts payable and address all subscriptions a^id com- munications to FRANl-;: H. LATTIN, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. enTEREO *T THE POST O'f irE AT ALBION, N. Y., A3 SECOND-CLASS MATTER. A Valued Sug'g'estion. Editor Oologist : — At a recent meeting of the Wheaton Ornithological Club of the Ohio State University, the question of pronuncia- tion of scientific names was raised and it developed that nearly ev^ry member had his own way of pronouncing. It was then resolved, as a means of bring- ing order out of chaos, to request you to take the initiative in the new 1897 Cat- .alogue or Handbook. This little publi- cation of yours, beyond doubt, reaches more ornithologists than any other in the country (there are over 20 Hand- books in our club) and therefore would be a very powerful agent in disseminat- ing seeds of pronounciation (to use a botanical figure). What we would pro- pose is this: That the syllables be sep- arated by hyphen and the accented syl- labels indicated, and any other diacriti- cal marks added which would facilitate pronounciation, e. g. : Pod-i-lym'-bus pod'-i-ceps, or Den-dro'-ica aes'-ti-va. We do not advocate any certain system but believe that some system is neces- sary. Accordingly, we urge you to give the matter your careful considera- tion, and we feel satisfied that by so doing you will greatly oblige your many patrons everywhere, as well as those who are members of the Wheaton Club. Very Respectfully, Raymond C. Osburx, Pres., Columbus, O. [Until some enterprising or perhaps philanthropic publisher gives us some- thing inexpensive along the line of the above timely suggestion the Club and others may find it advisable to invest $3 in a copy of Dr. Eliot Coues' "Check- list of American Birds" which contains a Dictionary of the Etymology, Orthog- raphy and Orthoephy of the names of Birds-ED.] Notes on a Few Winter Residents of Edg-ecombe Co., N. C. 766, Bluebird, tiialia sialis. I note quite a decrease in the numbers of this species during the past tiew years, ow- ing possibly to the cold winter of 1894, during which many froze to death. Several farmers of this locality gave in- formation tothe effect that as many as 20 dead birds were discovered in a sin- gle stack of fodderafter this extraordin- ai'y cold period. The chief roosting-places of this spec- ies are excavations, both natural and THE OOLOGIST. 27 artificial, stacks of hay and fodder and boxes put up for Martins and these birds to build in. Principal food, the persimmon fruit, sumac seeds, various insects and worms. Being one of our earliest breeders they usually pair about Feb. 20. They become quite abundant as spring ap- proaches and generally appear in close vicinity of their nesting site. 761, American Robin, Merula migra- toria. Quite rare in early winter be- coming very abundant about April 1st. It is calculated by some that the M. mi- gratoria nests in this locality, but dur- ing all my collecting caj^eer I have nev- er seen this fact proven. I have neith- er collected a single egg nor observed but one specimen during the summer months. Upon their tirst arrival, about Sept. 15th, they appear to be rather frightful inhabiting swamps only but later on there being an increase they show less fear and may be seen in open woods, in branches in trees and on the ground searching for their food which consists mainly of angle worms, insects, holly and gum berries, in fact nearly all kinds of berries. During early spring they become quite tame and resort to the open fields in large numbers, sometimes thous- ands, in quest of the worms that are turned up by the plow. This is the period of the small boy's delight, as the opportunity of killing and trapping so many birds scarcely ever presents it- self. I have known some small boys to set fish hooks in the fields with angle worms as bait, thereby catching quite a number. The Robins leave for other sources about April 10th. Just before taking departure they make the woods thrill with their melodious songs, which can be heard for some di.stance. 755, Wood Thrush, Turdus mustelin- us. Commonly called "Swamp Robin" and by some "Pewter Legs" is both a summer and winter resident. Rather common and generally preferring low land but may be seen quite often in up- land woods. Its mode of living is by scratching, procuring nearly all its food in that way, which consists of various worms and insects. .Roosts in heaps of brush for the most part. 735, Chickadee, Parus atriciinllus. This little acquaintance is also both a winter and summer resident, being rather common. It is often seen in company with the Tufted Titmouse and is one of our earliest breeders, nesting about April 1st. Its cry is nearly simi- lar to that often made by the P. bicolor. The lowlands are its general prefer- ence where it seeks and obtains its food consisting of worms, insects and their eggs. It obtains the greater part of its food from the bark of trees and from decayed wood. Roosts in decayed stumps and trees and in natural excavations. 731, Tufted Titmouse, Parus bicolor . General preference of locality is the river lowlands where they appear abundant at some periods. Their food is almost similar to that of the preced- ing species and it is nearly always seen in company with that species. Appears rather pugnacious at times. Is both a summer and winter resident. 729, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Silta pusillu. This familiar little species is observed quite often in open woods which are its general preference. They appear abundant in some portions of the country while in others they are quite rare. Usually seen in flocks of four or five and remains with us all the year round. I note that it procures nearly all of its food from the pine consisting of worms and insects that are concealed within the bark. It is our smallest winter species and is quite an early breeder. W. Lindsay Foxhall, Tarboro, N. C. 28 THE OOLOGIST. The Red-tailed Hawk in Hardin County Iowa. Althoiigli this bird has been frequent- ly spoken of in the Oologist and other papers it has not had much representa- tion in Iowa or at least in this locality. This Hawk is quite plentiful in this vi- cinity from the fact Ihat we have so many gophers or prairie squirrels, which is one of their chief articles of food. I have taken seven sets of their eggs in the seasons of "94 and '95 be- sides those taken by other collectors. The nesting season begins about April 10th and lasts until Ma.y 20. The best time to find full sets is from April 20th to May 1st. I have no way of measur- ing the eggs taken but think that they will average larger than those given by Davie, although W . A. Davidson of De- troit, Mich , tells me that the ones I sent him are smaller than those collect- ed in his locality. Tnere are generally two eggs in a nest but not uncommonly I tind three. Davie says they some- times lay four but I have never had the juck to find a set of four. Below I give extracts from the datas for the sets collected in '94 and '95: April 20, 1894. Eggs, three; incuba- tion just commenced. Nest in burr- oak tree about 60 ft. up. Made of coarse sticks and lined with bark and moss. Very large but shallow. May 10, 1894. Eggs, two; incubation advanced, Nest in oak tree about 40 ft. up. Made of coarse sticks and lined with bark, moss and a few feathers. April 16, 1895. Eggs, two; incuba- tion fresh. Nest in large tree about 30 ft. up and out on a horizontal limb about 12 ft. from body of the tree. Made of coarse sticks and lined with bark and moss. Very shallow, nearly flat. April 21, 1895. Eggs, two; incuba- tion begun. Nest in white oak tree about 40 ft. up. Made of coarse sticks and two pieces of cornstalk and lined with bark, corn husks and buds. I went to this nest again on May 6th and found one egg in the nest. I left it thinking I would get another set. On the 10th I returned and saw the fe- male leave the nest. I climbed the tree but found only one egg. I don't know whether the Hawk laid only one egg or whether one had been destroyed. The egg was slightlj incubated. April 25, 1895. Eggs, two; incuba- tion fresh. Nest in basswood tree 50 ft. up. Made of coarse sticks and lined with bark, corn husks, catkins and moss. A very large nest. May 11, 1895. Eggs, two; incuba- tion slight. Nest in red oak tree about 35 ft. up. Made of coarse sticks and lined with bark and moss. A very thick nest but very shaHow inside. Davie speaks of the Red-tail nesting in old Crows' nests I'ebuilt but I have never found them to do so in this lo- cality. They will continue to lay in the same nest several years in succes- sion even after being robbed but I think it is the same pair that use the nest again. Sometimes after being robbed they will the next season build a new nest within a few rods of the old one instead of looking up a new local- ity. Clarence Hartikgek, Alden, Iowa. Early Collecting-. I went to the woods yesterday and got two sets of two Great Horned Owl's eggs saw five Meadowlarks, two Doves, one Mockingbird, three Robins, two Bluebirds, five Towhees and a host of Woodpeckers of the Downy, Hairy, Red-head, Flicker and Yellow-bellied species, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Creep- er Kinglets, Sparrows, Red shouldered Hawk, Snowbirds, and the strange part of the progi'amme is, the mercury reg- istered zero. I used to think Meadow- larks, Doves, Robins, Bluebirds and the like could not stand very much cold weather but I see they do. If nothing prevents I shall endeavor to send you some notes for publication this year. C B. Vandercook, Jan. 26, 1897. Odin, Ills. THE OOLOGIST Hotels and Summer Boarding Houses- The West Shore Railroad list of Hotels and Summer Boarding Houses for the season of 1897 is in course of prepara- tion. This list will embrace all the ho- tels and summer boarding houses on the lines of the West Shore, Wallkill Val- ley, Ulster & Delaware, Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain, Kaaterskill, Catskill Mountain & Cairo andDelaware& Hud- son Railroads. In order that the list may be made as complete as possible, and that correct information may be given to those seek- ing summer homes; hotels, summer boarding and farm houses desiring sum- mer boarders are requested to address C. E Lambert, General Passenger Agt., West Shore Railroad, 5 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, for blank form on which to give the desired information. No charge is made for representation in this list. The West Shore's book for 1897. en- titled "Summer Homes and Tours," will be the handsomest ever issued. The size of the book has been increased and elegant new half-tone cuts are now being engraved. It will be entirely re- newed thi-oughout. Rapid Taxidermy at Home! Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. No tools required. No extra expense. After many years of unvarying success, and a constantly increasing sale in every state and territory in the Union, and with thousands of testimonials attesting to the merits of my Sim- plified Method of Taxidermy, from boys, girls, parents, doctors, ministers, lawyers, school teachers, merchants, farmers, mechanics, hun- ters, outers and sportsmen, as well as from curators of leading university museums, and professional taxidermists; I "feel that I can safely make this offer. Send me TS CENTS Cash or Stamps and receive complete instruct- ions for mounting birds in cases, plaques, hang- ing game, deer heads, etc. etc., with package of prepared compound ready for use, enough to mount bO small birds, or 20 large ones; together with full directions for dressing skins with the hair on for rugs, robes and hangings. If you are not fully satisfied, your money will be cheerfully refunded. Beware of imitations. Mention The Oolo- GiST and address MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., KALAMAZOO, MICH. Ripans Tabules: at druggists. Ripans Tabules assist digestion. Ornithology. In all parts of America no other pub- lication devoted to oology and ornith- ology has credit for so large a circulation as is accorded to the Oologtst, publish- ed mothly at Albion, N. Y., and the publishers of the "American Newspaper Directory" will guarantee the accuracy of the circulation rating accorded to this paper bv a reward of one hundred dollars, payable to the first person who successfully assails it, — Froni Printers' Ink, issue of May Oth, 1896. Many Subscriptions to THE OOLOGIST have expired, or will expire with this issue. In the future the Publisher re- quires CASH IN ADVANCE. Hence, if you are one of the delinquent sub- scribers, your subscription should be forwarded by return mail, i^' you wish theOoLOGiST continued to your address. March issue will go to press prompt- ly on March 1, and be mailed during the tirst week of that month — all Exchange, advertisements and notes for that issue, must be forwarded by return to insure insertion in that issue. Come to Florida. A fortune can be made in a few years in pineapples and tomatoes; vegetables raised the whole j^ear. An ideal home. For particulars write R. P. Osier, Avon Park. Fla. 29&Otf Quain's Anatomy. I want 10th edition camplete or any one or all of the following parts, viz: Vol. 1, Part I. Embryology. D Vol. 3. Part 2. Nerves and Sense Organs. Vol. 3, Part .3. Viscera. Will give good exchange or cash. PRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, N. Y. Minerals and Indian Relics. 2.5 spec 2.5c 60 spec 50c 5 spec, Ixl'i in Xf-c 10 spec, 1x1'/^ in a5c 15 spec, 1x1^ in 3.5e 6 spec, 2xl>i in 25c 10 spec, 2x1'/" in 35c 12 arrowheads 30c Sent by mail prepaid. Labeled with name & locality. List free. ISAAC S. KIRK, Fremont, Chester Co. , Pa. GREATNOVELTY IN PIN CUSHIONS. j Made from the seed stalk of the Yucca Palm or Spanisli iBayonet, whose beautiful white blossoms adora the 'canyons aiid mouutain sides of Cal. 1150 Yucca Cush- ions were retailed by one hotel to its guests iu less than 5 months. The outside of the stalk is hard and the inside soft, and when nicely- turned on a lathe they make a most beautiful white Pincushion. Price 10 cents, silver. O. W. TCTTLE, Paiiadcna, CaL Tl THE OOLOGIST. TAXIDERMISTS' GUNS. ''c°u^n^l.' Pistols, Guu Cases. Shootinc Shot SliPlls: also S^»"f,;; SPECIMEN HUNTERS. All kinds, all prices Ironi $l,/J to !f'2.'xU0. List free. Write for Taxidermist's free list. JAMES H. JOHNSTON, PITTSBURG. PA, FREE EDUCATION. An education at Harvard. Yjile or any other college or instution of learning in the United States, or in the New England Conservatory of Music, can be secured by any young man or wo-. man who is in earnest. Write for particulars quickly. James D. Ball, 36 Bromfield St., Boston, Mass. . .-. SHINE? I Minerals, Fossils and Shells cut and polished at our Steam Lapidai-y Shop, L-ecently fitted up on the most improved plans where we do first-class work at reasonable prices. Cabinet work a specialty. Polished material for sale. JOHN G. BUXTON, Milo Centre, N. Y. f Spades, Hoes, Mauls. I have recently bought several large collec- tions of Hone Relics from high-class collec- tors and have a "cream"' stock of 15.000 pieces from many states, hundreds of them unusually fine form and perfect: many rare. Improve your cabinet. Among a stock as varied and fine as any ever offered by any dealer, are: 9 tine Spades 12 to Ifii/j inches long. 12 " " ^M to 115i inches 1 ng. 9 notched Hoes 4)4 to 9/2 inches lo ig. Points of above have a glassy polish from use. 46 Discoidals, bi concave, 1 Ji to 6 inches diam- eter. 500 grooved Axes and Celts of finest form Vs to 10 pounds each. 75 Banner Stones, Gorgets, Amulets, etc. 30 Cuiious old Pipes. 25 Hematite Plummets and Axes, etc. Cup Stones, Balls. Pestles, Mortars, Bone Relics. Beads, Copper Relics, 5 to 9 inch Spear Heads, etc., Swedish and Irish Stone Relics. Arrow Heads -3000 splendid, 5000 fine, 5000 ordinary, 2000 2c to 5c each. 50 fine Driers. Many pretty forms in the tiny semi-precious and stone points of Oregon, N. Mexico, and Arizona. Send stamp for price list— "Our Extra." Separate catalog of 100,000 specimens of fine Minerals and Fossils. Hundreds of Relics of Western Indians, Alas- kans and South Sea Islanders. L. W. STILWELL, DEADWOOD, (Black Hills), S. DAK. Robert Burnham, DEALER IN Precious Stones, Opals, Curios and Fine Minerals, Cutting and Polishing Agates and Gem Stones, and setting the same in solid gold settings a specialty. 15 Chestnut St., Providence, R.I. PRICE LIST OF GEMS. OPALS. Australian 50c to $10 OOperkt^ fiungarian. " " fO.OO " '• Mexican i 10c " 20.00 " " Opal Scarf Pins set in Solid Gold in four siz- es, as follows: 75c„ $1.'25, $2.50, $3.50. STUDS. Screw or Separate Backs, $1.00 to $3.00. Clus- ters to order. EAR-RINGS, $2.00 to $5.00. RINGS, ETC., SET TO ORDER. Prices on application for special settings or extra fine stones. AMETHYST, TOPAZ, MOONSTONE, BLOODSTONE, AGATE, CROCIDOLITE, &c. In all forms and sizes for Rings. Pins, Charms, 10c to $5.00. Tourmaline 50c to $15.00 per kt. Aquamarine... 50c " 5.00 '• " BIRTHDAY GEMS SET IN ANY DESIRED STYLE. JANUARY. Garnet Constancy or Fidelity FEBRUARY. Amethyst or Pearl Fidelity MARCH. Hyacinth or Bloodstone. .Courage, Presence of [Mind APRIL. Diamond Innocence MAY. Emerald Success in Life JUNE. Agate or Cat's-eye Health and Long Life JULY. Coral or Ruby Contented Mind AUGUST. Sardonyx or Moonstone Conjugal Felicity SEPTEMBER. Crysolite or Sapphire Antidote againstMadness OCTOBER. Opal Hope NOVEMBER. Topaz Fidelity DECEMBER. Turquoise Prosperity Having a large stock on hand, I will, for a short time, sell 20 lbs. of good Minerals for $1. One to forty kinds as you want them, large or small. THE OOLOGIST. H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. ma for Price List. aviiWorkj,Pitti.!)ni-Kh.l'«r^' ^' SFINF*^ NETS, TENTS, and \J i^l l^ L^KJ, SPORTING GOODS. Every description Of Guns, Revolvers, Ammu- nition and Sporting Goods at very lowest pric- es. We have something of interest to you. MIMED AlO SHELL,S, etc. The White mInCnALd city collections. 50 fine cabi- net specimens, it3. 50 smaller size, $2. 50 ama- teur size, $1. Printed name and locality with each specimen. 50 Shells, Corals, and Marine Specimens, only $3. 100 Fossils, including fine Fish, Trilobite, Crinoids, Corals, Sponges, several line Ferns, etc., only $8. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to $1, very showy. Taxidermy in all its branches at reasonable prices. "illustrated catalogue by mail, 10c. J.M.WIERS, Natural- Ists Agency. 357 W. VanBuren St.. Chicago. 111. FRANK B. ARMSTRONG, TAXIDERMIST, and Collector and Dealer in Bird and Mammal Skins, Birds Eggs in fine sets, Mounted Birds and Animals. FOLDS BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS. 1 ,000,000 Cuba! Cuba! Cuba! STAMPS! I have purchased 1,000,000 unused Cuba stamps, which I offer to collectors, and others, at less than one-fourth catalogue price. I will send a set of 8 for 10c; 10 sets for 50c, or 50 sets for $1.60. A set of 10 varieties, 12c, or 10 sets for 60c. An entire sheet of 100 5c or 25c Cuba stamps, only 25c. These are nice for framing, etc. These are all genuine old stamps, not good for postage any longer. Dealers sup- plied. Don't fail to order at once. Address, J. E. HANDSHAW, SMITHTOWN BRANCH, N. Y. ^100. We employ experienced agents on a salary of $100 per month. Others at MO. Write quickly. Puritan Pub- lishing Co., 36, Bromfield St., Boston, Mass. We have some com- pound Folds in rock, and a few Banded Sandstone Faults, both very interesting to Geologists, and a quantity of polished material for sale. We make a specialty of cutting and polishing cab- inet material at our Steam Lapidary Shop. John G. Buxton, Mile Centre, N. Y. POSITIVE CURE FOR Cold in the Head, Hay Fever, Catarrh, Deafness, $ioo RKWARD for every case of Ca- tarrh or Deafness (caused by Catarrh) which we cannot cure with Nasalene, when used ac- cording to directions. Sold by all first-class druggists or by mail at 25 cents. Sample box 10 cents. The profuse discharge of mucus from the nose, the dropping of mucus from the nostrils into the throat, the accumulation of mucus and the constant inclination to hawk and ex- pectorate, is arrested by the timely use of Nas- alene. Office of the A gent- Warden I Sing sing Prison. f Dec. 12, 1895. Hunter Medical Co. Gentlemen:— I have use your "Nasalene"and I find it very beneficial. I take pleasure in. recommending it. Yours truly, O. V. Sage, Agent-Warden. HUNTER MEDICAL CO., 54 E. 13 St., NEW-YORK CITY. PHOTOGRAPHIC GOODS Of All Kinds. Developing and Printing:, etc Catalogue and Price List free. CHARLES FOWLER, Princetown.N. Y. Why not buy when prices are down? We can supply you with birds in good mount- able or fresh skins. Great Gray Owl $3 50 Arctic Horned Owl $3 50 to 5 00 Hawk Owl 1 75 Richardson's Owl 2 25 Snowy Owl $3 00 to 5 00 Richardson's Grouse 5 00 Willow Ptarmigan _ 150 White-tailed Ptarmigan 2 50 Greenland Eider 3 00 American Scoters 2 50 Surf Scoters 2 50 Goshawk (mature) 2 00 We sell nothing but the very best, OLIVER SPANNER & CO., 358 Yonge St., Toronto, Canada. via THE OOLOGIST. A Few Well-niounted Specimens Makes a good addition to dition. We list below Western Grebe $2 Bridled Tern 3 Anhinga 4 Mexican Cormorant 4 Black Mallard a Shoveller.. 2 Wood Duck 3 Redhead 2 Ruddy Duck _ 3 Roseate Spoonbill 8 White Ibis, juv 2 Am. Egi'et „ 3 Louisiana Heron 2 Woodcock 1 Gt. Yellow-legs 1 Golden Plover 2 Florida Quail I Ruffed Grouse 2 Willow Ptarmigan 3 any collection. Here is a good opportunity to make the ad- a few choice specimens, selected at random from our stock. Snowflake $1 00 Oregon Junco 95 Townsend"s Sparrow _ 1 00 Towhee 90 Rose-breasted Grosbeak... 90 00 White-tailed Kite ... $.3 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk ....... 1 80 Red-tailed Hawk 2 85 Broad-vsringed Hawk 2 50 Golden Eagle 12 00 Audubon's Caracara 4 00 Short-eared Owl 2 35 Screech Owl 2 00 Gt. Horned Owl 4 00 Burrowing Owl 2 35 Fla. Burrowing Owl 4 00 Road Runner 2 15 Nighthawk 1 25 Arkansas Kingbird 1 25 Blue Jay _ 1 15 steller's Jay 2 30 Oregou Jay 2 45 Boat-tailed ^rackle 1 75 Leucostlcte 1 25 Bohemian Waxwing 1 10 Catbird 90 Brazillian Lark 1 10 Sooty Monkey 9 00 Otter _10 00 Skunk 4 25 Gray Fox 5 00 Mink 3 80 Ermine 2 00 Weasel...- _ 2 00 Virg. Deer, young buck . .38 00 Short-tailed Shrew 1 40 Deer Head, young buck ... 6 50 Red Fox 9 00 For a little extra we Blackburnian Warbler 20c Blk. thtd. Green Warbler 16 Myrtle Warbler 13 Western Grass Finch _1H Tree Sparrow 10 W. Crown Sparrow 14 W. tht. Sparrow 12 Oregon Junco _ 25 Towhee 14 Kinglet 05 Brown Creeper 05 Oregon Chickadee _35 Purple Finch, juv .10 Kingfisher 28 Mourning Dove 18 :>parrow Hawk.. 29 Red-shaft Flicker .40 Green Heron 38 Ferrig. Pigmy Owl $1 Rlue-wing Teal, f 65 Coot 48 Wood Duck, f 60 Gadwall 48 Barred Owl 46 Gray Squirrel 28 Red Squirrel 18 These specimens are mostly mounted on temporary stands. can put them on nice finished walnut or ash pedestals. Cheap Skins for Mounting. We have a number of skins which are a little mussed, or out of shape, which will do for mounting, or to make over. Titlark _ 10c Northern Shrike .' 25 Kingbird 05 Wilson's Snipe 20 Crow. Hne 88 Horned Grebe, juv 55 Pied-billed Grebe 4'i Short eared Owl b8 Leu St Bittern 70 Redhead Woodpecker.jv 13 Sharp-shin Hawk 24 Red-wing Blackbird 16 Steller's Jay 1.12 Rough Skeletons. Screech Owl 40c Shrike 30c Red-throated loon $1 00 White-wing Scoter II Brown Bat 25 Python Skull 1 .50 Bobolink 30c Redstart 25 Raccoon skull 20 Skeleton of Wild Cat, bleached and strung on artificial ligaments $5 XER.MS. Cash with order. Postage or express charges extra. Custom Taxidermy — High-^rade Scientific Work. A specialty made of restoring and mounting torn or damaged, or inferior mounted specimens, and all difficult work. We always carry a good stock of Bird Skins, Mounted Birds ani Mammals. Send for a catalogue, and if we do not list what you want write us. W^e can supply you, if it is obtainable. GEO. F. GUELF, Practical Taxidermist, Brockport, N. Y. VOL. XIV. NO. 3. ALBION, N. Y., MARCH. 1897. Whole No. 130 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special announcements, "Wants,' "Exchanges" "For Sales," Inserted In this department for 25c per 2^ words. Notices over 2.5 words, charged at the rate of one-halt cent per each additional word. No notice Inserted for less than 25c. Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted In payment at one-third list rates. PHOTO SUPPLIES:— Aristo paper, 4x.5, 15c; 5x7, 2.5e; 5x8, 30c; ey,xSy2. 40c; 8x10, 50c. Plates, 4x5, 40c; 5x7, 6.5c; 5x8. 75c; 6i/jx8!<, 99c; 8x10, 1.40. 8 oz Developer, 20c; 80 oz Toning Bath. 2.5c; Hypo, lb., .5c; Paste, 13c, etc., etc. CHAS. FOWLER, Princetown, N. Y. TO EXCHANGE sets of 261 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4. 273 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4, 622a 1-6, 474t) 1-3 1-3 1-3, 501 1-5 1-5 1-4, 200 1.5, 305 1-5. 126 1-3 611 1-4, 53 1-2 312 1-T. ROBERT A. TOMLINSON, Alden, Iowa. First class Sklns, sets and singles. Coues' key and Hornaday's Taxidermy to ex- change for good books on mineralogy. WM. J. ROLFE, San Bernardino, Calif. WANTED B.\D:— A copy of the November ■Osprey. Will give exchange in sets with full data, Yellow-breasted Chat, etc., to be collect- «d the coming season. C. PIPER SMITH, 321 W. 8th, Anderson, Ind. FOR SALE:— Collection of 500 minerals, .5c •each. A lot of shells and fine bird skins. Ridg- way's Ornithology of Illinois, vol. 1, $2. H. S. HATHAWAY, Merchant's National Bank, Providence, R. I. BOOKS; Fire-arms; Eggs, Barred Owl, 60c; Great Horned Owl, 60; Red-tailed Hawk, 30c; Woodcock, 7.5c; Whippoorwill, $1.2.5. Many others. Complete lists for .stamp. C. B. VAN- DERCOCK. Odin, Ills. FOR SALE:— Pit Games, Homing Pigeons, English Lop-eared Rabbits, Belgian Hares, Abyssinian Guinea Pigs. Stock all through- bred. A. E. KIBBE, Taxidermist and Collect- or, Mayville, N. Y. TO EXCHANGE:— Indian Relics: 467 Arrow and Spearheads; 12 celts, 2 to 8 incees in length. 13 drills and others for best offer in sets with datas. Write for description and what you have to exchange. A. W. PLUMB, Fllnt.Mich. NOTICE:— Live Oologists send for cuts and prices of my new Oologists Instrument: does not "blow" your brains out, cleans the egg quickly, saves rare incubated sets and dis- penses with blow-pipes, hooks, scissors, pin- cers &c. RUSSELL KENNEDY, New Castle, Pa. WRITE IMMEDIATELY! This summer I will collect minerals, lepidoptera and insects from this locality, for Indian relics or low prices. WARREN HASTINGS, Lancaster.N.H. FOR SALE:— Thorougbred Plymouth Rock chickens. Will sell cheap. Write for list to HARDY G. JACKSON, Russellville.Logan Co., Ky^ I HAVE some fine buffalo horns in pairs; also single horns polished and mounted which I will sell cheap or exchange for a camera. Write me and state make of camera and terms. W. G BLINN, Tripoli. Iowa. TO EXCHANGE :— Chinese curiosities for vols. Ornithologist and Oologist, Oologist and other oological papers. Books on Birds and Eggs. Send list and receive mine. HARDY G. JACKSON, Russellyille, Logan Co., Ky. TO EXCHANGE:— Choice sets of eggs of Bendire's and Palmer's Thashers, Aberts and Spurred Towhee, White-necked Raven, Ver- milion Flycatcher, Arizona Jay, Long-crested Jay, Phainopepla, Western Wood Pewee, for choice sets or. skins from Eastern or Northern States. HARRY S. SWARTH, 315 South Broadway, Los Angeles, Cal. TO EXCHANGE:— Short-hand book. Gym- nasium tights, drawings of small steam en- fine; for film camera 8x3 or 3!4x3'/i. RUSSELL KENNEDY, New Castle, Pa. WANTED;— A first class pedigreed cocker spaniel bitch or dog. Will give fine sets of eggs with data for such. Send full description of dog. P. D. GETTY, Bloomington, 111. WILL EXCHANGE Florida Shells for one Spondylus a perfect specimen, also one Trum- pet Triton. A. J. BARNES, Dunedin, Fla. FOR SALE.— To enrich my camera fund, I will sell duplicate sets Bald-pate, Canvas-back, Gadwall. Whip-poor-will, Miss. Kite, Cassin's Vireo, Hutlon's Vireo, Golden-cheeked War- bler, and others, at lowest, (confidential), pric- es. If you ever buy, send stamp for lists. I shall have later, sets that you'll eagerly take. Guaranteed, perfect authenticity; full data; faultless preparation, lowest prices. P. B. PEABODY, St. Vincent, Minn. M2t /7-7/,r THE OOLOGIST. EGGS for Exchange.— I have first-class sets of Nos. 316, 447, 457, 499, 508, 530, 581c, 591b to ex- change for sets not in my collection. J. S. AP- PLETON. Simi, Ventura Co., Cal. TO EXCHANGE.— Cone's Key, last edition, perfect condition. I want camera, mandolin, banjo, or anything useful. ,C. A. THOMA§, 359 Adella Ave., Pasadena, Calif. TO EXCHANGE.— For first-class eggs in sets:— 50 stamp papers, all different, i^3 Nos. Harper's Young People. GLEN M. HATHORN. 1600 E. Ave., Cedar Rapids, la. FOR SALE.— A lady client has deposited with me for sale the collection of her husband, deceased, it consist of rare coins U. S frac- tional currency and colonial money. Indian relics, fossils and birds eggs. Persons inter- ested address J. W. MYKRANTZ, Atty, Ash land, Ohio. I WANT scrap brass, will give cash or eggs in exchange. Also want bird eggs and confed- erate stamps. All letters answered. H. W. ENGLiSH, 1608 3d Ave., Birmingham, Ala. FOR SALE. — Fine mounted Hydroids from the Pacific coast. Can furnish fine fresh speci- mens in lai'ge or small quantities. Send 25c for two sample varieties. JOHN M. WILLARD, 2231 Elm St., Oakland, Cal. EGGS: EGGS! EGGS! I wish to obtain at once, for cash or exchange, sets of Maine col- lected eggs with full data. ORA W. KNIGHT, No. 384 Hammond St., Bangor, Maine. PAINTED POTTERY fragments of "Aztec" ware to exchange for perfect Indian and;mound relics, unpainted fragments exchanged for those of other localities. Pima Indian pottery for sale. Enclose stamp for answer. BURT OGBURN, Phoenix, Arizona. TO EXCHANGE —Bicycle lantern brackets, vanishing handkerchiefs, escort cards, books and papers In fact almost anything you want to exchange f dr specimens and natural history papers. Enclose stamp. E. G. BIDLAKE, 16 Court St., Auburn, N. Y. MODERN Apache Indian Pipes and Orna- ments, Ancient Indian Relics, Crystals, Curios, show outfit, violin (cost $3.5). Parties wishing to purchase any of the above. Address D. LEVERING, Johca, St. Genevieve Co., Mo. M3t. PERMO-Carboniferous and Comanche Creta- ceous Fossils from Kansas. 1 to 3 each of 35 species of fossils and 20 rock samples fossili- ferous slabs, &c. for if 2 or half the amount for $1. Send for list. C. N. GOULD, Winfleld, Kansas. "INDICO" Check-list.- How often are valua- ble moments' wasted, a search for the A. O. U. U. number of some well-known bird ! Now, a little pack of index cards will save all this trouble. Price 3.5c per set. Order at once, or not at all. P. B. PEABODY, St. Vincent,Minn. M3t MUST BE SOLD.— Nine handsome fox and coon skin rugs, head mounted, felt trimmed, moth proof: been selling for $6.. 'iO: sent post- paid. $3.75. Mounted birds in the very best condition. Great Horned Owl, 3!3.75; Goshawk. $3.75; two Barred Owls, $'3.75: Red-tail Hawk (wings spread) $3.75; Great Blue Heron, $S..50; American Merganser, $2..50; Blue Jay. two Scarlet Tanagers. 7.5c. GALEN D. HULL. Charlestown, N. H. FINE LOT of mounted birds, mammals ami bii'd skins, at any price they will bring. Great- bargains. Fine Albino Deer. B. HARTLEY, "West Haven, Conn. F2t BIRD MOVEMENT CHARTS.— Card system. (One card for each species.) . Any movement of any ' species, for any time, during five years, found in a moment. Entire record ac. a glance. Better still. Obverse of card duplicates Agr. Dept. Reports. Spring and Fall movements for each year in parallel lines. Any record out of three hundred, say, on report, found in ten seconds. Much time and annoyance saved. Samples, two cent stamp. Per hundred, 75c. Address, P. B. PEABODY, St. Vincent, Minn. M3t THE OSPREY is the leading monthly mag- azine devoted to ornithology and oology, and is supported by the best class. Its fine pictures are a feature .seldom seen in such a magazine. Fine enamel coated paper is used that the best effect can be obtained from these engravings. Its articles are unexcelled. Sample copies are sold for ten cents, but as we wish every ad- vanced ornithologist or oologist who reads The Oologist to see The Osprey we vcWl.forthe next thirty days only, send a copy for a two cent stamp to those who contemplate sub- scribing. The Osprey is doing more than has before been attempted don't fail at least to see a copy. Address, THE OSPREY COMPANY, 61 North Prairie St., Galesburg, 111. " NASALENE POSITIVE CURE FOR Cold in the Head, Hay Fever, Catarrh, Deafness. $ioo R.E"\VAIID for every case of Ca- tarrh or Deafness (caused by Catarrh) which we cannot cure with Nasalene, when used ac- cording to directions. Sold by all first-class druggists or by mail at 25 cents. Sample box 10 cents. The profuse discharge of mucus from the nose, the dropping of mucus from the nostrils into the throat, the accumulation of mucus and the constant inclination to hawk and ex- pectorate, is arrested by the timely use of Nas- alene. Office of the Agent-Warden I Sing Sing Prison. f Dec. 12, 1895. Hunter Medical Co. Gentlemen:— I have use your "Nasalene"and I find it very beneficial I take pleasure in recommending It. Yours truly, O. V. Sage, Agent-"Warden. HUNTER MEDICAL CO., 54 E. 13 St., NE-W-YORK CITY. J_I' Revolvers, Rifles, Great Welters' for Price List. QtinWorks,Pitt»burgh,Pi^ QPIMPCi NETS, TENTS, and OI-< 1 IN £-i Eburna Japonica 1.5 Oliva litterata (extra) 5 to 10 Strombus alatus 15 Cypraas moneta 05 " annulus 05 " erosa 5 to 10 Isabella 10 " caurica .5 to 10 carneola 5 to 10 " vitellu-S 5 to 15 Ovulum ovum 15 " gibbosum ; 05 '' secaleon Pterogorgla twig 05 Nerita peleronta, select 5 to 10 Trochus (Llvona) pica 5 to 25 Helix fideles 10 Bulimus Bahamaensls 05 Partula glbba 05 Orthalicus melanochilus 10 Liguus fasciata 5 to 10 Achatinella perversa 05 uniplicata 05 " soirizona 05 " olivacea ;. 05 Pythea pyramidata 05 Chama arcinella 10 Malleus alba 75 Cardium consors 20 " isocardia 10 Spondylus pictorum S 00 Tectarius muricata 3 for 05 Rotellas 6 for [ '. 05 Vermetus umbilicatus 15 Melampus caffea, 6 for : 05 Tellina radiata 05 Fasciolaria tulipra 05 Haliotis Chracherodii 15 CORALS. Precious, pkg. of polished branches $ 10 Rose Coral 10 Organpipe Coral 10-50 Spike Coral 5-10 Branch Coral 5-35 Yellow Sea Fan 10-25 Creamy Sea Fan 10-25 Purple Sea Feather 25-50 Yellow Coral .S-10 Red Coral 3-10 Pink Coral 3-25 Florida Gorgonias, 3 var-, each 15 ECHINODERMS. Sand Dollar _$ 05 Phillippian Ux'chiu 15 White Splnned Urchin 20 "Aristotle's Lantern" the sea urchins den- tal apparatus 10 Giant Purple Urchin 50 King of the Echinoderms 1 50 Black Starfish :.... 20 Purple Sea Urchin, with spines 10 Key Hole Urchin 15 Chib-spined Urchin, 2d class 20 FOSSILS. Shark Teeth $ 3-10 Trilobite, Cali/mene senaria 25-75 Scaphites nodosus 5-50 Polyp Coral _ 5-25 MINERALS. Chiastolite Crystals S 15 Satin Spar 10-25 Quartz Crystals, Ark 10-50 Coquina 5-25 Native Lodestone 5-25 "Electric" stone 5-50 Geodes, Quartz, both halves 50 Chalcedony Geodes, Black Hills, select 35 " " " unopened. 15 Meteorites, small perfect specimens 25 Ferruginous quartz, doubly term. Crystals 10 Herkimer Co. doubly-termrnated Rock crystals '. 10-25 Opal, Mexican, cut and polished 10-50 Tourmaline, brilliant black crystals 10-25 Gem Stones, small, cut and polished semi- precious stones of almost every con- ceivable farm, shape, size, color and style. We will send postpaid selected specimens 5 to 2.5c. each or 1 dozen fine- ly assorted for only .50cts. INSTRUMENTS and SUPPLIES. Tweezers, natviralists' best 25 Egg Drill, engraved handle 25 Embryo Hook, engraved handle 25 Blowpipes cheap 15 best 35 Egg Drill, 18-100 15 Data Blanks, per 100 25 Tags for Skins, best, per 100 25 Checking Lists, per doz 20 Taxidermists' In-itruments, good, new, and ordinarily you pay 50 per cent, more for ones no better, if their equal _ Blow Pipe, straight, heavy, with enamel mouth piece 15 THE OOLOGIST. Scalpel, ebony handle 35 Tenacula, ebony handle and the proper style for investigation purposes 35 •Cartilage Knife, extra heavy 50 Forceps, the best 75 cent style 50 -Scissors, the regular straight 75c style 50 Case, a "dandy" of walnut or rose- wood, with slots and till for above instrum- ents, and clasp in cover for scissors ; brass hinges; polished oval top and sides; good clasp _ 50 Entire Outfit With Case, six pieces, every- thing listed above - 2 00 NOVELTIES. Three Ball Pendant Satin Spar Stick Pln..$ 25 Quartz Crystal Stick Pins 35 Brazilian Beetle Stick Pins 25 AgateBrooch 50 Crocidolite Brooch 75 Agate Shoe Buttoner 50 Agate Glove Buttoner 35 Agate, Moss Agate, Tiger Eye, etc., Watch Charms 35 Pearl Penholder 25-50 Pearl Letter Openers - 50 Pearl Shell Spoon 25 Shell Napkin Ring 35 Shell Purse 50 Combination Pliers, wire cutter and wrench, new and indespensible 60 Pocket wire cutters, 3 in., nickle plated best for money ever made, will cut wire any size up to that used for mounting a crow 35 Shell Match Safe 50 Souvenir Spoons, King Crab Tail handles Pecten and Cardium valve bowls 10-25 King Crab Tail Penholders, unique 10 Imported Austrian Brooches enamelled Flowers, ifcc 25 Sterling Silver Stick Pins 25 Fancy Btick Pins, enameled, plated, &c., &c., 10c or 6 for 50 Book Marks, 3 silk ribbons with 4 sterling silver bangles 50 High Grade Agate, Tiger Eye. Bloodstone, &c. Watch Charms, worth SI. 50 1 00 FOREIGN STAMPS, ETC. Sheet of 25 selected ic stamps 15 " 25 " 2c " 30 " "25 " 3, 4, .5c stamps 50 ■8 var. unused Cuba 20 Set of 6 var., unused, 1 to 50c. Venezuella, 15 Ic unused Guatemala prov., 1897, surch 10 4r unused, Guatemala, 1878 10 3i^r unused, Guatemala. 1879 10 10c Vermillion, unused, New Brunswick, 1860 25 6c on 3c unused, British Honduras, prov., 1891 - 10 Ic used, British Guinea, 1880 5 Popular Album, linen boards, ISOO spaces, 60111. pages 15 Set of World's Fair Tickets 1 00 Broken Bank Bill :. 10 •' 6var 50 Confederate Bill 10 " 6 var 50 MISCELLANEOUS CURIOS. Alligator Teeth 2-15 Revolutionary Gun Flint 10 Tusk or Wampum Shell, 2 for 5 Money Cowry Shell 5 Dove Shell from British Guinea, exhibited at World's Fair, pkg of 12 10 Chinese Horn Nut 5 Beetel Nut 10 Lucky Tooth of Cod 5 Big Tree (Calif.) bark attached to wood 50 Chinese Coin, cash 5 Egg of Hammerhead or Leopard Shark 10 " Skate or Sand Shark 5 " Case of Periwinkle 15 Acorn Barhacle 5-15 Hermit Crab in Shell 25 Sawfish Saw, 8 in 35 Young Naturalist's Marvelous Collection, '95 edition, contains nearly 50 specimens 60 Mexican Watchman's Whistle.clay, unique 5 Resurrection Plants 10 Small Burr or Porcupine Fish 85 •'Eye Stones" 6 Oregon Bird Arrow Points 25-75 Arrow and Spearheads of various material and from many localities, each 5-1 00 Same, assorted per doz 50-3 00 Small Alligators, mounted 75 BOOKS, &c. Chapman's "Birds of Eastern North Amer.$3 00 Earl's "Pets of the Household" .50 Langille's "Our Birds in Their Haunts" 2 00 Mcllwraith's "Birds of Ontario" 2 00 Lattln's "Standard Catalog of Eggs" (1896) 10 Steam's "Notes on the Natural History of Laborador" 50 Eberhart's "Elements of Entomology," 40 plates-300 figures 50 Eberhart's "Outlines of Economic Ento- mology" 50 The Young Oologist, Vol. I and II nicely bound 75 The Oologimt, Vol. Ill and IV, nicely b'd.. 75 The Oologist, Vol. IX, 1892, 298 pages, b'd 85 An Exchange Notice (or a card good for one) in Oologist 25 A year's subscription to TheOolgist with two exchange cards 50 Advertising space in Oolggist to the amount of 50c. Should you desire to se- lect this premium and not care to use the space at once a credit card will be issued for the amount which you can use when needed 50 Penikese, the 23 issues of Natural Sci- ence News, containing this valuable se- rial complete on Agassiz's famous sum- mer school at Penikese Island, written by an eminent Professor who spent both seasons at the Island 50 The Oologist, a package of 40 back num- bers, all different, 7ny selection 75 Directions for collecting minerals 05 Short's Birds of Western New York 10 Many Subscriptions to THE OOLOGIST have expired, or will expire with this issue. In the future the Publisher re- quires CASH IN ADVANCE. Hence, if you are one of the delinquent sub- scribers, your subscription should be forwarded by return mail, if you wish the Oologist continued to your address. April issue will go to press prompt- ly on March 25, and be mailed during the following week — all Exchange, adver- tisements and notes for that issue, must be forwarded by return mail to insure insertion in that issue. The OoLOGiST. VOL. XIV. NO. 3. ALBION, N. Y., MARCH, 1897. Whole No. 130 The Nest Building- of the Swallows. Last summer I was very much inter- ested in the different opinions express- ed in your valuable journal by corres- pondents on the above subject, but want of time prevented me to enter al- so into this discussion, as I intended to make a long chapter of it, while with unusual facilities my observations ex- tend to both sides of our hemisphere. In Germany, the Swallows -are by all people regarded with affection as har- bingers of luck and good cheer. No- body harms them and consequently they are very tame and abound in great numbers. I have been especially fond of them from my earliest recollections, and when I watched their way of sit- ting in long rows, often in company with the bold and impudent Sparrows, on the beams which connected the high Gothic pillars at our church— an old one built in the twelfth century, and in which very many windows were brok- en, through which they entered; to the childish fancies the little white-breast- ed birds preached better sermons than the minister, or even Luther, whose life-size picture hung on the pillar underneath them, could have done. But the Sparrows were noisy and quarrelsome, and, to my regret, the municipality concluded to have a res- toration of the church with new win- dows all around. My father had the eonti aec for this work, and so I learned and became intimately acquainted with many interesting facts concerning these Swallow nests, some of which had no doubt been built centuries before, the number gradually increasing to thous- ands all around the windows, in the re- cesses formed by the thick brick walls. The workmen had to use stone-cutters' tools to chip them off, so hard had they become; and by their construction no doubt a certain glue-like substance had been used with the chalky mortar. Their shape was variable, some half round and partly open, and some— the most of them — had only a round hole for their entrance. These were the nests of the Swifts, and Cypselus apus, and C. pelasgia, and also of Eirundo urbica, and H. 7-ustica; then the varied sizes and colors of the eggs which had to be sacrificed, testified to their differ- ent kinds. Some of them were very long and thin, some more oval, and some brownish speckled; while the oth- ers were white or nearly so. That the workmen in destroying the nests while the birds were bx-eeding had a hard time of it, was natui'al. The distress of the birds was pitiful in the extreme. The house Swallows often built their nests over the porch of the house door, about the entrance, and the rearing of their young is watched by all alike witli pleasure. Here on our own place I have seen them build under the roof of the barn, entering by a window, and under the shed close by. It took a pair a whole week after their arrival to decide about the best situation, and all their relations had to come and give their opinions, too, about it. When finally concluded, they kept for hours wetting the space- on which the nest was to be fastened. This they did with their own saliva, while clinging to the wall, without leav- ing the shed. Later they brought mater- ial of mud -from the bank of the brook, and cow-dung fresh from the pasture. In two days the home was done with the exception of the inner lining which was not very elaborate. Dried grasses I have seen them pull up with their other material, but never saw nor heard the breaking of dried twigs. To the con- :30 THE OOLOGIST. trary they avoided carefully a flight be- tween trees, as if a stunning blow might be fatal or hurtful. While they often fly low, especially if a cat is around, which they try to chase ofl". they never fly where bushes obstruct their airy progress. I would be pleased if others of your readers had made like observa- tions.— Mrs. Wilhelmine Seliger, Hart- Jord, Conn., in Medians' Monthly for March. For Closer Union. If I knew what to say and how to say it, I might set the whole world to thinking, but as this is beyond my power I will try to secure the attention of a few, in hopes of causing them to think with me. It seems to me that the one thing the Ornithologist lacks is union with his fel- low workers. He has a plentiful lack of societies. Prior to my beginning the work of an ornithologist, I had been a stamp collector, in which pursuit I had become accustomed to societies galore; societies international, national, state and local. Upon my taking up my new work I was surprised at the scarcity of them. I felt the need of them immed- iately and have felt it ever since. I feel that if I had a membership in a so- ciety similar to the one in Michigan my progress in ornithological lines would be greatly facilitated. As it is I have nothing but my own experience and what I can glean from books and mag- azines to aid me. Most of that taken from the magazines is written by col- lectors from other states and consider- able of it pertains to birds not found in this state, and many of the birds whose habits I desire to know about are not mentioned. When they are, I usually have to allow a little leeway on the time of arrivals, nesting, etc., on ac- count of the writer living In a difi'erent latitude from myself. If there were a state society in Illinois, the other members could receive the full benefit of my notes, and I, of theirs; and by comparing and noting likenesses and difi'erences I could obtain a fair if not a first-class account of the bird whose habits I want. If I had my choice of societies or the power to make one to my liking I would have notes gathered by taking one bird at a time, and making a com- plete canvass of all the state by means of the members residing in the several parts, similar to the plan adopted by the Michigan society; and I would pub- lish the notes thus obtained in a book or pamphlet form, giving authority for each note. I would have a depai'tment of identification, supported at the ex- pense of the society (if there should be any occasion for such expense), the only requisite on the part of the person sending, to be to send stamps for their return. The person for this should have a fair knowledge of the avi-fauna of the state and if necessary should re- ceive a certain price per specimen from the society. I would have an Auction department, to which persons having specimens for sale might send them for disposal. They should be sold to the highest bidder, and the bidding should be conducted by mail, and no bids opened until the day upon which the sale is to come off. The society should receive 10 per cent of the selling price as commission of which one-half should go to the auction agent in payment for his services, the remaining half to be placed in the treasui'y. As a protection against fi'audulent practices, I would make a provision for the expulsion of any member who should be found guilty of willfully practicing deception upon any person whether members or not. I would have an annual convention held at some resort or picturesque spot where the members and ofiicers could renew acquaintances, compare notes, THE OOLOGIST. 31 transact business matters pertaining to the society and have a good time in general. It siiould last from three to six days and at least one of these should be taken up by papers, talks, readings and discussions of matters pertaining to the work and to the man- agement of the society. This would re- sult in a revival of friendships and a stirring up of those who are inclined to "collect" instead of doing the actual work. Last month I wrote to some of the in- fluential men of ornithology in the state of Illinois asking their assistance in my attempt to organize a society on these principles in the state of Illinois. At the time of this writing I have not heard from all but feel that none will decline to help unless business or other circumstances irilerfere. I believe that if there were more so- cieties in existence there more persons would become interested in the work and as the amateur of today will some- time have to till the place of the pres- ent advanced scientist it will be well to encourage them in the work and the access they have to the benefits of a good society, the more competent will they oe and the more worthy of tilling your places in the future. Ci>YDE L. Smith, Oblong, Ills. From Venezuela. Editor Oologist: Perhaps a few more general notes on the birds of South America, that is, some of the birds of the Orinoco Delta, will prove of interest to your readers. Santa Catilena is about thirty miles up the river from Sacupana, from which latter point I last wrote the Oologist, and is opposite the island of Tortola, the largest island in the Orin- oco Grande. Tortola means Turtle Dove. Our first camp was on Paloma Jsland and Paloma in Spanish signifies Dove. This would convey the impres- sion that Doves must be very common here else there would not be two Dove islands and it is a fact that Doves ai'e very common along the lower Orinoco. The voices of these mournful singers can be heard at all hours of the day, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. While they commonly frequent the woods along the water courses,yetI have heard them call from out the deep forest, where a ray of sun- light rarely reaches the earth so heavy with foliage are the tops of the tall trees. In the same deep solitude, but far back from the river, dwells the bell- voiced Campinero or Bell-bird, aSjwrit- ers on British Guiana have called it. The lone traveler in the Imatocas is often bewildered on hearing the clear notes of a bell ring out seemingly near at hand. His search for the source of the music is seldom I'ewarded by a sight of the bird for this sweet-voiced dweller of the wilderness seems to pre- fer to remain hidden from the sight of man. In these great dark forests all animal life is above in the tree tops. I say all, but now and then a bat flits by or a huge moth is disturbed as one walks in the perpetual dusk, as of evening, of these dense woods. Up above can be heard the whistle of the Trogan or the shrill cry of the Flycatcher, the bark of monkeys and a branch may sway out with the weight of some huge snake trailing its sinuous course through the tree tops. But these do not come down to the ground only in places where the sunlight penetrates to the earth. The Swallow-tailed Kite, an acquain- tance of the North is common here. They can be seen high overhead per- forming their graceful aerial gyrations as many as ten or twelve together. Here, too, the Groove-billed Ani and Savanna Blackbix'd is found, and 82 THE OOLOGIST. among the mimosa thickets of the sa- vannas their plaintive cry is a familiar sound. One of these birds shot byme had swallowed a fourteen-inch chame- leon. Six inches of the reptile's tail protruded beyond the bird's bill and I thought it was a snake until I dissect- ed the bird. I discovered that only the head of the chameleon was digested. The Ani must have been going around for several hours at least unable to close its bill. Along the river the Anhinga, another bird well known in our Southern States is found in considerable numbers. Poised on some bush or snag they can be seen waiting for their finny prey. On the approach of a boat they will dive into the water and will show their snake-like neck and head above the sui-face. They are not nearly so wild here though as I found them along the Atchafalya and lower Mississippi river. The same could be said of the other birds mentioned that are common to both the States and this region. Now and then flocks of the Scarlet Ibis can be seen Avinging their way in even lines up and down the Orinoco. I have shot a few specimens of the Gt. Blue Heron, also of the Snowy Heron. Both of these birds present a graceful and stately appearance as they stand by the water side, silently watching for frog, fish, snake or worm, anything that will satisfy their hunger. The White Egret too is hei-e, and many a bird has been sacrificed to satisfy the greed of the plume hunter. The plumes of the Little White Egret are said to bring two hundred dollars per pound in Cindad, Bolivia. On the savannas and along the canos or small streams, where a mass of veg- etation thinly covers the water the Jac- ana is found apparently always iiun- gry, searching for insects In these same streams and Hooded savannas or marshes as we would call them in the north, the voracious caribe tish swarms and alligators are also abundant. And here is enacted the battle for existence, the survival of the fittest— the Pana. after the insects and the caribe and alli- gator after the Pana. The caribe must look out for the "gater" too, but the Jacana has as much to fear from one aa the other. One Jacana that I shot some weeks ago had a foot and about half of the tarsus amputated, presumably by a caribe. The wound had healed so it must have had the service of but one foot for some time. If your readers, could have seen what I witnessed, the thumb of a man nearly severed from his hand by the attack of one of these tish, they would not doubt the caribe's. ability to amputate the leg of a bird. More than this, I have had personal ex- perience with this little fresh water shark, to the extent that quite a large piece of flesh was torn from my thigh, by their attack when I was swimming ashore from an overturned boat in the Orinoco. Once when I had killed seven Jacan- as — they run all over the water — the alligators got four of the birds before I could reach them with my boat. One of the saurians I had the pleasure of shooting and another I struck over the snout with my paddle as he came up near one of the dead birds. The Jacana is an attractive bird, of rich chestnut plumage with purplish tinge, secondaries and primaries yel- lowish-green— a horny space on each wing yellow in color. Their long toes permit them to speed over the floating vegetation of the rivers and tavannas with ease. There is much that I might say furth- er of the birds of the Orinoco Delta but as I expect to be here some months longer I will try and send other com- munications from time to time. Very truly yours, Leslie O. Dart, Santa Catilena, Venzuela. THE OOLOGIST. 33 The Oologist. A Monthly Alagazlne Devoted to OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Correspon'lence and Items ot Interest to the student of Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited rrom all. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION : Single subscription 'lOc per annum Sample copies .5c each The above rates Include payment ot postage. Each subscriber Is given a card good for a Want, Exchange or t^or Sal"^ Notice. (This card is redeemable at any time within one year from date thereon.) Subscriptions can begin with any number. Back numbers ot tlie Ooi.ouisr can be furnished at reasonable rates. Send stamp for descrip- tions and prices. ItB^Remember that the publisher must be noil- fled by letter when a subscriber wishes his paper stopped, and all arrearages must be paid. ADVERTISING RATES: 5 cents per nonpareil line each Insertion. 13 lines In every Inch. Seven Inches in a col- umn, and two columns to the page. Nothing inserter! lor less than 2 5 cents. No "special rates," 5 cents per line is "net," "rock bottom." ••inside," '•spot cash" rate from which there is no deviation and no commission to agents. If you wish to use n lines or less space it win cost you 25 cents; loo lines, .fs.oO; lOiiO lines, $50.00. '•Trade" (other than cash) advertise- ments win be accepted by special arrangement only and at rates trom double to five times cash rates. Due Bills and Cards payable In advertis- ing will be honored only at regular rates in force at the date of Issuance of said bUl or card. Remittances Fhould be made by Draft, Express or Postofiice Money Order, Registered Letrer or Postal Note. Unused U.S. Postage Stamps of any denomination will be accepted for sums un- der one dallar. Mttke Money Orders and Drafts payable and address all subscriptions and com- munications to FUANlv H. LATTIN, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. •aajLLVH eSV13-aN0039 s 'NO^Q^vxv aoijjo isod 3h The Sandhill Crane Grus mexicana (Mull). Thisspecies is but little kuowa to the large majority of bird observers in the United States and next to not at all by 999 persons out of every 1,000— take them right through from ocean to ocean. The Sandhill Crane is so well known in some sections, more especial- ly west of the Mississippi river, and in the Southern States, that some readers may object to my assertion regarding the lack of abundance — but I think I'm. right in my opinion. There are prob- ably a million people in America who from poor judgment or no reasoning at all, call the Great Blue Heron the Sand- hill, and others who apply the name to most any long-legged bird. But these observers (?) belong to that class who call the Flicker a woodcock, a Skunk ai polecat and a Porcupine a hedgehog: — their opinion amounts to nothing. Once these birds were common where they are not known at the present day. For instance, the Sandhill was well known in my county (Kalamazoo) forty to fifty years ago. yet in nearlj' thirty years of observance I have not seen a single specimen. Like the Raven it has ceased to visit our county. What is the reason for this? It is not because we are too advanced in civili- zation, for if that is the reason, why should the birds still visit Shiwassee^ VanBureu, Berrien and Ingham coun- ties and within a few miles of the state Capital. Lansing.where a nest was found but a few years since. To be sure, civ- ilization affects all of our birds, and mostly to increase their numbers, par- ticularly with the Swallow species, I sincerely believe, but in the case of the Sauehill Crane, as with many other species, we must find some otherreason than the generally accepted one regard- ing the influences of civilization, to ac- count for the selected lines of migra- tion and for choice of breeding loca- tions. All the way from Northern Michigan, through Indiana, Ohio, Ken- tucky, Tennessee, Georgia and way south in Florida, I have made observa- tions, or received reports from reliable sources, and have arrived at the con- elusion that the Sandhills have exact routes of migration and are very ten- acious of their rights to old nesting haunts; often passing near too, or di- rectly over populous cities on their way to northern breeding grounds. There are many sections in the Great 34 THE OOLOGIST Lake Region where the birds are un- known, and have not been seen in the history of those parts, although the lo- calities offer the best of inducements in the lay of the land and water. Again we find them reported as common in other sections not far removed. In truth we may find this species a regular visitant to one county, 'end yet abso- lutely never seen in the adjoining coun- ties on the east and west. This same condition obtains to the South, whei-e from Southern Florida northward the birds are known or unknown as the case may be and often are within very narrow bounds. From the Indians, mainly half-breeds, but reliable, as to natural history topics, who live in the Lake Superior Region, I learned that these Cranes summered to the north -of the Great Lakes, and I have found them nesting nearly as far south as the 27th parallel in the Eastern part of Florida. Thus we find that the Sand- hill nests in the South or migrates north to breed, covering all of twenty- five degrees of latitude and much more than this according to some authori- ties. * In Indiana, Illinois and Michigan these Cranes nest in late May, while the eggs are deposited in Southern Florida in late February or March. The nest is a rudely constructed affair of coarse grass and weeds; is spread out and quite flat. Sometimes there is no nest, the eggs being laid upon the grassy covering of the marsh in a sim- ple hollow. The eggs, two in number, are huge, and I think surpassed in size in North America by Swan's eggs alone. They are of a light drab or grayish-buff, and are more or less covered with spots and blotches of brown. They ar*^ striking * There are several species of birds in Flor- ida which are found nesting? there as well as at the north, having a breeding range of latitude of over twenty degrees. Among them is the Great Blue Heron, which I have traced in jiestmg range from Southern Florida to Lake .Superior. in appearance and make beautiful ad- ditions to a collectoi''s cabinet. On one of my trips to Florida Ltouch- ed at a bnmmy little town on Indian River, named Fort Fierce. Noticing a cowboy with a couple of Crane's eggs I followed him into a saloon and saw him dispose of them for two drinks, the value of a quarter. Engaging the bar- tender in conversation I purchased the eggs at a small advance, and followed after the bull sticker, as the herders are called. The raising of cattle in Flor- ida is quite an industry, though it is not generally known at the north. The cattle range wildly over the grazing portions of the everglades from near Lake Okechobee, to the north and east. This cow puncher was an intelligent fel- low, and supplied me with much in. formation. He said that he often found eggs in the marshes and generally near the water; that two eggs were in nearly all the nests, but occasionally three. In my travels about the state, on that trip, and later, I found the Sandhill Crane quite generally distributed on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, as well as in the mai'shy interior. The nests were never more than flattened out piles of grass and the eggs were al- ways easily found when a nesting lo- cality was discovered, for the big, un- gainly birds could never hide them- selves. It is a common practice for the birds to fly about at a great height, appar- ently in sport. This occurs generally in the morning or evening, but the act is sometimes observed at mid-day. So high do the birds sometimes fly that they look like mere specks in the sky, yet their penetrating notes can be plainly heard at over a mile's distance. The notes which are something like the sound produced vipon a cracked bell are not agreeable when near by, but at a diatance sound well and once heard will never be forgotten, make pleasing pets. The young birds are excellent for the table, the old birds are THE OOLOGIST. 35 also eaten but I foi;nd the meat rather stringy, much like boiled beef, but coarser. This species is given to assembling in the mating season and going through peculiar antics, rather like the move- ments of the prairie hen, if I can make the comparison. These motions are called dancing and the meets are known as Crane balls. Once when on a tramp in Illinois, nearly a quarter of a century ago, I witnessed a ludicrous scene of this nature, and the perform- ance was the most entertaining that I have ever seen among our birds. Kalamazoo, Mich. Red-shouldered Hawk in Western New York. In my list of the Birds of Western New York (page 10 of the 2d edition) occurs the following in regard to this species: "The most common of our larger Hawks. Breeding in all suitable plac- es." This statement has been criticised and I wish to make a few explanations. In the constitution of the "Western New York Naturalists' Association" western New York is defined as the 13 western counties, east to, and includ- ing Wayne, Ontario and Steuben, and my list was intended to cover that ter- ritory. My own personal observations were all made in Monroe county up to the time of the 3d edition. I knew at that time that in Mr. Davison's "List of Ni- agara County Birds, etc.," this bird was not mentioned, also that Mr. Pos- son in his list of Orleans County Birds says "rare''' and mentions only one taken, but I certainly under-estimated the importance of these facts. Mr. Posson has kindly furnished me with additional quotations as follows, from Bergtold's "List of Birds of Buffalo, etc.," '■'occasional resident;^' from Lan- gille's "Our Birds in Their Haunts," "either rare or overlooked.'" Mr. Langille I believe confined most of his observa- tions to Niagara and the western por- tion of Orleans county. If I am right in this the territory is practically the same as given in lists of Messrs. Davison and Posson. Now go- ing eastward I have reported to me as follows: Town of Clarendon on eastern edge of Orleans county five sets of Red- shouldered and only one of Red-tail; town of Sweden, Monroe county, five sets of Red-shouldered, no mention of Red-tail; from town of Chili, Monroe county, nine sets of Red-shouldered and one set of Red-tailed. This cov- ered eight years' collecting. From On- tario county I have evidence of the oc- cui-rence of both species, but nothing to show which was most common. Last season I spent in the town of Gaines, Orleans Co., and did not see any Red-shouldered Hawks. Now is it not possible that we have here a fine exhibition of local distribution, one of these large Hawks prevailing in the ex- treme western counties replaced (in some localities almost entirely) by the other, in the eastern portion of our field. Of course, more evidence would be welcome, especially from Chautau- qua, Wayne and Livingstone counties. If this proves to be the case I would amend my list as follows: "Buteo lin- eatus. Common in the eastern coun- ties, very rare in the western ones." Respectfully submitted, Ernest H. Short. Red-headed Woodpecker. June 6, 1895. I went to a piece of woods near this place for a few sets of Red- headed Woodpecker [Melanerpes erythrocephalus). As I entered the woods I saw a hole in an old oak stub which looked suspicious, so I hit the stub with my -hatchet, when promptly a Red-head looked out and seeing me 86 THE OOLUGIST. left the tree. I went up and soon had the wood cut away so I could see the eggs. There were live of them, one of which was a runt and as they were somewhat incubated 1 took the runt and left the other four in the nest, think- ing Mrs. Red-head would finish incuba- tion. Then I went through the woods find- ing four more nests, one containing six fresh eggs, one in the rery top of a tall dead hickory with five fresh eggs, one with five newly hatched young and the other with only three badly incubated eggs. This took me about two hours, after which I was back at the first nest and not seeing the bird I concluded to go up and get the balance of the set. I was very much surprised when I reach- ed the nest for I saw only two eggs where I had left fo2ir only two hours before. After descending I searched carefully all arouud the tree for the fragments of the missing eggs but none could be found. So I left the woods and just as I had got into the field I heard Mrs. Red-head and looking ai'ound I saw her at the nest cavity. She looked in for several seconds, then walked around the tree, flew to a near- by tree then back looking in the nest again and even went to the ground looking for those eggs. I watched her for ten or fifteen minutes and then came home. When I left she was still at the nest. Now had she carried the missing eggs to another tree and come back for the others? The runt egg measured .82x.Gl in., while one of the normal ones measured .96X.75 in. Verdi Burtcii, Penn Yan, N. Y. has been a correspondent of C. L. Raw- son of this city for over 20 years. Mr. Rawson has presentation copies of his sumptuous work, Life Histories of North American Birds, and autograph copies of all his ornithological mono- graphs. He has also, among many oth- ers, eggs with Capt. Bendire's original data, sets of American Raven, White Pelican, Sage Cock, Mountain Partridge, Cactus Wren and Bendire's Thrasher, first collected and determined by the captain at Malheur Lake, Oregon, and at Rattlesnake Creek, Arizona. [The above clipping from a Norwich, Conn.. paper, falls into our hands just as the OoLOGiST is going to press and we trust that the information it conveys may be erroneous. Capt. Bendire's death at this time with his "Life Histories of North American Birds" unfinished, would be one of the heaviest blows dealt the advancement of American ornithology of the century.— Ed.] Well Known Oolog-ist Dead. Capt. Charles E. Bendire,'Curator in Oology in the National Museum, Wash- ington, D. C, whose death has just been announced at Jacksonville, Fla., Hotels and Summer Boarding Houses- The West Shore Railroad list of Hotels and Summer Boarding Houses for the season of 1897 is in course of prepara- tion. This list will embrace all the ho- tels and summer boarding houses on the lines of the West Shore, Wallkill Val- ley, Ulster & Delaware, Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain, Kaaterskiil, Catskill Mountain & Cairo andDelawax'e& Hud- son Railroads. In order that the list may be made as complete as possible, and that correct information may be given to those seek- ing summer homes; hotels, summer boai'ding and farm houses desiring sum- mer boarders are i-equested to address C. E. Lambert, General Passenger Agt., West Shore Railroad, 5 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, for blank form on which to give the desired information. No charge is made for representation in this list. The West Shore's book for 1897, en- titled "Summer Homes and Tours," will be the handsomest ever issued. The size of the book has been increased and elegant new half-tone cuts are now being engraved. It will be entirely re- newed throughout. THE OOLOGIST New and Second-hand BOOKS AT PRICES FOR /^ A CLT ANDFORjy[^p_QJjUA^H Starred (*) titles are secondhand copies, but as a rule the inside pages are "good as new." Many are practically new, but previous owners' name has been written within. The unstarred titles are for new books, which in a few instances the covers areslightly shelf- worn. Many volumes and sets cannot be duplicated— hence the necessity of sending your order ear- ly. When ordering always state whether you have a second choice, or whether you wish money refunded, in case books ordered have been sold. Many of the volumes offered in this list are taken from my private library and I ofler them for sale: First, because I need the room for other books, and Second, because I need the cash ;to purchase these "other books." Remit in most convenient manner, but do not send sums of 81.00 or over loose in your letter. All books are PREPAID at prices quoted. Address all orders plainly and in full to FRANK H. LATTIN, Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Ornithology and Oology. 35 8 10 8 10 6 30 36 A. O. U. Check -list, abridged edition (50). $ A. O. U. fCheck List of North American Birds. Last edition, cloth 2 00 Apgar, A., Pocket Key of the Birds of the Northern United States East of the Rocky Mountains (50) 45 Baird, S. P.; Brewer, T. M.; Ridgeway, Robert., A History of North Ameri- can Birds. The Land Birds, 3 vols. (30.00) 18 00 Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, Vol. I Vol. II Chamberlain, New and revised edition. Nuttall's Land, Game and Water Birds, colored plates and many illus- trations, 2 vols *Chapman, Frank M., Birds Found within Fifty Miles of New York City (50) Chapman, Frank M., A Handbook of the Birds of Eastern North America 2 85 Earl, Thos. M., Pets of the Household, Their Care in Health and Disease (50) 27 Goss, Col. N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas (7.50) 5 40 McIlwraith.Thomas, Birds of Ontario(2.00) 1 65 ♦Ridgway, Robt., Manual of North Amer- can Birds (7.50) _ 3 82 Stearns, AV. A., Bird Life in Labrador (75) 48 ♦Morris, Nests and Eggs of British Birds, 2 vols, 154 colored plates 8 64 Wilcox, Common Land Birds, of New En- gland 60 ♦Cooper's Ornithology of California. Land Birds 6 16 A. O. U. Supplement for '88 24 Beaton, Birds' Nests and Eggs, etc 32 Maynard's Birds of Eastern North Ameri- ca, 29 plates 7 40 Maynard, Birds of Eastern North Ameri- ca, 13 plates and 13 loose plates, 16 pages, text missing (18.00) _ 4 00 Maynard, Birds of Eastern North Ameri- ca. 296 pages of orginal 532, bound in card board covers, 3 plates 2 00 Eliot, List of Described Species of Hum- ming Birds 14 Barrow's, The English Sparrow in North America, 400pp 72 "■Brewer, North American Oology, Part I, 74 colored eggs _ 3 55 ♦Baird, Birds of North America 2 90 Ridgway, Catalogue of Old World Birds in National Museum 10 ♦Warren, Birds of Pennsylvania, 100 col- ored plates 3 60 Short, Birds of Western New York, '96 ed. 07 The Wilson Quarterly and Semi-Annual, the official organ of the Wilson Or- nithological Chapter. Six issues, viz: Vol. I, No. 2; Vol. IL Nos. 1 and 8; Vol. Ill, No. 1; Vol. IV, No. 1 and 2. Nearly 300 pages of valuable contributions to Ornithology (1.70) 72 Davie, "Methods in the Art of Taxidermy" ($10) 5 55 Shufeldt, M. D., R. W., "Scientific Taxid- ermy for Museums." 71 full page plates, 67 pages, text, unbound 1 10 Cook, A. J., Birds of Michigan. This copy Is the 1893 report of the Michigan Board of Agriculture which contains 526 pages and is bound in cloth, 165 of these pages, illustrated with 115 en- gravings, are devoted to the Birds of Michigan in addition to which and the annual report the following Bul- letins are alsopublished in the volume : "Vegetable Tests" 27 pages; "Spurry, Spergula arvensis" 6 pages;"Flat Pea, Lathy rus sUvestris, 5 pages; Fruit Notes and Spraying 17 pages; Potato Experiment, 59 pages; Honey Analy- sis, 13 pages; Inspection of Fertilizers, 12 pages: Locust and Horn Fly,6pages; Soils of Michigan, 13 pages; Eighty New Strawberries, 13 pages; Report of exhibit at Columbian Exposition, (Entomological, Botanical, Chemical, &c), 37 pages; Forestry, 21 pages 1 20 The Auk. Can furnish complete volumes for 1890, 1894, 1895, 1896, each 2 90 Can furnish following odd numbers, Oct., 1889: Apr., Oct., 1891; Jan., July, Oct., 1893; Jan., Apr., 1893; Jan., July. Oct., 1894; July, 1896, each at 50 Random Notes on Natural History, pub- lished by Southwick & Jencks, Prov- idence, R. I., in '84, '85 and '86, 3 vol.,36 No's, complete 4 00 VI THE OOLOGIST. Swiss Cross, a monthly magazine of the Agassiz Association, pub. in '87, '88, and '89, 5 vol., 30 No's, complete 4 00 Bulletin of the Nuttal Ornithological Club, (The Auks predecessor) very rare. Vols I, II and III ('76, '77, '78) bound in one volume 8 00 Jan. "81 50 Ornithologist and Oologist. Can furnish complete vols, and odd numbers of this popular and valuable magazine on ornithology as follows: 1885-86, (vols. X and XI), bound in one 3 50 1887-88 (vols XII and XIII) bound in one 3 50 1889 (XIV), 189J (XV). 1890 (XIV) finely bound separtely, per vol 2 25 Unbound volumes: Vol. VII 2 00 IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVII and XVIII, per vol 1 35 Vol. XV 1 15 Vol.XVI 100 Odd Numbers. Can furnish the follow- ing: May to Dec, 188d: Aug., 1883; Jan., Mav, Sept., 1884; Jan. to Aug.. Oct. to Dec, 1885; Jan, to Aug., Oct. to Dec, 1886; June, Sept., 1887; June, Sept., Oct., Nov.. 1888; Feb., Aug., Dec, 1889: Jan., Sept., Oct, Dec, 189.i; March, May, June, 1893, each S5 5for 1 00 lOorovereach 15 March, 1887; Jan. to May, July, Aug., 1888; Jan., Feb., May, July, Aug., Nov., Dec, 1890; April, July, Oct., Dec, 1891; Feb. to Aug., 189i; Jan.. Feb., July, 1893, each 15 4 for 50 lOorovereach 10 Jan.. Feb.. March. May, June, Aug., Sept.. Nov., 1891, each 10 Aug., Sept., Oct. (combined number)1893 35 The Nidiologist. Many issues of this val- uable journal are rare. Fill your gaps while you can. Can furnish the following nnmbers at quoted prices: Vol. I, No's 1, 3, 4, 10, 11 each.. 35 7, each 10 Vol. II, any issue 15 Vol. Ill, No's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. each 25 6, each 15 33^3 per cent. di?:count on orders tor back No's of ••Nid."' netting Jl or over. Can furnish Vols. II and III, complete. each 1 25 Ornithological and Natural History Publi- cations can furnish back No's of al- most anything published in America during the past 25 years. Write wants, Young Oologist, Vol. I and II, cloth bound 65 Oologist, Vol. Ill and IV, cloth bound 68 Vol. IX, 92, 300 pages, cloth bound 75 Thirty back numbers, issued from 1890 to 1896, inclusive, my selection 70 Oologist and Young Oologist. Eighty back numbers. All different. (4.U0). Lot prepaid only 1 40 Twenty back numbers issued prior to 1890, my selection, prepaid 45 Almost any back issue can be furnished. Send stamp for list and prices. Natural Science Ne\vs. Vol. I complete, 52 numbers, only six complete vols. left. Will send you one for only 100 Vol. II complete. 14 numbers, only 30 Complete your files. Will furnish No's 1 and 2 each at 10 All others, each 05 In lots of five or more, each 04 In lots of 10 or more, each tJ3 No's 1 and 2 are always per copy net 10 Taxidermy, Guides, &c. Ballard, H. H., Three Kingdoms, Hand- book of Agassiz Association (75) 65 Goodale's, Few Common Plants (20) 14 Hyatt's Sponges (29) , 16 Bowditch's Physiology (20) 13 Hornaday, W T., Taxidermy and Zoolog- ical Collecting (2..50) 2 25 Lattin. Frank H., The Oologists' Hand- book, 1885 (2,5) 18 The Standard Catalogue of North Amer- ican Birds Eggs. 1896 (25) 05 "Wood, Samuel C, The British Bird Pres- erver and Taxidermist (50[ 41 Hyatt's About Pebbles 10 Tassin, How to Collect Minerals 05 Bert, Primer and Scientific Knowledge 42 Standard American Stamp Catalogue, '94 (50) 32 • Davie, Naturalists' Manual 24 Naturalists' Directory of the U. S. and Canada. Nearlv 6000 classified names and address. Editionjjf '90 (2.00) 80 Edition of '95 (2.00) 1 00 International Directory. '95(2.50) 90 Mauder, Treasury of Natural History; or Dictionary of Zoology, 900 illustrat'ns 1 60 Microscopy. Manton, "W. P., Beginnings with the Mic- roscope (50) 40 ^■Wythe, The Microscopist; A Compen- dium of Microscopic Science (8.00) 3 96 Entomology. Comstock, J. H., A Manual for the Study of Insects, 800 fig 3 60 Eberhart, N. M , Elements of Entomology 30 Economic Entomology 30 Hyatt's Insects (1.25) 81 Manton, "W. P., Insects, How to Catch and How to Prepare for the Cabinet (50) .. . 36 *Packard, A. S., Guide to the Study of In- sects (5.00). Over 6U0 figs., a few have been cut out ; 2 60 Thomas, Synopsis of the Acrididce of No. America 1 98 Geology, M'neralogy, &c. Dana, E. S., Mineralogy and Petrography (2.00) $ 1 85 *Dana, Geological Story (1.1.5) 81 Dana, Minerals and How to Study Them.. 1 35 *Steele, J. D., 14 Weeks in Geology (l.CO)... 54 "Winchell, Ale.x., Geological Studies (2.50).. 1 71 *Hitchcock's Elementary Geology .54 Jordan's Elementary Crystallography, with sei'ies of nets, for the construc- tion of Crystals (1.50) 58 •Owen's Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and part of Nebras- ka, many plates, maps, etc 3 06 ♦Chamberlain, Geology of Eastern Wis- consin; Vol. II, 73-77 1 71 Botany. Burgers, J. T., P^nglish Wild Flowers 36 *"Wood, A., Object Lessons in Botany (1.17) 63 *Class Book of Botany (2.92) 1 81 THE OOLOGIST. *Gray Asa, School and Field Book of Bot- any (1.80) 1 22 Manual of Botany, rev. (1.62) 1 45 ♦Lessons and Manual, rev. (2.16) 1 22 Manton, W. P., Field Botany (50) .. 40 Apgar, Pocket Key to Trees 41 Zoology and Natural History. Buffon's Natural Historv For Children, Cloth and Gilt, 32 Colored Plates 45 Colton, Practical Zoology (90) 73 ♦Goldsmith's Natural History, ^800 pages, illustrated, sheep; '. 1 17 Heilprin, Angelo, Animal Life of Our Sea thore (1.25) 1 00 Jordan, D. S., Manual of the Vertebrate Animals of the Northern United States (3.50) 2 05 Manton, W. P., Primary Methods in Zool- ogy 41 Mivart, St. G., The Cat, A Study of Back- boned Animals (3.50) 2 74 Orton, Comparative Zoology, Structural and Systematic. 350 engravings 1 31 ♦Packard, A. S., Brief Course in Zoology .. 85 Stearns, W. A., Notes on the Natural His- tory of Labrador (1.00) 41 •Wood, J. G., Illustrated Natural History (1-25) 72 White's Natural History of Selbourne 86 Vol. ir, Letters 22 Ballard, World of Matter 95 Allen, Monograph of North American Pin- nipeds 2 93 Coues, Fur Bear Animals 1 80 . Living World, A popular Natural History devoted to Fish, Reptiles Insects, Birds, Mammals and Lower Inverte- brates. Over 1200 good, engravings— 3.50 of mammals, 300 of birds, &c, Over 700 pages, good type, good paper, ele- gantly bound in cloth and gilt, size, 8x10 in 2 24 Jordan, Science Sketches (1..50) 99 Bilby, Young Folks' Natural History 40 Merriam, Mammals of the Adirondack Kegion 2 79 Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burmah. Birds, 2 vols., 270cuts Moths, 1 vol., 330 cuts Mammals. 1 vol., 20Jcuts Fish, 2 vols , 340 cuts Reptiles and Batrachie, 1 vol., 140 cuts.. Seven volumes, 4,000 pages, 1.300 illus- trations - 18 00 Gill, Catalogue of the Fishes of the East Coast of North America 18 Burroughs, Riverby (1.2.5) 81 Blanford, Mammals of British India. Cey- lon and Burmah, 600 pages, 200 cuts 2 61 Fauna of Death Valley, Fxpedition. Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, Insects. Mollusks, Trees and Shrubs, Cactuses and Yuc- cas, Localities 1 26 *Tenney, Natural History. A Manual of Zoology, over 500 engravings 1 76 Penikese, The '23 issues of Natural Science News. This valuable serial on Agas- siz's famous summer school at Penik- ese Island, written by an eminent Professor who spent both seasons at the Island 50 Lydecker, Royal Natural History, 6 vol^, complete in 36 loose parts, profusly il- lustrated, many colored plates 13 50 Bailey, The Prairie Ground Squirrel or Spermophiles of the MississippiValley 76 Allen, The American Bison, living and extinct, maps and 12 plates 2 60 Conchology, &c. *Agassiz, E. C. & A., Seaside Studies in Natural History (3.00) 1 76 •Dana, Jas. D., Corals and Coral Islands (5.U0) 2 97 Pilsbry, H. A., The Manual of Conchology. Issued in 8vo form in quarterly parts. Each part contains 64 or more pages of letter press and 15 to 20 plates. Of Marine Univalves, 15 vols., 60 parts, have appeared Of Terrestial Mol- lusces, 9 vols.. 36 parts, have been pub- lished, completing Helix with Index. Fine edition, both colored and India- tinted plates, per part 8 OO Sample part of fine edition on "Tree Snails," cost $8.00 3 83 •Chenu, Manuel de Conchyliologie et de Paleontologie Conchyliologique, Vol. I— Univalves, 3707 tlgures 9 20 ♦W^oodward (& Tate), A Manual of the MoUusca 2 45 Clarke, Common Sea Weeds 36 Wood's Common Shells of the Sea Shore 45 Tryon, Strepomatidce, American Melan- ians, 838 figures 3 12 Hartman & Michner, The Molluscous Ani- mals and Their Shells, Chester Co., Penn., 200 figures and Glossary 1 OO Miscellaneous. •Agassiz, A Journey in Brazil 1 66 Livingstone's Explorations, Africa, and the Herald Stanley Expedition (1.75). . 86 Chute's Physics (1.2.5) 81 Sloan, Electric Toy Making (1.00) 54 Arithmetic of Electricity (1.00) 54 ♦Buell's World of Wonders, morocco 1 31 H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. TAXIDERMISTS' GUNS. "SSl^O' Pistols, Gun Cases, Shooting Shot Shells: also i;.1es'£ SPECIMEN HUNTERS. All kinds, all prices from $i:)3 to $25.00. List free. Write for' Taxidermist's free list. JAMES H. JOHNSTON, PITTSBURO. PA. Minerals and Indian Relics. 25 spec 25c 60 spec 50c 5 spec, Ixl'i in lf>c 10 spec, ixli4 in 25c 15 spec, IxlX in 35c 6 spec, 2x1^ in 25c 10 spec, 2x1 'A in 35c 13 arrowheads 30c Sent by mail prepaid. Labeled with name & locality. List free. ISAAC S. KIRK, Fremont, Chester Co. , Pa. via THE OOLOGIST. As Usual I have accumulated alot of damaged Egrgs and I list a few of the bargains I have for you now. They are not all smashed, but are mostly end-blown or with large hole in side, some cracked. Sent prepaid at prices given, if your order amounts to 35 cents. BaldEagle 40c Barred Owl 25 Great Horned Owl 30 Cooper's Hawk 05 American Woodcock 20 Chuck-wiU's-widow ao Whip-poor-will 25 Killdeer 04 American Coot 02 Cormorant 05 White Ibis 06 Black Guillemot 06 Audubon's Shearwater 15 Laughing Gull 08 Great Black-backed Gull 15 American Eider 10 Puffin 06 American Bittern ... ,. 12 Golden Plover ' 10 Collection of 10 varieties common and rare mixed, with flrst-class egg of King Rail, 35c. MAYNARD'S '*Eggsof N. A. Birds." Now that Davie'.s work is out of print, this is the only practical work at a reasonable price. Last edition, postpaid, $2. Climbing Irons. Best made with forged spur (same as "Lattin" always sold). Regular price SS-.W: prepaid $3.25. I now offer them at $2 at purchaser's ex- pense, or $2.60 prepaid. All strapped ready for use. Syringes. Just what you want for rinsing eggs. With glass instead of rubber reservoir, thereby en- abling you to see j ust what you have in syringe. Just as good as the hard rubber ones at 35c. Each one in a box, 20c prepaid. Parties sending money order may deduct price of same from the amount of their order. DonH send silver. Address, Krnest H. Short, Albion, N. Y. Sent Free! To any person interested in humane matters, or who loves animals, we will send free, upon application, a copy of the "ALLIANCE," the organ of this Society. In addition to its intensely in- teresting reading, it contains a list of the valuable and unusual premiums given by the paper. Address, The National Humane Alliance, 410-411 United Charities Building, New York. Iceland, Lapland, Spain. A large stock of Birds Eggs— last season's collecting has just arrived from the above lo- calities. Descriptive price-list sent free ui)on application. A. KRICHELDORFF, Naturalist, etc.. No. 535 Oranien-Strasse, Ber- lin, S., Germany. ¥ Spades, Hoes, Mauls. I have recently bought several large collec- tions of Stone Relics from high-class collec- tors and have a ''cream" stock of 15,000 pieces from many states, hundreds of them unusually fine form and perfect: many rare. Improve your cabinet. Among a stock as varied and fine as any ever offered by any dealer, are: 9 tine Spades 12 to 16V4 inches long. 12 " " 53^ to 113i inches long. 9 notched Hoes iK to 9i4 inches long. Points of above have a glassy polish from use. 45 Discoidals, biconcave, 1!^ to 6 inches diam- eter. 500 grooved Axes and Celts of finest form V4 to 10 pounds each. 75 Banner Stones, Gorgets, Amulets, etc. 30 Curious old Pipes. 25 Hematite Plummets and Axes, etc. Cup Stones, Balls. Pestles, Mortars, Bone Relics. Beads, Copper Relics, 5 to 9 inch Spear Heads, etc., Swedish and Irish Stone Relics. Arrow Heads -3000 splendid, 5000 fine, 5000 ordinary. 2000 3c to 5c each. 50 fine Drills. Many pretty forms in the tiny semi-precious stone points of Oregon, N. Mexico, and Arizona. Send stamp for price list— "Our Extra." Separate catalog of 100,000 specimens of fine Minerals and Fossils. Hundreds of Relics of Western Indians, Alas- kans and South Sea Islanders. L. W. STIL\VELL, DEADWOOD, (Black Hills), S. DAK. Sea Shells From the Florida Coast. If you desire to buy Shells in large or small quantities you will save money by wrilint? for my price list before buy- ing elsew here. I am selling Shells very cheap and will send twenty spkcimens, AS SAMI'I>ES, PREPAID ON RECEIPT OF ONE DOLLAR. Reference, Postmaster, Dunedin, Florida Address all orders A. J. BARNES, DUNEDIN, FLORIDA. VOL. XIV. NO. 4. ALBION, N. Y., APRIL, 1897. Whole No. 131 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special anuouucements, "Wants,' " Exchanges" "For Sales," Inserted In this department for 25c per -in words. Notices over 25 words, charged at the rate ot one-half cent per each additional word. No notice Inserted for less than 25c.' Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted In payment at ohe-third list rates. "PERIODICALS that Pay Contributors," by Elanor Kirk, new, cloth, price $1 for value in cartilape knives or scissors. A. B. PARN- HAM, Benning, D. C. WANTED. — Snow Shoes or Moccasins will pay cash or exchange birds eggs. All letters answered. Address, GEORG E TAGGaRT, JR., Odebolt, Sac Co., Iowa. TO EXCHANGE.— A Chamber's Encyclope- dia ($25 edition of 1878) lor a shot gun, either breech or muzzle loading. T. ATHEL BON- SER, Carey, O. IF YOU desire sets of ducks eggs accompan- ied by their nests ot down, place an advance order and receive nests gratis. List for stamp. EDWIN S. BRYANT, Grand Harbor, N. Dak. BOOK your orders now for sets of Canada Geese and Ferrnginous Rough-legged Hawk. Hitherto demind has exceeded supply. List of expected "tak^fe" for stamp. EDVVIN S. BRYANT, Grand Harbor, N. Dak. MAMMAL Skins, Bird Skins, Gila Monsters, Nests, Eggs, etc. Ten species Cactus, $1.50. I make a specialty of supplying i^rlvate collec- tions and museums with species peculiar to the Southwest. Write me what you want. Prices reasonable. GEO. F. BRENINGER, Phoenix, Arizona. a2t WANTED.— Lever and job printing presses and outfits, immediately. State size, condi- tion and lowest cash price. PRINTERS SUP- PLY CO. , G alesburg. 111. TO EXCHANGE.— Our "Automatic Adver- tising Album" made by Cheney & Co., Chicago. I have secured $50.0iJ in advertisements with it in three hours. Will exchange for Mandolin, Guitur or anything useful. A. C. BLACK, Photographer, Bellefontaiue, Ohio. HAVE you heard that Dr. Coues has become associated with The Ospi-ey'! That's another reson why you should take The Osprey. AH the Osprerj pictures are, but those in our last number are some of the llnest ever published. Every wideawake bird man wants The Osprey. Address, THE OSPREY CO., CI North Prairie St.. Galesburg, 111. DAVIE'S KEY, $1; Langille's Our Birds iH Their Haunts, $1.60; English Sparrow, 40c; Kingdom of Natui-e, $1.50; repeating rifles, re- volvers, pggs cheap. List for stamp. C. B. VANDERCOOK, Odin, 111. TO EXCHANGE.— Fine collection of Indian Relics, of about 4000 specimens. Photo Camer- as, Crooks-tube, will exchange for fine lap- dogs, mounted specimens or will sell lor cash at a bargain. A. C. BLACK, Photographer, Bellefontaine, Ohio. MOUNTED Bird :— First-class specimens of Hawks, Owls, or small birds to exchange for common eggs in sets or singles. Send list of what you have or want. Also showy shells to exchange for eggs. CHAS. K. REED, Worces- ter, Mass. WANTED.— Everyone that is in need of first- class Taxidermist's or Egg tools to send 4 cent stamp for my latest catalogue. Full line of A 1 supplies. CHAS. K. REED. Worcester, Mass. f6t FOR SALE or Exchange.— Strictly first-class sets of eggs such as Hooded Warblers. A 'Al calibre revolvers and good pair of Opera Glasses. Send stamp for full list and descrip- tion. R. P. SMITH WICK, Merry Hill, Bertie Co.,N. C. NOTICE.— Live Oologists send for cuts and prices of my new Oologists Instrument; does not "blow" your brains out, cleans the egg quickly, saves rare incubated sets and dispen- ses with blow-pipes, hooks, scissors, pinchers, &c. RUSSELL KENNEDY, New Castle, Pa. I HAVE for exchange a complete set (13 Vols.) ot Pacific Rail Road Reports also back num- bers of over one hundred Natural History pub- lications. SHELLEY W. DENTON, Welles- ley. Mass. WANTED.— A Bicycle, Will give in ex- change Marine Shells, Bird Skins and a part cash. W. L. HACKNEY, Seven Oaks, Fla. ONE hundred varieties of Ohio woods to ex- change for Foreign or domestic varieties not in my collection. Z. T. SMITH, Upper Sandus- ky, Wyandot Co., Ohio. iiof(o^ THE OOLOGIST. WANTED.— Live Progs, Snakes.Lizards and all kinds of Batrachlans— wcx" toads. Let me know what you have and I will send price list. Correspondendence solicited. RUSSELL NEVILLE, Kewanee, 111. SOUTHERN EGGS in sets for exchange for desirable sets and singles. Choice sets with data for sale cheap. "Listof Birds of Georgia" for stamp. DR. M. T. CHECKLY, 457 Greene St. , Augusta, Ga. a2t 1.5 Varieties Western birds $1 ; mounted birds without stands 30c each all postpaid. Also birds to exchange for stamp. F. T. CORLESS, Logan, Oregon. , FOR SALE.— California Curiosity Sugar Pine Cone, 16 inches long and 8 inches in circumfer- ence, 3.5c. and a present included with it, post- paid. D. LEVERING, Jonca, Mo. FOR EXCHANGE.— Two collections of desir- able Birds Eggs, each containing 160 species, and valued at $35. One of the collections con- tains 60 European specimens. I wish to ex- change for Ancient Indian Relios. I also have a $10 Sun typewriter to exchange for rare old U. S. stamps. D. LEVERING, Jonca, Mo. EXCHANGE.— Gold-filled, Nickel or Silver Watches of any kind, for perfect skins of Ivory- billed Woodpecker or Carolina Paroquet. W. S. TOWNSEND, Jeweler, Perry, Oklahoma. BOTANICAL Specimens.— I am prepared to collect to order any plants of this region. Write for written list. No cards; no exchanges. H. M. HALL, 399, First St., Riverside, Cal. WILL EXCHANGE 1893 Vol. Youths Com- panion lacking three numbers for Vol. I Natur- al Science Neivs or offer. H. T. MUZZY, 226 Broadway. Paterson, N. J. TO EXCHANGE.— Geological specimens and U. S. Postage Stamps for birds eggs, either singles or in sets. Fossils are Pentamerous, Trimerella. Gasteropods, etc, T, ATHEL, BONSER, Carey, O. WANTED.— Oologist instruments will give in exchange Kombi, Gray's School and Field Botany. Report of State Commissioners of Fisheries, Pa. Address, J. J. MATHER, Ven- ango, Pa. a2t EGGS— For hatching, from high scoring White Plymouth Rock fowls that won first, second and third prizes at the Utica, N. Y., show 1897, competing with forty-two other bird.s, entered by leading breeders of this var- iety. Prices reasonable for quality. A few fine cockerals to spare. Will exchange eggs or cockerels for sets of birds eggs, such as I may desire. Correspondence solicited. All letters answered. W. J. B. WILLIAMS, Holland Pat- ent, N. Y. " WANTED. -Correspondence with Oologists in vicinity of Western New York with reference to exchanging eggs, visits, letters, etc., ad- dress D. R. CLARKSON, No. 421 Hoyt St., Buf- falo, N. Y. I HAVE the following first-class sets with data. Sell at half price. Exchange for flrst- cla.ss sets, 368^i, 37,513, 417i/^. and others. H. S. SOWERS. St. Francisville, Mo. HYPNOTISM taught by mail.— Terms reas- onable and desirable Ornithological books or natural history specimens taken in payment. ISADOR S. TROSTLER. 4246 Faruum St., Omaha, Neb. A NICE Collection should be neatly labelled.. I furnish all kinds on good paper cheap. Egg, 15c per 100 small, 2.5c per 100 large. Fossil 10c per 100. All kinds, any style wanted. Send copy for price. Mention Oologist. D. H. EATON, Woburn, Mass. COLLECTORS.— I can collect insects cheap for eggs or cash. Many rare, large and beau- tiful Beetles for eggs, to any person. Write to R. H. SMITHWICK, Merry Hill, BertieCo.,N.C. I WILL exchange mounted specimens and birds eggs, also birds and mammals in the meat for curios, relics, stamps, books, etc. A. V. DWORK, Seneca, Kansas. NOTICE.— .500 unnamed and iinmounted Beetles, for flO worth of bird eggs in sets. Write, sending list of eggs. I can help you collect beetles. R P. SMITHWICK, Merry Hill, Bertie Co., N. C. WANTED.— The first 9 vols, of the Young Oologist and Oologist. State condition and lowest cash price. J. H. CLARK, Paterson, N. J. TO EXCHANGE.-Complete file Natural Science Sens and "Whitely Exerciser," little used (cost 13. .50). Either or both for first-class eges in sets with data. F. C. WHITE, 49 Ox- ford St., Cambridge, Mass. COINS.— About 80 in number. Some good ones, for best offer in eggs, or back volumes of Oologist. OTTO HOLSTEIN, Paris, Ky. FIRST-CLASS translation from French, German and Spanish or vice versa made at reasonable rates. Lessons given by mail. JOHN S. DURLAND, Centralia, Kansas. TO EXCHANGE.— Want a high-grade banjo. Can offer in exchange fine sets; also "eggs to ex- Change. Nothing but A No. 1 eggs sent or re- ceived. All letters answered. Address, D. R. WALLACE, 2820 Poppleton, Omaha, Neb. WANTED at once, the name and address of every Ornithologist and Oologist, now or for- merly in western half of Pennsylvania. Cor- respondence will be mutually helpful. W. E. CLYDE TODD, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. DURING the coming season I desire to pur- chase for cash any quantity of first-class sets- of eggs of the following species : Loon, Whoop- ing and Sandhill Crane, Swallow-tail and White-tail Kites, Sharp-shinned and Broad- winged Hawks, American and Ferruginous Rough-leg, Golden and Bald Eagles. Prairie Falcon. Duck Hawk. Pigeon Hawk, Whip-poor will. Chuck- wills-widow, Parauque, and any rare species new to my collection. Parties will do well to correspond with me in reference to this notice as I mean business. Above must be A 1 in all respects and with full data. Also desire back numbers the Auk and Ornithologist and Oologist. Parties having series of sets of any of the following species to offer in exchange will do well to correspond with me as I desire a large number of each and will offer choice sets from my private series in exchange for them. I desire the following: Bluebird, Wil- son's and Wood Thrushes, Cal Bush Tit.Brown Thrasher, Catbird, Robin. Chestnut-sided War- bler, Yellow Warbler. Cedar Bird, Chippy, Song Sparrow, Sparrow Hawk, and long list of others, both common and rare. All must be very choice in preparation and have full data, r. W. CRANDALL, Woodstde, Queens Co., N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. iii BIRD MOVEMENT CHARTS.-Card system. "INDICO" Check-list.— How often are valua' (One card for each species.) Any movement of ble moments wasted, a search for the A. O. U any species, for any time, during five years, U. number of some well-known bird ! Now, a found in a moment. Entire i-ecord ao a glance. little pack of index cards will save all this Better .still. Obverse of card duplicates Agr. trouble. Price 35c per set. Order at once, or Dept. Reports. Spring and Pall movements not at all. P. B. PEABODY, St. Vincent, Minn, for each year in parallel lines. Any record out M3t of three hundred, say, on report, found in ten seconds. Much time and annoyance saved. WANTED.— To get a few mounted speei- Samples, two cent stamp. Per hundred, 76c. mens of common New England birds cheap Address, P. B. PEABODY, St. Vincent, Minn. Send stamp for mv list, and also your price for M3t same. GEORGE ROBERTS, JR., No. 63 Wash- EXCHANGE,— Stamps and eggs in sets and ington St.. Hartford, Conn. singles with data for sets and U.S. stamps. FOR SALE.-Collection 38 choice .sets, as ^i^xT^/^K ^,?^®T^^ one half rates. H. A. TIL- ],8i.5, 126 1-3.218 1-8, 219 1-7, 416 1-2, 4-^Oc 1-2, Uihss, UDerim, Kansas. 409 ^.o, 477a 1-3. First-class with complete da- VILLAGE LOTS to exchange for old postage ^^r^HAM p'^S" ofawef C Saines^Ue' F^if °- and revenue stamps collection, or fancy pou- ^kamam, f. u. ura-wer o, L,amesviiie, b la. itry— Buff breed pjeferred. Write to E. J. „. ^ , ■. KIRBY, Marshall, Mich. Ripans Tabules cure nausea. THOUSANDS OF OLD BOOKS Have accumulated in the libraries of our public institutions, and those of prominent public men, both in duplicate and otherwise. They cost them nothing and oft-times are valued accordingly. They are, however, both valued and desired by specialists and parties interested. Perhaps you or your friends may have some of the identical volumes which I desire, crowding library shelves or stowed away in garrets, doing nobody any good; but had I them I would not only appreciate them but might know of a dozen others who would do likewise. Look over my list of wants and if you have anything I desire or others write me, stating what you wish in exchange, and perhaps we can arrange an exchange which will be advantageous to each. I will exchange for single vol- umes—but the larger the exchange the better. I WANT Government and State Reports:— Annual Reports and Bulletins of U. S. Geological Survey, with F. V. Hayden in charge. Reports of Wheelers's U. S. Geological Surveys W. of the lOOth Meridian. Reports of King's U. S. Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. Annual Re- ports of Bureau of Ethnology. Annual Reports of U. S. Geological Survey. Natural History of New York. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. U. S. Reports on Entomology. Botany:- Any of Gray's or Wood's Text-Books and Publications. Lesquereaux & James, "Mosses." Tuckerman's "Lichens." Goodale's "Wild Flowers." Hervey's "Sea Mosses." Sar- gent's "Silva of N. A." Hough's "Am. Woods." Geologry, IHineralogy anil ralaeontology:— Any of Dana's, Winchell'g, Miller's or Geikie's Works. Conchologfy:- Any of Tryon's, Sowerby's. Gill's or Woodward's Works. Entomology:— Any of Packard's, Wesiwood's or Comstock's Books. Any of Maynard's, Edward's or Scudder's Works on "Butterflies." Ornithology, Oology and Xaxivant clioice Birds Kggs in Sets witli data; A ^o. t Mounted Birds and Reptiles; A Good Microscope; Indian Relics, and choice col- lections of I.T. ii*. or Koreign Stamps or Coins or oilers. I CAN OFFER IN EXCHANGE New $1.5 Field Glass; '96 Harvard Bicycle; No. 2 ($32.50) Kodak, new; 2:i vols. Harpers in patent binders; New set of Encyclopaedia Brittanica; Set Johnson's Encyclopaedia. Morocco bound; Rand and McNally's f2.i Business Atlas; New Yale Surgical Chair; New Gould Dental Chair; $2.5 Relief Map of U. S.; New SnOO Upright Piano; $.50 Mineral Collection; $1000 worth of -Surplus" Stock as offered in --Naturai. Science News" (copy for stamp) of April. '96 consisting of Min- erals, Fossils, Shells, Land and Marine Curios, Mexican Goods, Novelties, etc., etc.; 7 foot Shark from the Plant R. R. Systems Exhibit at the Atlanta Exposition. Select Disarticulate Human one-half skeleton; Skeleton of Monkey; "Fauna of British India, Cevlon and Burraah," 7 vol., 40C0 pp. 1300 illus.; Jeancon's "Atlas of Pathological Anatomy" cost $36.7.5; a $4.5 Roll top Black Walnut Desk, good as new, 1.50 acres of Land near Vineland, N. J. I will sell anything I offer for exchange cheap for cash. Exchanges under $5 not solicited except for choice material or desirable books. Address, KRAT^iK H. I^AXXIIV, Publisher of the Oologist, AL,BI03;, :n. Y. IV THE OOLOGIST. NASALENE POSITIVE CURE FOR Cold in the Head, Hay Fever, Catarrh, Deafness. $ioo R.E"WARD for every case of Ca- tarrh or Deafness (caused by Catarrh) which we cannot cure with Nasalene, when used ac- cording to directions. Sold by all flrst-class druggists or by mail at 25 cents. Sample box 10 cents. The profuse discharge of mucus from the nose, the dropping of mucus from the nostrils into the throat, the accumulation of mucus and the constant inclination to hawk and ex- pectorate, is arrested by the timely use of Nas- alene. Office of the A gent- Warden / Sing Sing Prison. f Dec. 12, 1895. Hunter Medical Co. Gentlemen: — I have use your "Nasalene"and I find it very beneficial. I take pleasure in recommending it. Yours truly, O. V. Sage, Agent-Warden. HUNTER MEDICAL CO., 54 E. 13 St., NEW-YORK CITY. FOLDS We have some com- pound Folds in rock, and a few Banded Sandstone Faults, both very interesting to Geologists, and a quantity of polished material for sale. We make a specialty of cutting and polishing cab- inet material at our Steam Lapidary Shop. John G. Buxton, Mile Centre, N. Y. H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. ILilllJCDAIC SHELLS, etc. The White IVIIIlLnALd City Collections. 50 fine cabi- net specimens. $3. 50 smaller size, $2. 50 ama- teur size, $1. Printed name and locality with each specimen. .50 Shells, Corals, and Marine Specimens, only S3. 100 Fossils, including fine Fish, Trilobite, Crinoids, Corals, Sponges, several fine Ferns, etc., only $8. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to $1, very showy. Taxidermy in all its branches at reasonable prices. Illustrated catalogue by mail, 10c. J.M.WIERS, Natural- ists Agency, 357 W. VanBuren St., Chicago, 111. FRANK B. ARMSTRONG, TAXIDERMIST, and Collector and Dealer in Bird and Mammal Skins, Birds Eggs in fine sets, Mounted Birds and Animals. BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS. Robert Burnham, DEALER IN Precious Stones, Opals, Curios and Fine Minerals. Cutting and Polishing Agates and Gem Stones, and setting the same in solid gold settings a specialty. 15 Chestnut St., Providence, R.I. PRICE LIST OF GEMS. OPALS. Australian .50c to $10 00 per kt. Hungarian " " 50.00 " '• Mexican 10c " 20.00 " " Opal Scarf Pins set in Solid Gold in four siz- es, as follows : 75c., 81. '25, 52.50, $3 50. STUDS. Screw or Separate Backs, $1.00 to $3.00. Clus- ters to order. EAR-RINGS, $2.00 to $5.00. RINGS, ETC., SET TO ORDER. Prices on application for special settings or extra tine stones. AMETHYST, TOPAZ, MOONSTONE, BLOODSTONE, AGATE, CROCIDOLITE, &c. In all forms and sizes for Rings, Pins, Charms, 10c to $5.00. Tourmaline .Wo to $15.00 per kt. Aquamarine 50c " 5.00 '• " BIRTHDAY GEMS SET IN ANY DESIRED STYLE. JANUARY. Garnet Constancy or Fidelity FEBRUARY. Amethyst or Pearl Fidelity MARCH. Hyacinth or Bloodstone. .Courage, Presence of [Mind APRIL. Diamond Innocence MAY. Emerald Success in Life JUNE.. Agate or Cat's-eye Health and Long Life JULY. Coral or Ruby Contented Mind AUGUST. Sardonyx or Moonstone Conjugal Felicity SEPTEMBER. Crysolite or Sapphire Antidote againstMadness OCTOBER. Opal H?pe NOVEMBER. Topaz Fidelity DECEMBER. Turquoise Prosperity Having a large stock on hand, I will, for a short time, sell 20 lbs. of good Minerals for $1. One to forty kinds as you want them, large or small. The OoLOGiST. VOL. XIV. NO. 4 ALBION, N. y., APRIL, 1897. Whole No. 131 The Late Major Charles E. Bendire. Major Charles E. Bendire, U. S. A., Honoriiry Curator of the Department of Ooliif/y in the U.S. National Museum. died at Jacksonville, Fla., Feb 4, lf^97, of Bright's disease. Weary of contine- meut indoors he went to Florida in hope of tinding a milder climate where he might sit outside to enjoy the fresh air and watch the trees and birds — a hope that was not realized, for he died five days after leaving Washington. Major Bendire was born in Hesse Darmstadt, German}, April 27, 1836. He was a relative of Weyprecht and Payer, the Austrian Arctic explorers From The Oftprey. who discovered and named Franz Josef Land. He came to this country in 1852, and in June, 1854, enlisted as a private in Company D of the 1st Dragoons, U. S. Army. During the next ten years he was promoted to Sergeant, and served as Hospital Steward in the 4th Cavalry. In 1864 he was transferred to the 1st Cavalry and promoted to 2d, and soon to 1st Lieutenant In February, 1873, he attained the rank of Captain, and in April, 1886, was retired on account of ati injury to the knee. In February, 1890, he was breveted Major for gallant fiervices rendered on Sept 13, 1877, in tighting the IndiauH at Canon Creeks 58 THE OOLOGIST. Montana— an illustration of the subse- -quentness of glory in the army! During his long period of service as an army officer he was stationed at a number of the most remote and inac- cessible posts in the West, among which may be mentioned Cantonment Burg- wyn, in New Mexico; Forts Bowie, McDowell, Wallen, Lowell and Whip- ple, in Arizona; Bidwell and Independ- ence (the latter in Owens Valley,) in California; Harney and Klamath, in Oregon; Vancouver and Walla Walla, in Washington; Boise and Lapwai, in Idaho, and Custer, in Montana. And it should be remembered that his ser- vice at most of these posts antedated the the construction of the transcontin- ental railroads which now traverse the States and Territories in which most of them are located. Bendire was a man of energy, perse- verance and courage, and in our Indian wars naturally took a prominent part. This part was sometimes that of a dread- ed foe who followed them relentlessly over mountain and desert and penetrat- ed their- most distant retreats; some- times that of a peace maker, as when in the midst of the bloody Apache war he boldly visited the camp of Cochise, the celebrated Apache chief, and induc- ed him to abandon the war path. He treated the Indians, as he did everyone else, with perfect frankness and fair- ness, and never deceived them. They were not long in learning that they could rely absolutely on his word, which gave him a postive advantage in all his dealings with them, for they al- ways respected him and when not at war liked him. Aside from his movements in the field in connection with Indian wars, he led a number of expeditions for oth- er purposes, such as laying out roads, surveying routes for telegraph lines, and exploring unknown country — as when he crossed the Death Valley in 1867, and exploited the deserts of south- central Nevada as far east as Pahrana- gat Valley. No other American Nat- uralist in modern times has spent half so much time in the field as Bendire, and his voluminous note books attest the accuracy and range of his observa- tions. It is hard work to say just when Ben- dire's scientific work began, or even exactly when he commenced making his famous collection of birds' eggs, though it is certain that he was collect- eng in 1870. Like many other army of- ficers stationed in the West, he sent Professor Baird from time to time nat- ural history specimens and notes. When stationed at St. Louis he became an intimate friend of the eminent bot- anist, Dr. George Engelmann, to whose herbarium he was a valued contributor. His earliest published writings are in ths form of letters to well-known naturalists, chiefly Allen, Baird and Brewer. J'he first volume of the Bul- letin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club (1876) contains several such letters, published by J, A. Allen. In 1877 he published an important paper on the Birds of Southeastern Oregon, based on three years' field work in the region around Fort Harney. In all, he has written about fifty papers, most of which relate to birds and their eggs, though several treat of mammals and fishes. But the work which will carry his name and fame to future gen- erations is his "Life Histories of North American Birds," of which the second volume was reviewed Science not long ago (N. S. Vol, IV, No.96, Oct. 30, 1896, pp. 657-658.) It is a calamity to the science of ornithology, for which he was in no way responsible, that the re- maining volumes of this great work, which contains more original informa- tion on the habits of our birds than any other since the time of Audubon, Wil- son and Nuttall, were not made ready for publication. In his personal life Bendire was a THE OOLOGIST. 39 man of simple habits and unusual frank- ness. He had. an inborn aversion for all kinds of circumlocution and insin- cerity, and was himself a model of directness and truthfulness. He was generous, kind hearted and ever ready to help others, no matter at how much personal inconvenience, if he believed them worthy. He had a large number of correspondents in all parts of the ■country who considered it a privilege to contribute notes and specimens for his use. These and many others will mourn his loss, but none so deeply as the small coterie who were so fortunate as to be numbered among his intimate personal friends. — C. Hart Merrian, in "Science.''' Tyrant Flycatchers in New England. There is probably no one family of birds, that gives the ornithologist as much trouble as the Flycatchers. Most of the species are of about ihe same size, and their colors mostly neutral — olive and white that is more or less pure, with occasional small and often indistinct spots of some brighter color; as the small spot ot red on the King- bird's crown for instance. But they are Flycatchers, not tly- hunters, audit is the insect on the wing, not the crawling slug in the dirt, that concerns them, and constitutes their food. The very name suggests a lively time and it is hard to find one that is lazy, no matter how quiet it may be — and the latter, by the way is a very prevalent trait. Nevertheless they are very neat in appeai'ance, except per- hajjs for the slight erectile crest, that is so prevalent among the family and which often gives them a dishevelled appearance. There are only five of this species that might be called common in New Eng- land, viz: Least and Greated-crested Flycatcher, Kingbird, Phccbe and Wood Pewee; and it is these live only that I shall have to do with. There are, how- ever, twelve species in all, common, in one sense, to New England; three of these are only stragglers from the west and south; and the other four are only occasional visitors which resemble other well known kinds. The most common of this latter class is the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. The Wood Pewee [Go7itopus virens) is found chiefly m woods, either dry or swampy; it prefers shade to sunshine, and tall trees to scrubby ones. Although it is often seen in orchards, it is gener- ally one of that kind which is not taken care of and consequently attracts more insects on which it may live. In the evening it is likely to be found in the neighborhood of ponds and lakes. When once discovered, it may be easily studied, owing to its h^bit of returning to the same place at about the same time day after day. It has tne regular Flycatcher habit of capturing its prey. Selecting some post of observation, usually in this case from ten to forty feet from the ground, the Pewee sits and watches for any passing insect, and sighting it, glides gracefully downward, seizes the insect, and then returns to its post to wait for another, with a graceful upward curve. Oftentimes it sails leisurely into the air, and with outspread wings and an up- ward toss of the head, will sing as lazily as it can utter the syllables, the notes pee-wee; this is often shortened to pee-u. It sings especially in the early morn- ing and late evening, often when it is quite dark. In the neighborhood of New York, its song ceases at any time between the end of July and the end of August, although occasional songs are heard in September. After the young have left the nest, the old birds separate, and though still fre- quenting the same localities they inhab- ited during the breeding season, yet they are seldom seen together, each seeming to avoid the other. They are 40 rHE UOI.OGIST. generally silent, and when approached are quite shy. The Least Flycatcher {Empidonax minimus), or as it is called from its note chebic, is the smallest of all the Hy- catchers that can be found in New Eng- land, either as visitors or stragglers. Its average length is about five inches, but often a little less. Its home is in orchards or on the edge of woodland, especially those composed of birch, maple or beeches. Dr. Coues says: "It is not ordinarily found in gloomy woods, nor even in heavy tim- ber of any kind." When it has selected its home for the summer it often con- tines itself with some closeness to a sin- gle group of trees. The C/te66C has all the ordinary Fly- catcher habits, such as tlirting the tail, scolding in a harsh, unmusical voice, and dashing into the air to catch a Hy- ing insect. Its song note is a loud, em- phatic but unmusical cry, closely re- sembling the syllables chebic; it is often written as cndit and settnek. Mr. Nuttall states, and he is the only one that I ever heard of who did, that the Chebic has a quarrelsome disposi- tion, and he has seen them molest other smaller birds. But I have never seen them molest the Summer Yellowbird {Dendroica cestiva) or Chipping Spar- row even when they nested in the same clump, or even in the same tree, as is often the case. A true-born tighter is the Kingbird {Tt/rannus tyrannus); and its special enemy seems to be the Crow. It al- ways rises above its foe, and drops up- on its back, "attacking it with both beak and claws, until the unlucky in- truder makes off with ludicrous conster- nation." Not long ago I owned a very young Crow, and one day I was attract- ed by hearing a loud noise from it. Turning round, I saw my Crow sitting on the ground, with a Kingbird Hying about it, and now and then darting down at it, as if pecking at it with its beak. I drove it away two or three times, l)ut as it seemed ill disposed to leave, I tinally had to take the Crow in- doors, for fear of its being hurt The Purple Martin is said to be the implacable enemy of the Kingbird, and one of the few birds with which the lat- ter maintains an unequal contest. It& superiority in flight gives the former great advantages, and its equal courage and strength render it more than a. match. Audubon relates an instance in which the Kingbird was killed in one of these struggles. Parkhurst notes that in bathing it Hies from its perch directly into the water, generally a small stream, dashes the water over its back and returns to its perch, repeating the performance seTeral times. '"It is perhaps this hab- it," he writes, "which has given rise ta the unfounded idea that it feeds upon small tishes." Before closing with the Kingbird, I can do no better than to quote from Mr. C. C. Abbott, in his book, "Bird- Land Echoes." He writes, "Very dif ferent is the Wood Pewee's cousin, the doughty Kingbird. Here we have a Flycatcher that is uot retiring in its dis- position; a bird of the open air; one that feels that it has a right in the world, and has the courage of its con- victions. A lively bird that mostly squeaks, if moved to express itself, though it can sing in a humble way, it is said; but it makes amends for all vo- cal deficiencies by an exhibition of all the excellent qualities of bird-nature. A little too quarrelsome, perhaps; cer- tainly so in the minds of Crows and the larger hawks, but from our standpoint, this is a source of amusement, we not being directly interested. * • * * There is little danger of exaggeration in speaking of the Kingbird. It looks, all that it is, and is all that it looks. It has a fancy for the open fields, and does not forget them when confined to a tree at nesting time. It likes the broad out- THE UOLOGIST. 41 look and the easy life it may then lead, whether chasing beetles in the sunshine or swinging on a bending mullein stalk." The Phoebe or Pewit {Snyornisphcebe) is the most familiar of the family. Its comparatively fearless disposition and chai'acteristic habits render it so. It frequents somewhat open ground, where insects are abundant, generally near a pond or stream; where, '-perching on the branch of an overhanging tree, or on the railing of a bridge, or darting about in dilTerent directions, it busies itself through the day in catching the insects that swarm in myriads in such localities." Its note is rather harsh and querulous, resembling the word phce-be; the first syllable is smooth, the second rough and broken. Besiiles this common call- note, they are said to have during the love-season "a low twittering song with which they entertain their mates, but which is heard only when the birds are in company, and then only for a brief season." Last but least, since it is the largest of the whole family, comes the Great- crested Flycatcher [Myiarchus crinitus). It is a rather rare and local bird; and both for this reason, and also because it leads a "wild, sky, and solitary life," is less often seen than the more abun- dant members of the same family. It is much oftener heard than seen; being at once recognized by its charactei-istic notes— one a harsh outcry of one syll- able, in a high key; and others sounded in a guttural tone two or three times. It is said that this nearly cr quite fails in July or early August, and the note is then single, faint, and somewhat mourn- ful. Opions seem to diflfer concerning its being quarrelsome. All who say any- thing about it admit that it is just as brave in defending its nest as the rest; but some say that it does not seem to always have a quarrel on hand, like its cousin the Kingbird; while others say that it does, and has many of the pecul- iarities of that bird. As for myself, I favor the former opinion; but as the Great-crested is to me the favorite mem- ber of the family, my opinion may be a. biased one, Geo. Roberts, Jr., Hartford, Conn. Towhee's Nest "Off the Ground.'* Dear Editor: Is the finding of a Towhee's nesi "off the ground" too common an occurrence to be recorded in the Oologist? June 5, 1896, I found a nest two feet up in a mass of tangled blackberry briers. I worked my way toward it, and merely glancing at the contents, said to myself, "Yellow-breasted Chat's." Before 1 had freed myself from the briers a female Towhee ap- peared and showed much uneasiness as if she had a nest near. Retiring to watch her, I was surprised to find her the owner of the nest I had just left. A moment later the three eggs were in my possession, where careful examina- tion showed a faint bluish tinge in the ground-color and not glossy — therefore leaving no doubt as to their not being Chats', had no bird been seen. Mark- ings very dark, far from having the "pinkish cast." C. Piper Smith, Anderson, Ind. A Correction. In my article, "Maryland Birds that interest the Sportsman," published in The Oologist, March-April, 1894, 1 had Chen hyperbora, whereas it should have read, Chen hyperborea nivalis (Forst). Greater Snow Goose. Wm. H. Fisher, Baltimore, Md. Ripans Tabules cure dyspepsia. Ripans Tabules cure headache. 42 THE OOLOGIST. The Oologist. A Monthly Alagazlne Devoted to OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. PRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Correspondence and items of interest to tlie student of Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited from all. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: Single subscription Wc per annum Sample copies 5c each The above rates Include payment of postage. Each subscriber Is given a card good for a Want, Exchange or For Sale Notice. (This card Is redeemable at any time within one year from date thereon.) Subscriptions can begin with any number. Back numbers of the OoLOoisr can be furnished at reasonable rates. Sena stamp for descrip- tions and prices. li:s^Remember that the publisher must be noti- fied by letter when a subscriber wishes his paper stopped, and all arrearages must be paid. . ADVERTISING RATES: 6 cents per nonpareil line each Insertion. 13 lines in every inch. Seven inches in a col- umn, and iwo columns to the page. Nothing Inserted for less than 2 5 cents. No "special rates." 5 cents per line Is •■net,'" "rock bottom," '-inside," "spot cash" rate from which there Is no deviation and no commission to agents. If you wish to use 5 lines or less space It will cost you 2.5 cents; loo lines, $.5.00; lOOO lines, $50.00. "trade" (other than cash) advertise- ments win be accepted by special arrangement only and at rates from double to live times casli rates. Due Bills and Cards payable In advertis- ing will be honored only at regular rates in force at the date ot issuance of said bill or card. Remittances should be made by Draft, Express or Postofflce Money Order. Registered Letter or Postal Note. Unused U.S. Postage Stamps of any denomination will be accepted for sums un- der one dallar. Malie Money Orders and Drafts payable and address all subscriptions and com- munications to FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. HE POST Ot^FlCE I , Y., AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER. A Day With the Raptores. An early hour on the morning of May 11, 1895 found my friend Mr. M. B. ■Grifflng and myself ready to start for a day's collecting after the Raptores. The day was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and it promised to be pretty warm before sunset. We started for Sachem's Neck and ar- rived there about 8:00 a. m. My first nest was one of the American Osprey {Pandion halmlus carolinensis), situated in a pine tree and about thirty-five feet up. It was composed of sticks, pieces of sod, corn-stalks and sea-weed, in fact almost any kind of rubbish. The climb was easy and I was soon looking on the two large eggs which the nest contained. They were a deep cream color, spotted and splashed with several shades of brown; the larger end being entirely obscured by the mark- ings. Packing these I descended the tree and was soon joined by Mr. Griff- iug who had secured a line set of three Osprey's from a large cherry tree whir'h stood near a deserted barn. Traveling east from here we reached a strip of woods and a few minutes later my friend called out that he had found a nest of Cooper's Hawk (Acaijnter cooperi). Going over to him I climbed the tree and saw four white eggs in the nest. These we left for a while to make certain of the identity and hid in some thick undergrowth. The old bird came back presently and we were then sure of our find. The nest was composed entirely of small twigs and was sittiated in a beech tree about thirty-hve feet tip. The eggs are white slightly marked with faint spots of light brown and lavender. Packing up we started on our course which now lay along Gardiner's Bay. After proceeding a short way we came to our next nest which was oce of the Osprey. It was situated in a black gum tree forty-live feet from the ground and on the end of a limb ten feet from the trunk of the tree. Ad- justing my climbers I was soon stand- ing in the nest which was an immense affair probably the accumulation of years of nest building. It contained a set of four eggs, ground color, a pecul- iar shade of brown spotted with choc- olate-brown. In 1894 1 took a set of two eggs from this same nest which were similar in color and markings. After carefully measuring the nest I climbed down and we continued on our way. THE OOLOGIST. 43 The next was on a pine stub and con- tained three eggs. The nest was only twelve feet up. Tlie eggs are white, spotted and blotched with brown. The blotches covered the larger end of two of the eggs and the smaller end of the third. The next two nests were situated in black gum trees and contained three eggs each. The first nest was forty feet from the ground and on the end of a limb which projected out thirty feet, the nest being placed near the end. This was one of the most dangerous climbs I ever took. The eggs in both nests were similar to those found, in the tirst nest I described. As it was getting toward noon and we were tired and hungry we stopped to eat our lunch and take a rest. There is no water lit to drink here and we had to carry what we needed with us. After lunch our supply was exhausted and we suffered greatly from the in- tense heat and burning thirst for the rest of the day. But being good egg- cranks we were willing to put up with these slight inconveniences. After lunch we dug a Kingfisher [Ceryle al- cyon) out of his burrow and obtained a set of six fresh, pearly white eggs. We now proceeded inland and stop- ped at the ntext nest, which on our climbing the tree proved to contain only one egg which we left desiring only full sets. We now found ourselves in a large piece of woods which we canvassed thoroughly until we found the nest of a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis). This we climbed to and found it to contain only one egg which we left intending to return in a few days and collect the full set. Returning a week later we found only one egg so concluded it was a complete set. Toward sunset we came out on a large field thickly covered with brush, sitting down on the edge of the woods were a pair of Marsh Hawks (.Circus hudsonins) sailing about. Soun one sank down in the bushes and we knew we had another set. Leaving Griffing to get this I went back into the woods a short distance where I had seen a Crow's nest. The nest contained six eggs fof Corvus aniericanus and were typical eggs of that species. On returning to where I bad left my traps I saw Griffing carefully following a straight line from the point where I was sitting to the place where the Hawk had descended. Suddenly the Hawk started up and after a few minutes search (iriffing came back with a fine set of six fresh eggs, greenish-white in color spotted very faintly with pale brown and lilac, one of the eggs was immaculate. The nest was situated on the ground and was built entirely of dried grass. Packing up we started home very tired but very happy. We arrived after dark and after partaking of a good supper we blew our eggs and wrote the notes for the day and then retired to rest and to dream of Hummingbird and ostrich eggs in the same nest. R. C. WOODHOUSE, New York City. Observe Bird Day. Superintendant Jordan has issued issued the following I'ecommendations for the observance of bird day in the schools of the state: The legislature has passed an act for the protection of song birds, and it is now a law. This movement is in re- sponse to a growing sentiment of hu- manity, demanding that the cruel and useless destruction of these happy and charming ci'eatures shall be stopped. A similar law has been enacted in sev- eral of the Southern states and in many of the Northern and Western states. In order to bring children to a proper app^'eciation of the merits of this sub- ject, days have been set apart in the 44 THE OOLUGIST. schools for the study of birds, their habits, uses and principles of kindness and protection that should be accorded them. At the request of Mrs. M. S. Stephen- son of Helena, Ark., who has taken the lead in this matter, in response to the generous sentiment that is now abroad in our state in this behalf, I beg to sug- gest a programme of work for those schools which choose to take an inter- est in the cause; so that by April 24, a uniformity in celebration may be ob- served. The programme is merely sug- gestive, and teachers are at liberty to use their own judgement, as to any part of it or all of it. varying the time and subjects prior to the 24th of April as they may deem proper. This is not a proclamation or an order under any law, as this office has no authority to take such a course; but it is simply an advisory method of bringing to the at- tention of our schools that principle of humane treatment of birds that is now recognized as worthy of the attention of our legislatiive authorities. Submitted herewith is the following programme for Friday exercises to be arranged for classes and varied as the teacher judges most suitable: Friday. March 26, 2 p. m.— (a) Name the birds in your county. (b) Describe some particular bird, its habits, mode of living, nest building, etc. (c)iStories of birds, oral and written. Friday.JApril 2, 2 p. m.— (a) Home birds; migratory birds, ac- companied by stories and poems from authors. Habits and dates for coming and going. (b) Aquatic birds; birds of the ocean, lakes and swamps. April 9, 2 p. m.— (a) Usefulness of birds; protection of birds; moral principle of kindness to- wards them. (b) Birds as harbingers of the weath- er and seasons; birds that may be edu- cated or trained. April 10, 2 p. m.— (a) Birds peculiar to certain sections of the United States. (b) Classify game birds, song birds, gregarious birds, insectivorous birds. April 23— (a) Birds that are noted in history, emblems of heraldry, warriors, nations. (b) Birds that children -have seen at shows, not natives of this country, where from? (c) Stories and poems recited by class and lectured by teachers. Junius Jordan. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Folllowing is a full text of the bill as approved by the governor: Be it enacted by the general assembly of the state of Arkansas: Section 1. It shall be unlawfnl for any person within the state of Arkansas to kill wound or injure any wild bird, other than the game birds, or to des- troy, disturb or rob the nests of any such birds, or to sell or expose for sale, either dead or alive, any of such birds, and it shall be unlawful for any rail- road company, express company, steam- boat company, or other company or corporation, or private person, their agents, employes or servants, to have in possession or receive for transporta- tion or carriage or for any other pur- poses whatever, any such birds or eggs; but this section shall not apply to Eng- lish Sparrows, Crows, Blackbirds, Hawks, Owls, Eagles and other birds of prey, nor shall it prohibit any person from killing any such birds on his own premises, when in the act of destroying fruit or other crops. Sec. 2. That this act shall take effect from and after its passage. Approved March 16, 1897. — From the Arkansas Democrat. THE OOLOGIST » Spades, Hoes, Mauls. I have recently bought several large collec- tions of Stone Relics from high-class collec- tors and have a "cream" stock of 15,000 pieces from many states, hundreds of them unusually fine form and perfect: many rare. Improve your cabinet. Among a stock as varied and fine as any ever offered by any dealer, are: 9 tine Spades 12 to 16'/2 inches long. 12 " " 5^ to ll?i inches long. 9 notched Hoes 4^ to 9'/4 inches long. Points of above have a glassy polish from use. 45 Discoidals, bi concave, 1 »4 to 6 inches diam- eter. 500 grooved Axes and Celts of finest form V^ to 10 pounds each. 75 Banner Stones, Gorgets. Amulets, etc. 30 Curious old Pipes. 25 Hematite Plummets and Axes, etc. Cup Stones, Balls, Pestles, Mortars, Bone Relics. Beads, Copper Relics, 5 to 9 inch Spear Heads, etc., Swedish and Irish Stone Relics. Arrow Heads- 3000 splendid, 5000 fine, 5000 ordinary, 2000 2c to 5c each. 50 fine Drills. Many pretty forms in the tiny semi-precious stone points of Oregon, N. Mexico, and Arizona. Send stamp for price list— "Ouk Extra." Separate catalog of 100,000 specimens of fine Minerals and Fossils. Hundreds of Relics of Western Indians, Alas- kans and South Sea Islanders. L. W. STILWELL, DEADWOOD, (Black Hills), S. DAK. FREE EDUCATION. An education at Harvard. Yale or any other college or instution of learning in the United States, or in the New England Conservatory of Music, can be secured by any young man or wo- man who is in earnest. Write for particulars quickly. James D. Ball, 3(3 Bromfleld St., Boston, Mass. SHINE? Minerals, Fossils and Shells cut and polished at our Steam Lapidary Shop, recently fitted up on the most improved plans where we do first-class •work at reasonable prices. Cabinet work a specialty. Polished material for sale. JOHN G. BUXTON, Milo Centre, N. Y. -1 _j D3 O 055 Revolvers, Rifles, " Etc. (J'-eat Wertern^ Work*,Pltt«burirh.F»?' ^FINF^ NETS, TENTS, and ^JL^ll^L^<^j SPORTIN© OOODS. Every description of Guns, Revolvers, Ammu- nition and Sporting Goods at very lowest pric- es. We have something of interest to you. TAXIDERMISTS' GUNS, "c^u^nt* Pistols, Gun Cases. Shooting Shot Shells; also S^.%.",?r SPECIMEN HUNTERS. All kinds, all prices from $l.OJ to $25.00. List free. Write for Taxidermist' s free list. JAMES H. JOHNSTON, PIXTSBUR©. PA. $100. We employ experienced agents on a salary of $100 per month. Others at $60. Write quickly. Puritan Pub- lishing Co., 36, Bn^mfield St., Boston, Mass. FOR SALE.— To enrich my camera fund, I •will sell duplicate sets Bald-pate. Canvas-back, Gadwall, Whip-poor-will, Miss. Kite, Cassin's Vireo, Hutton's Vireo, Golden-cheeked War- bler, and others, at lowest, (confidential), pric- es. If you ever buy, send stamp for lists. I shall have later, sets that you'll eagerly take. Guaranteed, perfect authenticity: full data; faultless preparation, lowest prices. P. B. PEABODY, St. Vincent, Minn. M2t ROR 30 DAYS Will sell fine sets— my own collecting, at fol- lowing prices, delivered, it order exceeds $2.00. Discount on orders exceeding SIO. PER EGG. PER EGG. 137 1''2 143 146 10 325 147 -30 342 20c 151 2.5c 10 167 10 172 _ 50 35 _20 .10 149 20 331. .-20 Small collection fine sets. 15 species, with data, including 9, II, 12, 126, ]>^2, 184, 199, 278, 294, 325. 337b, 360a, 373, 478a. and 7U7, cataloguing ov- er 820, for $7.50 delivered. EUGENE S. ROLFE, MINNEWAUKAN, N. DAK. Rare Eggs. Last year Stanford University, of California, sent an expedition to Cape St. Lucas. They brought back many rare eggs, and I have se- cured all the duplicates except such as went to Capt. Bendire. I have a number of extra ones in sets to sell, (none to trade) Including fine series of White Winged Dove, Murre, Ground Dove — probably new subspecies— St. Lucas, Cactus Wren. Scott's Oriole, Hooded Oriole, Texas Night Hawk, a splendid series of St. Lu- cas Thrasher. Valley Quail (probably new sub- species); St. Lucas House Finch, Texas Cardi- nal, (probably new sub-species) and several others Skins from this collection may be ob- tained of C. K. Worthen of Warsaw, 111. Address, R. P. SHARPLES, ELGIN, ILL. THE OOLOGIST Large fragments of beautiful Painted Pot- tery (no two alike) from Arizona Aztec rains 75c. Sent by mall, prepaid. Curiosity box only 10c (stanips'or silver) satis- faction guaranteed. BURT OGBURN, Phoenix, Arizona. Shells, Marine Curios, &c. I am now ready to supply first-class stock at low prices and should you wish anything from this section, let me hear from you. All inquir- ies will have a prompt reply. mtf J. H. HOLMES, Dunedin, Fla. Climbing Irons. Be.st made spurs and frames, steel. Strapped already for use. Price, $1.25 per pair. F. H. Metcalf, Holyoke, Mass. FOR SALE CHEAP! $1,000 worth of A I Birds Eggs At One Fifth Catalogue Rates. Large lists (jf Minerals, Gem Stones, Indian Relics, & Books at one-half wholesale prices. Also all iny Cabinets, Mineral Cases and Curios. Must close out at once and will sell at most any price to get rid of them. This will be the last series of lists I shall issue and they will contain all the specimens I have on hand. Everything must be sold at once. Send stamp for list or lists you are interested in. Don't miss this chance. GEO. VJ. DIXON, WATERTOWN, SOUTH DAKOTA. Rlpans Tabules cure bad breath. Ripans Tabules cure dizziness. POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS HEALTH Nature, Invention, Archaeology, Electricity, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Health, Hygiene, Medicine. Formerly Boston Journal of Chemistry ENLARGED and IMPROVED. This popular monthly contains a large num- ber of Short, Easy, Practical, Interesting and Popular, Scientific articles, that can be Appre- ciated and Enjoyed by any intelligent reader, even thotigh he knew little or nothing of Sci- ence. It is Intended to interest those who think. Profusely Illustrated and Free from Technicalities. Entirely different from and much superior to other papers with a similar name. Monthly, Si. 60 per year. Newsdealers 15c Largest Circulation of any Scientific Paper in the World. Conducted by BENJ. LILLARD, loS Fulton St., New York. j^^Mention The Gologist for a sample copy. Sea Shells From the Florida Coast. If you desire to buy Shells in large or small quantities you will save money by writing for my price list before buy- ing elsewhere. I am selling Shells very cheap and will send twenty specimens, AS SAMPLES, PREPAID ON RECEIPT OP ONE DOLLAR. Reference, Postmaster, Dunedin, Florida Address all orders A. J. BARNES, DUNEDIN, FLORIDA. Iceland, Lapland, Spain. A large stock of Birds Eggs— last season's collecting has just arrived from the above lo- calities. Descriptive price-list sent free upon application. A. KRICHELDORFF, Naturalist, etc.. No. 53.i Oranien-Strasse, Ber- lin, a., Germany. GREAT NOVELTY IN PIN CUSHIONS. ^ Marie from the seed stalk of the Yucca Palhi or Spanish fl Bayonet, whose beautiful wiiite blossoms adorn tho uyous and mountain sides of Cal. 1150 Yucca Cush- etailed by one hotel to its guests in less than 5 months. The outsiiie of the stalk is hard and the inside soft, and when nicely turned on a lathe thev make a most beautiful white Pincushion. Trice 10 cents, silver. ' G. VV. TUTTLE, Pasadena, CaL THE OOLOGIST. Many Subscriptions to THE OOLOGIST have expired, or will expire with this issue. In the future the Publisher re- quires CASH IN ADVANCE. Hence, if you are one of the delinquent sub- scribers, your subscription should be forwarded by return mail, if you wish the OoLOGiST continued to your address. May issue will go to press prompt- ly on April 26, and be mailed during the following week — all Exchange, adver- tisements and notes for that issue, must be forwarded by return mail to insure insertion in that issue. F HOUSE Cor. liateg arnl Larned Streets, DETROIT, MICH. Rates, $1.50 to $3.00 per Day. Only one block from Woodward and Jefferson Aves. Elevator Service, Steaiu Heat, Electric Lights, Tile Floors, Etc^ H. H. JAMES &. SON, Prop'rs. ' Hon. W.J. Bryan's Bock All who are interested in furth.rinf; the sale of Hon. W. J. Bryan's ntw book should correipond immediately with the publishers. The work will contain . . . AN iCCOUHT OP fflS CAMPAIGN TOUR. IIS BIOGRAPHT, ■WRITTEN BY HIS WITl IIS MOST IMPORTANT SPEECHES THE RESULTS 0? TI8 CAMPAIGN OF (896. A REVIEW OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION. ••O AGENTS WAN"CEDe». Mr. Bryan has an- nounced his intpntion of devoting one-half of all royalties to furthering the cause of bimetallism. There are already indications of an enormous sale. Address W. B. CONKEY COMPANY, Publishers 341-351 Dearborn Slt...CHICAGO outfits! ton SALE AT I ONE-HALF COST PRICE.! oufjhly ooerkaulod and aa good aa new. m Completa Job outflta from 5 to 200 dollara.l Send for Hat of preoaea. ouifito etc. Wei buy 9Bcond-hand outfits and material. Send \ t of what you have. I PRINTERS' SUPPLY CO., GflLESBURG, ILL. | Come to Florida. A fortune can be made in a few years in pineapples and tomatoes; vegetables raised the whole year. An ideal home. For particulars write R. P. Osier, Avon Park, Fla. 29&Otf Quain's Anatomy. I want lOth edition campleteor any one or all of tbe following parts, viz: Vol. 1, Part I. Embryology. Vol. 3. Part 2. Nerves and Sense Organs. Vol. 3, Part 3. Viscera. Will give good exchange or cash. FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, N. Y. Minerals and Indian Relics. 2.3 spec 2.^0 5 spec, 1x114 in l.'ic 15 spec, IxlX in 35c 10 spec, 2xlV2 in 35c Sent by mail prepaid. 60 spec 50c 10 spec, ixlV4 in 25c 6 spec, 2x\}4 in 25c 13 arrowheads 30c Labeled with name & locality. List free. Chester Co., Pa. ISAAC S. KIRK, Fremont, CAMERAS Ripans Tabules. at bed rock prices. Prices good until March 1, 4x6 Premier $12.25 4x5Premo B 13.00 4x5 Premo C 10.00 4x5 Premo D 8 50 4x5 R. C. Go's Komet _ 7.7.5 Pocket Kodak, job, until sold... 4.00 All new and '96 models. Charles Fowler, Princetown, N. Y. CABINETS. Send 10 cts for photo of our speciality— Self Locking. T perches -Oak sam- ples by mail 8c, 10c and 15c: also stands, shields, glass rases, game panels. &c. Cabinets to or- der. HANAFORD CABINET CO., 139 and 141 W. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, Mich. 58MOtf IMPORTiSNT^ ah unused exchange JJiIj W-*-*- J TaJi J ■ coupons whose time of expiration occured between the dates of June 1, 1896 and February 1, 1897 will be accented in full payment for notices in these columns if mailed not later than April 1st. Sent Free! To any person interested in humane matters, or who loves animals, we will send free, upon application, a copy of the "ALLTANCI<2," the organ of this Society. In addition to its intensely in- teresting reading, it contains a list of the valuable and unusual premiums given by the paper. Address, The National Humane Alliance, 410-411 United Charities Building, New York. Who can think of some simple tiling to patent? Protect your ideas; thev nuiy bring you wealth. Write JOHN WKDDEKBDRN & CO., Patent Attor- neys, Washington, D. Cfor their $1,8U0 prize offer and list of two liundred luyentioua wanted. Wanted-An Idea VIU THE OOLOGIST ologists, Ornithologists ALL will want to read T"^ OSPReY BECAUSE lliott Coues (the greatest friend of the bird student and V of Coues^ Key) is associated with it editorially. 5 the Ifadin^ inonlhly mag^aziiie publisheu for Orni- Ali eijjoy the tine photographic illustrations printed on ed paper, coutimie. one month more, to send samples free, when enclosed. 51 a year. 10c a copy. Published by THE OSPREY COMPANY, 6i North Prarie St., Galesburg, IlL "The Story of the Farallones" A BEAUTIFUL SOUVENIR By C. BARLOW and H. R. TAYLOR. With Richly Embossed Cover on Translucent Board. PRICE, 50 CENTS-Prepaid. The Farallone Islands, the "Paradise of Oologists." and the greatest Orni- thological wonder in America todav, have never been fully described or illustrat- ed. Farallone Island has been visited by but a handful among the thousands of collectors who have read of the marvelous myriads of the bird tribes which make it their summer breeding home. We have presented The Story ot the Faralones, in an elegant souvenir, with artistic cover, in(;luding more than 30 Superb Illus- trations, printed on heavy coated paper, the tinest halftones that can be made, graphically presenting the picturesqne features of the Islands, with their countless Gulls, Cormorants, Murres, Putlins, Petrels, Pigeon Guillemots, etc., as they are seen in life, accompanied by photographs of their nest and eggs. One illustra- tion gives a panoramic view of 8outh Farallone Islanu, a most ingeniously con- ceived picture from unpublished photographs, furnishing the complete idea of the wonders of the densely populated city of the birds. Address all orders to H. R. TARLOR, Publisher, "Nidologist," ALAMEDA, CAL. Wanted-An Idea Who can think of some simple thing to patent? Protect your Ideas; they may bring you wealth. Write JOHN WEDDERBURN & CO , Patent Attor. neys, Washington, D. C . for their $1,800 prize offer and llf>t of two hundred luTentlons wanted. Want3d-fln Idea Who can think of Bome simple thing to patent? Protect your Ideas; they may bring you wealth. Write JOH:^^ WEDDERBURN & CO . Patent Attor- ney*. Washington, D. C , for their $1,800 prlie Offer and list of i.>o hundred inventions wanted. ^<4 VOL. XIV. NO. 5. ALBION, N. Y., MAY, 1897. Whole No. 133 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special announcements, "Wants,' "Exchanges" "For Sales," Inserted In this department troT 25C per 25 words. Notices over 2.5 words, charged at the rate of one-haic cent per each additional word. No notice Inserted for less than '25c. Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted in payment at one-third list rates. WANTED for cash.— Choice and complete sets of eggs of the following: Sooty Grouse, Sage Grouse, Prairie Falcon, Sage Thrasher, ana ne.st. state lowest price. HARRY S. SWARTH, 406 South Broadway, Los Angeles, Cal. FOR SALE or exchange,— First-class Euro- pean eggs in sets for cash or tirstclass Ameri- ca sets. Write what vou have or send in your orders. J. H. B. KROHN, Hamburg-St. Georg, Bleicherstr 43, Germany. LANTERN SLIDE SET.— India (54 views) with lecture to exchange for birds eggs in sets and nests it possible or condencers and object- ives for lantern. Enclose stamp for reply. FRED E. COLBURN, Box 685 Barre, Vt. FOR SALE or Exchange.— First-class sets of 120c, 49, 16, 127, to exchange or will sell very •cheap for cash. Those who desire sets write at once. A. J. O'CONOR. JR., San Diego, Cal. WANTED.— Single eggs of Golden Eagle. White tailed Kite and Loon. Pair of skins of Mountain Partridge, male and female. Second- hand copies of Davie's Nests and Eggs. Write "What you have and what you desire in ex- change. E. H. SHORT, Albion, N. Y. BOTANICAL.— I have left, new. No. 2 Collect- ing Can, $1.25; 10x14 in. Plant Press, *1.25; .50 sheets thick drying paper, 75 cents: 175 sheets mounting paper, $1.75; 25 Genus Covers, 65 cents; 1000 Gummed Fasteners, 15 cents: l(iO Genus Labels, 25 cents; 100 Species Labels. 25 cents. Lot is worth $6.30. Will send entire lot by express at purchasers expense to first party sending $3.7.5. FRANK H. LATTIN, Al- bion, N. Y. EXCHANGE.--California birds eggs in sets "With data to exchange for first class sets from other localltes. J. W. RIFE, General Delivery, Los Angeles, Calif. FINE Opalescent Feldspar at two to ten cents a specimen. Ten to 75 cents a dozen. P. R. CAMP, Marietta, Ga. TO EXCHANGE.— A large collection of rare coins to exchange for A 1 minerals. C. AB- BOTT DAVIS,. 292 Knight St., Providence, R.I FOR SALE.— My collection of eggs. 29 A 1 sets with full data. All letters answered. GLEN M. HATHORN, 1600 E. Avenue, Cedar Rapids, li. NEST, four eggs, Clay-colored Sparrow, 50 cents: selected series, four sets, $1.60. Set ten, Pied-bill Grebe, .50 cents, all prepaid. P. B. PEABODY, St. Vincent, Minn. CURIO Dealers should keep Pima Indian baskets in stock. Write today for terms. Pri- vate collectors must enclose stamp for prices. BURT OGBURN, Phoenix, Arizona. TO EXCHANGE.— Vol. VIII and X Pacific Railway Surveys, also a few desirable skins and eggs. I need Vol. I of same. Make offer. CHAS. BARBER, La Porte, Ind. HAND Egg Blow-pipes for blowing and rins- ing eggs. Don't blow your cheeks off, but send for one, with directions. 75 cents prepaid. Patent applied for. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, 457 Greene St., Augusta, Ga. m2t THREE dollars will buy 173 varieties of for- eign and native woods, or will exchange them for woods not in my collection. LOUIS W. HAHN, Box 360, Silver Creek, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. COUES KEY, eggs and skins wanted. I can offer in exchange eggs climbers and cash. R. A. POWELL, 13 South 4th St., Minneapolis, Minn. FOR SALE.— Entire collection of coins. 15 varieties half cents, $1.50; 75 varieties big cop- pers (all but three dates), 8,5.00; 25 mixed big coppers. $1.'25; 80 varieties foreign coppers, $2..50. C. ABBOTT DAVIS, 292 Knight St., Providence, R. I. I received so many answers to my April ad. that I could not answer all. Please accept this. Will write to first from each locality. R. NEVILLE, Kewanee, 111. FOR SALE.— Double barrelled breech load- ing shot gun. Original price thirty-five dol- lars. Laminated steel, choke bore; in good condition. Will sell for ten dollars. JOHN B. SEYMOUR, New Berne, N. C. /S^j THE OOLOGiSr EXCHANGE. -Eggs, Stamps and Calcite, for Indian Relics, eggs, stamps, etc. GEO. M. COULTER, Golden City, Mo. TO EXCHNGE.— Life of Garfield, Black Dia- mond Fountain Pen, German Dagger, for books on Taxidermy and Natural History. H. NEUMANN, 204 Rock St., Watertown, Wis. WANTED —Good VZ or 16 gauge shotgun. Can offer good A No. 1 bird skins. Eggs or mounted birds or mammals. E. B. PECK, York, Livingston Co., N. Y. TO EXCHANGE.— A few rare sets of eggs with data, also skins of birds and mammals. Make offer in books, materials, etc. CHAS. BARBER, La Porte, Ind. FOR SALE.— One nicely mounted Hair Seal. Parties meaning business please write for particulars. Make cash offer All letters an- swered. CHAS. E. BAUM, Clarks-Island, Me. FOR EXCHANGE.— No. 20 shotgun cost $9, for part cash, Oological books, or eggs in sets from other localities. HARRY DUNN, Fuller- ton, Orange Co , Calif. NICE specimens of agate: polished surface, or fragments of Aztec pottery to exchange for four to six inch king crabs, or U. S. oue-half cents. H. STEPHENSON, Box 77, Wymore Neo. I WANT mammal scalps iu good condition with skulls for mounting. All kinds. Give description and lowest cath price. B. HART- LEY, West Haven, Conn. SALE OR EXCHANGE. -A bald eagle nicely mounted. Killed less than six months ago. Taxidermist's charges were twelve dollars. Best offer takes it. W- H. THOMAS, Truckee, Cal. MOUNT your own birds.— K. & P. Preserva- tive does the work. K. & P. Cleaning Soap cleans the work. Eggs wanted. Write for particulars. KERR & PERHAM, Sandwich, Ills. WILL take this season. 360a, 366, 379,402a, 468. 475, 49^, .56-^, 583, 6.56. 702, 708 and others. Will sell at one-fourth catalogue rates or ex- change for desirable articles. Send lists and enclose stamp. N. K. CHRISTIE, Rouse Junc- tion, Colorado. A $25 Hopkins- Allen combined rifle and shot gun, interchangable barrels; rifle 32 cal., shot 44 cal. Price $7. .50. Best shot gun for birds. A. C. PARlvER, White Plains, N. Y. SALE OR EXCHANGE.— 6!/2X8>/2 Focusing Camera, ($32.50), collection choice sets to ex- change for Autoharp. Parties interested send discription of instrument and receive discrip- tion of Camera or list of eggs. GEO. GRAHAM. Gainesville, Fla. BACK numbers of "Oreijon Naturalist,'" " Nat tiral Science New,'''"-I'opular Science,'"" Nid- ologist,"' "Oologist,"' etc., to exchange for pair climbers or instruments or cash. JOE H. ARMFIELD, Greensboro. N. Car. PINON JAYS.— A few finely prepared sets of Pinon Jays, 4 eggs in set, for sale at $2.50 per set. Nest, if wanted, 25 cents extra. N. R. CHRISTIE, Rouse Junction. Colorado. I want a few U. S. Revenue stamps— the large red ones. Offer anything in stock. Write me stating what stamps you have and what you want. E. H. SHORT, Albion, N. Y. 17 varieties Western Bird Skins, $1. Mounted Birds 25 cents. Squirrel. 50 cents. Chipmunk. 3i cents. All postpaid. Skins to exchange for stamps V. T. CuRLESS, Logan, Or. (M. O. office, Oregon City, Oregon.) a9t WILL exchange fine Watches, ladies' or gent«,' French Harps, Piccolo, old coins, for Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Carolina Paroquet, good sets, must be perfect. W. S. TOWN- SEND, Jeweler, Perry, O. T. TO EXCHANGE. A silTerine watch. Cost $12. Will exchange for a camera State make and price of camera. All letters answered. W. S. BLINN, Tripoli, Iowa. I am prepared to collect eggs this season in this locality to exchange for eegs not in my collection data given and required. Corres- pondence answered. ROBERi' SMITH, Mill- grove, Ontario, Canada. TO EXCHANGE.— A 44 ral. shot gun and 33 ' cal. rifle, combined, for eggs mounted speci- mens or Ornithological books. Send your list. A. C. PARKE K, Box 6, White Plains, N. Y. WANTED at once.— Two cyclometers for 28. inch wheel, bicycle lamp, 4x5 printing frames and 32 cal. double action revolver, all in fine condition, eirstclass sets and ■ singles and other articles in exchange. Correspondence solicited first. WM. BAYLIS, 515 Third Ave., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. cheap: cheap: cheap;— Southern eggs in sets with complete data at unheard of pri- ces. Brown-headed Nuthatch 1-6 with data, 50 cents and other sets equally as cheap and cheaper. Select from this list what sets you desire and we will name prices to suit. A. O. U. Nos. .33! I3. 4I61/2, 428 n-2, 4.52 1-5, 465^,, 675 1-5, 725 1-6, 731 1-6. 725 1-6. 751 1-5 and others. W. L. & R. D, FOXHALL, Tarboro, N. C. II-LINOIS Collectors.— I want eggs in sets of Illinois collecting. Send list. Price must cheap if you want cash. w. E. LOUCKS, Peoria, 111. FOR SALE.— 50 species of mounted birds such, as Eagles, Hawks, Owls, Ducks, etc. They go to the highest bidder over $100.- Send 2c stamn for list. DR H. M. WOLF, Kewanee, Ills. WANTED.— Everyone that is in need of first- class Taxidermist's or Egg tools to send 4 cent stamp for my latest catalogue. Full line of A 1 supplies. CHAS. K. REED. Worcester. Mass. , „ . . - - f6t SOUTHERN EGGS in sets for exchange for desirable sets and singles. Choice sets with data for sale cheap. "List of Birds of Georgia" for stamp. DR. M. T. CHECKLY, 457 Greene St., Augusta, Ga. a2t WANTED.— Oologist instruments will give in exchange Kombi, Gray's School and Field Botany." Report of State Commissioners of Fisheries, Pa. Address, J. J. MATHER, Ven- ango, Pa. a2t MAMMAL Skins, Bird Skins, Gila Monsters, Nests, Eggs, etc. Ten species Cactus, $1.50. I make a specialty of supplying private collec- tions and museums with species peculiar to the Southwest. Write me what you want. Prices reasonable. GEO. F, BJIENINGER, Phoenix, Arizona. a2t Ripans Tabules. IHK DOLOGiSI MOUNTED Bird :— First-class specimens of Hawks, Owls, or small birds to exchange for common eggs in sets or singles. Send list of what 5'ou have or want. Also showy shells to exchange for eggs. CHAS. K. REED, Worces- ter, Mass. A NICE collection should be neatly labelled. I furnish all kinds on good paper cheap. Egg, 15c per 100 small, 52c per 100 large, Fossil lOc per 100. All kinds, any style wanted. Send copy for price. Mention OoLogist. D.H.EA- TON, Woburn, Mass. BIRD MOVEMENT CHARTS.— Card system. (One card for each species.) Any movement of any species, for any time, during five years, found in a moment. Entire record a; a glance. Better still. Obverse of card duplicates Agr. Dept. Reports. Spring and Fall movements for each year in parallel lines. Any record out of three hundred, say, on report, found in ten seconds. Much time and annoyance saved. Samples, two cent stamp. Per hundred. 75c. Address, P. B. PEABODY, St. Vincent, Minn. M3t "INDICO" Check-list.— How often are valua- ble moments wasted, a search for the A. O. U. U. number of some well-known bird I Now, a little pack of index cards will save all this trouble. Price 3.=)c per set. Order at once, or not at all. P. B. PEABODY, St. ViQcent,Minn. M.3t CABINETS. Send 10 cts for photo of our speciality— Self Locking. T perches -Oak sam- ples by mail 8c, lOc and 15c : also stands, shields, glass cases, game panels, &c. Cabinets to or- der. HANAFORD CABINET CO., 139 and 141 W. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, Mich. 58MOtf HARD TIMES Are good for you, but bad for me. On account of low finances my stock must be sacrificed at once. Quain's Anatomy. I want 10th edition campleteor any one or all of the following parts, viz : Vol. 1, Part 1. Embryology. Vol. 3. Part 2. Nerves and Sense Organs. Vol. 3, Part 3. Viscera. Will give good exchange or cash. FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, N. Y. Minerals and Indian Relics. 25 spec 25c 5 spec, Ixl'o in 15c 15 spec, IxlX in 35c 10 spec, 2x11/2 in 35c Sent by mail prepaid. 60 spec 50c 10 spec, 1x1 Vo in .... 2hc 6 spec, 2xl>i in V5c 12 arrowheads SOc Labeled with name & locality. List free. Chester Co.. Pa. ISAAC S. KIRK, Fremont, Come to Florida. A fortune can be made in a few years in pineapples and tomatoes;, vegetables raised the whole .year. An ideal home. For particulars write R. P. Osier, Avon Park. Fla. 29&Otf Sent Free! To any person interested in humane matters, or who loves animals, we will send free, upon applioation, a copy of the "ALLIANCE." the organ of this Society. In addition to its intensely in- teresting reading, it contains a list of the valuable and unusual premiums given by the paper. Address, The National Humane Alliance, 410-411 United Charities Building, New York. Will sen4 $10 worth of Fine WailtGd— All 1(163 Cabinet Minerals Who can think of some simple thlDg to patent? Protect your Ideas; they may bring you wealth. Write JOHN WEDDERBURN & CO , Patent Attor- neys, Washington, D. C . for their $1.80(J prize offer and llsc of two hundred Inventions wanted. for $5.00 money order. $30.00 worth for $10.00 M. O. 50.00 " " 1 5- 00 " 100.00 " " 25.00 " All fine and listed at regular pri- ces. Cheaper than you could find them. Send at once. Guarantee to please you. A good list of books Cheap. GEO. W. DIXON, WATERTOWN, S. D. \ THE ANTIQUARIAN. \ A The single journal in America exclu- A ^ sively devoted to the study of Prehis- y§ A toric Man, whicli aims to occupy the A t ground between the scientist and the \t A student. Quite a feature made of late A ^ discoveries and other news in Arch- y§ i discoveries and other news in Arch aeology. Excellently illustrated. Sam- A pie copies to Archeeologists and Students. W J Issued monthly at $1.50 per year. <4 A Special terms to workers. A A PREMHIMS FOR CLUBS. A t THE LANDON PTG. AND PUB. CO. A COLUMBUS, OHIO. A THE OOLOGIST. Naturalists' Bulletin Vol. 2, No. 6. May 15, 1897. NOTICE. All items in this Bulletin are sent prepaid on receipt of price given (unless marked F. O. B.) if your order amounts to 35 cents or over. Less than 35 cents must include 5 cents extra for postage. All specimens labelled with both common and scientific name. If you don't see what you want please write me as I may be able to offer you a fine bargain. I^PLEASE OBSERVE. Do not send silver coin in letters. 1 prefer Post Office or Express Money Orders and will allow you to deduct the cost of the order. Amounts of less than 35 cents can be fcent in postage stamps. BIRDS EGGS. Sets with Data. Price per set. Gull-billed Tern, set of 2 $ 20 Am. Herring Gull, 3 a4 Double crested Cormorant, 4 39 American Bittern. 3 _ 70 Least Bittern, 4 20 Brown Pelican, 4 .^5 Black-necked Stilt, 4 75 Killdeer, 4 28 Bob-white. 8 40 Texan Bob-white, n 45 Ruffed Grouse. 12 1 00 Whip-poor-will, 2 1 20 Cooper's Hawk, 4 _ 40 Red-tailed Hawk, 3 (This is a remarkably fine set) 85 Red-shouldered Hawk, 4 70 Florida Red-shouldered Hawk, 3 50 American Osprey, 3 (Very nicely marked) 70 Black Vulture, 2 70 Screech Owl, 4 80 Black-chinned Hummer, nest and 2 eggs... 40 Anna's Hummer, nest and 2 eggs 45 Allen's Hummer, ne.st and 2 eggs 50 "Wood Pewee, set of 3 _ 16 Bobolink, nest and 5 eggs .• 45 Hooded Oriole, 4 40 Towhee, 4 20 Purple Martin, 5 25 Oven-bird, 5 35 Cactus Wren. 4 30 Carolina Wren, 4 20 Chickadee, 5 35 California Bush-tit, nest and 6 eggs 45 Gnatcatcher, 3 25 Hermit Thrush, 4 45 SINGLE EGGS. Royal Tern $ 12 Brown Pelican 15 Whooping Swan 50 Roseate Spoonbill - 40 King Rail 07 Black-neeked Stilt 18 Mountain Partridge (data) 30 Sooty Grouse (data) 30 Fla. Burrowing Owl (data) 40 Lapwing (data) _ 08 Wilson's Plover 07 Sage Grouse _ 18 Red-tailed Hawk 'iO FOREIGN SINGLES. Griffln Vulture (extra large) 40 Partridge 08 Capercaille 20 Sand Grouse (rare and curiously marked) 38 Mongolian Pheasant 10 Kestrel 1.5 Penguin _ 25 3 Special Offers IN EGGS! ist. For Only 30c I will send you one full set with data of each Lark Sparrow, Mock- ingbird, American Crow, Bronzed Grackle, Mourning Dove. Catbird and Redwing Black- bird. 2t) eggs for 30c postpaid. 2a. For only 30c I will send you 20 varieties lirst-class smgle eggs and checking list. All postpaid. 3d. Kor only 30c I will send you 10 varieties Foreign Eggs, postpaid. BIRD SKINS. Great Horned Owl (F. O. B.) $ 90 Screech Owl 35 Sharp-shinned Hawk _ 25 Red-shouldered Hawk 50 American Merganser (F. O. B.) 40 Golden-eye _ 45 Herring Gull (F. O. B.) 85 Woodcock 34 " Golden Plover 38 Field Plover 30 Blue Jay 26 Redpoll 12 American Crossbill 35 White-crowned Sparrow 16 Snowflake 14 Cedar Waxwing 12 Myrtle Warbler 10 Hooded Warbler 22 Scarlet Tanager 22 Indigo Bunting 16 Brown Creeper 10 Golden-crowned Kinglet 10 2 ft. Alligator Skin 90 Fine Black Squirrel 45 Any skins marked "F. O. B." will be sent prepaid if your order amounts to $3.75. BOOKS. Jordan's Manual of the Vertebrates ($2.50) $3 25 Hyatt's Insects, 13 plates, 223 figures ($I.2,i) 80 Maynard's Butterflies of E. North Am., 80 pages, 10 full page 10x13 in., plates with colored figures of about 100 species ($7.50) 5 00 Raines' Bird Nesting in N. W. Canada ($2) 1 25 United States Geographical Surveys west of the 100th Meridian (Wheeler) Pal- eontology, 586 pages text and 83 full page plates {contains report of vertebrate (fossils of the Southwest with figures $5) 2 00 U. S. Geological Survey of Colorado, (Hay- den) .38 plates, 5 maps and 4i cu^s and en- gravings 49d pages text ($2 50) 90 U. S. Geological Survey of Idaho and Wyo- ming, (Hayden) 88 plates. 710 pages text, ($3 50) 1 00 Paleontology of New York, 4th dist. (Jas Hall) 70 plates and 170 cuts, maps.etc.,664 pages text. (S5) 2 50 To the person sending me the largest order from this advertisement before June 2.5th, 1897, I will give a premium listing at $1.75. Second largest one, listing at $1 ; third one listing at 50 cents; next four each one listing at 25 cents each. \ou can send all at once or in install- ments, but last installment must be mailed by June 25th. Clash with order every time. Address, Ernest H. Short, Albion, N. Y. The OoLOGiST. VOL. XIV. NO. 5. ALBION, N. Y., MAY, 1897. Whole No. 13'i The Bobolink in Literary Fields and Fields of Grass and Clover. Who that has visited the eountry when it was full of the blossom and beauty of May and June, is not ac- quainted with the bobolink: and wno having wandered in the pleasant fields of out-door literature has not met with him there alsoV The poets, who have paid any attention to nature at all, have fallen in love with this little feathered poet of the meadows, and right royally has he favored by their* inspiration. Doubtless no bird, save the mocking- bird of the South has been equally prais- ed and embalmed in our literature; well might our other birds envy him his pos- ition. An article which would contain any portion of the interesting Mud {)retty things which have been written about him, however pleasant it might be to read, would be all to long. Being too far from a laige library and with only a few notes made from time to time, I must necessarily miss many of the best quotations although those given will doubtless be bulficient for the present article. The bobolink comes to us in this le- gion a ft^w days before the close of April and is at least always here tree he close of M;iy day. In 1893 he came rollick- ing ii. to our landscajje on April 29th; in 1804 Iio appeared at noon May 1st, while April 3flth brought him in 1895, and April 24th in 1896 and one day later this spring. From the veiy day of his arrival he is iip.sy with song. I think those verses in Emily Dickenson's poem must apply only to him. I taste a liqur r never brewed In vats upon the Rhyne No tankard ever held a draught Of alcohol like mine. Inebriate of air am I And debaucher of dew Reeling through endless summer days From courts of molten blue. He is a handsome little feathered dandy in black and buff and white, as he waltzes quaintly on the fence to his own ecstatic music. And you recall William Cullen Bryant's poem "Rob- ert of Lincoln," familiar to every school- child. Robert of Lincoln Is gayly dressed, Wearing a bright black wedding coat; White are his shoulders, and white his crest^ Hear him call in his merry note: Bob-o link, Bob-o-link, Spink, spank, spink. Look what a nice new coat Is mine: Sure there was never a bird so fine. Chee. chee. chee. This may not be a good interpreta- tion of his song, but a perfect transcript of it has not yet been written. This poet of nature calls him 'prince of braggarts." He certainly appears to court observation, being in no wise a shy or retiring bird. What farmer sa inobservant as never to have heard or seen this bird sing! For it is worth while to watch his movements for there is music in them too, as he spills his inerry strains on the morning air. He is music all over. Nothing can dampen his rapturous and ever bubbling joy in life. He sings alike .■■itting, on the wing, chasing his plain brown mate or an equally voluble rival, in reckless flight. 1 have many a time caught him singing in the rain, and singing even while he held a writhing worm in his bill which he had captured for the baby birds. He is at his song U^ast early in the morning, at it all day; and the last thing in the evening ere the shadows aie too long, his tinkling strains came up from distant meadows 46 THE OOLOGIST. Some unknown writer thus character- izes his enchanting song: "That rollicking, jubilant whistle That rolls like a brooklet along— That sweet flageolet of the meadows The bubbling, bobolink song." How he escorts you with music along those acres of meadow-land which he has selected for his domain. He is the very soul and spokesman of pastoral scenery; filled to the brim is that little goblet of feathers with the ecstacy of country living and country thinking. He is enough in himself to woo all the cities out into the country. He invites the rustic naturalist to leave the scenes of vernal toil, and wander off over green fields into green woods; for his song is an invitation to idleness. Wash- ington Irving in that essay "The Birds of Spring," where he touches the bobo- link in his ever happy and sunny strain, mentions what feelings he had "when luckless urchin I was doomed to be mewed up, during the live long day, in a school-room. It seemed as if the lit- tle varlet mocked at me as he tiew by in full song, and sought to taunt me ^ith his happy lot. Oh! how I envied biml No lessons, no tasks, no schools; nothing but holiday, frolic, green fields and fine weather." C. P. Cranch has given us the poetic origin of "the Bobolink." When Nature had made all her birds With no more cares to think on. : She gave a rippling laugh, and out There flew a Bobolink on. She laughed again, out flew a mata A breeze of Eden bore them Across the flelds of Paradise The sun rise reddening o'er them." Lansing V. Hall, a blind poet, sings of our bird: "But of all their merry .jingle In meadow or the dingle The Bobolinks' cadenza does excel.'' He has also a long poem on the "Song of the Bobolink" which opens with these lines "to be read rapidly:" "June may kindle, kindle with her sunshine, And her heat, till this is wheat, till this is wheat, For Bobolink and Mrs. Bobolink very sweet, . And good to eat, and good to eat." This purports to be an interpretation of Bobolinks' song into words. J. G. Whittier makes an old charact- er in a poem "The Sycamore" to say quaint things of our bird: "JoUiest of our birds of singing Best he loved the Bob-o-link. 'Hush" ! he'd say, 'the tipsy fairies I Hear the little folks in drink:' " And in other places in the works of our Quaker bard who portrays nature so happily, do we find the Bobolink. J. H. Langille thinks; "It is difficult to speak of the Bobolink without going into ecstasies. To say the least he is the finest bird of our field and mead- ows." And he proceeds in that enter- taining volume, "Our Birds in Their Haunts," to give a beautiful discription. of the bird its song and manners. Take this exquisite description of its song for an example: The first tinkling tones are like those of a tine musical box rapidly struck, then come the longer drawn i otes as of a rich viol or violin, and finally the sweet liquid, limped, gui'gling sounds as of an exquisite bell- toned piano lightly and skillfully touch- ed. These several different strains, variously modulated are uttered with a rapid, gushing volubility, which to an untrained ear might sound like the per- formances of a whole chorus of song- sters."' Hew sweet is this song delivered while he quivers through the air on trembling wings. And as he closes you often see him drop into the green bos- om of the meadow like a failing leaf or drifting feather his motionless wings held at a sharp angle. This is a pretty sight only equaled when he sings on a fence or clump of grass with wings raised so that he reminds you of pic- tures of cherubims you have seen. Perhaps the finest passage touching I'liE oOL()(4isr. 47 the Bobolink is tliat in James Russell Lowell's Blglow Papers. "June's bird's man, poet o' the year. Gladness on wings, the Bobolink is here: Half hid in tip-top apple-blooms he sings Or climbs against the breeze on quivern' wings Or givin' way to't in a mock despair. Runs down a brook o' laughter thro' the air." And in the same poet's ''Under the Willows" is the following enthusiasm over "June's Bridsniaii:" But now, O rapture: sunshine winged and voiced. Pipe blown through by the w.irm wild breath of the west Shepherding his soft droves of fleecy f•I^ud. Gladness of woods, skies, waters, all in one. The Bobohnk has come, and like the soul Of the sweet season vocal in a bird. Gurgles in ecstasy we know not what Save June 1 Dear June '. Now God be praised for June. The plain lirown yellow female is just as sl?y, sil<-nt and retirinfr as her little lord is noisy, attraotive and conspicii- ous. And so little are they together that yon might take him foi- a bachelor bird with no wife or rising family in all the meadow. But it appears his duty to draw all curiosity from his seolnsive mat;e and her well hidden nest unto himself, and if this he truf^ how admir- ably is he tilted to do it. Not a bird is more worthy your observation or will better repay you for a little watching. I now draw on one of mv field note books for June '2,'. 1896. Just the other afternoon a male Bobolink llew up out of the grass of a road side meadow a little ahead of me and alighting on a fence rail with his odd buff crest puffed and wings raised began to "bow and scrape" after his funny fashion, singing with all his wanted energy and enthus- iasm. Then he dashed off into the elm and sang, then up into its higher branches and sang, then he dropped down into a bush less than ten feet from me; thus singing and changing his position as I moved leisurely along the road; singing now in bush or tree now in the air as he llew, he filled every pause with ,=ong and accompanied me twenty or thirty rods up the road. It certainly looked like a ruse on the part of the little mnsician escorting me along the borders of his territory. Was he trying to coax me away from the spot where Mrs B .bolink sat in her nest or tended the biniies or was he only giv- ing an exhibition of his dainty and quaint self, or was all this music the way he ha<1 of scolding me out of his neighl)orlioo.l':'— certainly a delightful dose of scolding to take and may no one ever be inflicted with any more bit- ter—which of these conclusions is the answer to hi-; actions I leave, for the reader to decide by his observation. Dr. J. M. Wheaton gives a happy dis- cription of the Bobolink singing: ■While hinging he raises and de- presses his feathers, seems to contract and expand his whole body, bows, nods, shrugs, till he, resembles a French danc- ing niaster.in uniform, singing, fiddling danciti'jr and calling off at the same timi^ Who would lind the Bobolink's nest mu.^t have patience and some exper- ienee at nest finding. It is usually very well concealed the thickest clump of .grass or clover in some deep depres- sion, and the eggs five sometimes .six or seven are well marked and colored to harmonize with the ground; and as the female Min.> off from the nest through the grass beloiB taking wing you need not think/ 1 he nest is somewhere near the spot whence you saw her fly. If you would find the B )bolink's nest go out in the early davvu of a June morn- ing when the whole world is fresh in the jewelry of a heavy dew. When the emerald lights of the eastern sky liave scarcely begun to melt into the rose^ of dawn, ere yet the clover has opened its ])ink lips or unclasped its hands which all night were folded as in prayer. Go then into the meadows when a new day is in the bud, and when Mrs. Bobolink leaves her nest on foot at your ap- 48 rHE OOLOGIS'I proacii, she leaves a dark trial of linish- ed-away-drops in the white dew and you may tind her basket of eggs snugly concealed at the foot of that 'white- top" or "blaek-eyed Susan," simply by following back her trial. I have found the Bobolink's uest June 5th with young just beginning to show the tips of their cunning feathers, and have found them flying eleven days later. This was a little earlier for this locality. But as, they raise but one brood it is evidently necessary, that this one be safely and quickly— that is early in the season— raised, so that they may escape the earliest hay mak- ing. And though the hay maker may tind the empty nest, he will but very seldom happen upon one containing eggs or young This will only occur when i-ome mishap has retardt d a pair. As the Bobolink is characteristic of the fairest and sweetest season, coming to us in time to sing from the top sprays of our bloom-laden oi-chards, voicing the bucolics of strawberry-time, and sheep washing and shearing, it is tit that we lose him when the tirst fresh- ness and flowers of spring are gone.and hotter summer comes like a nut brown gipsy. By the fourth of July the Bobo- link's wild bubbling song shows signs oi waning. It is only a song of broken bars now. He starts his jingle as bravely as erewhile he did, but be- fore he has gone far he appears to grow absent minded, for his song snaps and he relapses into silence. ^Again he tries it with no better result. Tomorrow he will not g» t so far as he can today. His power of song is slipping from him. He feels the coming change, he is de- generating into a grating, metallic voiced seed eating, russet-yellow "reed bird." He who was a sweet singing insect-feeder. By the twentieth of the month I hear his tipsy roundelay no more. He has ceased to revel in the taverns of clover and "flea-bane;" his music box is closed, his harp unstrung. The rare intoxicating wine of May and the m< ad of June are gone now, and the little deliaucher will quaff nothing less sweet or pure, and henceforth is sober and silent. And whether he moults as some think or whether the black fades out of his plumage as others hold, he soon loses his suit of black al- ready worn, and becomes the plain brown ' Ret d bird" even in this coun- try. And when he leaves us in early September or latter August, we say with Bryant: "When you can pipe that merry old strain Robert of Lincoln come back again.'' After the "Reed- bird" he becomes the "Rice-bird" of the south, then the "Butter-bird" of the West Indies, as Washington Irving says, "He has be- come a bon vivant a gourmand; with him now there is nothing like the "joys" of the table." In a little while he grows tired of plain homely fare, and is off on a gastronomic tour in quest of foreign luxuries. Such is the story of ihe Bobolink; nice spiritual, musical, admired, the joy of the meadows, and the favorite bird of spring; Anally a gross little f-ensualist, who expiates his sensuality in the larder " We are happy iu this latitude in en- tertaining "the vivaceous. voluble and eccentric Bobolink" as Dr. Elliott Coues calls him, in the happiest and most beautiful and U!-etul t-tage of his motley career, for with us he is the insectiver- ous songster through the breeding seas- on. We scarcely understand the mean- ing of his speeiflc scientiflc name ory- zivoi'us — I dev()ur rice. EkNEST WaTKKS VlCKiRS, Mahoning Co., Ohio. One of Hindkeds: — Thank you for the .'■tart you gave m", in the scientific study of birds and iheir (ggs. I owe it all to ad. jou had in the )outh's Com- panion Sibowt eight .\ears ago. Have taken the Oolugist since Aug., 1890. I have them bound together and was reading in them just the other daj'. — Wm. C. Thro. THE OOLOGIST. 49 The Oologist. A Mon«tlily Magazine Devoted to OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Corresponlence and Items ot Interest to the student ot Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited from all. TKRMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: Slnglf^ subscription ''fic per annum Sample copies .^c each The above rales Include pa,\meut ot postage. Each subscriber Is given a card good for a Want, E.KCliaa!j;e or b'or Sai<> Noiice. ( Tbls card Is redeemable at any time within one year from date thereon.) Subscription'' can begin with any number. Bacli numbers of tlie Oologisi' can be furnished at reasonable rates. Sena stamp for descrip- tions and prices. B2?~Kemember that the publisher must be noil- fled by leHer when a subscriber wishes his paper stopped, and all arrearages must be paid. ADVERTISING RATES: 5 cents per nonpareil line each Insertion. la llne.s In every inch. Seven inches in a col- umn, and I wo columns to the page. Nothing Insertel for hss than 2j cents. No "special rates," 5 cents per line Is "net,'" "rock bottom." ••inside," --spot cash" rate from which th?re Is Tio deviation and n'^> commission to agents. If you wish to use ^ lines or less ppace It will cost you ir, cents; luti lines, $.-i.oO: louO lines, $iO.(io. •■Trade" (other than cash) advertise- ments will be accepted by special arrangement only and at rates irom double to five times cash rates. Due Bills and Cards payable In advertis- ing will be honored only at regular rates lu force at the date ot Issuance of said bill or card. Remittances should be made by Drait, Express or PostoffiCH Money Order. Registered Letier or Postal Note. Unused U. S. Postage Stamps of any denomination will be accepted tor sums un- der one dallar. Malie Money Orders and Drafts payable and address all subscriptions a»id com- munications to FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion. Orleans Co.. N. Y. AS SECOND-CLASS MArrgft A Collector's Diary. A week's collecting around a lake in Michi- gan—being a correct record of happenings as they occurred a few years back. A trip of this nature has never been reported in your paper, and I thouffhl that a week's continuous events might interest your readers. May 18 Took 8 a m train for the lake. Arrived safely !ind found team awaiting my coming. Was too eager for woodland rambling to ride — so load- ed my t"aps into the wagon, and then took my gun and struck across the country, a couple of miles, for my des- tination, at the farm, where I am ta spend a week in the pleasant occupa- tion of collecting and taking notes oa natural history. Followed along the lake shore; flush- ed a cock Quail; secured a male Or- chard Oriole in immature plumage and also a brace of female Cowbirds. All of which I need for ray collection, as there arc many common birds which I have failed to secure as yet. It is generally so with all collectors — and there are only a few veterans who are fully supplied with all that a neighbor- hood affords. Took a perfect set of seven beautiful eggs of the Chickadee. The nest was built in a small hollow in a dead stump.. Both birds seen. Nest of dried moss,, still green in color, and rabbit's hair. I have often found nests composed of these two substances. A little further- on I met with a pair of nervous, mis- leading Killdeers in a Held adjoiining the lake, and by an hour's patient watching found their two eggs, which of course left until the set should be complete. Shot a tine Marsh Hawk'„ picked up a fresh set of Grass Finch's eggs and arrived at the farm without further adventure. Found a welcome awaiting me at the house and much to talk of, but I quick- ly excused myself, and went down to- the boat house where, I was to skin my birds and also to bunk by preference. Arranged my traps; put my table, in- struments, gun and ammunition in or- der, and then begun work at once. By- dinner time I had placed everything ta my satisfaction and also added twa Least Sandpipers and a Scarlet Tana- ger to my list. After dinner spent sl half hour visiting with the family and then measured my specimens, wrote out data and skinned my birds. Fol- lowed this by blowing my eggs — au undertaking which was pleasantly lengthened, by the appearance of a neighbor's boy, who appreciative of the 50 THE OOLOGIST. fact, that there was a collector around, came in with a set of seven Kingfisher's and four rare Robin's eggs. "Small favors thankfully received' — says I, and then fell to praising the color of the Robin's eggs. My rule is; 'never to refuse anything when well meant.' At five o'clock I went trolling with my companion, and at half after six we returned with thi'ee two-pound bass, six beautiful Blue-backed Swallows and an American Bitten which we shot at the upper end of the lake. Supper ovei-, I could not leave the family of my kind host, and so spent the evening in the house, only retiring to my airy quarters at ten o'clock and after being assured that I would be de- voured by the wild beasts. Spent an hour skinning birds and then went to sleep on my canvas stretcher, lulled by the sound of gentle waves washing against the side of my combined sum- mer bed-i'oom and labrafory. May 19. Breakfast over at 6 a. m. Took fine sets of eggs of Chipping Spar- row, Pewee and Barn Swallow and marked nests of Bobolink, Vireo, King- gf bird and Spotted Sandpiper, which had ,„ not the complements. Skinned birds at seven and all through at nine. Took ,. ^un and twelve shells and went across ^ • t^e lake. Secured a pair of Blue-wing- i^^Teal, a Woodcock, four Scarlet Tan- ,a^^rs, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red- " ,lji.e|l^ed Woodpecker and a Blue Jay. -ui $i89^ nests and eggs of Jay, Grosbeak _ iand,s-i]X. sets of eggs of the White-bellied CT oi:^|P,li^,e-backed Swallow. The latter . .^|^j^^^.3,j.l., built in stumps near water; ,fpq^,, eight, to twenty feet up. The .jne^]b^,^^'je^e jaiainly composed of feathers. > jaJ<''fJ?^^»Aft^^'''^/*'^^'^^ ^° drop the feathers in • ^fiffl-.^^'3^"tef^^^ ^^® them snapped QiOT^^^^S^P^Mh l^ff^i'e they reached the r rr waj^j;.j,' TJ[jj^s^,SW|allows lay from five _|p,^^vei?ij; pair? ,-7W;h(ite eggs. They are QriJ l^^g^^i.^ft^K^ffi^^^/-/ .'/(^aught a bass of three pounds and was so elated that I decided to troll up the lake. Spent an hour uselessly— as there is seldom any sense in trolling anywhere near noon. Shot Pied-bill Grebr, Hell Driver for short, which I sneaked on and shot be- fore it recognized my presence, and therefore had no chance to dive at the flash. Spent another foolish hour try- ing to corner a wounded Butter-ball Duck Dinner bell rang and I hustled to the house with an appetite 'ike a Hawk. Skinned birds till four p. ni. and thereafter sat in the grove and took notes on movements of several birds. Located several nests in course of con- struction, among which were Orchard and Baltimore Orioles, Red-eyed Vireo and Great-crested Flycatcher Secured full sets of Flicker, Spotted Sandpiper and Cooper's Hawk and shot the birds in each case. Also spent a good hour looking vainly for n:st of the Horned Lark — Prairie variety. When I reached the house found I was far too late for supper. Worked till nine and went to sleep. May 20. Set my alarm dock .'jo that I was up at 4 a. m. Skinned all ray birds and blew all the eggs but two in- cubated sets, by the lime bell rnf^g for breakfast. Then Rob and T w^-nt to a famous place in the heavy timber, about two miles away. We carried a lunch and were prepared for the day. On our way we shot three common Snipe, i two Hummers and a belated Night- I hawk. Reaching the woods we were right in the business and quickly secur- ed six species of late migrating Warb- lers including Bay-brea*ted, Black-and- yellow and Cape May. Took two sets of Rose- breasted Gros- beak, three of Wood Thrush and one of three eggs of Ovenbird. At the edge of a little lake we found two nests of Sora Hail containing seven and eight eggs, which we lest for complements. Shot several Rails of the Sora and Vir- THE OOLOGIST. 51 ginia species and also a King Rail, which is rare for these parts. In the woods again, found nest of Hairy Woodpecker containing young. Just my luck. I have not a perfect set of eggs. Climbed a big beech to a Red- tailed Hawk's nest and found young. Took set of three eggs from a Cooper Hawk's nest. They lay four or live generally, but can't afford to climb a tree twice. Rob kept shooting and shooting and 1 could not head him off. It is a warm day and the birds will spoil if I- don't sit up all night at work, as I can't af- ford to let any birds waste. Best way to head him off is to start back. Going back at abont two p. m. we shot two Field Plovers and a Lincoln's Finch, the latter a rare bird for us. Took a late but fresh set- of White- rumped Shrike's eggs, and also three of the Least Flycatcher, and two nests of the Song Sparrow. Spent a half hour digging out a Kingfisher's nest and found six oddly shaped young. We had better luck with another nest of the same species a mile further on. Arrived at home found that I had 'sixty-eight eggs to blow and forty-one birds to skin. Fortunately the ice- house is an excellent place to preserve birds and I forthwith deposited half of my days shoot there. Beginning at four p. m. I woi'ked steadily till midnight to prepare twenty-two bird skins — and then turned in — a very tired man. May 31. It was with difliiculty that I hustled to breakfast, but was quickly myself again after a square meal. Worked steadily on my bird's skins and eggs till dinner time. At two o'clock took a row up to head* of lake and shot a fine specimen of the Whistling Swan with a charge of big buck shot. It was atagreat distance, and simply a chance shot. The huge fellow, one of four in the group, was only wounded, but con- tinued settling and falling behind his companions. Rowed down the lake over two miles and came to where the Swan was resting in a lot of reeds at edge of water. A single discharge with No. 6 laid out the gallant bird, which measured nearly seven feet from tip to tip Trolled back and caught a fine big- mouth black bass. Took me from four till eleven o'clock to skin and clean the huge White Swan. Had an interesting dissection in tracing out the peculiar coui-se of the trachea, which makes some bends and buries itself in the bony structure of the sternum, and has a re- markable course to the lungs. May 22— Sunday. Did no collecting, but took a long and agreeable stroll and could not help marking down a few nests for future attention. Obsei'ved a towering Snipe. May 23. Took over ninety eggs and spent the day among the birds. My last day out for the season. May 24. Packed up my eggs, tagged all my bird skins, which I am to leave locked in the boat house till they thoroughly dry. Have 117 good bird skins, including six new species for my collection, and 234 eggs, but no new kinds. Reached home much improved as to my health, but sorrowful to think I could not stay longer. Eugene Pericles. Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks. In the March Oologist I find an in- teresting article from the pen of Mr. Ernest H. Short on the occurence of both species of Hawks in Western New York which prompts me to give my ex- perience, that somewhat differs with that of Mr. Short. In the vicinity of Buffalo, Erie Co., say in a radius of 16 or 18 miles I found the following: In 1891, May 17, the nest of a pair of Red-tailed Hawk with young. In 1893 from April 24 to May 1, 3 sets. In 1893 from April 9 to May 21, 5 sets. 52 THE OOLOGIST. la 1894 from April 1 to May 13, 11 sets. In 1895 from April 9 to May 12, 8 sets. In 1896 from April 12 to 26, 7 sets. In all 35 sets ranging from 1 to 3 eggs in a clutch. Red-shouldered Hawk: In 1891, May 1, 2 sets. In 1892 from April 29 to May 16, 23ets. In 1893 from April 24 to Mayl4, 3 sets. In 1894 from April 30 to May 6. lOsets. In 1895 from April 20 to May 12, 14sets In 1896, April 25, 1 set. In all 32 sets, most sets of 3 or 4 and in only one instance a clutch of 5 eggs. This shows that the Red-tailed Hawks start breeding three weeks earlier than the Red-shouldered Hawk and ] am further led to believe that each pair of Hawks needs about from three to lour square miles of territory for their sub- sistance. For three years I have taken sets of the same pair of Hawks and strange to say, almost the same mark- ings are on each years clutch. I have encountered some verj? difficult trees to climb particularly shell-bark hickory. Edward Reineke, Buffalo, N. Y. Collecting" 'Eggs of Scarlet Tanag-er. Mr. Gibbs' rem.arks in December, '94, OoLOGiST suggested that perhaps my way of getting eggs from such situa- tions might be new to some. Take a long pole or two, if necessary, spliced; tie a tin pail of large enough size to the end, till same nearly full of broken cot- ton or similar substance. One person raises the pail to one edge of nest while another raises the other edge, when the eggs roll out on the cotton. Shift the pail as they come that they may not strike each other. Try it. E. H. Short. the eggs of Woodpeckers. Flickers, Owls, Kingfishers, Swallows, etc. Any person can make the following ladle without any cost: Take a piece of wire (not too heavy) and bend it around and twist it leaving a loop in the end. To this loop fasten a piece of cloth, making a small bag. The great advan- tage of this ladle is that the handle may be bent, so that it will fit a hole of almost any size or shape. HerVEY M. HOSKINS, Newburg, Oreg. For Inaccessible Nests. Take a piece of wire 16 inches long. Make a ring in the middle 1 inch in diameter and twist the free ends to- gether until you have a wire "stem" 4 inches long. Then fasten to a light bamboo pole with the rest of the wire. Cover your ring with muslin making the bag 1^ inch deep. Bend the stem at right angles to your pole. Now go to that inaccessible Vireo's nest, get as near it as possible and put in your net. With a "twist of the wrist" you can get out the eggs as safely as you would take Bobolink's. Henry R. Buck. A Handy Tool. There are few collectors who do not sometimes need a ladle in collecting A Collecting- Contrivance. For securing quickly the eggs of Hum- mingbirds, Gnatcatchers and the like, I send the following device. Make a jointed pole from 4 pieces of pine each six feet or more in length by fitting fer- rules on the end of each. Saw a split seven inches long in one end of the pole, spread this apart and fit on piv- ots a small mirror. It can be quickly seen if there are any eggs in the nest, if so suspend a thickly lined basket on the end and gently tip up eggs into it, where they will nearly always land safely. C L. Grant. THE OOLOGIST iJI\irDAIC SHELLiS, etc. The White IVIIrlCnALd City Collections. 50 fine cabi- net specimens, $3. 50 smaller size, $2. 50 ama- triu- size, $1. Printed name and locality with each specimen. 50 Shells, Corals, and Marine Specimens, only $3. 100 Fossils, including fine Fish, Trilobite, Crinoids, Corals, Sponges, several fine Perns, etc., only $8. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to $1, very showy. Taxidermy in all its branches at reasonable prices. Illustrated catalogue by mail, 10c. J.M.WIERS, Natural- ists Agency. 357 W. VanBuren St., Chicago, 111. H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. Rapid Taxidermy at Home! Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. No tools required. No extra expense. After many years of unvarying success, and a constantly increasing sale in every state and territory in the Union, and with thousands of testimonials attesting to the merits of m> Sim- plified Method of Taxidermy, from boys, girls, parents, doctors, ministers, lawyers, school teachers, merchants, farmers, mechanics, hun- ters, outers and sportsmen, as well as from curators of leading university museums, and professional taxidermists; I feel that I can safely make this offer. Send me TS OENTS Cash or Stamps and receive complete instruct- ions for mounting birds in cases.plaques, hang- ing game, deer heads, etc., etc., with package of prepared compound ready for use, enough to mount .50 small birds, or 20 large ones: to- gether with full directions for dressing skins with the hair on for rugs, robes and hangings. If you are not fully satisfied, your money will be cheerfully refunded. Beware of imitations. Mention The Oolo- GiST and address. MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., KALAMAZOO, MICH. This month's OoLO- GIST was mailed sub- scribers on May 29. Shells, Marine Curios, &c. I am now ready to supply flrst-class stock at low prices and should you wish anything from this section, let me hear from you. All inquir- ies will have a prompt reply. mtf J. H. HOLMES, Dunedin, Fla. Sea Shells From the Florida Coast. If you desire to buy Shells in large or small quantities you will save money by writing for my price list before buy- ing elsewhere I am selling Shells very cheap and will send twenty spp.cimens, AS SAMPLES, PREPAID ON RECEIPT OF ONE DOLLAR. Reference, Postmaster, Dunedin, Florida , Address all orders A. J. BARNES, DUNEDIN, FLORIDA. FRANK B. ARMSTRONG, TAXIDERMIST, and Collector and Dealer in Bird and Mammal Skins, Birds Eggs in fine sets. Mounted Birds and Animals. BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS. NASALENE POSITIVE CURE FOR Cold in the Head, Hay Fever, Catarrh, Deafness. $ioo Il.E"WA)».I> for every case of Ca- tarrh or Deafness (caused by Catarrh) which we cannot cure with Nasalene, when used ac- cording to directions. Sold by all first-class druggists or by mail at 25 cents. Sample box 10 cents. The profuse discharge of mucus from the nose, the dropping of mucus from the nostrils into the throat, the accumulation of mucus and the constant inclination to hawk and ex- pectorate, is arrested by the timely use of Nas- alene. Office of the A gent- Warden } Sing Sing Pkison. f Dec. 12, 1895. Hunter Medical, Co. Gentlemen:— I have use your "Nasalene"and I find it very beneficial. I take pleasure in recommending it. Yours truly, O. V. Sage, Agent-Warden. HUNTER MEDICAL CO., 54 E. 13 St., NEW-YORK CITY. THE OOLOGIST Many Subscriptions to THE OOLOGIST have expired, or will expire with this issue. In the future the Publisher re- quires CASH IN ADVANCE. Hence, if you are one of the delinquent sub- scribers, your subscription should be forwarded by return mail, i* you wish the OoLOGiST continued to your address. June issue will go to press prompt- ly on June 10, and be mailed during the followiog week — all Exchange, adver- tisements and notes for that issue, must be forwarded by return mail to insure insertion in that issue. FREE EDUCATION. An education at Harvard, Yale or any other college or instutlon of learning in the United States, or in the New England Conservatory of Music, can be secured by any young man or wo- man who is in earnest. Write for particulars quickly. James D. Ball, 36 Bromfield St., Boston, Mass. niiiimi».tHtiini...mnmAiiiiiiimni» PRINTING OUTFITS f OR SALE AT ONE-HALF COST PRICE. Thoroughty ovtrhauted and aa good aa new. CemBlolo Job oulff from 5 to 200 dollars. Send for liel 0/ preeiei, outfite etc. We 6u» eeeond-hand outfte ahd material. Send t of what you haue. PRINTERS' SUPPLY CO., ^=- GflLESBUKG, ILL. HnwtinfTnnMnrmnrwwHHHiumffiTtt 50 YEARS' EXPERTTLOE. TRADE MARKS, DESIGNS, COPYRIGHTS Ac. Anyone sending a sketch and description may quietly ascertain, free, whether an inventiou is proDiibly patentable. Communications strictly confidential. Oldest agency f Oranien-Strasse, Ber- lin, S., Germany. THE OOLOGIST. DANGER! lies in the ordinary bicycle saddle. Press- ing the sensitive parts, it causes injury. $iOO, We employ experienced agents on a salary ot $100 per month. Others at $60. Write quickly. Puritan Pub- lishing Co., 36, Bromfield St., Boston, Mass. SHINE? Minerals, Fossils and Shells cut and polished at our Steam Lapidary Shop, recently fitted up on the most improved plans, where we do first-class work at reasonable prices. Cabinet work a, special tj'. Polished material for sale. JOHN G. BUXTON, Milo Centre, N. Y. Pelvis as it rests on the Ordinary Saddle. Christy Anatomical Pelvis as it rests on tha Christy Saddle. j^Sho^w-^ns^ ^i^^j^t*' oivers. BOOKLET CO n '^^^JtegaigUiPig^ ^^ 'fWj^^!*- R^iflesv SENT ••ee FREE Cy ■" ^^^S^^^^^^^y^^ \ ^O-eatWerterri"' — Hdi^'*' for Price. List. Wu. jVvorka.PUiiibun I'h.i-r^tb' overcomes all objections. Comfortable cushions arc so adjusted as to receive the bony prominences of the pelvis, thus obvi- ating all pressure. It is made of metal and cannot ^'^ arp or cliaii;jc Us shape. REAR v!b;'.v, e:£o\ving coil springs. Insist on tiie Christy being fitter! to yonr bicycle. \'o dealer will l;.^^e a scl" Jii account of your prefer- Price, $5.00 A. Q. SPALDING & BROS. rjpw ^ork Chicago Philadelphia Washinofor F D A y 1/ I I M ^''''- ^'a.ies and K 11 ni II I I ni Lamed Streets, """"■■"'DETROIT, MICH. Rates, »1.50 to S2.00 per Day. Only one block from Woodward and Jefferson Aves. Klevator Service, Steam Heat, Electric Lights, Tile Floorg, Etc HOUSE H. H. JAMES & SON, Prop'rs. Wanted-An Idea Who can think of some simple thing to patent? Protect your Ideas; thay may bring you wealth. Write JOHN WEDDERBURN & CO , Patent Attor- neys, Washington, D. C , for their $1,800 prize offer and list oC two hundred inventions wanted. SFINP<> NETS, TENTS, and J-" * ^ ^ l_ «J y SPORTING GOODS. Kvery description of Guns, Revolvers, Ammu- nition and Sporting Goods at very iovrest pric- es. We have something of interest to you. Spades, Hoes, Mauls. I have recently bought several large collec- tions of Stone" Relics frrm high-class collec- tors and have a "cream' stock of 15,000 pieces from many states, hundreds of them unusually fine form and perfect: many rare. Improve your cabinet. Among a stock as varied and fine as any ever offered by any dealer, are: 9 fine Spades 12 to I6V2 inches long. 12 " " 5>^ to 11 9i inches long. 9 notched Hoes 4^ to 914 inches long. Points of above have a glassy polish from use. Ah Discoidals, bi-coEcave, Mi to 6 inches diam- eter. 500 grooved Axes and Celts of finest form V2. to 10 pounds each. L75 Banner Stones, Gorgets, Amulets, etc. ;j3() Curious old Pipes, r 25 Hematite Plummets and Axes, etc. ' Cup Stones, Balls. Pestles. Mortars, Bone Relics. Beads. Copper Relics. 5 to 9 inch Spear Heads, etc., Swedish and Irish Stone Relics. IfArrovsf Heads- 3000 splendid, 5000 fine, .5000 ordinary. 2000 2c to 5c each. ai50 fine Drills. IVIany pretty forms in the tiny serui-precious stone points of Oregon, N. Mexico. and Arizona. Send stamp tor price list— "Our Extra." Separate catalog of 100,000 specimens of fine Minerals and Fossils. Hundreds of Relics of Western Indians, Alas- kans and South Sea Islanders. L. W. STILWELL, DEADWOOD, (Black Hills), S. DAK. THE OOLOGIST. ologists, Ornithologists ALL will want to read q-He OSPReY BECAUSE Dr. Elliott Coues (the greatest friend of the bird student and author of Coues' Key) is associated with it editorially, se it is the leading monthly inagaziiid publishea for Orni- gists All enjoy the tine photographic illustrations printed on lel coated paper. e will continue, one month moie, to send samples free, when amp is enclosed. S 1 a year. 1 0c a copy. Published by THE OSPREY COMPANY, 6i North Prarie St., Galesburg, lU. "The Story of the Farallones" A BEAUTIFUL SOUVENIR By C. BARLO^A^ and H. R. TAYLOR. With Richly Embossed Cover on Translucent Board. PRICE, 50 CENTS-Prepaid. The Farallone Islands, the "Paradise of Oologrists." and the greatest Orni- thologrical wonder in America today, have never been fully described or illustrat- ed. Farallone Island has been visited by but a handful amoup^ the thousands of collectors who have read of the marvelous myriads of the bird tribes which make it their summer breeding home. We have presented The Story of the Faralones, in an elegant souvenir, with artistic cover, including more than 30 Superb Illus- trations, printed on heavy coated paper, the finest half tones that can be made, graphically presenting the picturesque features of the Islands, with their countless Gulls, Cormorants, Murres, Puffins, Petrels, Pigeon Guillemots, etc., as they are seen in life, accompanied by photographs of their nest and eggs. One illustra- tion gives a panoramic view of South Farallone Islanii, a most ingeniously con- ceived picture from unpublished photographs, furnishing the complete idea of the wonders of the densely populated city of the birds. Address all orders to H. R. TARLOR, Publisher, "Nidologist," ALAMEDA, CAL. GREATNOVELTY IN PIN CUSHIONS. I Made from the seed stalk of the Yucca Palm or Spanish I Bayonet, whose beautiful white blossoms adorn the ^_^_^ Ccaiiyons and mountain sides of Cal. 1150 Yucca Cush- ions were retailed by one hotel to its guests in less than 5 months. The outside of the stalk is hard and the inside soft, and when nicely turned on a lathe they make a most beautiful white Pincushion. Price 10 coots, silver. O. W. TCTTLE, Pasadena, CaL Wanted-An Idea Who can think of some simple thing to patent? Protect your ideas; they inny bring you wealth. Write JOHN WEDDEKBtTRN & CO., Patent Attor- nays, Washiuf ton, D. C, for their $1,800 prlie ofTer and list of \,w i> hundred inventions wanted. PREMIUM LIST SUPPLEMENT. The OoLOGiST. VOL. XIV. NO. 5. ALBION, N. Y., MAY, 1897. Whole No. 132 $i,50 for Only SO cents! The most Liberal Inducement ever made to secure Subseriptions. It will neither be repeated nor extended. Until August first, 1897, I will mail every person sending me 50 cents for a year's subscription to The Ooir OGiST their selection from goods mentioned in this list to the amount of SOcts. Every subscriber will also receive two coupons each good for a Want, For Sale or Exchange Notice. Send in your combination with a friend— you take the premiums, he the publications, or vice versa. Make remittances in most convenient manner. The prices charged are in most cases reduced spot cash ones and you can figure that you are getting either the Prem- iums or The Oologlst //■«'«. All premiums and coupons are forwarded by return mail. When Premiums are priced at over 50o that price includes Thk Oologist and two Coupons. Orders for additional premiums will be filled at prices quoted. Address plainly and in full, FRANK H. LATTIN, Publisher, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. EGGS, * Can furnish sets of starred species. Per egg. Summer Tanager .-...., $ 30 Gray-tailed Cardinal 15 Dwarf Cowbird 05 Painted Bunting 06 Bullock's Oriole 08 Orchard Oriole _ 04 Cactus Wren 15 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 08 *Baird"s Wren 15 Verdin ' ; 25 Blue-gray Gnatcataher 15 *Golden-fronted Woodpecker 25 *Texan Woodpecker _ 25 Black Vulture 50 Little Blue Heron 08 ♦Harris Hawk 40 *Black-crested Titmouse 35 *Beirs Vireo 10 *Ask-throated Flycatcher 20 Curve-billed Thrasher 10 "Hooded Warbler 30 Purple Martin 10 *Bendire's Thrasher 50 Brewer's Blackbird 04 *Bi-colored Blackbird 08 Least Tern 08 *Crested Flycatcher 10 *Kingblrd = 04 ♦Cardinal _ 05 Am. Eared Grebe 12 Savannah Sparrow 06 Sage Thrasher -. 50 American Herring Gull 15 White Ibis 20 Least Bittern 15 American Coot 06 Killdeer 15 Florida Red-shouldered Hawk 40 *Scissor-tailed Flycatcher,..-. 06 Black PhcEbe 10 Flicker _ Oi ♦Bronzed Grackle, 04 Vesper Sparrow _ 04 ♦Western Lark Sparrow 04 ♦Black-throated Sparrow 20 Hermann's Song Sparrow 05 Spurred Towhee 15 Barn Swallow 04 Cedar Waxwing 08 Yellow Warbler 04 Yellow-breasted Chat 06 ♦Mockingbird, 03 Bewick's Wren 15 Long-billed Marsh Wren 04 Tufted Titmouse 25 Plain Titmouse 25 Alligator 30 Crocodile 75 Loggerhead Turtle 25 Hog-nosed Adder 35 Python 75 Emeu (hole in end) 2 25 Or your selection of any species, either in sets, singles or 2d class, to the amount of 50cts., at Lattin's "Standard Catalogue" prices. When selecting this premium you must always name extras to be used as substitutes to the full amount of your order. SCIENTIFIC SHELLS. Murex brandaris $ 10 trunculus 10 " saleanus 05 Sycotypus papyratia 15 Eburna Japonica 15 Oliva litterata (extra) 5 to 10 Strombus alatus 15 Cyprase moneta 05 " annulus 05 '• erosa 5 to 10 Isabella 10 caurica 5 to 10 " carneola 5 to 10 vitellus 5 to 15 Ovulum ovum 15 " gibbosum 05 '' secale on Pterogorgia twig 05 Nerita peleronta, select 5 to 10 Trochus (Livona) pica 5 to 25 Helix fldeles 10 Bulimus Bahamaensis 05 Partula glbba 05 Orthalicus melanochilus 10 Liguus fasciata 5 to 10 Achatin-ella perversa 05 " uniplicata... 05 " SDirizona 05 " olivacea 05 Pythea pyramidata 05 Chama arcinella 10 Malleus alba 75 /c vU1iik*^b of the Uulted Slates nroglvcu od these maps. Over 200 MagnificeutlllaRtrstloDS ftQd Haps einbollUli nearly e%'en')>Ago of the Atlas tiiid fiubfiillv depict dcenett lu almo-il i.*vtTy part of the world. THX3 ATLAS contatoH a va^t amouot of historical, ph\-?tcal. political, educalionnl ami aturUtical matter, no c'lmpri-beiialvtly arranged aod indtied that iofonuatloD on aoy i^uhject cau bo fouod Id a mouient'ti tlinc- GENCRAL DIvSCRIPTION OF THE WORXD, OKIng Us pbyfiical fefitiires. form, dcDidty, teraperature, motion, wtnde and currents; distribution of land and water ; "mcea of people, their reHmons and' numbers; sIho the mqst complete livitli data; A Ko. i Mounted Bird.s and Reptiles; A Good microscope; Indian Relics, and choice col- lections of IT. s. or Koreign Stamps or Coins, 'rype>vriter, Kleld Glass, Collecting Guns or anything new- or in good condition, suitable for a collector, naturalist, sportsman, or for a physician and surgeon. I CAN OFFER IN EXCHANGE New $10 Field Glass; No. 2 ($33..50) Kodak, new; 23 vols. Harpers in patent binders; New set of' Encyclopaedia Brittanica ; Set Johnson's Encyclopaedia. Morocco bound ; Rand and McNally's J2.5 Business Atlas; New Surgical Chair; New Dental Chair; $2.5 Relief Map of U. S. ; New 1500 Up- right Piano; $.50 Mineral Collection; $1000 worth of "Surplus" Stock as offered in "Natural Sci- ence News" (copy for stamp) of April, '90 consisting of Minerals, Fossils, Shells. Land and Mar- ine Curios, Mexican Goods, Novelties, etc., etc. : 7 foot Shark from the Plant R. R. System's Ex- hibit at the Atlanta Exposition. Select Disarticulate Human one-half skeleton: Skeleton of Mon- key; "Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burmah," 7 vol., 40C0 pp. 1300 illu.s. : Jeaneon's "Atlas of Pathological Anatomy" cost $.36.7.5: a $45 Roll top Black Walnut Desk, good as new, 70 acres of Land near "V^iueland, N. J. : lot in Osier City, Fla.; Fishing Tackle: 22, also 32 cal. Rifle: 12 guage double and single barrel shot guns; Mimeograph; Thousands of back numbers of Youths Com- panion, Golden Days, Forest and Stream, etc., etc.; collections in almost any department of Nat- ural Science or Curiosities at any value from $1 to $100. I will sell anything I offer for exchange cheap for cash. Exchanges under $.5 not solicited except for choice material or desirable books. Address, FRA]NK H. JL.AX'TIN, Publisher of the Oologist, AL,BIO:k, N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. VOL. XIV. NO. 6. ALBION, N. Y., JUNE. 1897. Whole No. 133 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special announcements, "Wants,' "Exchanges" "For Sales," Inserted In this department for 2.TC per 2.t words. Notices over 2f> words, charged at the rate of one-half cent per each additional word. No notice Inserted for less than 25c. Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted in payment at one-third list rates. What's Your Number? Examine the number following your name on the wrapper of this month's Oologist. It denotes when your subscription expired or will expire. No. 131 your subscription expired withAprirST. 132 " '• •• •' May ■• 133 " " expires With this issue. 134 " " " '• July, 1897. 135 " " " " Aug., •• 140 •' " " ■' Jan.. 189S. 14.5 '' '■ •' " June, '• 150 " " '• " Nov , •• Intermediate numbers can easily be deter- mined. If we have you credited wrong we wish to rectify. If your subscription has expired or will ex- pire within a few months you can never renew more advantageously than af once in accord- nance with our offers in May 'Premium Sup- plement." Remember that this offer expires Aug. 1st shai'p and will not be repeated. Re- newals received since June 18th have been cor- rected on our books but not on the wrappers. FOR EXCHANGE:— Finely prepared sets of this year's collecting taken in So. Minnesola and Iowa. Mostly water birds, Ducks, Herons, Tern.s and Phalaropes. WALTON I. MITCH- ELL, .031 Summit Ave., St. Paul, Minn. WANTED:— A good second hand safety bi- cycle, any kind. Can offer for same a nice col- lection of 1st class sets with data, catalogue value $1.50.00. Will give good exchange in eggs for same. Parties having a wheel to exchange please send description of same and I will send a li.st of my eggs upon request. All answered. PAUL P. McGINTY, 454 S. Pryor St., Atlanta. Ga. WILL EXCHANGE eggs with data of mam- birds of Illinois for others. Also lot of stamps to exchange for eggs. J. H. STANBAUGH. Danville, 111. WANTED:— A double-barreled shot gun 10 or 13 gauge and any kind of camping outfits. Also a tent. Will give in exchange mounted specimens and part cash. OAKLEY WALK- ER, Box 59. Mayheld, Ky. FOR SALE:— Fossil corals from the falls of the Ohio and vicinit:y can furnish from a sin- gle example to one hundred thousand. Prices vary as to condition and rarity of the speci- mens. Fair specimens for study of the com- mon kinds can be furnished from 10 to 25 cts. each. These are not fragments, but fair cab- inet specimens. Largar and finer examples vary in price from 'Zh cts. to ilt) 00 each. All pecimens properly identified. G. K. GREENE, l27 West Market St., New Albany, Ind. J2t WANTED:— An Anatomy (Morris or Gray)> Kirk's Physiology. Wurtz'.s Chemistry and Piersoll's or Klein's Histology', for which I have to exchange eggs in sets, niinerals, fossils and curios. HERBERT STERZING, Austin, Tex. THE NIDIOLOGIST continues the most val- uable, being also the pioneer of illustrated bird .journals-./!/^ A year begins September. May number records the curious discovery with photos, of the nesting of the Great Blue Heron on the ground. In June fii'st published photos of Nesting Site of California Condor. The beautiful brochure, "The Story of the Faral- lones" (price .50 cents) ^ixenfree as a premium to all who subscribe at once. Remit one dollar for twelve months to H. R. TAYLOR, Pub- lisher, Alameda, Calif. OOLOGIST for li-89 and 1890, bound, both in good condition, for loose numbers for the same year, must be in good condition J, H, CLARK. Paterson, N. J. WANTED: -3'36i/2. 13 1-1. 27'.;. 30 11, and Moorhen I4. Will give in exchange four dol- lars'worth of 1st class sets with data. Write at once. JACOB BASTIAN JR., Statesville. N. C. WANTED:— Sets of A. O. U. Nos. 6O414, 134, 497 1.5. Can give in exchange sets of this local- ity as 339?3, 19414, and others. Datas given and required. R. T. ANDERSON, Aylme West, Ont. CAMERAS TO EXCHANGE: Brand new $3. .50 Peek-a-boo and $2.03 Crescents for sets at '3 Lattin's list prices. Express 25 cents pay- able in eggs at same rate. L. D. SUMNER, 502 State St., Madison. Wis. /?77? THE OOLOGIST. TO EXCHANGE:— Sets of this locality as A. O.U. 19414, 339Vi, 420!/j for southern and western sets as 703 1-5, 593!i, etc. Datas srlven and re- quired. Address R. T. ANDERSON, Aylmer West, Ont. SET of OSPREY, Night Heron, Green Heron, Wren, Tern and others for first class sets with full data. HARRY B. SARGENT, Niagara Falls, N. Y. WANTED:— Nice sets of Red-headed Wood- pecker, Pied-bllled Grebe, Least and Black Tern. I will take nice sets of above in pay- ment for anything I carry in stock. J. P, BABBITT, Taunton, Mass. WANTED:— Collectors to send for my latest bnlletins of Skins, Eggs, Shells, Curios, etc., now ready and sent free. I issue the largest bulletins of any dealer in this country. Col- lectors having 1st class eggs to exchange l)lease drop me a line. JAMES P. BABBITT, Taunton, Mass. WANTED:— To exchange eggs of Central New York for eggs from other states. Send list of eggs to exchange. E. T. SCHENCK, Palatine Bridge, N. Y. J2t FOR SALE:— An old fashioned high Clock, good time keeper, 126 years old, 24 hours, good case' brass works. Will sell for best cash offer. LEAH BERKHEIMER, Osterburg. Pa. WANTED:— Medical works for which I have to exchange eergs in sets, minerals and fossils. HERBERT STERZING, Austin, Tex. TO EXCHANGE:— Vol. VIII Oologist and Oct and Nov. Osprey for first class Setiwith complete data of White Ibis. E. A. DOO- LITTLE, Painesvillc, Ohio. SKULLS of ancient Eskimos, (skulllngs) taken from old Greenland graves for sale. Also Arctic fossils and curiios, Address F. H. C, 687 Bush wick Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. J2t WANTED:— Fresh in the meat male and fe- male Baltimore Oriole, also nest with set of eggs H. S. ARDELL, 221 Dean St., Brook- lyn, N. Y. FOR SALE:— Fine specimens of Coprolites 25 to .50 cts. each, specimens with one side re- moved, showing Conularias 25cts. to Sl.OLi post- paid. These are fine specimens, every cabinet ■should contain them. Locality and geological position given with each specimen. G. K. ■GREENE, 127 West Market St., New Albany, Ind. J3t WANTED:— A copy of "Chapman's South- 'ern Flora." Will give marine shells, bulbs or plants in exchange. G. P. WOODDELL, ■Seven Oaks, Fla. WANTED:— Large, rare specimens of 206, 249, 3.i6, Albatross and many others. Can offer Al sets with data, also sets and singles to ex- change for sets. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, 457 Greene St., Augusta, Ga. J2t 17 varieties Western Bird Skins, $1. Mounted Birds 25 cents. Squirrel, 50 cents. Chipmunk, 35 cents. All postpaid. Skins to exchange for stamps. F. T. CORLESS, Logan, Or. (M. O. ofiice, Oregon City, Oregon.) a9t WANTED.— Everyone that is in need of first- class Taxidermist's or Egg tools to send 4 cent stamp for my latest catalogue. Full line of A 1 supplies. CHAS. K. REED. Worcester, ^ass. f 6t MOUNTED Bird :— First-class specimens of Hawks, Owls, or small birds to exchange for common eggs in sets or singles. Send list of what you have or want. Also showy shells to exchange for eggs. CHAS. K. REED, Worces- ter, Mass. A NICE collection should be neatly labelled. I furnish all kinds on good paper cheap. Egg, 15c per 100 small, 53c per 100 large. Fossil lOc per 100. All kinds, any style wanted. Send copy for price. Mention Oologist. D. H. EA- TON, Woburn, Mass. HAND Egg Blow-pipes for blowing and rins- ing eggs. Don't blow your cheeks off, but send for one, with directions. 75 cents prepaid. Patent applied for. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, 457 Greene St., Augusta, Ga. m2t FOR SALE.— Strictly A 1 eggs. Most all the common western eggs including Humming- birds, and Raptores, etc. Dirt cheap. Send for list. LEE CHAMBERS, Santa Monica, Cal. WANTED —Chapman's Birds of Eastern North America; Langille's Our Birds in Their Haunts; IngersoU's Bird Nesting. Will give fine sets for above books. P. D. GETTY, 301 N. Main St., Bloomington, 111. FINE Boxing Gloves. $5.00; striking bag, S3.25; complete set of fine telegraph instru- ments, $10.75; a few fine western sets for Ridg- way's Manual or Coues'Key. Write for partic- ulars. FOSTER MARIS, Annapolis, Indiana. PAPERS.— I have 34 MekeeVs Weekly Stamp News to exchange for sets with nest and data or Nidologists. THEODORE B. PARKER, Box 354, Newtonville, Mass. FOR SALE OR EXCHANGE:— Complete files including every issue from No. 1 up to time specified of Young Oologist and Oologist and Museum to Jan. '97, Nidiologist to Jan. '96, all in good condition. $5.00 cash takes the whole lot, purchaser to pay charges. Will ex- change the above for a 4x5 Lens, either Achro- matic or Rectilinear, prefer the latter. PAUL P. McGINTY, 454 S, Pryor St., Atlanta, Ga. PUBLICATIONS, EGGS, BOOKS WANTED: I will allow 50c each for any back number of the ".4mA-" you may have, if iii good condition and sent prepaid. You to take your full pay in Eggs, Shells (showy or scientific). Corals, Echinoderms, Fossils. Minerals. Stamps, Hand- books, Curios or Novelties, (Books, Instru- ments and Supplies will be given in exception- al cases by special arrangement) as listed in the May, '97 Premium List Supplement. I can also use on same terms the following numbers of the Oologist at prices quoted: June, 1888, 20c: July-Aug , 1886, 20c; Jan.-Feb . 1887 or Dec, 1886 with same attached, 15c; June-Sept., 1887, 15c; Apr.. 1889, 15c; Jan-Feb.. 1886, 10c; Jan., 1895, 5c; March, 1897, 3c; May, 1897, 3c. All must be complete, clean, and in good condition. I will also accept back No's of the Ornithologist and Oologist, Nidiologist or Osprey, any issue and in any quantity at 5c per copv on same terms. (I will allow 20c for Oct., '93 and .50c for Feb., '94 ''Nids.'"). If Tou have other publications along my line. Write and state what is wanted. I can also use books on subjects pertaining to Natural History if in good condition and cheap, also A No. 1 sets of eggs with data at ^"Stand- ard" rates. Lists of books and eggs must be submitted for my selection or approval before pending. Address at once FRANK H. LAT- TIN, Albion, N. Y. THE OOLOGIST TO EXCHANGE.— 385 1-7. 2-6, 3-5, 4-4, 1-3; 360 ^2-5, 3-4. 2-3; 373c 2-2. 1-4, 1-3; 413 1-7, 1-6; 407 1-4; 454 1-4. 1-3; 463 3-3,2-2; 619 2-4; 591b 2-3, 1-2; 505a 1-4,1-3,12; 508 1-4, 1-3: 620 2-2,1-3,2-1; 710 1-2; 751a 1-6. 2-4; 733 1-8. 1-4; 743a 3-4; 751a 1-4. Nests of 462, .50.5a, 50S, 620, 743a, and 751a. Taylor's Catalogue basis of exchange. R. S. DANIELS, Nordofl, Ventura Co., Calif. A RARE CHANCE FOR A BEGINNER: — The private Oological collection of the late Ed- ward Schenck has been placed in my hands for sale. The collection contains 800 specimens, representing 180 species, in sets with data. Catalogue value about $140. The collection will not be broken but will be sold at a Bargain as a whole. Full particulars and list to par- ties meaning businops. EDW. REINECKE, 500 Main St., Buffalo, N. Y. FOR SALE.— i^opwiar Science News, Nos. 6-12 of Vol. XXX. Vol. I and II Natural Science News. OOLOGIST, Nos. 108 to 132 inclusive: 4th edition Cones' Key. Highest cash price. R. C. .STEVENS, 150 West 99 Street, New York City. LEARN TAXIDERMY.— Easy rapid method. Satisfaction guaranteed. Anyone can learn. Boys and girls as well as men, in every line of ■business are using our method. Copy of "Tax- idermy Made Easy" and one pound of K. and P. Preservative for 65 cents. Send at once for It. KERR & PERHAM, Sandwich, Ills. WANTED.— Sets of the Golden Eagle, with original data, in exchange for rare bird skins and other sets. JNO. W. DANIELS, JR., Lynchburg, Virginia. PARTIES wishing No. 1 bird skins, nice sets, of taxidermy work at bottom prices. State wants and receive quotations. I want nice sets with nests, common or rare, and publica- tions. B. S. BOWDISH, Phelps, N. Y. 10 varieties minerals, lVix3, 25c; 15 var. cur- iosities, 27c; 5 var. Indian Relics, ,37c; 12 arrow- heads, 30c; good axe, 3.5c: spade, 27c: celt, 2oc; 12 spears, $1.10; $:i worth coins, curiosities, rel- ics, and minerals, all labeled, 97c. Price list free. Book of rare drawings, showing many extremely rare goods, lOc. ; special bargains, 2c. W. Perry Arnold, Peacedale, R. I. EMPORIUM OF PETS. Headquarters for all kinds of Fancy Poultry, Fancy Pigeons, Swans, Pheasants, Canaries, Parrots, Mocking Birds, Cages, Seeds, Gold Fish, Globes, Aquariums, Plants, etc., Monkeys, Dogs, Cats, Squirrels, Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and other Pet Animals. My specialty is selling flrst-class Homing Pigeons at $1.U0 a pair. Send ten cents for the largest and most complete Illustrated Catalog issued. Also Studio of Taxidermy. EDW. S. SCHMID, 712 Twelfth St., N.W.,Washington, D. C. Bird Skins. The following are strictly first clas. and will be sent prepaid . Royal Tern $1 25 Red-throated Loon 1 25 Black Mallard 1 00 Shoveller 1 10 American Goshawk 1 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk 40 Mourning Dove 40 Gairdner's Woodpecker 30 Cedar Waxwing 18 Horned Grebe _ 80 Am. Golden Plover 100 Bartramian Sandpiper 65 Pectoral Sandpiper 35 Crow .30 Ruffed Grouse _ 75 Steller's Jay 1 00 Boat-tailed Grakle 40 Cardinal .30 Mourning Warbler 50 Hooded Warbler 45 Ceruean Warbler 50 Military Lark 60 CUSTOM TAXIDERMY. Unexcelled work in all departments. We can furnish nearly anything obtainable in the line. Bird Skins, Mounted Birds or Mammals. Send for Catalogue. Geo. F. Guelf, Brockport, N. Y. FOSSILS FOR SALE. ALL PROPERLY IDENTIFIED. Anchocrinus bulbosus 2.5-50 Nucleocrinus vermilli... 10-50 angularis 50-$i greenei 50-$2 Pentrenites godoni 05-10 conoideus 05-10 " calycanus 10-15 symmetrlcus 15-25 Atrypa reticularis 10-25 Spirifer Arveni 10-25 euruteinese 15-40 " •• var. fornacula 10-25 angusto 10-25 varicosa 10-15 Athris vitota 05-10 trinuclea 05-15 Athyris spiriferoides 10-25 Tropidoleptus carinatus 10-15 Stenoschisma tethys 10-15 Meristella unisulcata 15-25 Single valves of same 05-10 Productus spinulicostatus 05-10 nebraskensis 15-25 semireticulatus 15-25 setigerus, var. Keokuk 25-35 Favosites pirum 25-50 hemisphericus 2550 " cymosus 25-50 Heliophyllum halli 25-50 corniculum 10-25 " scyphus 25-50 " Invenis 15-25 G. K. GREENE, f2t NEW ALBANY, IND. iv THE oOLOGIST. Lattin's Standard Catalogue of North American Birds Eggs. , Enlarged (contains 72 pages) revised, corrected and brought up to date of going .to press- fMarch,"96). Giving all of the new A. O. U. changes and additions. Also divided and sub-divided into orders, sub-orders, fam)lies. and sub-families. Values are based on the 1893 ones which were determined by the compiler, fronx invaluable note.'*, suggestions and assistance from Major Chas. E. Ben'dire, J. Parker Norrjs. E.sq., and Cap- tain B. F. Go3s. In addition to these notes, which have been carefully reWorUed. the compiler has had suggestions from over Forty Leading American Ool^gistsv all of which were car -"- fully considered and where advisable, adopted. Lattins Catalogue has long been recognized by leading Oologists as the "Standard." The compiler intends to issue a new one ;is soon as this edition is exhausted and desires the assistance of every workihg Oologist, in making values, etc. On this account he^has concluded tD close out this edition at the following rate.s,postpaid. (regular price was 2b cents per copy.) Single copy b cents: 3 for 1'.; cents: 7 for 2.1 cents; 15 ior 50 cents. Address, FRANK H. LATTIN, ALBION, N. Y. THOUSANDS OF OLD BOOKS Have accumulated in the libraries Of our public institutions, and those of prominent public men, both in duplicate and otherwise. They cost them nothing and oft-times are valued accordingly. They are. however, both valued and desired by specialists and parties interested. Perhaps you or your friends may have some of the identical- volumes which I desire, ci'owding library sbeiveH or stowed away in garrets, doing nobody any good; but had I them I would not only appreciate them but might know of a dozen others who would do likewise.' Look over my li.-^t of wants and if you have anything I desire or others write me, stating what you wish in exchange, and perhaps we can arrange an exchange which will be advantageous to each. I will exchange for single vol- umes—but the larger the exchange the better. I WANT Governnieiit and State Keports:— Annual Reports and Bulletins of U. S. Geological; Survey, with F. V. Hayden in charge. Reports of Wheelers's U. S. Geological Surveys W. of the lUOth Meridian. Reports of King's U. S. Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. "Annual Re- ports of Bureau of Ethnology. Annual Reports of U. S. Geological Survey. Natural History of New York. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. U. S. Reports on Entomology. Annual Reports of the Smithsonian Institution and the U. S National Museum. Botany:— Any of Gray's or Wood's Text-Books and Publications. Lesquereaux & James, "Mosses." Tuckerman's "Lichens." Goodale's "Wild Flowers." Hervey's "Sea Mosses." Sar- gent's "Silva of N. A." Hough's "Am. Woods." Geology, Mineralogy and Palaeontology :— Any of Dana's, Winchell'g, Miller's or- Geikie's Works. Conchologyt— Any of Tryon's, Sowerby's, Gill's or Woodward's Works. Entomology:— Any of Packard's, Westwood's or Comstock's Books. Any of Maynard's, Edward's or Scuuder's Works on "Butterflies." Ornithology, Oology and Taxidermy:— Works by any of the following: Baird, Bendire, Brewer, Brewster, Cassin, Chapman. Cory, Coues, Davie, DeKay, Fisher, Gentry, Goss, Hornaday, Mcllwraith, Maynard, Mlnot. Nuttall, Nehrling, Raine, Ridgeway, Shtifeldt, Studer. Warren, Wilson. Also back number or volumes of any of tbe following publications: "Auk." "Ibis," "Ornithologist and Oologist," "Nidiologist." "Bird Books," Pamphlets and Publications are my speciality and I can use almost anything In that line advantageously either in large or small lots, old or new. Medical:— Quain's Anatomy, 10th ed. ; Robe's Hygiene: Ziegler's Pathology: Campbell's Language of Medicine: Gould's Medical Dictionary; The National Dispensatory: Gray's Ana- tomy; Gould's Medical Dictionary; Holden's Dissector; Kirke's or Yeo's Physiology; White & Wilcox or Hare's Materia Medica; Reese's Toxicology ; Osier's Medicine; Park's or Arnerican Text Book of Surgery; Parvin's or Lusk's Obsteterics; Garrigue's or Keat'Ug & Coe's Gynecology: In- gal's Laryngology: Duhring's Dermatology; Dana's Nervous Disea^^es: Kirchoff's or Blandford's Insanity; Reese's Medical Juri.tprudence; Klein's or Piersol's Histology. I also desire second-hand copies of any standard book, report or pnbllcation devoted to Ornithology. Oology. Geology. Mineralogy, Palaeontology, Zoology, Conchology, Botany, Micros- copy, etc., etc. (All Text Books, inittst he late eilitionsA I also >vant choice Birds Eggs in Sets >vitli data; A ^o. t Mounted Birds and Reptiles; A Good Microscope; Indian Kelics, and choice col- lections of IT. s. or Foreign Stamps or Coins, Type-writer, Field Glass, Collecting Guns or anything new or in good condition, suitable for a collector, naturalist, sportsman, or for a physician and surgeon. I CAN OFFER IN EXCHANGE New $10 Field Glass; No. 2 (J.32.50) Kodak, new; ?3 vols. Harpers in patent binders; New set of Encyclopaedia Brittanica; Set Johnson's Encyclopaedia. Morocco bound; Rand and McNallv's $25 Business Atlas; New Surgical Chair; New Dental Chair; $2.^ Relief Map of U. S. ; New $500 Up- right Piano; $.50 Mineral Collection; $1UOO worth of 'Surplus" stock as offere.l in "Natural Sci- ence News" (copy for stamp) of April, '96 consisting of Minerals, Fossils. Shells, Land and Mar- ine Curios, Mexican Goods. Novelties, etc., etc. : 7 foot Shark from the Plant R. R. System's Ex- hibit atthe Atlanta Exposition. Select Disarticulate Human one-half skeleton: Skeleton of Mon- key; "Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Biu'mah." 7 vol., -1(X!0 pp. 1300 illus. ; Jeancon's "Atlas of Pathological Anatomy" cost $36.7.'i: a $-1.t Roll top Black Walnut Desk, good as new. 70 acres of Land near "V^ineland, N. J. ; lot in Osier City, Fla. ; Fishing T ackle; 'Zi. also 32 cal. Rifle: 12 guage double and single barrel shot guns; Mimeograph; Violin: Flageolet:Thousands of back numbers of Youths Companion. Golden Days. Forest and Stream, etc., etc. ; collections in almost any de- partment of Natural Science or Curiosities at any value from $1 to $100. I will sell anything I offer for exchange cheap for cash. Exchanges under $.t not solicited except for choice material or desirable books. Address, FRAT>«k: H. EAXXIIU, Publisher of the Oologist, AI^BI0I-0 In Bird Land, Keyser 75 Our Own Birds Bailey 75 Cyclopedia of Natural History, Abbott . 50 r •■ Alden, 2 v.. 1 uo Half Hour Recreations in Natural History, DiJfon , 75 Todd's Students Manual . 25 Greene's Large History of the English Peo- ple 1 00 Hunting in the Greai. West, Shields 50 Rocky Mountain Life, Sage .50 Great Thoughts of Classic Authors ( '/a Mor. ) 75 Crams Universal Atlas (hall Russia) (Reg- ular price $9; 2 00 Above books are all bran new and in A 1 condition. Must be sold at once as I need mon- ey- GEO. W. DIXON, WATERTOWN, S. D. TRY my postage stamp approval sheets; 50 per cent commission and a prize. CHARLES KEUTGEN, JSt No. 102 Fulton St., NEW YORK. )P\UU.HT I To show you what others are saying of THE OSPREY. "It improves with every number. It certainly eclipses anything of its kind published. "^Leon J. Cole, Grand Kapids, Mich. "The Ospkey is bound to take the front rank among our ornithological magazines.''— Floyd T. Coon, Milton, Wis. '•I must say it is the best paper of its kind I have ever seen for the money."— Gottlieb Biss- mer. Hastings, Mich. '•It is indeed a credit to the science it repre- sents: the benefits you are spreading among naturalists will. I am sure, be greatly appreciat- ed"— F. R. Stearns, Sac City, Iowa. "You have got the best popular monthly magazine of its kind in America today.'— Ed- ward Arnold, Battle Creek, Mich, "The Osprey is a neat and beautiful inspir- ation to the student of bird-life, and a practical exponent of plain, every-day science."— L. Whitney Watkins,. Manchester,' Mich. "Mostexcellent journal."— Robert Ridgeway, U. S. National Museum. "It is a beauty from front to cover, and 'a thing of beauty is a ,ioy forever.' Plates, type, paper, printing and all are elegant, as they should be to correspond with the interesting reading within,"— Chas. K. Worthen, Warsaw, 111. Sample loc, or 25c for one-year's trial. No bird-man can afford to miss this magazine. THE OSPREY COMPANY. 61 North Prairie St.. Galesburg, 111. Come to Florida. A I'ortune can be made in a few years in pineapples and tomatoes; vegetables raised the whole year. An ideal home. For particulars write R. P. Osier, Avon Park, Fla. 29&Otf Minerals and Indian Relics. 25 spec 25c 5 spec, Ixl'i in Ifc 15 spec, Ixl)^ in 35c 10 spec, 2x1^2 in 35c Sent by mail prepaid. locality. List free. Chester Co., Pa, 60 spec 50c 10 spec, ixl'/i in 25c 6 spec. 2x1^ in 25c 12 arrowheads 30c Labeled with name & ISAAC S. KIRK, Fremont, $iOO, We employ experienced agents on a salary of $100 per month. Others at $60. Write quickly. Puritan Pub- lishing Co., 36, Bromfield St., Boston, Mass. THE OOLOGIST ▼ Spades, Hoes, Mauls. I have recently bought several large collec- tions of Stone Relics from high-class collec- tors and have a "cream" stock of 15,000 pieces from many states, hundreds of them unusually fine form" and perfect; many rare. Improve your cabinet. Among a stock as varied and line as any ever offered by any dealer, are: 9 tine Spades 12 to I614 Inches long. 12 " " 5% to 11 ?4 inches long. 9 notched Hoes 4^ to 91/2 inches long. Points of above have a glassy polish from use. 45 Discoid als, bi- concave, IH to 6 inches diam- 500 grooved Axes and Celts of finest form Yz to 10 pounds each. 75 Banner Stones, Gorgets, Amulets, etc. 30 Curious old Pipes. 25 Hematite Plummets and Axes, etc. Cup Stones, Balls. Pestles, Mortars, Bone Relics. Reads. Copper Relics, 5 to 9 inch Spear Heads, etc.. Swedish and Irish Stone Relics. Arrow Heads -3000 splendid, 5000 fine, 5000 ordinary. 2000 Sc to 5c each. .50 flne Drills. Many pretty forms in the tiny semiprecious stone points of Oregon, N. Mexico.and Arizona. Send stamp for price list— -'Our Extra." Separate catalog of 100,000 specimens of flne Minerals and Fossils. Hundreds of Relics of Western Indians, Alas- kans and South Sea Islanders. L. W. STIL\A^ELL, DEADWOOD, (Black Hills), S. DAK. NASALENC POSITIVE CURE FOR Cold in the Head, Hay Fever, Catarrh, Deafness. Ikioo R.E'^''AIl.D for every case of Ca- tarrh or Deafness (caused by Catarrh) which we cannot cure with Nasalene, when used ac- cording to directions. Sold by all first-class druggists or by mail at 25 cents. Sample box 10 cents. The profuse discharge of mucus from the nose, the dropping of mucus from the nostrils into the throat, the accumulation of mucus and the constant inclination to hawk and ex- pectorate, is arrested by the timely use of Nas- alene. Office of the Agent- Warden I Sing Sing Prison. f Dec. 12, 1895. Hunter Medical Co. Gentlemen:— I have use your "Nasalene"and I find it very beneficial. I take pleasure in recommending it. Yours truly, O. V. Sage, Agent-Warden. HUNTER MEDICAL CO., 54 E. 13 St., NEW-YORK CITY. Rapid Taxidermy at Home! Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. No tools required. No extra expense. After many years of unvarying success, and a constantly increasing sale in every state and territory in the Union, and with thousands of testimonials attesting to the merits of ra> Sim- plified Method of Taxidermy, from boys, girls, parents, doctors, ministers, lawyers, school teachers, merchants, farmers, mechanics, hun- ters, outers and sportsmen, as well as from curators of leading university museums, and professional taxidermists; I feel that I can safely make this offer. Send me ^75 CENTS Cash or Stamps and receive complete instruct- ions for mounting birds in cases, plaques, hang- ing game, deer heads, etc.. etc.. with package of prepared compound ready for use, enough to mount .50 small birds, or 20 large ones: to- gether with full directions for dressing skins with the hair on for rugs, robes and hangings. If you are not fully satistied, your money will be cheerfully refunded. Beware of imitations. Mention The Oolo- GiST and address. MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., KALAMAZOO, MICH. MINERALS SHELLS, etc. The Whit. City Collections. 50 fine cabi- net specimens. *3. 50 smaller size, $2. 50 ama- teur size, $1. Printed name and locality with each specimen. 50 Shells. Corals, and Marine Specimens, only $3. 100 Fossils, including fine- Fish, Trilobite, Crinoids, Corals, Sponges, several fine Ferns, etc., only $8. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to $1, very showy. Taxidermy in all its branches at reasonable prices. Illustrated catalogue by mail, 10c. J.M.WIERS, Natural- ists Agency. 357 W. VanBuren St., Chicago, 111. Iceland, Lapland, Spain. A large stock of Birds Eggs— last season's collecting has just arrived from the above lo- calities. Descriptive price-list sent free upon application. A. KRICHELDORFF, Naturalist, etc.. No. 535 Oranien-Strasse, Ber- in, S., Germany. TAXIDERMISTS' GUNS. "o^Sli!^ Pistols, Gun Cases, Shooting Shot Shells; also f4^s% SPECIMEN HUNTERS. All kinds, all prices from $1.01 to $2.5.00. List free. Write for Taxidermist' » free list. JAMES H. JOHNSTON, PITTSBURG*, PA. Ripans Tabules. Ripans Tabules cure nausea. Ripans Tabules cure bad breath. The OoLOGiST. VOL. XIV. NO. 6. ALBION, N. Y., JUNE, 1897. Whole No. 133, Gull Island, New York. At 4 o'clock on the morning of June 15, 1893, Mr. H. B. Sargent and myself were aroused by Mr. W. W. Worthing- ton of Shelter Island, New York, with whom we were staying, calling to us to hurry and get dressed, as the weather was clear and we would start for Gull Island in about an hour. You can well imagine that this brought me to my feet in short order, and Mr. Sargent was not long in following my example. We took a hurried breakfast and tak- ing our guns, ammunition, collecting basket and a few other necessary arti- cles started for the boat. We arrived at tha boat-landing, where our boat fastened, at about half-past live, and stowing away our guns and basket we took off our coats and set to work to hoist the sail and lower the center- board and started for Gull Island. We had no more than started when the wind gave out, and a light fog settled down over the water, then the fun com- menced. We put out the sweep (which is a very large oar, and generally takes two men to work it) and commenced to work. When we got around the point which forms the Harbor, we steered in near shore to avoid the tide, which runs like a mill race when it is at its height. We moved along slowly working the sweep and praying for a breeze, when all of a sudden we found ourselves aground on the rocks. We worked hard and finally succeeded in getting off again, after that we steered lurther out. I will not trouble my readers, "that is if I have any, ' with a long ac- count of the voyage, save to !^ay with rowing, and with now and then a little breeze, we arrived within half a mile of Gull Island about twenty minutes to four in the afternoon. Gull Island is separated from Plum Island by a broad stretch of water called the Little Race. Gull Island is a small plateau, rising about twenty feet above high water. It is about five acres in extent. A sandy beach runs nearly around the island, but in one place the sand is re- placed by high rocks, tumbled about in wild disorder, showing how the great work of the sea has been going on for ages and ages, wearing away the strongest rocks, which gradually crum- ble before its mighty hand. Gull Island was once beyond a doubt part of Long Island. We dropped anchor about a hundred yards from the island and lowered sail. Getting into the little boat, which we towed behind, we were soon all stand- on the beach. We had left our guns, in the boat, preferring not to use them until after we had collected the eggs. As we walked up the beach the Terns, rose up in numbers flying high in the air far out of gun shot, perhaps a few hundred pairs in all. Oh! what a dif- ference there was between the number now and the number in the following extract, copied from Davies' "Nests and Eggs of North American Birds." "Although a few Wilson's Terns breed on nearly every sandy point near here, Gull Island, situated a mile or two east of Plum Island, is their chief breeding ground in this section. Here they breed in thousands fairly tilling the air when you land and dis- turb them. They place their nests all over the island above high water line, on the beach and in the garden culti- vated by the lighthouse keeper. Fresh eggs can be obtained from the 10th of June till the middle of July, as egging parties keep them cleaned off about as. fast as they are laid." 54 THE OOLOGIST. The above was written by Mr. Wor- thingtoa in 1881. What has caused this vast decrease in numbers? Is it science'? Nay, it is not science, it is fashion. Fashion, whose bloodthirsty cries for our feathered beauties is fast decreasing their num- bers, where thousands bred now hun- dreds breed, and where hundreds bred now only a few pairs remain, and the time is fast approaching when the feathered race will entirely disappear from the face of the earth, leaving only pleasant memories behind to mark their former existence. Memories, which will descend from generation to generation, cherished by our descend- ants, and which will not fade until the last night has closed in upon this earth- ly sphere. My first find after landing was a handsome set of four eggs incubation fresh. When we reached the high ground we separated, Mr. Worthington and Mr. Sargent taking the north side of the island, while I took the south side. I walked up the beach keeping a sharp lookout for the eggs as thev are very hard to see, being laid on the pebbly beach which they strongly resemble. I found several sets of three eggs, some of two and a few of one egg each. I was gradually drawing near the rocks which I mentioned in the fore part of this article, when glancing down I be- held another set of four eggs. Just think, inside of Jifleen minutes I found two sets otjour eggs each, while it took Mr. Worthington twelve years to find two sets of the same number of eggs. "Truly I was in luck." After reaching the rocks 1 crossed the island and joined the rest of the pai'ty; they had also found two sets of /o?^ Nickel-plated Wire Cutters 'J] '514 inch Forceps t"!? Bookoftissue paper l\! 100 large tags *' Spool of fine wire ~V Brush for spreading arsenic --t Syringe for rinsing eggs....... 3.^ Eiubyro set, engraved handles. 3 sizes hooks } '•? Best 13 in. sliding caliper i~ w Nickel-plated blow-pipe *> Folding Butterfly Net ••• 3 00 The following go by express at purchaser s expense: _ 100 No. 3 trays (green) *3 ^o Cyanide Can for Killing Insects '^ Box of Arsenical Soap, pound 1 fp Pound Preservative lor Skins 4a SHELLS. By mail postpaid. Pair of angel wings 1 w GiautTusk Shell f Worm Shell ',Y Telescope Shell ~;^ CalfCowry \]' Lynx Cowry '^ Money Cowry /'.' WheelShell ■? Yellow Pea {■? Nenetian Pearl Shell ^^ ZebraShells ]\] Lightning Shell \'* Sun Shell l!f. CrownShell I" 10 var. named Snail Shells "U 10 var. named Land Shells i>0 5 var. named Agate Shells ....•■ • • • • • , ;r Leader Shell Collection 61 var., all labelled 4 to MINERALS. Mexican Onyx * ~? Flexible Sand Stone >■■' Electric Stone Jy Catlinite J'? Coquina ij' Chalcedony in Zinc •";' Geyserite - .^ i;^ Collection of 50 var., labelled 3 ou FOSSILS. SharkTooth * 10 Trilobite ^V Fossil Screw — ~? Sea Urchin ^p, Fossil Leaf °[ Fossil Coral . ~^ 15 var. labelled fossils 3 uo BIRD SKINS. Red-winged Blackbird * 30 Snow Flake ^0 Hooded Warbler w Cedar Waxwing i2 Oregon Chickadee "•? Redpoll *' Brown Creeper ^^ BIRDS EGGS. Mexican Horned Lark 7'> Chacalaca (data) $ 75 Calif. Brown Pelican (data) 1 00 Set of 3 American Herring Gull 85 Set of 1 Wandering Albatross 7.50 Egg of Emue. 6 50 MISCELLANEOUS. Luckv Tooth of Cod $ 10 Whale's Tooth 2 00 Acorn Barnacle 15 Sand Dollar 10 Egg of Skate.... 10 Egg of Nurse Shark 60 Egg of Alligator (2d class) , 25 Egg of Musk Turtle 30 Yetlow coral (small) 05 Pink ■• ■• 10 Spike " (large) 30 Nest of Humming Bird 35 Indian Wampum. 6 for 30 Serpent Starfish (damaged) 4i Basket " 100 Club-spined Urchin 75 Phillipine " (rare) 100 Horse foot Crab 45 Fiddler Crab 20 Resurrection Plant 20 Card of Marine Alsra? 15 Gun Flint. Revolutionary 25 6 var. Seabeans 35 Mexican Irridesceiit Pottery 25 Oregon Bird Point 75 6 assorted Ky. arrow points 75 6 '" Ind. •■ 75 ICelt 1 00 JSpearHead 20 Collection of 13 assorted arrow and spear ■points, including one Oregon bird point 3 75 Bunch of Serpindus Berries, ornamental, will last forever 15 A number of Aids and Nidologists. etc Short's -'Birds of Westfrn New York'' 20 Lattln's Standard Catalogue' of North American Birds Eggs 30 Maynard's Eggs of North American Birds "(colored plates) ■ 8 00 I can al.^o use any .^ets not listed above and all singles (except 761. 704, 6.52. 511b. 495, 498. 412.560, 616. 619, 316, 51a. .540) at >$ Standard Catalogue rates. If you have any of the rarer sets send me a list and state "what, you would like lor them. Eggs must be strictly first class, sets accompanied bv full data and sent postpaid. For sets of 3.37. 339. 343, 332, 373. 375. 416. 417. 486, 4-28 with uest,429 n2.430 n-2, 360, 674. 204, 7and 751 with nest I will allow 15 per cent more than standard rate. Address. ERNEST H. SHORT, Albion, N. Y. fOLDS We have some com- pound Folds in rock, and a few Banded Sandstone Faults, both very interesting to Geologists, and a quantity of polished material lor sale. We make a specialty of cutting and polishing cab- inet material at" our Steam Lapidary Shop. John G. Buxton, Milo Centre, N. Y. h7h. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. THE OOLOGISJ". ix Toward the South Pole. WANTED. An (Jroitliologijt to jgia a scientific expedition which is soon to start on a two years' voyage of exploration to the un- known , ■ ANTARCTIC REGIONS. \The vessel will visit the Falkland Islands, Argentina, Patagonia, Terra del Fuego, many of tliH Suh-Autarciie groups and explore as much of the costol fringe oftlifl Si)Uth polar lands as conditions will permit. This is a rare npportnnity for an Ornithologist to make new discoveries and priceless collections in the virgin ANTARCTIC WILDS. Applicants must he physically sound and able to contribute to the general ex- penses of the expedition Address, F. A. COOK, 687, Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. *i All the World Love a Winner ' Our 'Ninety- Seven Complete Line of Monarch Bicycle; are the Sttpreme of our Years Exper MONARCH CYCLE MFG. CO CHICAGO Send nine iwo-cent stamps for a deck of Monarch Playing Cards, illustrating Lillian Russell, Tom Monarch Cooper, Lee Richardson and Walter Jones. Regular 50c cards. HEW TORE Wanted-An Idea Who can think of some simple thing to patent? Protect your Ideas: thsv may bring you wealth Write JOHN WEDDERBtJRN & CO , Patent Attor- neys, Washington, D. C , for their $l,a)0 prize offer Ana list of two hundred laventlons wanted. Wanted-An Idea ■VTho can think of some simple thing to patent? Protect your Ideas; ther may bring you wealth. Write JOHN WEDDEKBORN & CO , Patent Attor- neys, Washington, D. C . for their $1,800 prize offer and list of two hundred inventions wanted. THE OOLOGIST. XI DANGER! lies in the ordinary bicycle saddle. Press- ing the sensitive parts, it causes injury. Pelvis as it rests on the Ordinary Saddle. Pelvis as it rests on tha Christy Saddle. BOOKLET SENT •••• FREE Christy Anatomical SddcllC overcomes all objections. Comfortable cushions are so adjusted as to receive the bony prominences of the pelvis, thus obvi- ating all pressure. It is made of metal and cannot warp or change its shape. REAR VIEW, SHOWING COIL SPRINGS. Insist on the Christy being fitted to your bicycle. No dealer will lose a sal** on account of your prefer- ence. Price, $5.00 A. Q. SPALDING & BROS. New York Chicago Philadelphia Washinpton "°^ fiiflos, 'Oreat Wertern' OuiiV/opk»,Pltt»barith.f«?> f^FINF^ NETS, TENTS, and ^^^^ * *^ *-**^» SPORTING GOODS. Every description of Guns, R3volvers, Ammu- nition and Sporting Goods at very lowest pric- es. We have something of interest to you. Shells, Marine Curios, &c. I am now ready to supply first-class stock at low prices and should yoit wish anything from this section, let me hear from you. All inquir- ies will have a prompt reply. mtf J. H. HOLMES, Dunedin, Fla. Free Musical Education THE NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC. is the oldest and best equipped mus- ical institution in America, and the largest in the world. It has five de- partments of instruction as follows: I Department of Music including Pianoforte, Organ Violin, Violincel- lo, and other Orchestral Instruments, etc.. Voice, Lyric Art and Opera, Sight Singing, Theory. Harmony, Composition, and Art of Conducting. a Department of Piano and Organ Tuning. 3 Department of General Literature and Language. 4 Department of Elocution and Physical Culture and College of Ora- tory. 5. Department of Fine Arts- One year at above institution with board, room rent, tuition, piano rent, etc., etc., free. Write at once for catalogue and particulars. JAMES D. BALL, 36 Bromfield St., Boston, Mass. This month's OoLO- GIST was mailed sub- scribers on July 1. SHINE? Minerals, Fossils and Shells out and polished at our Steam Lapidary Shop, recently fitted up on the most improved plans, where we do first-class work at reasonable prices. Cabinet work a specialty. Polished material for sale. JOHN G. BUXTON, Milo Centre, N. Y. THE OOLOGIST Many Subscriptions to THE OOLOGIST have expired, or will expire with this issue. In the future the Publisher re- quires CASH IN ADVANCE. Hence, if you are one of the delinquent sub- scribers, your subscription should be forwarded by return mail, if you wish the OoLOGiST continued to your address. July issue will go to press prompt- ly on July 15, and be mailed during the following week — all Exchange, adver- tisements and notes for that issue, must be forwarded by return mail to insure insertion in that issue. POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS HEALTH Nature, Invention, Archaeology, Electricity, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Health, Hygiene, Medicine. Formerly Boston Journal of Chemistry ENLARGED and IMPROVED. This popular monthly contains a large num- ber of Short, Easy. Practical, Interesting and Popular, Scientific articles, that can be Appre- ciated and Enjoyed by any intelligent reader, even though he knew little or nothing of Sci- ence. It is intended to interest those who think. Profusely Illustrated and Free from Technicalities. Entirely diffei'ent from and much superior to other papers witli a similar name. Monthly, S 1 .60 per year. Newsdealers 15c Largest Circulation of any Scientific Paper in the 'World. Conducted by BENJ. LILLARD. io8 Fulton St., New York. (^"Mention The Oologist for a sample copy. FRANK B. ARMSTRONG, TAXIDERMIST, and Collector and Dealer in Bird and Mammal Skins, Birds Eggs in fine sets, Mounted Birds and Animals. BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS. CABINETS. Send 10 cts for photo of our speciality— Self Locking. T perches -Oak sam- ples by mail 8c, 10c and 15c ; also stands, shields, glass cases, game panels, &c. Cabinets to or- der. HANAFORD CABINET CO., 139 and 141 W. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, Mich. .58MOtf FREE EDUCATION. An education at Harvard, Vale or any other college or instution of learning in the United States, or in the New England Conservatory of Music, can be secured by any young man or wo- man who is in earnest. Write for particulars quickly. James D. Bat.l, 36 Bromfleld St., Boston, Mass. PRINTING OUTFITS FOR SALE AT ONE- HALF COST PRICE Thoroughly oo$rkauled and aa good aa new CemplaU Job outflta Jrom S to 200 dollar:^ Send for litt of preaaea. outfita etc. We aaeond-hand outfita and material. Send I Hat of what tfoa have. PRINTERS' SUPPLY CO., I GflLESBURG, ILL. : Sea Shells From the Florida Coast. If yoit desire to buy Shells in large or small quantities you will save money by writing for my price list before buy- ing elsewhere. I am selling Shells very cheap and will send taventy spkcimens, AS SAMPLES, PREPAID ON RECEIPT OF ONE DOLLAR. Reference, Postmaster, Dunedin, Florida Address all orders A. J. BARNES, DUNEDIN, FLORIDA. KAnKLIIl D E T R oTt, MICH. Rates, Sil.50 to $2.00 per Day. Only one block from Woodward an«l Jefferson Aves. Elevator Service, Steam Heat, Electric Lights, Tile Floors, Etc, H. H. JAMES & SON, Prop'rs. ' r HOUSE t<^9 THE ANTIQUARIAN. The single journal in America exclu- sively devoted to tlie study of Prehis- toric Man, which aims to occupy the ground between the scientist and the student. Quite a feature made of late discoveries and other news in Arch- jEology. Excellently illustrated. Sam- ple copies to Archaeologists and Students. Issued monthly at $1.50 per year. Special terms to workers. PREMIUMS FOR CLUBS. THE LANDON PTG. AND PUB. CO. COLUMBUS, OHIO, THE — ■■■■— ■■■■■•■^aa,. m iiiiiiS. < ''^^- Monthly. '^ff^ ^^ '<^ VOL. XIV. NO. 7. ALBION, N. Y., JULY, 1897. Whole No. 134 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special announcements. "Wants," "Exchanges" "For Sales," Inserted In this department for 25c per -2.5 words. Notices over 25 words, charged at the rate of one-half cent per each additional word. No notice Inserted lor less than 25c. Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens win be accepted In payment at one-third list rates. What's Your Number? Examine the number following your name on the wrapper of this month's Oologist. It denotes when your subscription expired or will expire. No. 134 your subscription expires with this issue 135 •• ■■ ■' " Auc, " 140 " ■• ■• " Jan.. 1898. 145 " '• ■' •' June, " 150 " •■ " •• Nov . ■• Intermediate numbers can easily be deter- mined. If we have you credited ^^'rong we wish to rectify. If your subscription has expired or will ex- pire within a few months you can never renew more advantageously than at once in accord- nance with our offers in May "Premium Sup- plement ■' Remember that this offer expires Aug. loth sharp and uill not be repeated. Re- newals received since July 17th have been cor- rected on our books but not on the wrappers. CASH for vols,. .!«/.• 1-3-4 5-6. Also for '"Nut- tall Ornithological Bulletin." Eggs from Illi- nois wanted. Send yotir lists. W. E. LOUCKS, Peoria, 111. Make your own ink. Black, red, green, pur- ple, blue, yellow, white gold and silver inks. A pint of excellent ink maae at the cost of lUc. Receipts for all, for epgs worth .50 cents. A, B. ROBERTS, Weymouth. Medina Co., Ohio. flOO.OOINCASH is a large sum to tie up in Birds Eggs this season, yet I have a client, a well-known Oologist, who has commissioned me to invest this amount during the next W days in A No. 1 sets, series if cheap, with data. Not less than $5 will be placed in a single lot and all must be very cheap, literally snaps. If yott wish a slice of the pie' send your list and offer and I can assure yon that all Bargains will receive mv careful consideration. FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, N. Y. WANTED.— Large singles and desirable sets with data. Can offer nicely prepared sets with data of Southern birds. Choice A I sets with data for sale cheap. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, 457 Greene St., Augusta, Ga. 135 WANTED:— Collectors to send for my latest bulletins of Skins. Eggs, Shells, Curios, etc., now ready and sent free. I issue the largest bulletins of any dealer in this country. Col- lectors having 1st class eggs to exchange please drop me a line. JAMES P. BABBITT, Taunton. Mass. A RARE CHANCE FOR A BEGINNER: — The private Oological collection of the late Ed- ward Schenck has been placed in my hands for sale. The collection contains 800 specimens, representing 180 species, in sets with data. Catalogue value about $140. The collection will not be broken but will be sold at a Bargain as a whole. Full particulars and list to par- ties meaning business. EDW. REINECKE, 500 Main St., Buffalo, N. Y. FOR SALE:— Fine specimens of Coprolites 25 to .50 cts. each, specimens with one side re- moved, showing Conularias 2octs. to $1.00 post- paid. These are fine specimens, every cabinet should contain them. Locality and geological position given with each specimen. G. K. GREENE. 127 West Market St., New Albany, Ind. J3t I WILL exchange Minerals for Indian Relics, those from Eastern states preferred. ISAAC S. KIRK, Freemont, Chester Co., Pa. SETS.— 510, .591a, 519, 703, 316. 622b, 612. 499, 503, .596. 710, .505a for sets from other localities mata). HARRY DUNN, FuUerton, Orange Co., California. TYPICAL SINGLES.— Collectors having first-class, typical singles for sale cheap for cash, please send lists. EgKS with data pre- ferred. All letters answered. Ornithological correspondence solicted. H. S. WARREN, Foot of Wayne Street, Detroit, Mich. EXCHANGE.--Eggs in sets with data of this locality for other set with datas not in mv collection, of same vah;e. EDW. W. SPRINGER, Owatonna. Minn. I HAVE sets of 488. to exchange for sets of equal rate, or will sell series of same cheap. L. W. BROKAW, Carmel, Ind. /^lll THE OOLOGIS'J- TO EXCHANGE.— For iiiauy commou sets with data. Stamp Album and two hundred and fifty stamps. X'alue about seventy five cents. A. E. BIGELOW, Selma. Calif. WANTED for cash —A few heavily marked sets, with complete, original data, of Broad- wiuged and Red-shouldered Hawks. JNO. W. DANIEL, JR,, Lynchburg, Va. SETS and singles to exchange for sets. W. H. CONNERY. 4U4 West New Houston St.. Sa- vannah, Georgia. WANTED.— A good cabinet of about 12 drawers. If you have one write giving price and description. Will pay cash. ARCHIE DAWSON, Mt. Vernon, Iowa. RED FOXES.— Will sell f or $-30. (X) cash. Four months old: one pair Correspondence solic- ited. Very truly yours, JNO. HUNT STROTH- ER, Welch, W. Va. SOME fine water spaniel pups to exchange for eggs in sets. Make offers. Parties having Illinois collected eggs for sale, write. W. E. LOUCKS. Peoria, 111. I WANT in addition to those listed in June OoLOGisT the following eggs: Singles of 200, M.o, 3(30, 70, 74, 77, 80, 7. 30, 30a. 32. 475, 477, 428, 429, 423, 751, 735, and will give full list rates for same in any goods listed in -'Exchange Extra- ordinary''in said June Oologist. All exchange offers will hold good until September 1. I offer iu addition to Supplies and Specimens listed in last No. of Oologist. A number of A 1 Bird Skins in exchange for eggs. List sent for stamp. ERNEST H. SHORT, Albion, N, Y. A few or those beautiful sets of 675 and 729 still on hand at unprecedented prices. Other scientiticallv prepared sets dirt cheap- Write quick tor list. W. L. & R. D. FOXHALL, Tar- boro, N. C. WHO WANTS a Stet.son banjo and case, cost $30: or 22 cal. Marlin Repeater, cost $21'/ What can you offer-/ CHAS. H.DICKINSON, Grand Rapids, Minn. FOR SALE.— Fine eggs in sets, skins, data blanlts. two copies Davies' Taxidermy, new, for sale che:xp. 8end for lists bv return mail. Address WALTER E. McLAIN, New Vinvard, Me. I HAVE the following eggs for exchange: No. 214, 221. 273, 3S8. all first-class eggs with da- ta. Write soon if you wish to exchange. G. A. ROBERTS, Marathon, Iowa. WANTED.-Sets of Grass Finch, Grasshop- per Sparrow and many others. Have choice sets of Seaside and Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Marsh Wren. Kingfisher and many others also. 417, 278, 478, 639, 641. etc.. for equally desirable sets. Send lists. H. W. FLINT, 87 East Pearl St. , New Haven. Conn. WANTED.— Deer head, mounted. Will give in exchange opals or minerals. ROBERT BURNHAM, No. 15 Chestnut Street. Provi- dence, R. I. TO EXCHANGE.— Book. "Wonders of the Universe," to exchange for a good second-hand hook on plumbing or scientific journals, H. HIXON, Washington, Penu. TO EXCHANGE.- Sets, or singles of eggs, U. S. Revenue stamps and relics of this locali- ty, for Coues' Key or eggs skins of other local- ities. J. A. FORD, Kent. Orleans Co.. N. Y. WANTED:— To exchange eggs of Central New York for egss from other states. Send list of eggs to exchange. E. T. SCHENOK, Palatine Bridge, N. Y. J2t SKULLS of ancient Eskimos, (skuUings) taken from old Greenland graves for sale. Also Arctic fossils and curiios. Address F. H. C. 687 Bush wick Ave.. Brooklyn, N. Y. J2t WANTED.— Everyone that is in need of first- class Taxidermist's or Egg tools to send 4 cent stamp for my latest catalogue. Full line of A 1 supplier. 'CHAS. K. REED. Worcester. Mass. f6t MOUNTED Bird :— First-class specimens of Hawks, Owls, or small birds to exchange for common eggs in sets or singles. Send list of what you have or want. Also showy shells to exchiihge for eggs. CHAS. K, REED, Worces- ter, Mass. A NICE collection should be neatly labelled. I furnish all kinds on good paper cheap. Egg, 15c per 100 small, 52c per 100 large. Fossil lOc per ino. All kinds, any style wanted. Send copv for price. Mention Oologist. D. H. EA- TON. Woburn, Mass. FOR SALE:— Fossil corals from the falls Of the Ohio and vicinit:y can furnish from a sin- gle example to one hundred thousand. Prices vary as to condition and rarity of the speci- mens. Fair specimens for study of the com- mon kinds can be furnished from 10 to 25 cts. each. These are not fragments, but fair cab- inet sDeciraeiis, Largar and finer examples vary in price from 25 cts. to $?0 00 each. All specimens properly identified. G. K. GREENE , 127 West Market St., New Albany, Ind. J2t PUBLICATIONS, EGGS, BOOKS WANTED: I will allow 50c each for any back number of the "•Auk'" you may have, if in good condition and sent pi-epaid. 'You to take your full pay in Eggs, Shells (showy or scientific). Corals, Echinoderms, Fossils, Minerals. Stamps. Hand- books, Curios or Novelties. (Books. Instru- ments and Supplies will be given in exception- al cases by special arrangement) as listed in the May, '97 Premium List Supplement. I can also use on same terms the following numbers of the Oologist at prices Ciuoted: June. 1888, 20c: July-Aug , 1886, 20c; Jan.-Feb . 1887 or Dec, 1886 witii same attached, 15c: June-Sept., 1887, 15c: Apr.. 1889, 1.5c; Jan-Feb.. 1886, lOo: Jan., 1895, 5c: March, 1897, .5c; May. 1897, .5c. All must be romplete, clean, and in good condition. I will also accept back No's of the Ornithologist and Ooloqifit, Xidiologist or Osprey. any issue and in any quantity at .5c per copv on same terms. (I will allow 20c for Oct., '93 and 50c for Feb., "94 '-i\^id.s\"). If vou have other publications along mj' line. Write and state what is wanted. I can also use books on subjects pertaining to Natural History if in good condition and cheap, also A No. 1 sets of eggs with data at '/^-'Stand- ard''rates. Lists of books and eggs must be submitted for my selection or approval before pending. Address at once FRANK H. LAT- TIN, Albion. N. Y. WANTED:— Large, rare specimens of 206, 249, 356, Albatross and many others. Can offer Al sets with data, also sets and singles to ex- change for sets. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY. 4.57 Greene St., Augusta, Ga. J2t 17 varieties Western Bird Skins, $1. Mounted Birds 25 cents. Squirrel, 50 cents. Chipmunk. 35 cents. All postpaid. Skins to exchange for stamps. F. T. CORLESS, Logan, Or. (M. O. office. Oregon City, Oregon.) a9t THE OOLOGTST. FOR SALE or exchange.— Two portrait and set of tin type lenses: camera outfit 5x8: flute; cabinet, three-drawers: taxidermist "s library: lot of N. H. literaure: stone relics: Indian bri- dle: entomological collection, cork-lined cases: book case, plain; cttrios and minerals: land and fre/h water shells: taxidermists" tools: moss pl-eservative, etc.. and other articles not mentioned. Want a tii.;xS'.; portait camera in good condition. R. M. DALRYMfLE, Baker, Ohio. FOR EXCHANGE.— One telegraph instru- ment, cost $6..iO. one gallery target or one up- right teuor brass horn. " Wili exchange for birds eggs in sets with data. Send lists, stat- ing what you have to otter. Address E. D. CARTER. Berkeley. Iowa. 135 NOTICE.— Wili sell fine sets of eggs at 'i standard rates. AH Al with data and nests with some. Will sell all I have cheap. Enclose stamp for list to R. P. SMITHWICK, Merry Hill, Bertie Co., N. C. WANTED.— Set of 3-ii!. Will give Vo c33. i,, 333 for a set of three. Also have to exchange 1-6 3S0, 1-4 263. 1-3 4-.', 201. 1-5 6.i4. 1-3 608, 1-5 501, for sea birds or oth^r eggs. ROY DENSMORE. Box 7, Painesville, Ohio. <" TO EXCHANGE.— An elegant pair of fancy vest pocket scissors for every bird skin sent me, listed at fifty cents. P. D.'GETTY. 301 N. Main St., Bloomgton, 111. WANTED.— Arrow and SPear heads from all localities, also stone ax, celt, pestle and toma- hawk. I also want first-class sets with data. All letters answered. FRED JOHNSON, Box 255. Portage. Wis. TRY my postage stamp approval .sheets: 50 per cent commission and a prize. CHARLES KEUTGEN, J2t No. 102 Fulton St., NEW YORK. NATURALISTS' PRINTING of all kinds on good paper cheap. Egg labels 15c per 100 small: 25 per 100 large. Fossil 10c per 100, Letter heads 35 per 100. Send copy for prices. D. H. EATON. Woburn. Mass. Alaskan Birds' Eggs and Skins. Choice spei^imens of Northern rarities with complete data mav be secured by collectors at very low prices. A chance not to be missed. Egg's and Skins Strictly first -class and personally collected. Highest references can be furnished. To close out I make the following prices; speci- mens prepaid: terms cash with order. No or- der filled for amottnts under i^l.OO. No exchanges wanted. Ancient Murrelet, set 2 eggs. S2.75 per set. Skins m.'M. Cassin's Auklet. set 1 egg. 35c. Ttifted Puffin, set 1 egg. 30c. Fork tailed Petrel, set 1 egg, $2. Extra flue skin f2. Leach's Petrel, set 1 egg 5c. Mallard Duck, set 1-5. 1-7. 1-10. 15c each. Merganser Serrator, 1-3, 1-7. 1-10, 40c each. Aleutian Sandpiper, skins $1.25. Aleutian Song Sparrow, set 3 and 4. 75 each. Skins*]. Aleutian Leucosticte, skins $1. Address CHASE LITTLEJOHN, REDWOOD CITY, CAL. MINERALS SHELLS, eic. The White City Collections. 50 fine cabi- net specimens. $3. 50 smaller size. S2, 50 ama- teur size. $1. Printed name and locality with each specin:en. .^u Shells. Corals, and Marine Specimens, only ?3. 100 Fossils, including fine Fish, Trilobite, Crinoids, Corals, Sponges, several fine Ferns, etc., only JS. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to $1, very showy. Taxidermy in all Its branches at reasonable prices. Illustrated catalogue by mail. 10c. J.M.WIERS. Natural- ists Agency. 357 W. VanBuren St.. Chicago. 111. Minerals, Fossils and Shells cut and polished at our Steam Lapidary Shop, recently fitted up on the most improved plans, where we do first-class work at reasonahle rrices. Cabinet work a specialty. Pulibhed material for sale. JOHN G. BUXTON, Milo Centre, N. Y. SHINE? To show you what others are saying of THE OSFREY. '■It improves with every number. It certainly eclipses anything of its kind published. '"—Leon J. Cole, Grand Rapids, Mich. •The Osprey is bound to take the front rank among our ornithological magazines."'- Floyd T. Coon, Milton, Wis. "I must say it is the best paper of its kind I have ever seen for the money."— Gottlieb Biss- mer. Hastings, Mich. '•It is indeed a credit to the science it repre- sents: the benefits you are spreading among naturalists will. I am sure, be greatly appreciat- ed."— F. R. Stearus. Sac City, Iowa. "You have got the best popular monthly magazine of its kind in America today.'" — Ed- ward Arnold. Battle Creek. Mich. "The Osprey is a neat and beautiful inspir- ation to the student of bird-life, and a practical exponent of plain, everv-day science." — L. Whitney Watkins, Wanchie'ster. Mich. "Most excellent journal."— Robert Ridgeway, L'. S. National Museum. "It is a beauty from front to cover, and 'a thing of beauty is a joy forever.' Plates, type, paper, printing and all are elegant, as they should be to correspond with the interesting reading within."'— Chas. K. Worthen. Warsaw, 111. Sample loc, or 25c for three months trial. No bird-man can afford to miss this magazine. THE OSPREY COMPANY. 61 North Prairie St.. Galesburg. 111. THE OOLOGIST. Rapid Taxidermy at Home! Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. No tools required. No extra expense. After many years of unvarying success, and a constantly increasing sale in every state and territory in the Union, and with thousands of testimonials attesting to the merits of mj Sim- plified Method of Taxidermy, from boys, girls, parents, doctors, ministers, lawyers, school teachers, merchants, farmers, mechanics, hun- ters, outers and sportsmen, as well as from curators of leading university museums, and professional taxidermists: I feel that I can safely make this offer. Send me "7S CENTS Cash or Stamps and receive complete instruct- ions for mounting birds in cases, plaques, hang- ing game, deer heads, etc.. etc., with package of prepared compound ready for use, enough to mount .50 small birds, or 20 large ones: to- gether with full directions for dressing skins with the hair on for rugs, robes and hangings. If you are not fully satisfied, your money will be cheerfully refunded. Beware of imitations. Mention The Oolo- GiST and address. MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., KAL.\MAZOO, MICH. Minerals and Indian Relics. 25 spec 2.5c 60 spec 50c 5 spec, 1x114 in 1.5c 10 spec. Ixli4 in a.5c 15 spec, 1x13^ in 3.5c t5 spec, 2x1^ in i;5c 10 spec, 2x11/4 in 35c 12 arrowheads 30c Sent by mail prepaid. Labeled with name & locality. List free. ISAAC S. KIRK, Fremont, Chester Co, , Pa, Shells, Marine Curios, &c. I am now readv to supply first-class stock at low prices and should you wish anything from this section, let me hear from you. All inquir- ies will have a prompt reply. mtf J. H. HOLMES, Dunedin, Fla. THE ANTIQUARIAN. The single journal in Americaexclu- A sively devoted to the study of Prehis toric Man, wMcli aims to occupy the ground between the scientist and the student. Quite a feature made of late discoveries and other news in Arch- aeology. Excellently illustrated. Sam- ple copies to Archaeologists and Students. Issued monthly at $1.50 per year. Special terms to workers. PREMIUMS FOR CLUBS. THE LANDON PTG. AND PUB. CO. COLUMBUS, OHIO. TAXIDERMiSTS' GUNS. "^SUt Pistols, Gun Cases. Shooting Shot Shells: also f,;.%% SPECIMEN HUNTERS. AH kinds, all prices from $i.OJ to $25.00. List free. MYitefo?' TaxidermisV g free List. JAMES H. JOHNSTON, PITTSBURO, PA^ Iceland, Lapland, Spain. A large stock of Birds Eggs— last season's collecting has just arrived from the above lo- calities. Descriptive price-list sent free upon application. A. KRICHELDORFF, Naturalist, etc.. No. 535 Oranien-Strasse, Ber- in, S., Germany. H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals^ Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. $\00. ••<^-<*^o-<*^c»'0>vnndlan(i earth itself. On the way we have heard several Whip-poor-wills singing in the various ravines and creek hollows of the neighborhood, but here we are at Hog- l)ack, and the Whip poor-wills are so numerous that it is entirely out of the question to number them; in all direc- tions we hear a continuous clamor of their songs. The fragrant dewy air of twilight seems to vibrate in unison with the notes, as a violin responds to the vibration of the strings and pro- duces a note of greater fullness and beauty We'll ffo a hundred yards or more in- side the border of the woodland and sit down for a bit on a stump at the verge of a deep ditch at the bottom of a ra- vine and listen to the chorus of song. It is ten minutes. of four. The whistles, calls and cawing of the Yellow-breast- ed Chat comes from the thickets near the edge of the woods. The Wood Thrushes, just beginning to sing, utter their notes, clearer than if from silver bells, from the dead limbs of the trees overhanging the ravines. •'■Kur-le-iir-ee- e-e, " followed soon after by '■'■kiir-ee-li- kur,'" the fii'st with the rising and the second with the falling inflection, is 6(5 rHE OOLOGlSr. their soug; though no combinatiou of letters can even suggest to one the pos- sible beauty of the song of this woocl- land artist. At the same time a com- pany of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers begin their conversation of '■'spah-spnh," as they move from twig to twig. A mo- ment later a Whip-poor-will begins singing in some brushwood across the creek, not more than twenty feet dis- tant. Turn the opera glasses over there if you will boys; even if it is light enough to see the log clearly you won't see him. You don't? 1 thought so. While he is singing we hear the hum of beetles winging their way through the branches, in the twilight; and the trees, whose tops are wet v/ith the fogs of the morning, begin dropping the distilled moisture upon the dry leaves beneath. Soon after the Whip-poor- will leaves and we hear the broken but loud warble of the Red-eyed Vireo and the rich vvhistles of the Redbird as additions to the now loud chorus of Chats, Wood Thrushes and Whip-poor- wills. The latter are still singing, though in not so great numbers as a quarter of an hour before. We will leave the stump and take a flying leap over the brook, landing on a mass of aromatic ferns and clamber up the hill. Here w-) are on a high and somewhat level point, on which the growth of underbrush is not so heavy. Here are a number of Red- starts, all males, in the tops of the tu- lip trees, moving from twig to twig, and often uttering their whistling song, ''quee quee quee giieep.'" On an open point of the hilltop we hear a loud, whistling note, the tone of which re- minds me of the song of the Rose- breasted Grosbeak, but I'm not sure and the bird does not favor us with a view. In the top of a tall tree near by is a Warbler s'm^in^ "whee lohee whee whce her wliec.'" I don't recognize him. Do you? Hold on! Hear that down in the thicket, there? A sharp '-chij)," followed by "chip, zree-e-e-e" in loud, sprightly tones. I'm downright sorry you can't tell me what that is, for I heard it for the first time two years ago a mile south of here. I got a glimpse of the bird in a grape-vine thicket, shot at him, missed, and he's been a ''miss" tery ever since. Then I heard several right here last year and never got a glimpse of one. Let's ti'y it again now. Pshaw, he has quit singing already, and that thicket is so dense we will have to wait till he begins again. There is the song again a hundred yards be- hind us, but before we have gone half that distance it has ceased again. We had better go back to the point of the hill again. Standing here, where we can see over all the surrounding woodland, we see, over a hundred feet below, the creek valley, covered with a dense car- pet of blue grass, and diversified with clumps of osage orange round masses of hawthorn and patches of young syc- amores; while along the bend of the creek are many old sycamoi'es, whose massive white limbs appear like marble against the dark background. The sun has not yet risen, but it is light enough to see everything distinctly. A horizon of bix'dsong extends around us, an ap- parently confused conglomeration of indistinguishable sounds, but after list- ening a few moments one singer after another is picked out, until we '-an recognize the songs of all birds pre- viously mentioned, and in addition, the Kentucky Warbler, the Maryland Yel- low throat, the Blue-winged Yellow Warbler, the Cuckoo, Tufted Tit, Blue Jay and Crow. A moment later sever- al loud rich notes, followed by "chip- urr, chipt-urr,''' comes from a nearby poplar, and a Scarlet Tanager flies to a large elm, the same one in which the Warbler was heard singing some time before. He is there yet, by the way. and is singing the same soug. Hellol it's a Blue-winged Yellow Warbler, but that's a new song. Now he has changed it, it is "ivhec-whay-chur-chur- THE OOLOGIST. 67 chee," uttered iu the descenaiapt scale, with the third and fourth syllables ut- tered iu the same time as one other syl- lable, aud both the same toue. Tliis is a song I have heard before, but it is by no means so common as the drowsy "ra-a a-y-chee-e-e,'" which can be heard in the vicinity of almost any hillside thicket in April or May. As soon as the sun appears above the horizon, the chorus of birdsoug ceases as if by magic. Two minutes later hardlj' a voice among the louder sing- ers can be heard. The wiry voices of a few Warblers, the soft whistling of the Blue-wing and the sharp chipping song of another, which begins "chip-e-chip- e-chip,''' and ends in a medley of sharp similar sounds, are almost the only musical notes to be heard. 'J he caw- ing of crows and the harsh cries of Jays become more blatant, and seem by contrast to emphasize the silence. Leaving the hills and starting to- wards home we pass through a piece of woodland with no underbrush used as a pasture. Here are many Redstarts, the Warbler with the chipping song and a number of Black-throated, Blue and Biackburuiau Warblers are visible. Black and White Creepers are abund- ant, not creeping but moving through the treetops like the Redstart-, often uttering their wiry song From one of the maples, the favorite tree of the Summer Tauagers, comes the ''j)eter- put peier-p2it" of that species. In a small piece of woodland near by almost level and covered with a dense thicket in which the wild crab, goose- berry and grape mingle with black- berries and saplings, we hear a sound, ''chip-it '■hip-it" coming from the dead liml) -i a btech. Use your opera glass- es l'i',)> Connecticuts, are they? I saw mv lifst last year not twenty feet from here. A favorite place it seems. I never heard its note till now. But it's growing late and judging by the sensations under our vests it's time to go home and get breakfast. So we walk down the dirt road, where Dick- cissels are singing in the little locu-^^ts along the fences and the Orchard Ori- oles are making music iu the apple trees and through the village, where the mellow notes of the Baltimore con- trast with the chattering of the English Sparro^v. Here is the street corner; I go this way. Much obliged to you for your company; will be glad to have you go another time. Falco, Montgomery, Ohio. Notes on a Few Southern California Birds. One of the most familiar of our birds is the Arizona Hooded Oriole [Icterus cucullalus nelsoni). There is scarcely a country home in Southern California without its clump of Banana Trees or at least one or more Fan Palms and it is iu these trees that "nelsofii" loves to make his beautiful pensile nest strongly woven from the fibres of the Fan Palm. Davie says this Oriole lays from three to five eggs, but in an examination of more than twenty sets, this season's collecting, I have never found more than three eggs and in four cases only two. On May 1, 1897, I took a nest and three eggs from a banana tree standing in a deserted Chinese vege- table garden. Just one month later I took a second set from the same tree and on the thirtieth of June 1 might have taken the third set had I been so disposed. This experience brought me to say that the bird will in all probabil- ity raise at least three broods in a sea- son if unmolested. The eggs are creamy white, spotted and blotched with brown and purple, varying iu shape from those looking at a distance like a typical Cliff Swallow {Petroche- lido7i lunifrons) to those bearing a strong resemblance to the egg of the common Linnet (Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis). The measurements of there typical eggs are .85x.60, .'Jox.GO and «8 THE OOLOGIST. .02X.63 ia. These were taken from a pensile nest composed of Fan Palm tibres and suspended from the under side of a leaf of the same tree about eight feet from the ground. The nest was prepared nearly a week before it was occupied. Two other birds of whom I have seen but little written are the Californian Thrasher {Harpohynrhus reclivivus) and the Sage Thrasher {Oroscoptes montan- us) The former is a bii'd of sly, retir- ing habits, frequenting the scrub oak and thick clumps of nettles which abound in nearly every canyon or "ar- royo" in this section. I have a set of two eggs taken May 15, 1897, from an almost impenetrable clump of nettles. This bird is a very close sitter, often allowing the collector to lift her from the nest. The set mentioned above consists of two eggs, incubation advanced, which measure respectively 1.25x. 76 and 1.27 X.75 in. They are a light pea-green in color, one closely and evenly spotted with clove brown and the other sparse- ly blotched with cinnamon, especially about the larger end. The nest was very rudely constructed, being scarcely better than that of the Carolina Dove {Zenaidura viacmira). About a month before this set was obtained I took a set of four fresh eggs from a similar nest about one hundred feet from the one just described. From this fact I would infer that the last set was a second or third "edition." About two miles south of this place there is a lai'ge "wash" which is cov- ered with sage, greenwood and cactus. Here the Sage Thi-asher nests in abun- dance, breeding in the low sandy sage plants and making its nest almost en- tirely from small twigs of the white or black sage with a lining of fine grasses and twigs. The eggs of this bird are often confounded with those of the common Mockingbird [Mimus polyglot- tus) and unless the nest is taken or the bird seen it is to some extent very diffi- cult to difterentiate the two species. Mj' cabinet contains a set of four eggs of this bird taken on May 30, 1897, from a nest in a white sage plant some eighteen inches from the ground. The eggs are greenish l)lue spotted with cinnamon; average size, .9ox.67 inches. Another of our more common birds is the Road-runner {Oeococcyx calif arm- arms) or Paisano as the Mexicans call it. This is a peculiar bird, very swift of foot and will almost invariably lead its pursuer to the nest. 1 have a set of five eggs of this species taken April 30. 1897, from a very large nest probably the accumulation of two ur three years' nesting in the same place. The nest was placed in a bushy alder tree about four feet from the ground. The eggs bear a slight resemblance, both in shape and color, to those of the eastern Bob-white but are of course somewhat larger and moi'e oval; average 1.55x1.19 in. Two of the eggs in this set were fresh while the other three were in var- ious stages of incubation. I think that this bird will, when pos- sible, shift her domestic responsibilities to the nest of another bii'd, for in two instances I have found Road-''unner's eggs in the nest of the California Part- ridge [Callipepla californica) and once in the nest of the California Towhee Pipilofuscus crissalis). H&RKY H. Dunn, FuUerton, Calif. Main Guy of the Big Tent:— I have tried the other papers, but the OoLO- GiST is the main guy of the big tent just as it was when I first took it 11 or 12 years ago. — Harry B. Sargeant. An Ad. that Paid— Still a Sub.:— I saw Mr. Hatha way's exchange in the March number and have bought out his entire collection of minerals, so I con- cluded to try the same trick with my coins. * * * Years ago when I lived in Essex, Yt. 1 began to take the Young OoLoGiST, Yol. I, No. 1. — C. Abbott Davis, B. S. THE OOLOGIST. 69 The Oologist. A Monthly Magazine Devoted to OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Correspondence and Items ot Interest to the student ot Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited from all. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: Single subscription ;. r>oc per annum Sample copies 5c each The above rates Include payment of postage. Each subscriber Is given a card good for a Want, Exchange or For Sale Notice. (This card Is redeemable at any time within one year from date thereon.) Subscriptions can begin with any number. Back numbers of the Oolooist can be furnished at reasonable rates. Send stamp for descrip- tions and prices. Its^Remember that the publisher must be noti- fied by letter when a subscriber wishes his paper stopped, and all arrearages must be paid. ADVERTISING RATES: 5 cents per nonpareil line each insertion. 13 lines In every Inch. Seven inches in a col- umn, and two columns to the page. Nothing Inserted for less than 2j cents. No "special rates." 5 cents per line Is •■net," 'Tock bottom," "Inside," "spot cash" rate from which there Is no deviation and no commission to agents. If you wish to use 5 lines or less space it win cost you 25 cents: lOO lines, $5.00; 1000 lines, $50.00. "Trade" (other than cash) advertise- ments will be accepted by special arrangement only and at rates from double to five times casli rates. Due Bills and Cards payable In advertis- ing will be honored only at regular rates in force at the date ot issuance of said bill or card. Remittances should be made by Draft, Express or Postoflice Money Order, Registered Letter or Postal Note. Unused U. S . Postage Stamps of any denomination will be accepted for sums un- der one dallar. Make Money Orders and Drafts payable and address all subscriptions and com- munications to FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. HE POST OFFICE AT ALBION > SECOND-CLASS MATTER. Oologists' Association News. The Executive Committee adopted the following resolutioD.s (pursuant to the suggestion of the Cooper Ornitho- logical Club of California): Whereas, The death of Major Charles E. Bendire leaves his magnifi- cent ornithological work, "Life Histor- ies of North American Birds," but half completed; and Whereas, The ornithologists of the United States anticipate the probability that this work will never be completed unless concerted interest be shown. Therefore be it Resolved, By TheOologists' Associa- tion that this organization expi'ess great interest in the, completion of the work and most earnestly request that the officers and scientists of the Smithson- ian Institution, and other prominent naturalists, do all in their power to further the early completion of this work, by some competent man, who is willing to undertake the responsibility, and be it further Resolved, That copies of these reso- lutions be sent to the officers and scien- tists of the U. S. National Museum and Smithsonian Institution and to the Ool- ogist for publication. Members of the Association will please send their vote upon the admis- sion of members as soon as notitied of nominations by Secy-Treasurer, as everyone is interested in the admission of members. Application for admission to the As- sociation has been received from J. Warren Jacobs, of Waynesburg, Pa., and is in the hands of the Executive Committee. Isador S. Trostler, Pres., Omaha, Neb. Two of My Friends. As I look from my window there passes before my eyes a Hit of yellow and a bit of sharp vivacious song en- ters my ears. Ahl now I have a theme. I step to the window and looking at the hedge a short distance from the house I look at the erratic movements and listen to the garrulous notes of the "Kentucky Mockingbird," otherwise known as the Yellow-breasted Chat {Icleria virens). Oh, splendid bird of the pure air and radiant sunshine can I do thee justice! So light hearted, free and happy. Thy note resounds from the hill tops to the 70 THE OOLOGIST. bottom of the dell; where the sunshines bright and where glides the murmur- ring stream from its crystal fountain. Do you wish to learn of him? Then go out where the "greentields wait for thee" and the air perfumed by the breath of tlowers is mnde melodious by the birds in their entreaty to induce you to come out where the fragrant breeze brings rest and cools the toil worn brow ur l)y the waters "bickening down th(^ vale," wandering by shade of high rocks, girted with moss, ivy and fern, anon to emerge into lields of liovv- ers rertecting the sunshine from a my- riad gems of dazzling beauty. Every turn and beud resounding to the sing- ing w^aters murmuring in a ceaseless and endless refrain, '■men may come and men may go but I go on forever." Do you seek the home of Mis. Chaf.' Simply found but not so it.s noi.sy mistres.'^. Almost any thicket will with careful search reveal at least one of the rough yet cosy structures Consisting usually of a conglomerated mass of straw, sticks, leaves, grass, newspaper, etc., etc. Compared with the Red Bird's [Cardinalis cardinalis) nest it is rather similar; of about the same width but much deeper and as a general rule coarser. Found usually in blackberry brambles or thickets of small saplings. If you are rude enough to disturb the domain of Mrs Chat she leaves her home with a noiseless gliding motion which the observer seldom is fortunate enough to see. Flying to a short dis- tance she is met by her husband. Then begins the .scoldings, both birds pour- ing out the tiercest maledictions on the marauder, interspersed with the wild- est grief and deep concern. All the while the birds are closely hid and it would puzzle the keenest observer to tell from what direction emenate those wild bursts of song. If our little friends are in the mood to show themselves we are treated to some marvellous aerial evolutions. The favorite movement is to ai'ise steadily then with llutleriug wings, lowered tail and feet, to drop as if lifeless; all the while chattering in a senseless and noisy fashion. Falling for sums dis- tance another idea possesses our hero and with a quick dart and change of song Hits rapidly to some leafy retreat, at times darting out in quick, short flights. In fact the Yellow-breasted Chat is the most erratic and lively of our birds iluriug the mating and nest building seascni. The uc^t is as a rule not higher than seven feet nor lower than three feet and usually between three and four feet. The eggs extremely various both iu size and markings. It is a very com- mon thing to find runt eggs in a nest with normal sized ones or large "over- grown" ones with smaller ones. The eggs vary from plain to very beautiful iu markings and general finish. The ground is usually of an ivory whiteness with :i good luster with variations of greenish and yellowish cast. The mark- ings are almost any shade between brown and red, sometimes black. A close study of Icteria will richly repay you and I would like to say more but space forbids and besides I wish be- fore I close to mention another of our common birds though by no means un- interesting. Quite different from nois}^ Chat is the little lithsome Indigo Bird [Passerina cyanea). We admire him but in a much different way from Icteria. Although the deep blue of Mr. Indigo strikes us as rather gaudy we could not expect that heart thrilling and joyous song to be clothed in less. That voice goes out in praise of its maker. When we hear that voice out among the beautiful things of nature's fields one can not but be impi'essed that He made nothing in vain, that —each iiios.s, each shell, each crawling insect,. Holds a rank, important, in the plan of Him Who framed this scale of beings; Holds a rank. which lost, would break the chain And leave a gap that nat^ire's self would rue."^ L'HE UOLUtrlSl n Mrs. ladifro, although of uot so "loud"' a color has none thn less sweet- er voice. UnassuiiiiQ^, iu a plaiu grey gown she sits in content on her tieas- ures while her bright husband sings her praise fi;om the top of some twig or from the telegraph wire, aud right well does he champion her. The little nest belovv him is a marvel of comfort and beauty- Some call it a rough structure but surely that neatly rouoded interior covered with selected leaves, little bits of corn husks, vege- table libre and the like can not be called unhandsome. If you like call it rustic, but uoi I'ough for rustic it is aud that very lus- ticitj' is an added grace to its lovely builders. For how well it suits their taste and mode of Jiviug. Does it not show to the greate.-t advantage those delicately pale blue eggs w^hich it shel- ters? Does it not form the warmest of cosy places for the little children soon to emanate from those delicate shells. Truly are we blessed with these creatures and surroundings which man calls "Nature;" the abiding place of life, that which no man can or will under- stand until guided by the Hand in a world more fair and lovely to behold. Otto Grady, Ludlow, Ky. A Ne.st of the Rtiby-throated Hum- mingbird. It may be of some interest to readers of the OoLOGiST to listen to a little pleasant experience of mine in I'egard to the Hummingbird. To some it may recall similar experiences, ( setigerus, var. Keokuk Zh-'Jh FavosiCes pirum z-t-in) hemisphericus 25 50 " cvmosus 25-50 Heliophyllum halli 2-5-50 " corniculum 10-25 " scyphus 25-50 invenis 15-25 G. K. GREENE, f2t NEW ALBANY, IND. ▼ Spades, Hoes, Mauls. I have recently bought several large collec- tions of Stone Relics from high-class collec- tors and have a "cream' stock of 15,0()0 pieces from many states, hundreds of them unusually fine form and perfect: many rare. Improve your cabinet- Among a stock as varied and fine as any ever offered by any dealer, are: 9 tine Spades 12 to 16'/^ "inches long. 12 ■• " 5% to ll?i inches long. 9 notched Hoes 4>^ to OU inches long. Points of above have a glassy polish from use. 45 Discoidals, biconcave, i}i to 6 inches diam- eter. 500 grooved Axes and Celts of finest form Yi to 10 pounds each. 75 Banner Stones, Gorgets, Amulets, etc. 30 Curious old Pipes. 25 Hematite Plummets and Axes. etc. Cup Stones, Balls. Pestles, Mortars, Bone Relics. Beads, Copper Relics, 5 to 9 inch Spear Heads, etc.. Swedish and Irish Stone Relics. Arrow Heads-3000 splendid, 5000 fine, 500O ordinary, 2000 2c to 5c each. .50 fine Drills. Many pretty forms in the tiny semi-precious stone points of Oregon,N. Mexico. and Arizona. Send stamp for price list— "OtJB Extra." Separate catalog of 100,000 specimens of fine Minerals and Fossils. Hundreds of Relics of Western Indians, Alas- kans and South Sea Islanders. L. W. STIL^A^ELL, DEADWOOD, (Black Hills), S. DAK. THE ODELL Type Writer. Sim- plified Method of Taxidermy, from boys, girls, parents, doctors, ministers, lawyers, school teachers, merchants, farmers, mechanics, hun- ters, outers and i-portsmen, as well as from curators of leading university museums, and professional taxidermists; I feel that I can safely make this offer. Send me "73 CENTS Cash or Stamps and receive complete instruct- ions for mounting birds in cases, plaques, hang- ing game, deer heads, etc., etc., with package of prepared compound ready for use, enough to mount .^0 small birds, or 20 large ones : to- gether with full directions for dressing skins with the hair on for rugs, robes and hangings. If you are not fully satisfied, your money will be cheerfully refunded. Beware of imitations. Mention The Ool,o- GIST and address. MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., KALAMAZOO, MICH. NATURALISTS' PRINTING '"'i^l^'^^^.r cheap. Egg labels 15c per 100 small; 25 per 100 large. Fossil 10c per 100, Letter heads 35 per 100. Send copy for prices. D. H. EATON, Woburn. Mass. Alaskan Birds' Eggs and Skins. Choice specimens of Northern rarities with complete data may be secured by colUctors at very low prices. A chance not to be missed. Eggs and Skins Strictly first-class and personally collected. Highest references can be furnished. To close out I make the following prices; speci- mens prepaid; terms cash with order. No or- der filled for amounts under $1.00. No exchanges wanted. Ancient Murrelet, set 2 eggs, $2.75 per set. Skins 82.50. Cassin's Auklet, set 1 egg. 35c. Tufted Puffin, set 1 egg, 30c. Fork-tailed Petrel, set 1 egg, $2. Extra fine skin $2. Leach's Petrel, set 1 egg 5c. Mallard Duck, set 1-5, 1-7. 1-10. 1.5c each. Merganser Serrator, 1-3, 1-7, l-lO, 40c each. Aleutian Sandpiper, skins $1.2,5. Aleutian Song Sparrow, set 3 and 4, 75 each. Skins $1. Aleutian Leucosticte, skins $1. Address CHASE LITTLEJOHN, REDWOOD CITY, CAL. f Spades, Hoes, Mauls. I have recently bought several large collec- tions of Stone Relics from high-class collec- tors and have a "cream'' stock of 15,000 pieces from many states, hundreds of them unusually fine form and perfect; many rare. Improve your cabinet. Among a stock as varied and fine as any ever offered by any dealer, are ; 9 fine Spades 12 to 1654 inches long. 12 " " 5><^ to 1194 inches long. 9 notched Hoes 4^ to 9!^ inches long. Points of above have a glassy polish from use. 45 Discoidals, bi-concave, Hi to 6 inches diam- eter. 500 grooved Axes and Celts of finest form Yz to 10 pounds each. 75 Banner Stones, Gorgets, Amulets, etc. 30 Curious old Pipes. 25 Hematite Plummets and Axes, etc. Cup Stones, Balls. Pestles. Mortars, Bone Relics, Beads, Copper Relics. 5 to 9 inch Spear Heads, etc., Swedish and Irish Stone Relics. Arrow Heads-3000 splendid, 5000 fine, 500O ordinary, 2000 8c to 5c each. .50 fine Drills. Many pretty forms in the tiny semi-precious stone points of Oregon,N. Mexico, and Arizona. Send stamp for price list— "Our Extra." Separate catalog of 100,000 specimens of fine Minerals and Fossils. Hundreds of Relics of Western Indians, Alas- kans and South Sea Islanders. L. W. STILWELL, DEADWOOD, (Black Hills), S. DAK. THE ODELL Type Writer. ^*^r\ will buy the ODBL,!^ XYrE ^ x3V4 In.. cost$.>.. KOod as new. for ••Pocket Kodak" must be good as new. EMMETT ROBERTSON, Haskell, Texas. RECREATION: The best magazine devoted to outdoor sports. HHaiitifiil illustrations- many of birds, nearly 100 panes monthly. Sent a full year for only eoc cash and tiOo worth eggs or for 64 worth e^gs alone (eggs at full list ratesl your selections, sent prepaid, with data. Ttie Cosmopolitan for 75c cash and HOc worth eggs. A free education, see announcement Cosmopolitan University in August number. Cash subscription, either magazine Jl will be appreciated. Address. BENJAMIN HO AG, Stephentowu, New York- WANTED:— Sets with nests of Hummers. Warblers, Flycatchers and many others and large singles. Cm offer neatly prepared sets of Southern eggs with complete data. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, 457 Greene St.. Augusta, Ga. BICYCLE:— I have a high grade bicycle in first class condition which I would exchange for skins or eggs in sets, vvould be happy to hear from any one wishing a good machine. Enclose stamp for replv JAMES P. BAB- BITT. BoxS9.5. Taunton. Mass. WANTED:— Cabinet specimens. Insects, Birds eggs (sets preferred), scientific Shells. Echinoderms and others, also Entomological and Conchologlcal books Can exchange, good Camera and outfit, excellent new Guitar. Flo- bert Rifl". Volumes Golden Days. Argosy, Youth's Coiiipatiion and St. Xich.olas, Books, Coins. Stamps. Starfish and some cash. ED- WIN H. DRAPER, 670J Butler St . Station O, Chicago, Ills. WANTED:— ••Kombi" camera, will give In exchange the following sets with data. A. O. U. No's: 339a 2-3, 4S7 1-6. $9 90. Must be loaded and in good condition. EMMETT ROBERT- SON. Haskell, Texas. PUBLICATIONS, EGGS. BOOKS WANTED: I will allow 50c each for any back number of the "Auk'' you may have, if in good condition and sent prepaid. You to take your full pay in Eggs, Shells (showy or scientific). Corals, Echinoderms, Fossils. Minerals. Stamps. Hand- books, Curios or Novelties. (Books. Instru- ments and Supplies will be given in exception- al cases by special arrangement! as listed in the May, "97 Premium List Supplement. I can also use on same terms the following numbers of the OoLOGiST at prices quoted: June, 18S8, •20c: July-Aug , 18§6, 20c; Jan. -Feb . 1887 or Dec, 1886 with same attached, 15c: June-Sept., 1887, iDC: Apr.. 1889. 1.5c: Jan-Feb.. 188-5, 10.?: Jan., 189.5, .5c: March, 1897, ,5c: May. 1897, .5c. All musn be complete, clean, and in good condition. I will also accept back No's of the (Jrnitholorjist and Oolorjist, Nidiologist or Osprey, any issue and in any quantity at .5c per copy on same terms. (I will allow "JOc for Oct.. 'iJ3 and .50c for Feb., 's)4 "Nids.'"). If you have other publications along my line. Write and state what is wanted. I can also use books on sub.iects pertaining to Natural History if in good condition and cheap, also A No. 1 sets of eggs with data at Vs^Stand- ard'' rates. Lists of books and eggs must be submitted for my selection or approval before sending. Address at once FRANK H. LAT- TIN, Albion, N. Y. I WILL give sets including 332, 393b, 428 nest 2, 636. 671 n 4, 628 n 4. 731, 7^29, 751 n, for a 32 cal. Smith & Wesson hammerless revolver. SAM CRAYTON, Anderson, S. C. TO EXCHANGE: -A large list of fine miner- als and fossils, also a good list of books to ex- change for good sets of eggs with data. Send full list of sets vou have to exchange. GEO. W. DIXON, Watertown, S. Dak. FOR SALE:— 1003 var. U. S. and Foreign stamps. For exchange nea'ly •2(X) stamp mag- azines for eggs, shells, etc., I.OOO foreign stamps 80c. Write at once, must close out. J. H. STAMBAUGH, Danville. 111. FOR SALE or EXCHANGE:— A Hartford Bicycle. '96 model, in good condition, with new tires, backcogg and Victor '97 seat, cost f84. for only 'Ko or for a fine collection of first class sets or large rare singles, or high class fancy pigeons. Make offers. Enclose stamp for des- cription. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, 457 Greene St.. Augusta. Ga. WANTED : -To exchange sets 604 3-4. 598 3-3, 390 1-3. 652 1-4. 479b 1-3 24. .575a 1-3. 339 1-2, .529 2-4 2-6, 622 1-5 1 6,387 2-2 1-3, 501 1-4. .546 1-5, 563 1-3, 593 1-3. 703 1-3 for common sets. ISAAC E. HESS, Phllo. Ills. ■OUR BIRDS in their Haunts."' Langille, for best offer in singles. Will do printing and take in payment eggs, skins, etc. W. A. LEE, Printer, New Vineyard. Maine. FOR SALE:— Belgian Hares. Lop eared Rab- bits, Abyssinian Guinea Pigs. Homing Pigeons, Pouters. Jacobins and Pit Games steel tested. ALMON E. KIBBE, Taxidermist, Mayville, N. Y. A2t WANTED:— No's 1, 2 and 4 of 'VgI. vi Recrea- tion. Write stating lowest cash price. EV- ERETT E. JOHNSON, 9 Bartlett St., Lewis- ton. Maine. TRY my Postage Stamp Approval Sheets; •''0 per cent commision and a prize. CHARLES KEUTGEN, No. 102 Fulton St., New York. T HE Plant World An illustrated niotithiy journal of popular botany. Eciited by F. H. Knowlton, Ph. D., assisted by a corps of specialists. This journal will aim to present the facts of plant life in a popular and at- tractive way and in everything will be Scientific but not Teclinical. A large number of prominent botan- ists have promised to contribute t-o the first volume. First number issued Oct. 1st, 16 pages octavo, neatly printed. Subscription, $1 a yeiir, Sample free if requested now. Address, ■WILLARD N.CLUTE & CO. .Publishers^ BINGHAMTON. N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. To show you what others are saying of THE OSFREY. '•It improves with every number. It certainly eclipses anything of its kind published." — Leon J. Cole, Grand Rapids, Mich. •'The Osprey is bound to take the front rank among our ornithological magazines."— Floyd T. Coon, Milton, Wis. '•I must say it is the best paper of its kind I have ever seen for the money."— Gottlieb Biss- mer. Hastings, Mich. '•It is indeed a credit to the science it repre- sents: the benefits you are spreading among naturalists will. I am sure, be greatly appreciat- ed.''-F. R. Stearns. Sac City, Iowa. "You have got the best popular monthly magazine of its kind in America today. ''-Ed- ward Arnold, Battle Creek, Mich. "The Osprey is a neat and beautiful inspir- ation to the student of bird-life, and a practical exponent of plain, every-day science.'"— L. Whitney Watkins, Manchester,' Mich. "Most excellent journal."— Robert Ridgeway, U. S. National Museum. "It is a beauty from front to cover, and 'a thing of beauty is a joy forever.' Plates, type, paper, printing and all are elegant, as they should be to correspond with the interesting reading within,"— Chas. K. Worthen, Warsaw, 111. Sample loc, or 25c for three months trial. No bird-man can afford to miss this magazine. THE OSPREY COMPANY. 61 North Prairie St.. Galesburg, 111. Come to Florida. A fortune can be made in a few years in pineapples and tomatoes; vegetables raised the whole year. An ideal home. For particulars write R. P. Osier, Avon Park, Fla. 29&Otf H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. Minerals, Fossils and Shells cut and polished at our Steam Lapidary Shop, recently fitted up on the most improved plans where we do first-class work at reasonable prices. Cabinet work a specialty. Polished material for sale. JOHN G. BUXTON, Milo Centre, N. Y. SHINE? Shells, Marine Curios, &c. I am now ready to supply flrst-class .stock at low prices and should you "wish anything from this section, let me hear from you. All inquir- ies will have a prompt reply. mtf J. H. HOLMES, Dunedin, Fla. Shells, Curios, Specimens, Novelties, Suitable for Fair or Resort Trade Will be sold in lots of $5 and upwards, at "snap" rates, from our Chautauqua stores, after Aug. 21st. Address, Frank H. Lattin^ Albion, N. Y., or Chautauqua, N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. THE ODELL Type Writer. «20 will buy the OOHL,!^ TYPE >VR.IXER. with 78 characters.war- rauted to do as good work as any machine made. , It combines simplicity with durability, SPKED, EASE OF OPERATION, wears longer with- out cost of repairs than any other machine. Has no ink ribbon to bother the operator. It is NEAT, SUBSTANTIAL, nickel-plated, perfect, and adapted to all kinds of type writing. Like a printing press, it produces sharp. Clean, legi- ble manuscripts. Two or ten copies can be made at one writing. Any intelligent person can become an operator in two days. Reliable Agents and Salesmen wanted. For Pamphlet giving Indorsements, etc., address 139 ODELL TYPE WRITER CO., 358-364 Dearborn St., CHICAGO, ILL. EMPORIUM OF PETS. Headquarters for all kinds of Fancy Poultry, Fancy Pigeons, Swans, Pheasants, Canaries, Parrots, Mocking Birds, Cages, Seeds, Gold Fish, Globes, Aquariums, Plants, etc., Monkeys, Dogs, Cats, Squirrels, Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and other Pet Animals. My specialty is selling first-class Homing Pigeons at $1.00 a pair. Send ten cents for the largest and most complete Illustrated Catalog Issued. Also Studio of Taxidermy. EDW. S. SCHMID, 712 Twelfth St., N.\A^.,Washington, D. C. CABINETS. Send 10 cts for photo of our speciality— Self Locking:. T perches —Oak sam- ples by mail 8c, 10c and l*c: also stands, shields, glass cases, game panels. &c. Cabinets to or- der. HANAPORD CABINET CO.. 139 and 141 W. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, Mich. .=i8MOtf New Mineral Store. If you want good and cheap Mineral Specimens write for Circular and particulars. ANDREW' HARTMAN, 451 5 Parrish St., Philadelphia, Pa. FRANK B. ARMSTRONG, TAXIDERMIST, and Collector and Dealer in Bird and Mammal Skins, Birds Kggs in fine sets, Mounted Birds and Animals. BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS. ^ yShOvCuns^-Saa^^^Revoivers, CO o ^^^i^iTrnfMliP ■3BBMr"» "'f^"-, DZ. ^^S^^^^M»P^*^^H|^^f to. y CO^^B^^fend .(amp >.«=^^GT-eat Western' ^^ -J <«3^^^ for Price List. Oa2iWorlu,f lttibargh,K^ ^FINF<^ NETS, TENTS, and Every description of Guns, Rjvolvers, Ammu- nition and Sporting Goods at very lowest pric- es. We have something of interest to you. POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS HEALTH Nature, Invention, Archaeology, Electricity, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Health, Hygiene, Medicine. Formerly Boston Journal of Chemistry ENLARGED and IMPROVED. This popular monthly contains a large num- ber of Short, Easy. Practical. Interesting and Popular, Scientific articles, that can be Appre- ciated and Enjoyed by any intelligent reader, even though he knew little or nothing of Sci- ence. It is Intended to interest those who think. Profusely Illustrated and Free from Technicalities. Entirely different from and much superior to other papers with a similar name. Monthly, 31.60 per year. Newsdealers 15c Largest Circulation of any Scientific Paper in the World. Conducted by BENJ. LILLARD. 108 Fulton St., New York. {^"Mention The Oologist for a sample copy. MlklCDAIC SHEL1.S, eic. The White lYIIIlCnALO City Collections. 50 fine cabi- net specimens. $3. 50 smaller size, $2. 50 ama- teur size, $1. Printed name and locality with each specimen. 50 Shells, Corals, and Marine Specimens, only $3. 100 Fossils, including fine Fish, Trilobite, Crinoids, Corals, Sponges, several fine Ferns, etc., only $8. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to $1, very showy. Taxidermy in all its branches at I'easonable prices. Illustrated catalogue by mail, 10c. J.M.WIERS, Natural- ists Agency, 357 W. VanBuren St., Chicago, 111. The Oologist. VOL. XIV. NO. 9. ALBION, N. Y., SEPTEMBER, 1897. Whole No. 136: Nesting- Habits of the American Bittern. All who have collected in marshy sections have often heard the peculiar song of the Biitern in the lowlands. Coming from the morass, the notes seem of mysterious origin and to those of superstitious disposition the weird sounds appeal with a great deal of force. Nevertheless, to the observer, the nature of the love-song is well known and many collectors have care- fully noted the movements of the birds when uttering the sounds and studied the notes. For many years the peculiar habits and movements of the Indian Hen or Greater Bittern have offered special at- tractions for me and I have carefully noted the nesting and migrating birds in my field book. Thinking to present a few observations of interest, though aware that most observers are familiar with the facts offered, I will take a few notes from my book. The birds reach the 40th parallel in the spring by March tenth and often earlier. In fact I have seen specimens on boggy ground when the ditches were frozen over and everything look- ed decidedly wintry. The Bitterns do not arrive during these periods, but likehuany other mistaken birds attempt the northern trip too early in the sea- son. They will not leave for a spell of cold w" i*^her and therefore put in their tim ' ' 1 lis-^oasolately stalking along the ■ I .c 's of streams, or over the groui'l kupt soft by spring holes. As so(jn as the ground is fully thaw- ed out and spring has fairly assumed her pleasing sway, the Indian Hens tune up their lazzoos and proceed to demonstrate that tom-tom, kettledrum calithumpian melodies are. the order of the day. There is nothing like the pe- culiar notes, and from their very uniqueness they have a charm for me unsurpassed by aay other bird's notes on the marsh. When the bird sings we look vainly for him. and it is only after prolonged' search and a vexatious tramp through- the sloughs and across swampy tracts, that we finally definitely locate him. The chances are that the singer was not where we expected to find him, for this- bird's notes are very deceiving and often lead one amiss. Then again I have been badly fooled by the notes of two birds on different parts of the- marsh. In due time we see the old fellow- stalking through the long, rank marsh grass or perhaps wading in a pool or ditch. Then he stops his measured tread and ruffling his feathers and as- suming a bunched aspect, proceeds to give vent to his charmingly ludicrous ditty. The notes much resemble the words plum pucVn accent on pitd, and for this reason the oddity has been giv- en the name of Plum Pudding among the many other appellations with which this peculiar bird is favored. Of course the sounds could be readily lik- ened to other words, as with the notes- of all other bii'ds which we have been taught to associate in notes and words. However plum pncVn seems a capital name for this wader. When singing the performer goes through a surprising series of motions, making peculiar snakey movements with its head and neck with each sound uttered. These movements, together with the sounds, which are hollow and reverberating, give the species the name of Thunder Pumper Then there are the notes ka whack, or if you wish, ka sock, which exactly 82 THE OOLOGIST. resemble the sound of pounding with a heavy maul. These notes are also very deceiving as to their source, and yet are so marked in their resemblance to the sounds produced by driving a post, that we look about to see the man en- gaged in building a fence near. When an amateur is told that the sound is produced by a bird, the Stake-driver, he is not surprised at the name adopted. I believe the notes plum pjicrn are the love ditty and think they are mostly used in spring; yet I have heard them in the autumn as late as October 15th. There is another name for this bird, which, with the general name of Shite- poke, applied to Herons and Bitterns ^s a whole, makes the Greater Bittern a species of many names. I refer to the cognomen Barrel-maker, given un- doubtedly because of the similarity of its ka socle notes to the thumping noises made by a cooper in hooping his bar- rels. * I once slept on the prairie in the early part of May in Illinois. It turn- ed out that I was surrounded by a lot of sloughs inhabited by an army of Barrel-makers. It was a good night for night llyei's and the way the Snipe, Sandpipers and other smaller waders flew about my camp-fire was a caution. All night long the continuous shrill cry of the frogs in the bog, together with noise of towering Snipe and many oth- er odd sounds, and from unknown sources, kept pace with the clatter of the so-called Barrel-makers in the marsh near by. This was the time I learned why this bird is called Barrel - maker. Some time in May, usually in the early part, the Stake-driving, Barrel- making, Thunder-pumping son of a Plum Pudding, Indian Shitepoke builds a nest,, and with the assistance of Mrs. * still other names are Bog-trotter and Bog- bull. Oliver Davie says that it has a hoarse gurgling cry of alarm. I have suddenly come upon one when feeding and as it flew away .startled it uttered some peculiar resounding notes, but usually they are silent in flight. Shitepoke Plum Pudding proceeds to rear a family. The nest is always on an elevated situation and genei'ally free from all chances of inundation. Sometimes it is way off in the marsh and again it is (juite easily accessable. But wherever it is, it is always just where we don't look for it. In other words it is hard to find. A good col- lector may hunt for years and not find a nest, and then, when least expected, run onto a fine set of eggs. A young friend of mine found four sets in a space of a few rods square and yet he was not on the lookout for an egg. However the species does not generally build in rookeries, and is in fact less disposed to be gregarious in nesting season than any others of the Herons. With an observer who has time and inclination, it is not a difficult matter to find a nest by watching the birds; however the nests are rarities and good sets of eggs grace but few collections comparatively. The number of eggs is generally four or five, and quite as often the former number and sometimes only three. Again I have heard of six but cannot substantiate this set. The eggs are of a muddy color, diffi- cult to describe, and I might call them of a coffee color if I were to rely on my opinion. Someone has said that they ai'e of a brownish-drab or Isabella color, and I guess the latter color de- scribes them as the hue is peculiar and unlike that of any other egg that I know of. The eggs are nearly or quite two inches long and about one and a half in their smaller diameter, and are usually nearly elliptical in shape. The nest is a rude structure of coarse grass and rushes and of course quite unlike the nests of any others of the Herons. The young are curious little bunches of down when first hatched, but quickly lose their beauty when they assume the naked appearance, or after they get their pin-feathers. THE OOLU(;iSl 83 Captive Bitterns are easily taken care of as they will eat most anything in the flesh line, and they sometimes get to be •quite tame, but are never cleanly. Ella Ka Sands. The Birds of My Window Tree. Back of my otiice window a modest •oak of small stature ekes out a pecarious existence from the back yard of a mer- cantile establishment. The life of this tree has been circumscribed and its growth retarded by the encroachment of various structui'es. It is surrounded on the east and south by business blocks, and on the north and east by low, one story barns, upon the roofs of which some of its boughs lean languidly through the long summer months. This years' (autumn of '95^Ed.) fo- liage has served its purpose, and is slowly passing away: the leaves of the top-most limbs hang in reddish clustei's, which faintly rustle at every movement of the wind and send a shower of seared leaves fluttering to the earth. Most of the outstretching twigs have already disposed of their burden and stick out their naked forms from the mass of the foliage at various angles. Here and there a tuft of leaves still cling to the tip of a twig that bows and sways in the breeze. The lower foliage does not show so plainly the ravages of approaching winter, yet sear- " ed leaves are scattered here and there over its surface, and many of them have joined their companions upon tlie earth below. Every day the mantle of sum- mer grows thinner, leaving gaping rents, through which the wind whisks about the gnarled trunk. At present the tree reveals no sign of life, but every movement of the scraggly boughs, every rnstle of the withered leaves, recalls the livelier scenes of the departed seasons. During the year I watched the birds that frequented this lonely tree cooped up in the midst of a small city, and fo\ind that no less than fifteen species of liirds paid it at least an occasional visit, and doubtlessly there were others that escaped my ob'^ervation, and that one species, the Hou?e Unch, which loves the busy marls almost as well as the English Sparrow, built its nest and reared its brood in a secret nook in the foliage. The first species I noticed was the Audubon Warbler; a group of these birds visited the tree late in January, flitted about and departed. Several of the same species were noticed twice again in February, but their stay was short. Several Western Robins paid me a short visit early in February, and on the fifteenth of that month, five lively Western Bluebirds busied themselves for a while gleaning their breakfast from my oak. The Heerman's Song Spari'ow was a frequent visitor during the spring, and for sevei'al days a pair of Mourning Doves loitered about the tree and I thought they would nest there, but I suppose they selected a more congenial spot for they disappear- ed and I saw no more of them. On March tenth my eye caught a glimpse of red among the green leaves, and I proceeded to investigate. I found one of the most beautiful birds of tnis region, the Reb-breasted Sapsucker, clambering about the tree in search of food. Quite frequently I noticed one or more American Goldfinches about the oak, and during the fall months their visits in groups have been quite numer- ous. A Mockingbird that nested in the neighborhood, came to my tree for several mornings in the month of April and made the air ring with his joyous melody, but finally he deserted the lone- ly oak, and I heard him quite frequent- ly in the top of an oak in the adjoining block. My most frequent visitors were the House Finches, a pair of which reared their brood in the tree, but deserted it 84 THE OOLOGIST. early in May, when theyouug were able to Hy. The male was a hajjpy creature and spent a great deal of his time siog- iug to his mate. In the last of April, a California Shrike, seemingly bent on mischief, caused quite a commotion in the household of the Finches, and to prevent a catastrophe, I drove the in- truder from the premises. The bulky form of the Red shafted Flicker was seen about the tree upon a number of occasions, but its visits were always short. A California Woodpecker was also among my visitors, but like the Flicker, he never remained long. Among the other birds I noticed aljout the oak were, Bullock's Oriole, Western Flycatcher, and Anna's Hummingbird. A week ago, while I was busy at work, I was greeted with the loud, cheery whistle of a Western Meadowlark that had strayed far from its home in the pas- ture-lands, and had settled down upon the oak to give me a few moments enter- tainment These observations, taken at random moments, show the amount of bird-life one meets with, even in unfavorable lo- calities, in spots far removed froaii field or woodland, where our feathered friends are usually found. Harry C. Lillie, Visalia, Calif. Mounting- Birds Nests For a Collec- tion. I have an easy and simple method for mounting birds' nests, which may inter- est the readers of this valuable little pa- per. I take a limb of a tree, with pretty bark on it, for the base of the stand, and saw it up into sections, the diameter of the limb, and thickness of the sections depending upon the size of the nests to mounted. I then procure some pronged twigs, dogwood generally being the easiest to tind, and making a hole in the base, stick the twig up in it and set the nest in the prong, anil by passing a black thread over the nest it will be se- cured in place. Some nests are of course often built in suitable twigs for the purpose, and often it will be better to set some nests right on the base. After mounting the nest the stand can be decorated with moss, etc., if desired. J. H. Fisher, Jr., Baltimore, Md. The Hairy Woodpeckor. Though quite common throughout its breeding range, especially in eastern Kansas, its nest is not at all common. Of course we are all of us familiar with the Woodpecker's nest in general, but unlike the other species, with which I am acquainted, it does not often select a dead stub or tree, but, more usually, prefers a live tree that has a decayed center. After boring through the green portion it can easily hollow out a suffic- ient nesting cavity. Sometimes they wull peck in just below a decaying limb. But I know of no instances where they bored through tiie green portion and stopped. So that they must have some faculty (probably bysounding) by which they can select the proper trees. The cavities thus formed are usually from one to two feet in depth. The pearly white eggs, usually four in number, are laid on the removed chips. The nest may be discovered by the chips under the tree and also by its call, which much resembles that of the Red-headed Woodpecker. Orali K. Williamson, Lawrence, Kansas. A Finishing- Touch. All eggs, before placing them in the cabinet, shuuld be rinsed out with a mild solution of Corrosive Sublimate, in which has been dissolved a little isin- glass. This forms a coating on the in- side, which makes the shell less trans- parent—gives more the natural color,, and makes it firmer. Dr. A. G. Prill, Sodaville, Ortgon. THE OOLOGIST. 85 The Oologist. A Montlily Magazine Devoted to OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Corresponience and Items of Interest to tlie student or Birds, tlieir Nt'Sts and Egys, solicited from all. TKRMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: Single subscription '>0c per annum Sample copies .^c each The above rates Include payment of postage. Each subscriber Is given a card gnod for a Want, Excliauge or b'or Sal-=' Notice. (This card Is redeemable at any time wlthiu one year from date thereon.) Subscripilou=' can begin wiUi any number. Back numbers of tue ooi.'nj IS can be furnished at reasonable rates. Sena stamp for descrip- tions and prices. BS^Hemember that tlie publisher must be noti- fied by le*^ter when a subscriber wishes his paper Stopped, ani all arrearages must be paid. ADVERTISING RATES: 5 cents per nonpareil line each Insertion. 1'2 lines In every Inch. Seven Inches in a col- umn, and I wo columns to the page. Nothing lusertel for l^ss than 2) cents. No "special rates," 5 cents per line is "net," "rock bottom," "Inside," "spot ca^h" rate from which there is no deviation and m commission to agents. If you wish to use a lines or less space It will cost you 2.) cents: loo lines, $.5.iiO; lOuO lines, $.50.00. "Trade" (Other than cash) advertise- ments will be accepted by special arrangement only and at rates irom double to live times cash rates. Due Liills and Cards payable in advertis- ing will he honored only at legular rates In force at the date ot issuance of said bill or card. Remittances should be made by Dralt, Express or Postofflce Money Order, Registered Letter or Postal Note, Unused U.S. postage Stamps of any denomination will be accepted lor sums un- der one dallar. Make Money Orders and Drafts payable and address all subscriptions and com- munications to PRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. The Red Cockaded Woodpecker. {Dry abates borealis.) It seems that very little is known of the habits of this interesting bird, most ornithological writers taking their statements from the older ornitholo- gists, Aububon. Wilson and others. The range of this bird is a vei;y nar- row one, it being confined to the most southern pine forests of Florida, Louis- iana and the intervening states, and hence its specific name, borealL-', is somewhat of a misnomer. My first acquaintance with the Red Cockaded Woodpecker was in Decem- ber, '93, in St. Helena Parish, La., where I found it to be rather common in the high pine woods and I had am- ple opportunity to observe the bird and its habits. This Woodpecker is in size between the Hairy and the Downy, or about the size of a Yellow-bellied, although of stouter build. When it is a good way up on a pine tree it appears entirely grayish-black and on closer inspection bars of white extending across the back and wings and a streak of white on either side of the head are noticed, but no red is seen until the bird is killed and in your hand, when a red line between the black cap of the head and the white face becomes visible. In the female this red is wanting. The bird has less white than any of the genus and on, this account may be easily distin- guished. The birds are usually found in the pines that ai'e close to clearings, espec- ially if there are dead ones, and are rarely seen in deeper woods. In sev- eral instances I found the Red Cockad- ed Woodpecker in company with the Downy, oi* at least on the same tree, and generally the diminutive Brown- headed Nuthatch (SiWap^siY/rt) was to be found in the immediate vicinity. The Red Cockaded Woodpeckers are remarkably quick and their dodging proclivities baffled me for a while in my attempts to shoot one, as they al- ways kept on the other side of the tree. They usually start at the bottom of a dead pine and make their way up to the top, but more frequently are seen in the upper branches of the live tree, sometimes in the "bud" itself. I was told that the birds were com- mon there the year around and was shown several of their nests in dead pine stubs on the edge of the woods. ^6 THE OOLOGIST from fifteen to thirij' feet up, but be- yond this I know nothing of their breeding habits. I hope, however, to visit that neighborhood during the coming season and should I be success- ful in learning more of the habits of this bird I will let the readers of the OoLOGiST know the result of my trip. Dryobates, N. O., La. A Few ftuestions For Ornitholog-ists. 1. How many eyelids have birds? 2. Of what use to birds is the bone we commonly call the wish-bone? 3. What bird traverses three elements with ease? 4. What bird or birds have the habit of placing the cast off snake-skins in their nest ? 5. Should we pronounce the scien- tific names of birds with the Laliu pro- nunciation or the English? 6. Which, in your opinion, is the most handsome of American birds? The most intelligent? 7. What bird does the most good? The most harm? 8. Are albino eggs caused by a dis- ease in the female birds, or not? 9. Do birds cover their young ones with their wings or bodies, or by other means during a storm? 10. Has any reader of the Oologist seen, or heard of anyone besides Audu- bon, seeing any of the Caprimulgiche es- l^ecially the Chuck-wills-widow, remove move their eggs in their mouth from their nest, after it had been disturbed? Patkonus Avium, Niles, Mich. Two Freaks and Other Notes. Under this title I will describe first a peculiar specimen ol Merula migratoria (Am. Robin), which I have mounted in my collection. The bird was shot by Wm. Sheldon, of Chili, N. Y., on the 3rd day of April, lS9o; heuce, necessari- ly, in full spring plumage. But what an odd looking Robiu. It is nothing to wonder at that Mr. Sheldon did not know what he was shooting at. I prob- ably should not have kuown myself- The bird, a male, was colored as fol- lows: forehead and lores, white; ci'own, white with two &late-colnred feathers in upper center and two in right supra, orbital region; occ/iput, white with one slate-colored feather in center; hind neck down to inter-scapulars, white variegated with light slate or gray. Interscapulars or back, scapulars, rump and upper tail coverts, dark gray, ex- cept as follows: one white feather in middle of back, four in right scapulars, two on ftu'ward edge of Wit. scapulars and the longest feather in upper tail coverts white. Sides of head, throat and jugulum pure white. Breast and abdomen, light ferruginous or brick red, more than half the breast feathers being tipped with white, and a pure white spot in the center of abdomen Anal regions under tail-coverts and tibia, white. Wing coverts on both sides equally mixed with white and slate. The first four primaries in each wing, pure white; the 5th and "/th, slate; the 6th and 8th, Avhite. Secondaries and teriials, mixed slate and while, the slate predominating and not alike on each wing. Outer tail feathers, pure white, next two tipped with white, ex- tending up the outer web i an inch, all the rest slightly tipped with white, the left hand upper feather being two- thirds white, extending over nearly ail the outer web. Beak, light yellow and semi-transparent, legs and feet similar when taken, but have since changed to a light brown. Eyes with brown iris and black pupil, therefore not an albino. However if you could see it you would all agree that no description could give a correct idea of this patched-up bird. In size it is normal, and those who saw it alive say it appeared to be healthy. THE OOLOGIST. 87 My second subject in this article is a young male Dolichonyx oryxvorus (Bob- olink). It was shot by my brothar on the 6th day of August, 1894. The bird was feeding with a large crop of its kind on Black Creek, and attracted his at- tention at once by its color. It is a yellowish white or straw color all over, with just a shade of rusty in the center of the back. Bill, feet and eyes white, a well marked albino. 1 know from the appearance of the plumage and the skull, that it was a young bird of the year. It would be interesting to know what the next moult would develop. In the October '94 Oologist, I find an article on birds nest by Glover Allen, which interests me very much.- He asks for opinion as to the reason that the Am. Robin, Crow, Blackbird or Purple Grackle place a layer of mud be- tween the outer and inner portions of their nests. Well, we don't have the Purple Grackle here, but his half broth- el', the Bronzed Grackle is very abund- ant, and I believe that Mr. Allen's ex- planation of this peculiarity in the Red- wing's nest holds just as good with the Bronzed Grackle, as that bird even yet shows a tendency to nest much like the Red-wing, along the banks of Black Creek and Mill Creek in Monroe Coun- ty, N. Y. Possibly the majority of them did this once. As to the Robin and Wood Thrush, I find that these birds, where they nest in comparatively se-/ eluded or protected situations, do not use much mud. in fact, the Robin, when nesting in buildings, sometimes uses only a trace of mud. I think it quite possible that these birds use mud for stability alone, as it certainly makes their nests more firm and ensures their clinging more tenaciously to the limb on which they are placed. At any rate, the Thrushes nesting close to the ground do no use mud, but large quantities of dry leaves, to keep out the moisture. I am not sure that the question of firm- ness does not influence the Red-wing ome when building. In any event let us hear all the opinions and study close- ly, that we may verify or disprove, E. H. Short. Two Fierce Great Horned Owls. {Bubo Virginianus.) I was told of a very curious case some time since, which happened in Nelson County, Va., some years ago, and thought it might interest some of the readers of the Oologist. In that coun- ty there dwelt two ''Old Maids" who lived alone, excepting an enormous Bull-dog who was their constant com- panion. One evening while driving up the cows to milk, they had to go through a little grove which was sit- uated a small distance from the house. As they entered the grove they were attracted by the yells of their friend, Mr. Bulldog, and much to their surprise found that tvy^o large Gt. Horned Owls were the cause of the disturbance. They had their talons firmly fastened in the dog's back, and were beating it to death with their wings. The air was alive with hair and feathers, when these plucky old women opened an at- tack with their sticks, and succeeded in killing one of the Owls, while the other flew away, grieviog over the loss of its mate, and the interruption of its supper. The latter was the cause of the combat. It was in the depth of winter, and the Owls becoming desperate from hunger, made this bold attack. The dog was eating the carrion, which the Owls had "spotted" for their supper. J. W. U., Jr. An Unusual Site For a Robin's Nest. As I was crossing a partly plowed field in the spring of '94, I noticed that the farmer who was plowing suddenly stopped his horses, and going in front of them seemed to be examining some- thing on the ground. I hastened across 88 THE OOLOGIST. to him anil I'dulkI him lonkiuc: at a Robin's nc^t nnihi' yidund. He said that the bird tlew from the nest just as the horses were almost over it. 1 re- moved the nest from the ground with difliculty, as it was securely fastened to the earth, and I took it home. The eggs, which numbered four, were of the same size as the other eggs of the species. The nest was composed of layers of mud and grass as usual, but it was more shallow than ordinary Robin's nests. There is no doubt of the identi- ty. Did you ever hear of a Robin's nest on the ground in an open field where the grass was not three inches high? DoxALD DeWitt, Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Notes From North Carolina. Bachman's Sparrow: This species is somewhat shy in its actions when flushed from the nest, running off a lit- tle way, beating the ground with their wings. They build their nests in a slight depression in the ground, and nests are nearly arched over. They do not fly from the nest, but ■ run through the grass, and by standing still and watching, you will soon see the bird sneaking back to the nest I have found three nests of four. All three nests were in a slight hollow and made of fine, wiry grass. They com- mence to build about the last of April, and I think they rear two broods in a season, because I found two nests in middle of June. One nest was June 20, 1893, under a tussock of grass, In a slight hollow, made of wiry grass. The nest found June 15th, contained fresh eggs. Blue Grosbeak: The Blue Grosbeak is a tolerably common bird, breeding where the first growth of timber has been cut down, and a growth of low bushes have replaced it. Nest is usual- ly about 4 to 15 feet high. Begins about the last of May and generally two broods in a season. A characteristic of the Blue Grosbeak's nest, is that it al- most invariably contains a snake skin in the outer material of leaves, etc. July 2. Ftjund a nest with four eggs, ill a small oak thicket about 12 feet high, of grass, sticks, I'oi^ts and leaves lined with roots and contained a snake skin, eggs slightly incubated. July 7th. Nest in a small dogwood l)ush about 5 feet high, three fresh eggs. Made of sticks, roots, leaves, etc., lined with hair and contained a snake skin. July 7. Nest with four eggs, in a small thicket about 10 feet high, of leaves, sticks, roots, etc., lined with grass, eggs fr^sh. rine V.'nrbler: A common summer resident, nesting in pine trees, ranging all the way from 8 to 80 feet high. A nest with four incubated eggs were taken from a nest in a pine tree, about 20 feet high, made of chicken feathers, spider webs and other fibres, lined with hair and feathers. H. Gould Welborn, Lexinerton, North Car. A Prolific Goldfinch in Captivity. I have in my possession a female American Goldfinch. On the 12th of thepresentmonth (July) she commenced laying and on the 22d she laid the eighth egg, all but one— which was cracked — being left in the nest. I thought I would mention the fact, as I have ex- amined probably 30 or more nests of this species, and have never seen but 4 or 5 containing as many as 6 eggs. C. N. Pklton, Milwaukee, Wis. A Variety of Minnesota Ducks. Under notes of Oct. 5, "89, I find the following: Among the ducks 1 shot today were, male and female Pintail, male and fe- male Mallard, male and female Scaup, male Red-head, Gad wall, Widgeon and Green-winged Teal. One of party shot a Ruddy Duck. Saw a few Buffie-heads. L. O. Dart, Litchfield, Minn. I'HE OOLOGIST. Iceland, Lapland, Spain. A large stock of Birds Eggs— last season's ■collecting has just arrived from the above lo- calities. Descriptive price-list sent free upon application. A. KRICHELDORFF, Naturalist, etc.. No. SS.^i Oranien-Strasse. 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Many are practically new, but previous owners' name has been written within. The unstarred titles are for new books, in a few instances the covers are slightly shelf-worn. Many volumes and sets cannot be duplicated— hence the necessity of sending your order ear- ly. When ordering always state whether you have a second choice, or whether you wish money refunded, in case books ordered have been sold. Many of the volumes offered in this list are taken from my private library and I ofler them for sale: First, because 1 need the room for other books, and Second, becau.se I need the cash to purchase these "other books." IMPORTANT! Lack of time and space prevents my listing more books this month. I have hundreds of o^/i«r publications in stock and can procure anything obtainable. Write your wants. Remit in most convenient manner, but do not send sums of $1.00 or over loose in your letter. All books are PREPAID at prices quoted. Address all orders plainly and in full to FRANK H. LATTIN, Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Ornithology and Oology. A. O. U. Check-list, abridged edition (50) S 30 A. O. U. Check List of North American Birds. Last editicJn, cloth 1 90 A. O. U. Supplement for '88 20 Apgar, A., Pocket Key of the Birds of the Northern United States East of the Rocky Mountains (50) 4i Baird, S. F.; Brewer, T. M.; Ridgeway, Robert.. A History of North Ameri- can Birds. The Land Birds, 2 vols. (landU) (20.00) 12 00 Bendire, Capt. Chas,, Life Histories of North American Birds, Vol. I - 9 10 Vol. II <■ oO Chamberlain, New and revised edition. NuttaU's Land. Game and Water Birds, colored plates and many illus- trations, 2 vols 3 30 *Chapman, Frank M., Birds FouLd within Fifty Miles of New York City (.nO; £0 Chapman, Frank M., A Handbook of t'le Birds of Eastern Norili America ... . 2 85 Earl, Thos. M., Pets of the HousehoK'. Their dre in Healili and Disease (50) 24 Goss, Col. N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas (7..=)0) 5 40 McIlwraith,Thomas, Birds of Ontario(2.00) 1 65 Ridgway,'Robt., Manual of^North-Amer- can Birds cT.BO) 6 32 Stearns, W. A.. Bird Life in Labrador (75) 53 *Morris, Nests and Eggs of British Birds, 2 vols, 151 colored plates... .._ 8 14 Wilcox, Common Land Birds, of New En- gland 60 ♦Cooper's Ornithology of California. Laud Birds 5 51 Maynard's'Birds of Eastern North Ameri- ca, 29 plates (118) 7 05 Maynard. Birds of Eastern North ■ Ameri- ca. 296 pages of orginal 53^, bound iii card board covers, 3 plates 1 8J Eliot, List of Described Species of Hum- ming Birds 14 Louck's, Life History and Distribution of the Prothonotary Warbler in Illinois.. 35 Ingersoll, E. Birds' Nesting 1 05 Maynard, Chas. J. Eggs of North Ameri- can Birds . 1 90 Coues, E. Key of North American Birds.. 6 98 Check List of American Birds 2 95 Langille, Rev. J. H. Our Birds in their Haunts 1 80 Merriam, Florence A. Birds through an Opera Glass 68 Raine, Walter. Bird Nesting in North- west Canada 1 80 Barrow's, The English Sparrow in North America, 400 pp _ 65 *Brewer, North American Oology, Part I, 74 colored eggs 3 25 Ridgway, Catalogue of Old World Birds m National Museum 10 *Warren, Birds of Pennsylvania, 100 col- ored plates 3 60 Short, Birds of Western New York, '96 ed. 07 The Wilson Quarterly and Semi- Annual, . the official organ of the Wilson Or- nithological Chapter. Six issues, viz: Vol. I. No. 2; Vol. II. Nos. 1 and 2; Vol. Ill, No. 1; Vol. IV, No. 1 and 2. Nearly 300 pages of valuable contributions to Ornithology (1.70; _ 65 Cook, A. J., Birds of Michigan. This copy is the 1893 report of the Michigan Board of Agriculture which contains 526 pages and is bound in cloth, 165 of these pages, illustrated with 115 en- gravings, are devoted to the Birds of Michigan in addition to which and the annual report the following Bul- letins are alsopublished in the volume: "Vegetable Tests'' 27 pages; "Spurry, Spergula arrtnsis." 6 pages:"Flat Pea, Laihyrtis silres/ris. 5 pages: Fruit Notes and Spraying 17 pages: Potato Experiment, ii9 pages; Honey Analy- sis. 13 pages: Inspection of Fertilizers, 12 pages; Locust and Horn Fly, 6 pages; Soils of Michigan, i:-! pages: Eighty New Strawberries. 13 pages; Report of exhibit at Columbian "Exposition, (Kntomological, Botanical, Chemical, &c), 37 pages; Forestry, 21 pages 1 08 *Turnbull, Wm. P., Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania ani New Jersey. 1869 1 CO Random Notes on Natural History, pub- lished by Southwick & Jencks. Prov- idence, k. I., in 84, "ai and 83, 3 vol., 36 No's, complete 4 00 Shufeldt, M. D., R. 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A Study of Back- boned Animals (3..t0) 2 54 Orton, Comparative Zoology, Structural and Systematic, 350 engravings 1 18 ♦Packard, A. S., Brief Course in Zoology... 85 Stearns, VV, A., Notes on the Natural His- tory of Labrador (1.00) _ 41^ •Wood, J. G., Illustrated Natural History (1-2.5) f5 White's Natural History of Selbourne 86 Vol. II, Letters 20 Ballard, World ol Matter...... 95 Allen, Monograph of North American Pin- nipeds 2 60 Coues, Fur Bearing Animals 1 70 Living World, A popular Natural History devoted to Fish, Reptiles Insects, Birds, Mammals and Lower Inverte- brates. Over 1'300 good, engravings— 3.50 of mammals, 3iX) of birds, &c. Over 700 pages, good type, good paper, ele- gantly bound in "cloth and gilt, size, 8x10 in 1 98 Jordan, Science Sketches (1,.50) 99 Bilby, Young Folks' Natural History 40 Gill, Catalogue of the Fishes of the East Coast of North America 18 Fauna of British India, including Ceylon IZHII and Burmah. 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P., A Manual of the Mol- lusca, 350 pages, 23 plates, over 800 figures 3 00 Miscellaneous. •Agassiz, A Journey in Brazil 1 56 Livingstone's Explorations, Africa, and the Herald Stanley Expedition (1.7,5). . 86 Chute's Physics (1.25) 81 Taxidermy, Guides, &c. Ballard. H. H., Three Kingdoms, Hand- book of Agassiz Association (75) 65 Goodale's, Few Common Plants (20) 14 Hyatt's Sponges (29) 16 Bowditch's Physiology (20) 13 Hornaday, W. T., Taxidermy and Zoolog- ical Collecting (2.50) 8 10 THE OOLOGIS']- Lattin. Frank H., The Oologists" Hand- book, 18a=> (2.=.) 18 The Standard Catalogue of North Amer- ican Birds Kggw. 1896 (2.5) 05 Hyatt's About Pebbles 10 Tassin, How to Collect Minerals 04 Bert, Primer and Sclentiflc Knowledge 42 Standard American Stamp Catalogue, '94 24 * Davie, Naturalists' Manual 24 Naturalists' Directory of the U. S. and Canada. Nearly tiOOO classified names and address. Edition of '90 i2.00; fO Edition of '9.1 (2.U0) 1 Ou International Directory. '95 (','.50) 9J Microscopy. Manton, "W. P., Beginnings with the Mic- roscope (50) 40 * Wythe, The Microscopist; A Compen- dium of Microscopic Science (8.00) 3 56 Entomology. Comstock, J. H., A Manual for the Study of Insects, 8jO fig .'.. 3 60 Eberhart, N. M., Elements of Entomology 30 Economic Entomology 30 Hyatt's Insects (1.85) 81 Manton, 'W. P., Insects, How to Catch and Ho w to Prepare for the Cabinet (50) . . 36 Thomas, Synopsis of the Acrididm of No. America 1 78 Geology, M'neralogy, &c. Dana, E. S., Mineralogy and Petrography (3.00) $ 1 75 *Dana, Geological Story (1.15) 81 Dana, Minerals and How to Study Them.. 1 35 *Steele, J. D., 14 Weeks in Geology (l.CO) .. 51 Winchell, Ale.x., Geological Studies (2.£0).. 1 71 *Hitchcock's Elementary Geology 50 Jordan's Elementary Crystallography, with series of nets, for the construc- tion of Crystals (1.50; 52 Botany. Burgers, J. T., English Wild Flowers 36 *Wood, A., Object Lessons in Botany(l. 17) 75 *Class Book of Botany (S.92) _ 1 13 ♦Gray Asa, School and Field Book of Bot- any (1.80) 1 12 Manual of Botany, rev. (1.62) l 45 *Lessons and Manual, rev. (2.16) 1 12 Manton, W. P., Field Botany (.50) 40 Apgar, Pocket Key to Trees ^.. 41 FOLDS We have some com- pound Folds in rock, and a few Banded Sandstone Faults, both very Interesting to Geologists, and a Quantity of polished material lor sale. We make a specialty of cutting and polishing cab- inet material at our Steam Lapidary Shop. John G. Buxton, Milo Centre, N. Y. 7 VARIETIES of Rare Relics. 37c: 12 Ar- row heads. 2.'ic: 20 varieties Rare curiosities. 27c: 100 choice Sea Shells, 20c: 200, 45c, larger. Price list and drawings free. W. PERRY ARNOLD, Peacedale. R.I. »^C»0« THE ANTIQUARIAN. The single journal in America exclu- sively devoted to the study of Prehis- toric Man, which aims to occupy the ground between the scientist and the student. Quite a feature made of late discoveries and other news in Arch- aeology. Excellently illustrated. Sam- ple copies to Archaeologists and Students. Issued monthly at $1.50 per year. Special terms to workers. PREMimVIS FOR CLUBS. THE LANDON PTG. AND PUB. CO. COLUMBUS, OHIO, Rapid Taxidermy at Home! Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. No tools required. No extra expense. After many years of unvarying success, and a constantly increasing sale in every state and territory in the Union, and with thousands of testimonials attesting to the merits of m> Sim- pliBed Method of Taxidermy, from boys, girls, parents, doctors, ministnrs. lawyers, school teachers, merchants, farmers, mechanics, hun- ters, outers and j-portsmeu. as well as from curators of leading university museums, and professional tasiaermists: I feel that I can safely make this offer. Send me ^5 OE)NTS Cash or Stamps and receive complete instruct- ions for mounting birds in cases, plaques. hang- ing game, deor heads, etc.. etc.. with package of prep ired compound ready for use, enough to mount .'() small bii-ds. or 20 large ones: to- gether with full directions for dressing skins witli the hair on for rugs, robes and hangings. If you are not fully satished. your money will bf cheerfully refunded. Beware of imitations. Mention The Ool,o- GiST and addre.^s. MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., KALAMAZOO, MICH. TAXIDERMISTS' GUNS, ''c°u°nt' Pistols. Ciuu Cases. Shooting Shot Shells: also r.;^^e.';:: SPECIMEN HUNTERS. All kinds. .11 prices from $1.01 to $25.00. List free, liyi'-'for 7'(ixidert/iisfsfr(elis/. JAIVIES H. JOHNSTON, PITTSBURO, PA. NATURALhTS' PRINTING or all kinds on 1. ood paper cheap. Egg labels i.^c per lOO .-^mail: 2.3 per 100 large. Fossil lOc per 100. Letter heads :ir> per 100. Send copy for prices. D. H. EATON, Woburn. Mass. X\Hi^ C; VOL. XIV. NO. 10. ALBION, N. Y., OCTOBER, 1897. Whole No. 137 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special announcements. "Wants,' "Exchanges" "For Sales," Insertedln this department for '25c per 2,t words. Notices over 25 words, charged at the rate of one-half cent per each addiUonal word. No notice Inserted for less than 25c. Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted In payment at one-third list rates. What's Your Number? Examine the number following your name on the wrapper of this month's Oologist. It denotes when your subscription expired or will expire. No. 137 your subscription expires with this issue 140 •• •■ •• '■ Jan., 1898. 145 " " ■' " June, " 150 " " " " Nov, " Intermediate numbers can easily be deter- mined. If we have you credited ■«Tong we wish to rectify. WANTED:— Vols. 1. 3, 4, .5, 6 Auk, back Vols. Nuttall Bulletin, Ornithological books, etc. Will pay cash. Also Ilinois eggs. W. E. LOUCKS, Peoria, 111. 138 WANTED:— Collectors to send for mv latest bnlletins of Skins. Eggs, Shells. Curios, etc., now ready and sent free. I issue the largest bulletins of any dealer in this country. Col- lectors having 1st class eggs to exchange please drop me a line. JAMES P. BABBITT, Taunton, Mass. FOREIGN STAMPS.— I have a collection <5f 200 varieties, all different, from all parts of the world, and a new illustrated lOU page album with spaces for 2.5C0 stamps. Will exchange the lot for $5.00 worth of sets or desirable sin- gles at fall catalogue rares. FRANK H. LAT- TIN, Albion. N, Y. FOR EXCHANGE:— For their value in eggs, bicycle bells $2.f)0 and 7nc, cyclometer, $3.00: egg svringe, new, $2.00; also eggs for same. H. D. VAIL, Norwalk, O. AFRICAN OSTRICH EGGS, large selected specimens, with one round hole, prepaid for $1.50, or for 13.00 worth of desirable flrstclass sets or large rare singles. DR. M. T. CLECK- LEY, 457 Green St., Augusta, Ga. FOR EXCHANGE:— U. S. and Foreign stamps. English Plate Numbers, C. S. A. bills, roins, &c. tor same not in mv collection. Indian relics, Canadian revenue.s. ERWIN G. WARD, Hampden County Truant School, Springfield, Mass. FOR SALE.— Photake camera, nearly new. five pictures 2x2 at one loading, cost I2..5b.. first J1.50getsit. OTIS TROTTER, Camp Point. Ills. I WILL give one pair of strapped climbing irons for every $2.50 worth of eggs in sets. F. H. METCALF, Holyoke, Mass. Wanted.— Revolver, pistol, swords, fire- arms, old and new. I offer egg cabinet, Great Blue Heron, Books, Eggs, stamps, cash. En- close stamp. ARTHUR M. FARMER, 429 High St., Clinton, Mass. EXCHANGE.— I have mammal and bird skins and birds eggs in sets with data to ex- change for skins of the Lark Bunting. A. S. PEARSE, Uni. of Neb., Lincoln, Neb. "MERRITT" Tvpewriter. neiv, cost $15.00. Will swap for $40.00 worth of flrst-class sets. Send lists. FRANK H. LATTIN. Albion, N. Y. TO EXCHANGE:- One fine guitar, 2 tele- graph instruments, 48 botany specimens, mounted, 25 different sets and singles. Send list and receive mine. OTHO N. GAY, Camp Point, Ills. RIDGEWAY'S Manual, Davie's Nests and Eggs, Books, Papers, Watch. Eggs, Telescope, ]8i<:i Nickle (no cents), Columbian Half Dollars, for bicycle, Spit gun. Ritle and Revolvers. Cash. C. B. VANDERCOOK. Odin, 111?. FOR EXCHANGE:— Mounted Birds. Want .5x7 Premo Sr. Special. Must be in good con- dition. H. M. WOLF. Kewanee, Ills. TO EXCHANGE;— Sets with dataNos. 190, 194. 212, 214, 263, 273, 339, 4'.^8, 4.52, 465, 456, 474B, .5110, 540, 595, 608. 725, 735 and others. Send lists and receive mine. Sparrow family preferred. D. R. CLARKSON, St. Clair House, Niagara Falls, N. Y. TO EXCHANGE:— One year of Natural Science News, for sets with data; also May, July-Aug. numbers of Osprey. for Dec, Feb. and April numbers of same. C. N. DAVIS, Branchport, N. Y. /f^/V^ THE OOLOGIST. i. WANT books and pamphlets on conchol- ogy. also shoUs. Can offer shells and fossils. D. H. EATON. VVobiirn, Mass. FOR SALE:— Five Pronged Deer head. Nic- ely mounted, on walnut shield. Strictly first class, one of the finest in the market. CHAS. F. SPECHT, Beavertown, Snyder Co., Penna. WANTED:— Pocket kodak for which I will give the following: 33Ha 1-2 l-.S, -It-S 1-5 1-6. -187 2-5. Must be in A 1 condition and loaded. EMMETT ROBERTSON, Haskell, Texas. FOR SALE:— Moimted Birds the size of Meadowlark for only SO cents. Satisfaction gruaranted. Flobert rifle for sale or exchange. H. NUNNANN, 204 Rock St., Watertown, Wis. WANTED:— Sets of 331 and 361. Can offer in exchange sets of 77, 194. 20i. 273, 305, 333, 3S7, 339. 461, 494, .501, 622a, 725, 735 and others with full data. A. W.'PLUMB, Flint, Mich. EXCHANGE:— Eggs of this locality for more Northera specimens. Send and get my list. Will exchange sets or singles. W. H. BALD- WIN, JR., Box 102. Greenville, Texas. 02t FOR SALE:— Fine set of books, viz, "En- tomology—The Book of Butterflies, Spinges and Moths," by Capt. Thomas Brown, illus- trated with 144 /land colored engravings. 3 vols., 16 mo. full morocco bindings, gilt edges. Lon- don, 1834. Price prepaid. A rare set and very cheap. GEO. W. DIXON, Watertown, S. D. FOR SALE or EXCHANGE:— A .5x8 Folding Camera and outfit complete; also a gold open faced watch for A 1 sets, with data. W. H. CONNERY, 404 W. New Houston St., Savan- nah, Ga. SETS with data of 30a, 74. 194, 413, 316, .360, 466, 501b, 510, 519, 530. 531, .552a, .581d, 588a, 591b, ,599, 622b, 703. 7.58 and a few singles to exchange for good sets with data. Also 195 different U. S. and foreign stamps for $3 worth of sets at catalogue prices. CHESTER C. LAMB, 1107 Mission Road, Los Angeles. Cal. A CRUSADE for new subscribers to The OsPREY. Positively tne best offer ever made for new subscribers by a bird monthly. By tar the Itest magazine and by far the bei^t subscription offer. Worth looking into, surely: Send stamp for particulars while the big offer last. (Men- tion OOLOGIST). THE OSPREY COMPANY, 61 North Prairie St., Galesburg, 111. THE following first class sets with data, to exchange for first class singles with data. No postals answered: A. O. U. 27.3, 316, 320, 320a, 388, 413, 443, 4.5'2, 477. 495a, .506, .508, 511, 511b, 513, 5,52, .59.3, 601, 611, 612: 633 with 49ba. 70.3, 721. GEO. J. KEMPEN, care Wm. Weinert, Seguin, Tex. TO EXCHANGE:— Stamp album, micro- scope cost $2..50, telegraph instrument, curios, silver watch, arrow heads and coins for sets, fractional currpncy, guitar or confederate bills. ,1. G. SMITH, 5 Pleasant St., Bradford, Pa. TO EXCHANGE:— 49 1-3, 70 1-2, 80 1-3, SI9 1-6, 263 1-4,273 1-4,316 1-2,319 1-2.333 1,3, 339 1-3, 360 1-4, 388 1-3, 394 1-.5, 403 1-6, 461 n 3, 465 1-3. 466a 1-3, 467 n-4, 474b n-4. 491 1-5, 501 1-4. 506 n-5 ,507 n-5, 511 1-5. 511b 1-5. 512 1-.3. 519 1-3, .529 n-6, .5.52 1-6, 563 n-4, .587 1-4. .591b 1-4, .595 1-4. .598 n-3, 604 n-3, 608 1-3, 614 1-6, 617 1-7. 619 n-4. 624 n-3. 631 n-4, 6,37 1-6. 652 n-5, 6.59 1-4, 673 1-4. 683 1 4, 687 n-5, 719 1-6, 721 1-8, 721a 1-7. 735 and others. All Al with full data. ERNEST MARGE AU, No. t69 Iowa St., .Dubuque. Iowa. r"-'BIRD Life in Central America.' Fascina- ting and instructive, paper, ten cents. Address D. F. RANDOLPH, Ph. B.. Clean, N. Y. WANTED.— A copy Of Ridgway's "Nomen- clature of Colors." Will give exchange in Al skins or sets. Address, with price. C. BAR- LOW, Santa Clara, Calif. WANTED:— Copies of Natural History mag- azines and "IngersoU's Birds' Nesting."' Can offer arrow points from Indian Creek, Ala., Postage stamps and one internationl stamp album, philatelic magazines. Confederate mon- ey, back numbers of Youth's Co?npanion and Inter-Ocean, and 400 different tobacco tags. Send offers, enclosing stamp for furtlier parti- culars. J. F. LANIER, JR., Madison. Ala. TO EXCHANGE:— Vol. VIII OoLOGisT. un- bound, and volume IX. X. XI. XII. bound in one. Also Oct. and Nov. Osprey, for offers in first class eggs in sets with data. E. A. DOG- LITTLE, Painesville, Ohio. I HAVF. Opals and minerals to exchange for old silver and gold coins: also will take a few bird skins from N. W. states, also advertising space. ROBERT BURNHAM, 143 Gallup St., Providence, R. J. 02t RED-SHOULDERED Hawks. First class, well marked sets desired. Will offer extra rates In desirable exchange for a limited num- ber of sets. C. BARLOW, Santa Clara, Calif. PUBLICATIONS, EGGS, BOOKS WANTED: I will allow 60c each for any back number of the 'M«A" you may have, if in good condition and sent prepaid. You to take your full pay in F^ggs, Shells (showy or scientific). Corals, Echinoderms, Fossils, Minerals, Stamps, Hand- books, Curios or Novelties. (Books, Instru- ments and Supplies will be given in exception- al cases by special arrangement) as listed in the May, '97 Premium List Supplement. I can also use on same terms the following numbers of the OoLOGiST at prices ciuoted: June, 1888, 20c: July-Aug , 18S6, 20c; Jan.-Feb , 1887 or Dec, 1886 witii same attached, 1.5c: June-Sept., 1887, 15c: Apr.. 1889. 15c: Jan-Feb.. 1886, 10c: Jan., 1895. .5c; March, 1897, .5c; May. 1897, 5c. All must be complete, clean, and in good condition. I will also accept back No's of the Ornithologist and Oologist, Nidiologist or Osprey. any issue and in any quantity at 5c per copv on same terms. (I will allow 20c for Oct., '93 and 50c for Feb., '94 "Nids.^'). If \ ou have other publications along my line. Write and state what is wanted. I can also use books on sub.iects pertaining to Natural History if in good condition and cheap, also A No. 1 sets of eggs with data at ^''Stand- ard''rates. Lists of books and eggs must be submitted for my selection or approval before sending. Address at once FRANK H. LAT- TIN. Albion, N. Y. I WILL give sets including 332, 393b, 428 nest 2, 636. 671 n 4, 628 n 4. 731. 729. 751 n, for a 32 cal. Smith & Wesson hammerless revolver. SAM CRAYTON, Anderson, S. C. FRANK B. ARMSTRONG, TAXIDERMIST, and Collector and Dealer in Bird and Mammal Skins, Birds Eggs in fine sets, Mounted Birds and Animals. BRO'WNSVILLE, TEXAS. THE OOLOGIST. T HE Plant World An illustrated niontlily journal of popular botany. Editeil i)y F. H. Knowlton, Ph. D , assisted hy a corps of specialists This journal will aim to jjresent the facts of plant life in a j)opuiar and at- tractive way and in every ihing will be Scientific but not Technical. A large number of prominent botan- ists have promised to contribute to the iirst volume. First numb' r issued Oct. 1st, IG pages octavo, neatly printed. Subscription, $1 a year. Sample free if requested now. Address, WILLARD N.CLUTE & CO. .Publishers, BINGHAMTON, N. Y. <'<>r. Iljitfs aTifl Ijarneil >l reels, ETROST, MICH. Kates, *1.50 to 8»2.00 per Day. Only one block from Woodward aii«l J«fferson Aves. Klevator Service, Steam Ueat, Electric Lights, Tile Floors, Ktc H. H. JAMES & SON, Prop'rs. ' Shells, Marine Curios, &c. I am now readv to supply flrst-class stock at low prices and should you'wlsb anything from this section, let me hear from you. All inquir- ies will have a prompt reply. mtf J. H. HOLMES, Dunedin, Fla. Come to Florida. A fortune can be made in a few years in pineapples and tomatoes; vegetables raised the whole j'ear. An ideal home. For particulars write R. P. Osier, Avon Park. Fla. 29&Otf H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. Iceland, Lapland, Spain. A large stock of Birds Eggs— last season's collecting has Just arrived from the above lo- calities. Descriptive price-list sent fiee upon application. A. KRICHELDORFF, Naturalist, etc.. No. 53.5 Oranien-Strasse, Ber- in, S., Germany. Rapid Taxidermy at Home. This is the season to learn. If you go upon an outing or remain at home, you need my simple and easily undertood process of taxidermy. A child can comprehend it in one attempt. No tools required excepting a knife, tile and wire. Less than one-third of the work of the old process and less than one- tenth of the expense. Ten persons can learn together as well as one or two and reduce the cost to nothing. Birds, Mammals, Heads and Horns ^ and Fish-heads can be preserved as sou- 1 venirs of a day's pleasure, and as dec- I orations of house, den or office. If you do not care to preserve your I game, the beautiful plumage of a wood- I cock or grouse, or the bucks or pike's heads, let your wife and children take up the pleasing and instructive work. Anyone can take up this agreeable work and become expert. You cannot fail. Satisfaction is guaranted. Boys and girls can make money at home. If you will agree to mount a bird or any animal and set it on the peak of the roof of the barn or house, or on a limb of a tree exposed to the weather, I will send you full instructions and ma- terials for mounting 50 birds, heads, etc. together with directions for preserving skins and pelts with hair on. for rugs, robes and hang- ings; all for 50 cents. This offer holds good until February 1, 1898. Mention Oologist and address MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., Kalamazoo, Mich. THE OOLOGIST. Her HealtEn Restored TUB misery of sleeplessness cud only be realized hy those who have experi- enced it. Nervou:ncc3, clcoplessncss, hcadachCo, neuralgia and that miserable feeling of unrest, can surely bo cured by Cr Miles' Restorative Nervine. Go certain is- Dr. Iililcs of this fact that all drussists art authorized to refund price paid for the first bottl3 tried, providing it does not benefit I.Irs. nenry Bruns, wife of tbo ■well known blacksmith at Grand Junction, Iowa, says: ''I was troubled with sleeplessness, nervous- ness, headache and irregular menstruation; sneering untold misery for years. I used various advertised remedies for female com- plaints besides being under the care of local physicians, without help. I noticed in Dr. Allies' advertisement the testimonial of a lady cured of ailments similar to mine, and 1 shall never cease to thank that lady. Ilcr testimonial induced me to use Dr. I.Iilcs' Nervine and Nerve and Liver Pills, which restored me to health. 1 cannot say enough for Dr.Miles'Remedies." r^SP*^'?fl Dr. Miles' Remedies are sold by all drug- gists under a positive guarantee, first bottle benefits or money re- funded. Book on dis- eases of the heart and nerves free. Address, DR. MILES MEDICAL CO.. Elkhart, lud. TAXIDERMISTS' GUNS, "cu^n^-^^* Pistols, Oiin ri=<-'-'. t:ixonH"o- ^br^^• t;hoil«- ni«o S-JaLs ;.[; SPECIMEN HUNTERS. All kinrts. nil r>rin»s from if' oo to *2.=1.00. List free. Write fnr Taxidevmiat'K frePlial. JAMES H. JOHNSTON, PITTSBURO. PA. f THt ODELL Type Writer <*opv will buy the onUI^l, XYI»E iJj ^^ WRITER, with TBchai-acters.war- ranted to do as good work as any machine made. It combines simplicity with durauility, SPEED, EASE OF OPERATION, wears longer with- out cost of repairs than any other machine. Has no ink ribbon to bother the operator. It is NEAT, sunsTANTiAi, nickel-plated, perfect, and adapted to all kinds of type writing. Like a printing press, it produces sharp, clean, legi- ble manuscripti-. Two or ten copies can be made at one writing. Any intelligent person can taecome>an operator in two days Reliable Agents and Salesmen wanted. For'f Pamphlet giving Indorsements, etc., address 139 ODELL TYPE WRITER CO., 358-364'Dearborn St., CHICAGO, ILL. NATURALISTS' PRINTING "^i'paper" cheap. Egg labels 1.5c per lOO small: 2.5 per 100 large. Fossil 10c per 100, Letter heads a5 per 100. Send copy for prices. D. H. EATON, Woburn. Mass. FOLDS We have some com- pound Folds in rock, und a few Banded Sandstone Faults, both very interesting to Geologists, and a (luantity of polished material for sale. We make a sp* cialty of cutting and polishing cab- inet material at our Steam Lapidary Shop. John G. Buxton, Mile Centre, N. Y. 7 VARIETIES of Rare Relics. 37c: 12 Ar- row heads, 2.3c: 20 varieties Rare curiosities, 27c; 100 choice Sea Shells. 20c; 200, 4.5c, larger. Price list, a.nd drawintr-^ frf"-- W. PERRY ARNOLD, PeacedaleRL THE ANTIQUARIAN. The single journal in America exclu- sively devoted to the study 01 Prehis- toric Man, which aims to occupy the ground between the scientist and the student. Quite a feature made of late discoveries and other news in Arch- aeology. Excellently illustrated. Sam- ple copies to Archaeologists and Students. Issced monthlv at $1.50 per year. Special terms to workers. PREMIUMS FOR CLUBS. THE LANDON PTG. AND PUB. CO. A COLUMBUS, OHIO. k ^■<%<»9 VOL. XIV. NO. 10. ALBION, N. Y., OCTOBER, 1897. Whole No. 137 Bird Lists and Bird Songs. This article does nut refer to regular lists of birds, the result of years of study iu a locality, or of Ihe coupilation of State lists. laforniatinn is desired as to how many species of birds you have seen in a day in the region where you have observed. How many kinds of birds did you ever see (fully identified) in one day's trip in forest and tield, on lake and stream? The writer is one who has kept lists of the bii'ds seen on his trips, that is, important outings, for the last twenty years. The fewest species I ever re- corded in summer was a list of sixteen taken on an eight mile ride on a warm August day and when the birds were silent, and mainly under cover. My average has been about forty species for a half day's outing and sixty for all day if I took an early start. I have never recorded fewer than tifty species when I have begun recording in early morning until noon, and 1 have noted down over fifty from three to six a. m. in a good locality. It is a common thing for me to note 70 to 80 species of birds in a good long cross country tramp where I have the advantage x)f observing the migrating hosts, and as well the marsh and shore birds, and the city and country yard birds too. In starting out, particularly at about three a. m. it requires a rapid pen to keep up with the concert and if the edge of a woods is visited it is not rare to re- cord thirty to forty species within five minutes, and a score of these will be crowded into a space of as many sec- onds, when the pencil is half busy. I have many times recorded the species by their notes at early hours and have found that they do not vary much as to precedence in singing in a locality, though great variation exists in dift'er- eut sections. Of course an observer has to be famil- iar with all the notes of the different birds that are encountered. I know the notes by heart of about 146 species, and am rarely if ever in error as to iden- tity of either calls or songs. An ob- server of this kind of listing must also be able to tell a bird in flight at some distance. Many ob-ervers use an opera glass in their searches, and I believe this a good practice if one is to study a nesting bird, but for an active bird the glass is idle. My senses are perfect and I can see, hear and record ten species while the opera glass faddist is trying to focus on one bird. I have recorded thirteen species on a tramp in January, including three Woodpeckers, Owl, Hawk, R. T. Diver, Grouse, Crow, two Sparrows, Creeper, Horned Lark and Redpoll. My list shows 38 recorded one day in March. In May, 1879 I listed 88 species in an all day's trip from 4 a m. to 7 p.m. in Kent and Ottawa Counties, which included a 24 mile drive with varied conditions, soil, etc., and a run in pinery and hard- wood. This is my best and largest list; but it can be beaten. I am satisfied that I can find and identify 100 species of birds between three a. m. and the time for the evening song of the Whip- poor-will by driving about a devious route which embraces lakes, rivers, marshes, city, country fields, uplands and lowlands, oak and timbered lands, and never leave my seat in the carriage. To accomplish this it would require a forty mile drive. Of these 100 species I would readily identify 70 or 75 by the notes alone; the others by sight, as the Hawks, Swallows, etc. In some localities where birds are few as to species, it is diOicult to record ommon. It would be in- teresting tr- hear from other collectors regarding this. The nidilication of the Cai'dinal com- mences here, early in April. The earliest nest 1 examined last sea- son was on April 18th, it was situated in a small cedar six feet from the ground and built in the usual way, neither loose nor compact, neither deep nor shallow, Grosbeak style, and easily recognized without close examination; the materials were weedstalks, grasses, and cedar bark, with an occasional leaf for variety; the lining was quite smooth and neat being of tine I'ootlets and fibres. The nest contained two fresh eggs of ordinary type, spotted profusely with dull brown and grayish drab on a white ground, they measured 1.05 x .75 and 1.08 X .78. On the day following, I took a beau- tiful set of three partly incubated eggs, from a nest built in a tangled grape- vine, twelve feet from the ground and well concealed. The female Hew from the nest, as I approached and was at once joined by the male; both were very fussy and assiduous in trying to guard their little domicile. The nest like the other was composed of weeds and grasses and lined in a pre- cisely similar way. The eggs were beautiful specimens, one having large chestnut blotches over the greater part of the egg and the others being more heavily marked than usual, they form a handsome set. The eggs of the Cardinal vai-y greatly both in size and color. I have one specimen so covered with dull brown as to look like an egg of the Skylark. Another similar, only the small end is dark cream color, and still another white with a few ashy spots diffused over the surface; all being about aver- age size. A nest containing three near- ly fledged young was pointed out to me on August 2, 1893. The earliest record of eggs was April 3, 1891. Wm. W. Wake. Nesting- of the Crossbill in Maine. It is now quite generallj' understood that the Crossbill nests early in the season while the snow is yet on the ground, but comparatively few nests have been taken and accurate nesting dates are few and far between. Through the kindness of my friend, Mr. P. H. Dunn of Brewer, I have re- ceived some information of the nesting of this species which may be of intei'est to readers of the Oologist. The find- ing of the nest of the Crossbill, as re- lated by Mr. Dunn is substantially as follows: "I spent the winter of 1885-7 in Pis- cataquis county, about thirty-five miles north of Gi'eenville in a logging camp on Bear Brook 6ve miles from where it THE OOLUGIST. 95 empties into Ragged Lake. Throughout the winter Crossbills were numerous about the camp and very tame. "As the salt-pork barrels were emp- tied they were placed outside in front of the camp. The salt on Ihn barrel heads seemed very attractive to ihe Crossbills and nearly every sunny day they were about the barrels in consitl- erable numbers. Some of us younger fellows used to amuse ourselves on Sun- days when we were not working, trying who could catch the most binis We would crouch beside the bairels until the birds were busily at work picking up the salt,* then by cautiously moving our hand to the top of the barrel, by a quick grab could catch a bird about every trial. Both males and females were present. "The 11th of February, 1886 was one of the coldest days of the winter. With two companions I was at work about three miles from camp and had felled a large pine. The snow was very deep that winter and we had the pine skid- ded up quite high. 1 was topping off the pine when I noticed in a small spruce just in front of me a nest with three eggs, I took one of the eggs from the nest and held it up to the others to see. On crushing it I found it perfect- ly fresh and not frozen though the day was extremely cold; our whiskers were full of ice. ^ "A pair of Crossbills were Hying about, uttering cries of distress. Their * After this note was written my attention was called to the fact that salt will kill chick- ens. If fatal to chickens, why not to Crossbills as welly Thinking perhaps Mr. Dunn was mis- taken I made inquiry concerning the salt eat- ing and calling attention to the supposed fatal effect, and received the following positive re- ply: "There is no mistake about the Cross- bills eating salt. They were constantly about the barrels and we had every opportunity of observing them. We often had twelve or fif- teen birds in the camp at once which we had caught in our hands. Every lumberman in the Northern Maine woods knows the Crossbills will eat salt. It it kills the bird their places must be filled by others for there never seemed to be any decrease in their number." It would be interesting to know if any other observer has noted birds eating salt, and if so, what ef- fect such diet produced. cries soon attracted other Crossbills and in a short time fully two dozen birds were Hying about our heads and calling. The nest was placed in the thick bushy top of a small spruce and could be easily seen into from the top of the fallen pine. In summer it might be ten feet from the ground. The three eggs were pale greenish, with dark markings, like freckles. The nest and two remaining eggs we did not disturb." Mr. Dunn was unable to give a dis- cription of the nest. To readers who are unaware of the remarkable famil- iarity of birds about the logging camps in the Maine woods the remarks about catching the birds may seem improb- able. Such familiarity is not very un- usual, however. The nest found was probably that of our common species,, Loxia curvirostra minor. Here in Pittstield, Crossbills are of rather rare occurence and I have seen none for several years. They seem rather local and erratic in their distri- bution, appearing iu considerable num- bers some winters, leaving not to again appear for sever.il years. It is probable they are constant residents and regular breeders in the coniferous forests of Northern Maine. C. H. Morrill. Grasshopper Sparrow in Illinois, Among causual observers the little Grasshopper Sparrow is probably the least known of our common prairie- state birds. Not gifted with either fine voice or beautiful feathers, it naturally attracts but little attention. The absence of at- ti'active features, however, does not seem to aft'ect his happy little nature, or detract from his spirits and from early May until late in June, his cur- ious love-squeaks and twitters (for you cannot call it a song), may be heard in any of our upland meadows. If you should wish a closer acquain- 96 THE OOLUtriSr tance with little "savannarum," go in early June to one of our smaller mead- ows and sit down. You will not have long to wait. Soon you will be listening to a long, peculiar, grasshopper trill, which you will easily recognize on account of its shrillness. To tind the author, however, (unless 'he be conspicuously perched on a weed stem), is quite another matter. He is an adept at ventriloquism and will at once seem in front and on either side of you. There — at last j'ou have him located, just a few steps — not over a rod in ad- vance. You tread softly, nearer and nearer, step by step, but you seem to get no closer to the squeak coming trom the clover. When you have advanced probably twenty-five yards and stopped with a puzzled expression on your face, you suddenly discover the little deceiver, perched on a weed or fence post, an- other twenty-tive yards ahead. There, he has been, all the time and you are surprised at the distance the iittle voice has penetrated. During the hottest hours of midday when the sun is high in the heavens and all other bird-voices are stilled, the Grasshopper Sparrow is in his most vi- vacious mood and throughout the long summer day until dusk has fairly fallen, his notes are continually heard. The nest of the Grasshopper Sparrow is placed on the ground— often in a de- pression below the surface. It is so neatly and admirably concealed as to generally escape detection and only by the most patient efforts and closely applied searching, can one hope to find it. May 27th of the present season while crossing a small meadow, I flushed a female Grasshopper Sparrow. As she fluttered from under my feet, beating the ground with her little wings as if sorely wounded, I could but admire this ruse [.she was ofiVring to attract me from the nest. I thrust my walking slick into the ground and prepared for the search. On hands and knees I carefully ex- amined (as I thought) every square inch of surface within a six foot circle, but for a long time I was baffled. Only by retreating and repeatedly Hushing the female was 1 able to linrt the nest. It was composed entirely of grasses and sunken in the ground -neatly tuck- ed under a plaintain leaf, effectually hiding it from above. The five eggs are of a beautiful pearly white, spotted only on the larger end with rather heavy dots and blotches of bright sienna brown. Isaac E. Hess, Philo, Ills. Forced "Cowbirdism." A few seasons since a pair of Blue- birds had a nest in a bird-house of a friend. He was working in the building on which the bird-house was situated, and disturbed the old bird, who had not finishetl the set. She Hew to a Chipping Sparrow's nest near by, and deposited an egg from which the Chipping Spar- row hatched and reared a young Blue- bird. R. W. SxitlCKLAND, Forestville, N. Y. Where Are My Long-eared Owls. During the nesting season of the Long- eared Owls in 1888 and 1889, it was not uncommon for me to lind two or more nests in a days tramp, and see at least a dozen of the birds. But since the spi'ing of 1889, I haven't seen but one of the birds, which was Oct. 24, 1891. When observed the Owl was sitting on an oak log, eating a chipmunk he had captured. Perhaps some reader of the OoLOGiST can explain the absence of my favorite Owl. Thos. S. Hill, Knoxville, Iowa. I'HE OOLOGIST. MIMCDAI O SHEL1.S. eic. The White IfllMCnMLO City Collections. 50 line cabi- net specimens, $3. 50 smaller size. $2. .50 ama- teur size, $1. Printed name and locality with each specimen. 5u Shells, Corals, and iviarine Specimens, only $3. lO.) Fossils, including fine Fish, Trilobite. Crinoids, Corals, Spoages, several tine Ferns, etc, only $8. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to $1, very showy. Taxidermy in all its branches at reasonable prices. "illustrated catalogue by mail, I'Jc. J.M.WIERS, Natural- ists Agency. 357 W. VanBuren St. . Chicaeo. Ill CABINETS. Send 10 cts for photo of our speciality— St-lf Locking. T perches -Oak sam- ples by mail 8c. 10c and 15c: also stands, shields, glass cases, game panels. &c. Cabinets to or- der. HANAFORD CAF3INET CO.. 139 and Ml W. Fulton St.. Grand Rapids, Mich. .58MOtf New Mineral Store. If you want good and cheap Mineral Specimens write for Circular and particulars. ANDREW HARTMAN, 4515 Parrish St., Philadelphia, Pa. Many Subscriptions to THE OOLOGIST have expired, or will expire with this issue. la the future the Publisher re- quires CASH IN ADVANCE. Hence, if you are one of the delinquent sub- scriber.s, your subscription should be forwarded by return uoail, if you wish the OoLOGiST continued to your address. Nov. issue will go to press prompt- ly on Oct. 25, and be mailed during the following week— all Exchange, adver- tisements and notes for that issue, must be forwarded by return mail to insure insertion in that issue. Ripans Tabules cure bad breath. THE 0()l-0(Usr PREMIUM LIST SUPPLEMENT. HThe Oolooist The Most Liberal Inducement ever made to Secure Subscriptions. An AA e^^ f\^^^ (hi AA During the balance of Iggr, I win man every person pending \/ nil TOr lin V ,\1 mi nieJ1.00foravear-ssnb(,crjptiontoTHEOoi,OGiSTtheirselec- {^U,\J\) lUl V/UIJ ijJliUUi ti,,n from goods mentioned in this list to tht amount of $1.00. Kverv subscriber will alfo receive two coupon-i each good for a Want. For Sale or Exchange No- tice ' Send in your combination with a friend— you take the premiums, he the publication, or vice versa. Make remittances in most convenient manner. The prices charged are in most cases reduced spot cash ones and you can figure that you are getting The Oologist .//•<>«. All premi- ums and coupons are forwarded bv return mail. When Premiums are priced at $1 00 or over that price includes The Ooi.ogist and two Coupons. Orders for additional premiums will be tilled at prices ciuoted. Address plainly and in full. FRANK H. LATTIN, Publisher, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. EGGS. * Can furnish sets of starred species. Per egg. Summer Tanager $ 20 Roval Tern ~^ Black Tern ]0 *American Bittern -JO Bartramian Sandpiper 20 ^Spotted " 10 California Partridge ti8 Valley " 15 *Colb. Sharp-tailed Grouse 25 Sooty Grouse 50 Wild Turkey 1.00 Swainson's Hawk 40 Am. Sparrow Hawk 2.') Burrowing Owl 15 Road-runner 20 Red-headed Woodpecker ii4 Kingbird 03 Pha3be t'3 Prairie Horned Lark 10 *American Magpie _ 10 Blue Jay ('5 *American Crow 04 Western Meadowlark 05 Purple Grackle 04 Lark Sparrow 0+ Towhee 16 *Black-headed Grosbeak 10 Lazuli Bunting 13 Dickcissel O.t Parula Warbler 15 Louisiana Water-Thrush a5 Caroliaa Chickadee 10 Wilson's Thrush 08 *VVestern Robin OS *Barred Owl 1.00 *Red-tail Hawk 40 *White-breasted Nuthatch 20 *Am. Long-eared Owl 25 *Screech Owl 25 *Red-beUied Woodpecker aj *Gt. Horned Owl 1.00 *Hairy Woodpecker 35 ♦Cooper's Hawk 25 *Whip-poor-will 1.00 ♦Chickadee in *Prothonotary Warbler 25 •Meadowlark 08 Gray-tailed Cardinal 15 Dwarf Cowbird 05 Painted Bunting 06 Bullock's Oriole OS Orchard Oriole i>4 ■Cactus Wren 15 Yellow-billed Cuckoo ii6 *Baird"s Wren 15 Verdin 25 JBlue-gray Gnatcatcher 15 *Golden-fronted Woodpecker 25 *Texaii Woodpecker - 25 Turkey Vulture 50 *Bell's Vireo 10 *Ask-throated B^lycatcher 20 Curve-billed Thi asher 10 ♦Hooded Warbler 30 Purple Martin 10 *Bendiie's Thrasher .'. 50 Brewer's Blackbird 04 *Bi-colored Blackbird 08 Least Tern 08 *Crested Flycatcher 10 ♦Kingbird 04 *Caroinal - 05 Am. P^aied Grebe 12 .'■avaniiah Sparrow 06 SageThrasber 50 American Herring Gull 15 White Ibis 20 Least Bittern 15 American Coot 06 Killdeer 15 Florida Red-shouldered Hawk 40 *i5cissor-tailed Flycatcher, 06 Black Phoebe 10 Flicker - Oi ♦Bronzed Grackle, 04 Vpsper Sparrow - 04 ♦Western Lark Sparrow_ 04 ♦Black-throated Sparrow 20 Hermann's Snug Sparrow 05 Spuried Towhee 15 Barn Swallow 04 Cedar Waxwing 08 YeUow Warbler 04 Yellow- breasted Cbat 06 ♦Mockingbird 03 ♦Bewick'.s Wren 15 Long-billed Marsh Wren 04 Crocodile - 75 Gopher Turtle 25 Hog nosed Adder 35 Python 75 Rmeu (hole in end) 2 25 Ostrich (hole in end) ♦Snapping Turtle 10 ♦Red-legged " 15 Or your selection of any species, either in sets, singles or 21 class, to the amount of $1.00, at Latti" s "standard Catalogue" prices. When selecting this premium you must always name ex' as to be used as substitutes to the full amouia of your oi-der. SCIENTIFIC SHELLS. Murex brar 'aris $ 10 trui cuius ... 10 sale:iuus 05 Sycotypus iiapyratia - 15 Eburna Japonica - 1& THE OOLOGIST. Oliva litterata (extra) 5 to 10 Strombus alatus 15 "Cypraae moneta 05 " annulus 05 erosa 5 to 10 Isabella 10 " cauriea 5 to 10 carneola 5 to 10 vitellus 5 to 15 Ovulum ovum 15 gibbosura 05 " seeale on PterogorgLa twig 05 Nerlta peleronta, select 5 to 10 Trochus (Livona) pica 5 to 85 Helix fldeles 10 •Bulimus Bahamaensis 05 T'artula glbba 05 Orthalicus melanochilus 10 •Liguus fasciata 5 to 10 ^chatinella perversa 05 " uaiplicata 05 " sDirizona 05 " olivacea 05 Tythea pyramidata 05 •Ciiama arcinella 10 •Cardium Isocardia 10 Spondylus pictorum 2 GO 'Tectarius muricata 3 for _ 05 Rotellas 6 for 05 Vermetus umbilicatus ^ 15 Melampus caflea, 6 for 05 Tellina radiata 05 I^asciolaria tulipa _ 05 Haliotis Cracherodii 15 ■Cassidaria echinophora lo Turittella crocea 15 Fissurella Bahamaensis 10 Dentalium entails 05 ■Conus Virgo 25 Olandina decussata 25 Bulla occidentalis 10 Terebra variegata 15 Melampus fasciata 05 Cornus textile 35 Crucibulum _ 15 Fulgurpyrum 20 Natica cancrena 15 Melongena corona ff5 Calistagigantea 35 SHOWY SHELLS For ornamental purposes. Pearl Snail, extra fine $1 00 White Murex 25 Cameo 2?i Fox head 25 Marlinspike 2i Florida Strombus 15 Pearl Trochus _^ 15 Magpie 15 Black Ear, beautifully polished 50 "White " ■• " 50 Thorny Oyster, Spondylus 1 50 Angel Wings, beauties, regular $1 grade ... 50 Worm Shells, 5 inch ones _ 15 TLettered Cone _ 85 Crown Shell 10-25 CORALS. Precious, pkg. of polished branches $ 10 Rose Coral 10 Organpipe Coral 10-50 .Spike Coral 5-10 Branch Coral 5-25 Yellow Sea Fan 10-25 Crrfamy Sea Fan 10-25 Purple Sea Feather... 25-50 Yellow Coral .S-10 Red Coral 3-10 Pink Coral 3-25 Florida Gorgonias, 3 var-, each 15 ECHINODERMS. Sand Dollar ...,.,..,.„., .$ 05 Phillippian Urchin 15 White Spinned Urchin 20 "Aristotle's Lantern" the sea urchins den- tal apparatus 10 Giant Purple Urchin 50 King of the Echinoderms 1 50 Black Starfish 20 Purple Sea Urchin, with spines, select 15 Key Hole Urchin 15 Cliib-spined Urchin, 2d class 20 FOSSILS. Shark Teeth $ 3-10 Trilobite, Calyniene senaria 25-75 Scaphites nodosus 5-50 Polyp Coral _ 5-25 MEXICAN GOODS. Iridescent Ware, sra^all $ 10 " 6 all different 50 Pulque Cups 25&50 Mexican Onyx Palettes with IndianFeath- er work — Hummingbirds, etc 1 00 Purses knit from fibre of Spanish Bayonet 25 Watchman's Whistle of Clay, a great nov elty 05 BOOKS, &c. Chapman's "Birds of Eastern North Amer.$3 OO Earl's "Pets of the Household" 50 LangiUe's "Our Birds in Their Haunts" 2 00 Mcll wraith's "Birds of Ontario" 2 00 Lattln's "Standard Catalog of Eggs" (1895) 10 Steam's "Notes on the Natural History of Laborador" EO Eberhart'a "Elements of Entomology," 40 plates— 30O figures 55 Eberhart's "Outlines of Economic Ento- mology" 50 The Young Oologist, Vol. I and II nicely bound 75 The OoL^GI.-^T, 'Vol. Ill and I"V. nicely b'd.. 75 The Oologist, Vol. IX, 1892, 298 paees, b'd 85 An Exchange Notice (or a card good for one) in Oologist 25 A year's subscription to The Oolgist with two exchange cards Advertising space in Oologist to any amount from -Irtc toll. Should you desire to select this premium and not care to use the space at once a credit card will be is sued for the amount which you can use whenneeded Penikese, the 23 issues of Natural Sci- ence News, containing this valuable se- rial complete on Agassiz's famous sum- mer school at Penikese Island, written by an eminent Professor who spent both seasons at the Island The Oologist, a package of 40 back num- bers, all different, my selection 75 Directions for collecting minerals 05 Short's Birds of Western New York 10 Louck's "Life History of 'Prothonotory Warbler in Illinois 35 INSTRUMENTS and SUPPLIES. Tweezers, naturalists' best _ 25 Egg Drill, engraved handle 25 Embryo Hook, engraved handle 25 Blowpipes cheap 15 best 35 Egg Drill, 18-100 15 Data Blanks, per 100 25 Tags for Skins, be^t, per 100 25 Checking Lists, per doz 20 Taxidermists' Instruments, good, new,and ordinarily you pay .^0 per cent, more for ones no better, if their equal - Blow Pipe, straight, heavy, with enamel mouth piece 15 Scalpel, ebony handle 35 Tenacula. ebony handle and the proper style for investigation purposes , 35 50 50 THE OOLOGIST. Cartilage Knife, extra heavy 50 Forceps, the best 75 cent style 50 Scissors, the regular straight 7,'jc style 50 Case, a "dandy" of walnut or rose- wood, with slots and till for above instrum- ents, and clasp in cover for scissors ; brass hinges: polished oval top and sides; good clasp _ 50 Entire Outfit With Case, six pieces, every- thing listed above 2 00 NOVELTIES. Quartz Crystal Stick Pins 35 Brazilian Beetle Stick Pins 25 AgateBrooch 50 Crocidolite Brooch 75 Agate Shoe Buttoner 50 Agate Glove Bultoner 35 Agate, Moss Agate, Tiger Eye, etc., Watch Charms 35 Pearl PenhoJder. _ 25 Pearl Letter Openers .M Pearl Shell Spoon 25 Pecten •' " 25 Shell Napkin Ring 25 Shell Purse 25 to $1.50 Shell Match Safe 50 Souvenir Spoons, King Crab Tail handles Pecten and Cardium valve bowls 10-25 King Crab Tail Penholders, unique 10 Sterling Silver Stick Pins 25 Fancy Stick Pins, enameled, plated, &c., &c.. 10c or 6 for 50 Book Marks, 3 silk ribbons with 4 pearl shellbangles 50 High Grade Agate, Tiger Eye. Bloodstone, &c. Watch Charms, worth $1..50 1 00 FOREIGN STAMPS, ETC. Sheet of 25 selected Ic stamps 15 «' '. 25 '• 2c '■ 30 "25 " 3, 4, 5c stamps.!.!!!!!'.'.!'..'.'. .50 7 var. unused Cuba 20 Set of 6 var., unused, 1 to 50c. Venezuella, 15 Ic unused Guatemala prov., 1897, surch 10 4r unused, Guatemala, 1878 10 3!^r unused. Guatemala. 1879 10 10c Vermillion, unused, New Brunswick, 1860 25 5c on 3c unused, British Honduras, prov., 1891 10 Ic used, British Guinea, 1880 5 Popular Album, linen boards, 1200 spaces, 60111. pages 15 Set of World's Fair Tickets 1 00 Broken Bank Bill 10 • 0 var .50 Confederate Bill 10 " 6 var 50 Revo/vers. Jlifles, 'ff'eat Wertw-n OuiiWork*.Ptti.bureh.i-7?" ^FINF^ NETS, TENTS, and <^L^ii^L^c. per 2,t words. Notices over 2.3 words, charged at the rate ot one-half cent per each addUlonal word. No notice Inserted for less than 25c. Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted In payment at one-third list rates. '.What's Your Number? Examine the Bumber following your name ■on the wrapper of this month's Oologist. It •denotes when your subscription expired or will expire. ^No.l38 your subscription expires with this issue 140 " ■• '■ ■• Jan., 189.S. 145 " '• ■' •' June, '• 150 '• '• '• " Nov., •■ Intermediate numbers can easily be deter- mined. If we have you credited wrong we wish to rectify. An Amas Offer OOLOGIST ONE YEAR, Two Exchange Coupons, and 50c worth of Premiums, (your selection from list in October or with May Oologist). The entire lot postpaid for ONLY 50c. Offer Good for December only. After December 15th, r> cents must be added to help -8 \-h. 4S8 2-4 )■!, 612^4, RUi.,. 656 !i 1-5, f87i/4, 7c5 1-6 1-7. i.h'Za.lx, .'.9 1 b '.j , 300 1 -10 to exchange. E. F. WATSON, Kennenunk Beach, Maine. FOR SALE:— My collection of birds eggs comprising 150 different varieties, list sent on applicatiou. Will be sold for the best cash of- fer. DR. F. C. LEWIS, Johusonburg. Pa. A rare souvenir. Twelve varieties of admi^- sion tickets to the various villages and shows in and about the World's Fair Grounds of 1893. for seven cents. War relics, postal cards and curios for Mexic 1 n opals. CLIF'TON A. FOX, 525 West 61st St. Chicago, 111. FOR EXCHANGE:— A No. 3 Eastman Kodak cost 140. good as new, cloth bound books, old magazines and papers, rare old Confederate currency and niineral specimens to exchange for autographs of any famous men or women, old letters and manuscripts. Would like to hear from some one in Washington. D. C. F. O. NELSON, 2.37 South Main St., Butte. Mont. WANTED:— Typical, single birds eggs, with (lata. Collectors send lists and cheapest cash prices. Will also pay cas^h for pood, clear, un- published phdtofjraphic negatives of birds, nests, and nesting grounds. H. S. WARREN. Foot of Wayne St., Detroit, Mich. EXCHANGE:— For every 2.=ic worth of fos- sils, shells, corals. Indian relics, cxirios, sets with data or bird skins sent me, I will send postpaid live varieties of Hne minerals from that noted locality— Mt Mica, Parln. Maine. Satisfaction guaranteed. G. H. BRIGGS, Livermore, Maine. TO EXCHANGE:— Clipper bicycle 96 model, good bhape. lor guitar, eggs in sets, printing press, books nr double barrel shot gun. J. G. SMITH, 20 Washington St., Bradford, Pa. TO EXCHANGE :-Pipes from the stone age. stamps on sheets, cat. le to 15c. for stamps not in my collection. W. H. THOMAS. Truckee. California. NEATLY and scientifically prepared sets are what you want. We have them. Nos. 675 1-5. 729 1-.5", 731 15, 735 1 5, 751 1-5 and many others at your own price. W. L. & R. D. POXHALL, Tarboro, N. C. FOR SALE CHEAP:— Over $.-.0 worth of skins and eggs including line series and sets of :i'!>, 69. 70, 3.^5, 3:^,7 b. .o64, etc. Coues' Key, Oolog- ical and Ornithological papers. If interpsted send stamp for list. J. GORDON CRAWFORD, Cheapslde, Va. FOR SALE or exchange:- Pearl pi-inting press, five cases of job type, furniture, lead cutter, etc., valued at $.55. 'Makeofler. FRED .lOHNSO.N'. Box 2.55, Portage. Wis. FOR EXCHANGE:— Gold watch and chain with diamond watch fob. also 3 v. lumes U. H. Expfditkin to Japan performed by Commodore M. C. Perrv in the vears 1-52-53 and 54 for set.e. W. H. CONNrERY,'405 New Houstsn St.. West. Savannah, Ga, FOR SALE: — Fine live cocoons of Attacus C.ynthia or Ailauthus silk worm moth at .tOc. (jer dozen. Send for large list of fine cat>inet min- erals and books for sale cheap. Will also ex- change minerals and books for good sets of eggs and Indian relics. GEO. W. DIXON. Watertown. S. D. FOR SALE:— One strictly Al new model 44 caliher Marlin Repeater, (take down) Lyman sights. 14 shots, using 44-40-217 cartridge, price !t2U. I3EN.T A. CARPENTER. Salem. N. J. FOR SALE or exchange:— I have about 425 first class singles I would like to sell or ex- chant'e for a first cla>-s Marlin Safety Rifle 32-40 or 08-.55 calibre 189? Ctiodei. Must be in good condition. I will give SiO worth of eggs, (in- cluding Crnncs. Hawks. Owls. Gulls. Terns, etc.) for such a lifle. or J£0 worth for a first f lass l2-gaiiee shot gun. top action. List of eggs furnished to all who mean business All answered. Address J. K AUMACK, Ballston Spa, N. Y.. Box 907. LOOK HERE,— Do you want mounted birds, choice sets, skins or other specimens, second hand revolvers, etc. ': If so. write us for prices. Have vou got the vol. on Birds' . Xntural Hi"- fori/ of New York, back numbers of Auk.Xiaalts liidle'tin or Ouprey or other publications or periodicals en ornithologv or natural history to dispose oV: If so, send particulars. Bu.si- ness meaning correspondence solicited. B. S. BOWDISH, Phelps, N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. EIDGEWAY'S Manual $5,50, Our Birdx in Their Haunts $1.50, Kingdom of Xature $1.25. birds eggs 40 to 7.5 per cent, below catalogue rates list for stamps. C. B. VANDERCOOK, Odin, Illinois. REVBEATION 2,ViiX The Osprey $1.65, Recrea- tion and Popular Science Neus S2. 15. Recreation and Birils fa. 10. Recreation and Oonmopolitan m 65, Harpers $3.£0, X 3'. T^rti/y P/-^s« $2.50. Submit your list for prices. Can furnish any- thing published. Fine sets wanted in exchange for subscriptions. Mv offer in September Oologist still good. ' BENJAMIN HOAG, Stephentown, N. Y. PUBLICATIONS, EGGS, BOOKS WANTED: 1 will allow 50c each for any back number of the "Auk" you may have, if iii good condition and sent prepaid. You to lake your full pay In Eggs, Shells (showy or scientitic). Corals, Echinoderms, Fossils, Minerals, Stamps, Hand- books, Curios or Novelties, {Books, Instru- ments and Supplies will be given in exception- al cases by special arrangement; as listed in the Premium List Supplement. I can also use on same terms the following numbers of the Oologist at prices quoted: June, l8!-8, 25c: July-Aug , 1886, 20c: Jan.-Feb . 1887 or Dec, 1886 with same attached, 10c: Juue-Sept., 1887, 15c; Apr.. 1889, 1.5c: Jan-Feb., 188t3, 10c: Jan.. 189.5, 5c: March. 1897, 5c: May. l!-9?, .5c. All must be complete, clean, and in good condition. I will also accept back No's of Ornithologist and Oolo- gist. Recreation. Insect Life, any issue and in any quantity at 5c per copy on same terms. (I willallovv 2.'cfor Oct.. '93 and Feb., '94 -Nids." also for October and December '96 Osprey.) If you have other publications along my line. Write and state what is wanted. I can also use books on subjects pertaining lo Natural Hlstojy If in good condition and cheap, also A No. 1 sets of eggs with data at iA"Stand- ard" rates. Lists of books and eggs must be submitted for my selection or approval before sending. Address at once PRANK H. LAT- TIN, Albion, N. Y. STAMPS AND BILLS cheap: 10 varieties of square cut used obselete U. .S. stamped en- velopes, catalogue price 7.5c. only 2('c: ;s varie- ties entire official size, catalogue f2c, only i:}c: set of ] 1 Austrian stamps, 1 to .5Ukr, catalogue value 26c, only 9c: 10 varieties of old paper money 85c to $100, genuine originals, only 30c; a $10 bill and catalogtte of over 160 varieties 8c: 2 Indian arrows from N C. 8c J. E. HAND- SHAW, Smithtown Branch, N. Y. N3t EXCHANGE:— We exchange Fancy Pigeons for old stamps or collections. Pigeons for Poul- try, .stamps for stamps, stamps and pigeons for cash. Try us. E. J. KIRBY & CO., Mar- shall, Mich. WANTED:— An old stamp collection or odd lots of stamps especiall,y 'match and medicine document, revenue and old U. S. postage. We solicit consignments with prices aitarhed. Highest market prices paid. E. .1. KIRBY it CO.. Marshall, Mich. FOR BEST OFFER, cash or exchange. 1 cof- fee-wood cane carved with a coat of arms of Mexico; 1 pair Brass Snuffers, Spanish very old; 1 case mounted birds, cost $60, very tine, glass case. Wanted duplicator, old tire arms or small printing pres=, specimens of amethyst of good color, gem stones of all kinds, bird skins, animal skins or furs. ROBERT BURNHAM, 143 Gallup St., Providence, R. I. INDIAN AXES:— I want and will pay ca.sh for twenty-four good stone Indian axes. Write, DR. H. SCHUMACHER, Durant, Iowa. TO EXCHANGE:— The following sets with data: ollb 3-5, 7Hla 1-4 13. 475 1-5. 7.55 l-,3. 612 1-4, 289 1-11. 325 11. 214 1-7, 2011-3, 51a 1-3. R. L. JESSEE. M. D., Philo., HI. A RARE SOUVENIR:— Twelve varieties of admission tirkets to the villae''s and shows in the World's Kair rrounds of liS93, for seven cents. CLIFTON A. FOX, 525 West 61st St., Chicago. 111. TO EXCHANGE: — First class sets of 316,333, 4i2, 477, 498, 501. 506. 511. .563, £93. 622, 633. 70J, 703, 705, 7.56 fo other sets. CHAS. R. 3T0CKARD, Agricultural College, Mississippi. FOR SALE;— A tinn walnut Egg Cabinet about new and cost $65. Will hold lO.ioo eggs. A bargain. If you mea" business wiite for description, etc. PHILO W. SMITH, JR., Mon per assorted dozen. Send for Price List. N6t La Grippe, Followed by Heart Disease, Cured by DR. MILES' HEART CURE. R. C. C. SHULTS, of Winterset. Iowa, inventor and r::inufacturer cf Shulto' Safety Whifflctrcc Coupling, ■writes of Dr. Miles' Heart Cure. "Tvro years a^o ar. attack of LaGrippo left mo with a •week heart. I bad run down in Ccsh to mcro cilia and bono. I could not sleep lying do^ra for cinotherinj spells; frequent sharp darting pains and palpitation caused a con- stant fear cf cudden death, nothing could induce me to remain away from homo over nisht. BIy local physician prescribed Dr. Miles' Heart Cure and in a few days I was able to sleep veil and the pains gradually lessened, and Cnally ceased. I reduced the the dcses, having gained fifteen pounds, and am now feeling better in every way than I have for years." Dr. Mile.-,' Itcmcdies are sold by all drug- Cists under a positive guarantee, first bottle benefits cr money re- funded. Book on dis- eases of the heart and 1 nerves free. Address, DR. MILES MEDICAL CO., Elkhart, lad. FOLDS We have some com- pound Folds in rock, Hnd a few Banded Sandstone Faults, both very interesting to Geologists, and a quantity of polished material for sale. We make a specialty of cutting and polishing cab- inet material at our Steam Lapidary Shop. John G. Buxton, Milo Centre, N. Y. The Oologist. VOL. XIV. NO. 11. ALBION, N. y., N0VEMBI:R, 1897. Whole No. 138 Sunday in the Woods. Dear Oologist : By a series of miscarriages my July Oologist has only jast now readied nie. But I beg of you to give me space for a few words regarding the article on "Sunday in the Woods,"' which is, I believe, calculated to do great mischief. The columns of our ornithological journals are no places for religious con- troversy, but when those columns are opened to the violating of sentiments, which, however harmless they may be to those of matured moral and spiritnal habit, are likely to mislead the young, it may surely be permitted one who is not merely a christian but a clergyman to lift up, through these same columns, the penny-trumpet of his voice, against one of the most mischievous tendencies of modern liberal religious thought. When men begin, in all apparent soberness, to advocate the use of the telephone, for the audible transmission of sermons and anthems, it becomes urgently time to inquire, whether some phases of modern Christianity do not savor more of farce, or of delusion, than they do of sober, dignified and up- lifting religious thought. Let me preface further remark -^by saying that I am most deeply in sym- pathy with that great — and growing — class of Nature-lovers who caunot com- mune with Nature save on the Lord's day. In my Kansas days I had a friend — an unbeliever — who was harnessed to the exacting routine of a village store from half past six o'clock on Mon- day morning until half past nine o'clock on Saturday evening. The woman of his love had been forbidden i)y a drunken father to marry him. Ou my way home from church, of a Sunday noon, I used to meet this devoted young couple as they were returniog from the river, laden, for all the bur- den of their oars, with flowers and moss and a occasional dainty nest. And I remember yet how my heart used to warm toward them as I felV from the sereneness of their faces rath- er than learned from any vocal expres- sion of their feelings, that they, no less truly than 1, had been gathering strength for the work of the coming day, and that is the noble function of. both the religion of Nature and the re- ligion of revelation. Moreover, I, too — I freely confess— love to seek the woods for ornithologi- cal study and observation, in the scanty moments of rest that remain from the exacting duties of the Lord's day. And nowhere, more truly than in the aisles of the woods, has my heart ever been lifted up in fervent praise or in earnest aspiration; and yet 1 know very well what would befall me spirit- ually were this the exclusive shrine of my heart's devotion. The Westminister Catechism — by which I do not swear by any means- very accurately and finely declares that the chief end of man is "To know God and to enjoy him forever." But how are we to know God? If we are to know him at all it must be in his own appointed way. We are His creatures and our highest perfection is attainable only through conformity on our part to his wise and merciful laws. The modern idea that each man's own soul is a shrine, wherein, exclus- ively, a man may find intercourse with his God, is as startlingly untrue to the conditions of the natural man as it is to- the revelation that God has given us of Himself. The nineteenth century dic- tum that one may worship God as well in his own home, or in the woods, as in. 'J8 THE OOLOGIS 1". the place nhero mea are assembled for public worship, is as common as it is iosiduous. Oae is often inclined to be- lieve that this saying is far more fre quently an excuse for delinquency than an expression of honest conviction. But, with whatsoever motive suf^h a sentiment is voiced, the cherishing of the idea that underlies it involves the ignoring of certain vital -facts in the make-up of our common humanity. 'No man liveth to himself." The hermit may escape the bitterness and strife of the forum and the mai'ket- place, but he is a one-sided man— he walks with a crutch. Likewise, the man who never worships God any- where save in the depths of his own soul may, indeed, know somewhat of God, but he will be more than likely to remain in profound ignorance of some of the most lovable of the divine attri- butes. The soul, like the mind, is en- gendered and developed in solitude, but both are rounded and perfected only through intercourse. The ignor- ing of this fact, in the following of the creed of men of modern religionism is instructive as showing how easy is the transition from the communion of saints to individualistic pantheism. Let us make mutual concession. If it was "liberal thought" that once bathed the streets of Paris with human blood, it was also illiberal religion — New England Puritianism— th&t has given birth to liberalism. And yet, men with liberal views would do well to remember that they are what they are through the faith and faithfulness of their ancestors, men of strength and force of character, who respect God professedly, yet do not worship Him, are strong and forceful, not by reason of their liberalism, but in spile of it. Give us a Sundayless America with a continental Sabbath and how long will it be before we shall be compelled to flee before a Reign of Terror? By the tender mercy of God these men may be able to live without cor porate religion, but the great world of the growing generation cannot do so. Even as "no nation has ever survived the loss of its religion," just so is no in- dividual safe without the exercise, in company with his fellows, of the re- ligious instinct. Do I criticise too sharply? Let the following extract reply: "We would not scare the well-dressed, pious fool Or knave, who loudly enters with the throng The so-called house of God, vain-flortous man. To help his bought-salvatlon cause along." "Religious sentiments" and '"honest convictions" can hardly co-exist with the bitter sneering that fumes from these verses. Many of us Christians have a very tender sympathy with a certain type of liberalists; but we find it hard to think kindly of those that take apparent pleasure in violating sen- timents like those quoted above. These words are not worthy of a follower of One Who said, "Consider the lilies of the Held"— "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick" — "Behold I stand at the door and knock." The holiest man I eyer saw. he was at the head of a great school for boys, said once, in substance: "If I could only have my own way about it, with- out shocking the great religious world about me, I would have my boys out on the campus at base- ball and cricket after they had been to church on a Sun- day morning.' Here now is a possible common ground between Liberalism and the Church. Only, the whole ground, or none of it, must be occupied by each. It is only after men have as- sembled and met together "to render thanks for God's inestimable benefits," to "bear His Holy Word," that they have the right to go out, with light heart and joyous step to enjoy the won- drous beauties, ever fresh, inspiring I'UE OOLOGIS'l-. 99 -nr\(\ itivigoratiug. v\ith which the great Father has tilled and glorified His world. I must apologize to your readers for taking up so much spatse with matter so "unscientitic." But it is a part of the fairness of scientific inquiry, as well as of the generosity of fraternal courtesy, to hear both sides. Those of us that have read and heartily enjoyed the OoLOGiST for years wouh' fain have it the exponent of all that is generous and uplifting, in huniaii thought and human feeling. P. P. Peabody, Haliock, Minn. Feather Lined Nest of American Red- start Containing- Freak Eg-gfs. On May 30, ] 896, I found a peculiar nest of the American Redstart which also contained a set of four peculiar eggs. The framework of the nest is made of tine grasses and narrow strip- pings »)f grape vine bark and the out- side being covered with a grayish col- ored material from weed stalks which gives it the appearance of a Yellow Warbler's nest. The peculiar feature about this nest however, is the profuse lining of feathers evidently brought by the Redstarts from a hen yard about 15 rods away. I have found several nests of Redstarts with a feather or two stuck into the nest but the usual lining of fine grasses and hair prevail here. Three of the eggs are freaks both in points of size and shape. Tiiey are pyriform or pear shaped after the manner of Kill- deers eggs and they measure .74x.53, .74X.53, .74X.53, .GSx.rjO respectively. C. F. Stone. Branchport, N. Y. the changes in opinion which a few years have brought about. This lady was most anxious to learn all she could about birds and also to learn taxidermy for use in her teaching. She told me that her scholars showed such enthusi- asm that it was hard for her to keep pace with them in such lines. While we welcome the giving away of the old-time neglect of natural science studies, yet this movement carries with it a new danger With thousands of enthusiastic young students roaming field and forest what will be the result? How can the few individals of a rare species escape these eager hands. And of this number of eager searchers, how many will maintain their love and labor in the tield of nature through ripe years? When species after species has has been gradually depleted into event- ual extermination, what percentage can be said to have been sacrificed in a good cause? Can the tide of study be turned from collecting and mounting to observing and investigating? Can the gun give place to the note book? Or what will be the outcome of this growing interest in natural science and will the value of protection and preservation be realized before that which is studied is forever a thing of the past. And if th- worse of the two alterna- tives come to pass on whom will the re- sponsibility rest, or who of all can shake away an individual responsi, bility. B. L. Bowdish. Ndture Study. A little conversation which I recently had with a lady whose occupation is teacher in r district schools, illustrates Nesting- Habits of the Black-Throated Green Warbler. Although this bird seems to be fairly common in this locality, I see very lit- tle in the Oologist as regards him. He might be called rare by those not ac- quainted with his song. After learning his song I was surprised to find how many were in the woods about here. 100 THE OOLOGlST. The Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens] arrives ou the const of Connecticut durinfj the first or sec- ond week of May. Often while tramp- ing about the groves of hemlocks and cedars I have heard them singing on all sides. The song generally, sounds like Te dc.de de dear Te de de de Birdie. Although this bird appears to be so com- mon but few of the nests have been found in this locality. It has, however, been my good fortune to procure a set of 4 eggs, also to examine several nests. My tirst nest was found by accident on June 18th, 1893. It contained 3 eggs of D. virens and one of the Cowbird. They were so badly incubated that I could do nothing with them. The second nest was found by Mr. Henry W. Beers of this city ou May 30, 1894. It contained 4 eggs which also were so badly incubated that it was impossible to save them. The third nest was found June 10th, 1894, con- taining 3 eggs which I left until June 17th when the nest and 4 eggs were taken. Mr. Beers and myself found several other nests the same season and they were apparently destroyed by squirrels. AH of the nests were placed in hem- locks or cedars from ten to fifteen feet from the ground, and with one excep- tion were built at the end of a long slender branch The nests were com- posed of small twigs, thin bark strips, a few pieces of dry leaves, and pieces of wooly substances. The lining of hair, weeds, stalks, and feathers. The fav- orite nesting place appears to be on a side hill covered with hemlocks and cedars. The eggs are four in number and have a ground color of creamy white and are spotted with chestnut and lilac gray, mostly at the large ends. During the fall migrations this bird is very common, disappearing dnring the second week of October. Jesee C. a. Meeker. Bridgeport, Conn. The Oologist. A MoQttily Magazine Devoted to 05L0GY AND ORNITHOLOGY. FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher. ALBION, N. Y. Correspondence and Items of Interest to the studeor of Birds, their Nests and Kggs, solicited from ali. TERMS OP SUBSCRIPTION: Single suljscriptlon ■)0c per annum Sample copies so each The above rales Include payment ot postage. Each suhscrlber Is given a card good for a Want, ExchauKe or b'or Sal'i Notice. (This card is redeemable at any lime within one year from date thereon.) Sub.scription'' can begin with any 'number. Back nunobHrsot the OoLooisr can be furnished at reasonable rales. Senu stamp for descrip- tions and prices. ir5:^Kemember that the publisher must be noil- fled by letter when a subscriber wishes his paper stopped, and all arrearages must be paid. ADVERTISING RATES: .') cents per nonpareil line each Insertion. 12 lines in every Inch. Seven Inches in a col- umn, and I wo columns to the page. Nothing inserted for Itss than 2) cents. No "special rates," .5 cents per line is "net," "rock bottom," "inside," "spot cash" rate from which th.^re is no deviation and no commission to agents. If you wish to use 5 lines or less space it will cost you 2.') cents; luo lines, $5.t)0; lOiiO lines, $.iO.CO. "Trade" (other than cash) advertise- ments will be accepted by special arrangement only and at rates irom double to Ave times cash rates. Due Bills and Cards payable In advertis- ing will be honored only at regular rates In force at the date ot issuance of said bill or card. Remittances f hould be made by Draft, Express or Postofflce Money Order, Registered Letter or Postal Note. Unused U. S. Postage Stamps of any denomination will be accepted for sums un- der one dallar. Malie Money Orders and Drafts payable and address all subscriptions and .com- munications to FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. tNTERED AT THE POST OFFICE AT ALBION, N. Y., AS SECOND-CLASS fc-AFTER. Nesting- of Clarke's Nutcracker. Would the readers of the Oologist like to hear about collecting here in the wilds of Montana? Well, to begin, I will tell you sbout my not collecting the eggs of Clarke's Nutcracker. Clarkes Nutcracker is about the size of an eastern Blue Jay but nioi'e plump. Coues gives a good description of ,it in his "Key" also a good picture of the bird. They roam about in small bands of four or six, sometimes I have seen THE OOLOGIST. 101 eight together; tliey are as noisy as a Jay and keep up a continual screaming. They lly similar to a Crow while their cry resembles a Jay. They are wary and generally keep at a «afe distance when they suspect danger. This is my tirst year up here and of course [ had a great deal to learn about our feathered friends. I soon learned the name of the Nutcracker, who has been nicknamed up here a s'Camp Robber." My brother told me he found a nest last year in April containing young so I concluded they were early nesters. Along in February the voicH of the Nutcracker was about all si- lenced, so said I to my brother, they must be getting ready to keep house. Time went on until one day in March while logging, in passing a tren I no- ticed a nest in it which 1 had not no- ticed before, so I concluded it was a new nest and one of the Clarke's Nut- cracker. I watched and soon seeing some of the birds around concluded they were the owners. I climbed the tree which was a young pine with limbs from the ground up and nest about twelve feet up. I looked in the nest and saw it was not finished, so I waited. That day I saw the old bird carry some ma- terial for lining so I knew the nest was nearly finished; so I waited longer. One day, or rather the next day, whiles hauling logs I saw the bird on, so I counted ahead, if the bird laid every day I would get the eggs on such a day. That day came and up I went. Old Mrs. Nutcracker was at home and would not leave but opened her mouth in surprise at the horrid being coming up the tree. I reached towards her but she would not leave so I took her gently by the bill and pulled her from the nest and held her in my hand until I looked in the nest, then let her lly. Yes, I looked in, there were three eggs and such nice ones. I quickly came down and went away so the bird could go hack, which she soon did, and I was compelled to wait for I wanted a full set. Well, to make a long story short, the day before 1 intended to get them I passed the tree and saw the old birds hopping about and picking in the nest, so 1 watched them and very soon concluded something was wrong, so up the tree I went, when lo and behold the e^gs were gone. A fresh snow hatri">-l>, DETROIT, MICH. Rates, *1.50 to $2.00 p«i- Uiiv. Only one block from Woodward ami Jefferson Aves Klevator Service, Ste;i m Heat, Klectric Lights, Tile Floors, Ktc_ H. H. JAMES &. SON, Prop'rs. ' r\r\ will buy the ODEL,!., TYPE <<. \J ■^TR.IXER. with 78 characters, war- ranted to do as good work as any machine made. It combines simplicity with durability, SPEED, EASE OF OPERATION, wears longer with- out cost of repairs than any other machine. Has no ink ribbon to bother the operator. It is NEAT, SUBSTANTIAL, nickel-plated, perfect, and adapted to all kinds of type writing. Like a printing press, it produces sharp, clean, legi- ble manuscripts. Two or ten copies can be made at one writing. Any intelligent person can become an operator in two days Reliable Agents and Salesmen wanted. For'' Pamphlet giving Indorsements, etc., address 139 ODELL TYPE WRITER CO., 358-364'.Dearborn St., CHICAGO, ILL. THE OOLOGIST IN THE OSPREY! It is marvelous wh:it the leadiug monthly magazine of Ornithology and Oology contains each month. A Loudon "p^ip*"!" recently called It the best magazine of its kind in the world. No wonder the hearty suppoi-t it is receiving. Some articles in current numbers are: Some BiKDS OK AFRICA, with photographs of ostriches. Egyptian Vultures, etc.. by Prof. Ellolt. Chief of the Field Columbian Museum Expedition to Africa. Birds okthk poi>ar north, with map, illus- tration of Escjuimaux drawing of biids. etc.. also giving Eb(iuiinaiix bird names, etc., by Geo. H. Clark of the Peary Expedition l>>9:^-4. A naturalists EX t'KRiENc'E IN CiTiiA With In- teresting Cuban photographs by Frank M. Chapman of the American Museum of Natural History. Golden eagle.s, with fine photographs of a large eagle's nest, by Chester Barlow the well known collector of California, who has col- lected many eagles. And many others, of the greatest interest to ornithologists and oologists. The photographs of live birds and nests and eggs from nature alone make the magazine worth the $1.00 subscription. Send a dollar now for a year's subscription, at least send ~'i cents for three months trial. Sample 10c, no free copies. THE OSPREY COMPANY, 61 North Prairie St., Galesburg, Illinois. TAXIDERMISTS' GUNS. "SSlii.' Pistols, Gun Casi's, SluHitint; Shot Sliells; al.so fr^dles'fcj; SPECIMEN HUNTERS, All kinds, all prices from $1.03 to !i2.i.uij. List free. Write fo?' TaxidermisVs free list. JAMES H. JOHNSTON, PITTSBURG. P/ . New Mineral Store. If you ^vant good and cheap Mineral Specimens '%;\'rite for Circular and particulars. ANDREW HARTMAN, 4515 Parrish St., Philadelphia, Pa. CABINETS. Send 10 cts for photo of our speciality—Self Locking. T perches -Oak sam- ples by mail 8c, 10c and 15c: also stands, shields, glass cases, game panels. &c. Cabinets to or- der. HANAFORD CABINET CO., 139 and 141 W. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, Mich. 58MOtf FRANK B. ARMSTRONG, TAXIDERMIST, and Collector and Dealer in Bird and Mammal Skins, Birds Eggs in fine sets. Mounted Birds and Animals. BRCWNSVILLE, TEXAS. THE ROCHESTER HERALD $3 A YEAR. ORDER OF YOUR DEALER, OR BY MA!L. CHATTERBOX »> 1897 No book has ever been made for young people which compares in value, or has had one-tentb the sale of this great annual. THE KINQ OF JUVENILES . . SIX HANDSOME COLORED PLATES ADDED TO THIS YEARNS VOLUME. Millions of Copies have been sold. Over 400 Pages. 200 Full Page Illustrations. J' Several new Stories, each a book in itself, and hundreds of Short Stories, Anecdotes, Puz- zles, &c. The best possible CHRISTMAS PRESENT for boys and girls of all ages. Order from your Bookseller or ol us. Every Dealer carries it. ESTES & LAURL\T, Publishers, - - BOSTON. THE OOLOGIST. Vll VOL. 3. ALBION, N. Y.. DEC, 1897. NO. 3 SKINS ♦'Birds and Mammals." Bobnvhite $ 30 Wilson's Snipe 25 Screech Owl 55 Blue Jay 22 Snow-flake 12 Longspur 15 Scarlet Tanager j. ti Indigo Bunting J4 Cedar Waxwing 12 Black and White Warbler 12 Hooded Warbler 2(t Pine Siskia 30 * Am HprrlDg Gull 1 15 Flying Squirrel 25 Giant Mole 20 EGGS in Sets With Data. Price per set. Wood Thrush .4 m Black-billed Cuckoo. 2 10 Long-billed' Marsh Wren, 8 20 House Wren. V 25 Am. Redstart. 3 15 Red-eyed Vireo, 4 15 Red-headed Woodpecker, 5 20 Belted Kingfisher, 5 49 Western Grebe. 4 75 Horned Grebe. 3 25 Roseate Tern, 3 20 Laughing Gull. 3 20 Roadrunner. 4 30 Am. Osprey. 3 75 Red-shouldered Hawk, :! 45 Red-tail Hawk, 3 70 Coopers Hawk. 4 45 Am. Sparrow Hawk, 3 /, ... 'i'6 Turkey Buzzard. 2 05 Mallard. 5, ■ not complete"' 40 Ov'en-bird,4 25 Phaiuopepia , 2 25 SINGLE EGGS. Special offer for the balance of this year only. Send me 45 cents and rc-ceive by return mail postpaid, the following, 1 each: Mocking Bird 03 Brown Thrasher 02 Cardinal 02 Yellow-breasted Chat 01 Heerman s Song Sparrow U4 California Towhee ('5 Hottse Finch 03 Cedar Waxwing 03 SpottPd Sandpiper 07 Am Magpie (J7 Dwarf Cowbird 05 Flicker ni Red-wing 01 And my choice of either Gt. Blue Heron, Ring-bill Gull or Phainopepla, loc: 14 eggs listing at $1.30 and never before sold at less than 62c, now postpaid for 4ac. MISCELLANEOUS. Egg of Gopher Turtle % 18 Egg of Spreading Adder aj Kgg of Alligator IS Egg of Afr. Ostrich l 40 Polished Carnelian or Wood Agate l^x 2 in. at 18 Same 2x2i4 in. at 26 Large 4, 5 and 6 in. ones at 37 to 75 Fine 2d hand copy of Coues' Key, good as new, last edition, at 5 44 Goss' Birds of Kansas, good as new 4 43 10 arrow points, all different, perfect and labelled for 35 A tine Bird Point from the celebrated Oregon locality 25 I have a fine Ir t of sinele eggs of the Am. Herring Gull, large and showy, none better for trading purposes, which I offer at following low rates : »1^ dozen for 42 *1 dozen for 75 »2 dozen for 1 25 If possible send all monev by Post Office or Express Money Order. I will allow you to de- duct the cost of order from the amount sent me. All goods sent prepa'd unless preceded by the star *. Starred items go at purchaser's expense. Address plainly. ERNEST H. SHORT, ALBION, N.Y. THE ANTIQUARIAN. The single journal in America exclu- sively devoted to the study of Prehis- toric Man, which aims to occupy the ground hetween the scientist and the student. Quite a feature made of late discoveries and other news in Arch- eology. Excellently illustrated. Sam- ple copies to Archsologists and Students. Iss-cd monthly at $1.50 per j^ear. Special terms to workers. rREMIUMS FCR CLUBS. THE LANDON PTG. AND PUB. CO. COLUMBUS, OHIO. THK OOLOGIS'J-. Rapid Taxidermy at Home. This is the season to learn. Av^r-1 ff)aff^i9{'vrf^iS/vgp^>9Psr^n^t1!ri1in IS^^^> if youg i , imir^ l up the pleasing and instructive work. Anyone can take up this agreeable work and become expert. You cannot fail. Satisfacticn is guaranted. Boys and girls can make money at home. If you will agree to mount a bird or any animal and set it on the peak of the roof of the barn or house, or on a limb of a tree exposed to the weather, I will send .you full instructions and ma- terials for" mounting 50 birds, heads, etc. Together with directions for preserving skins and pelts with hair on, for rugs, robes and hang- ings; all for 50 cents. This offer holds good until February 1, 1898. Mention Oologist and address MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., Kalamazoo, Mich. MISS PAB rUORC THAN HALF A MILLION OF THEM HAVE BEEN SOLD. GOOK BOOKS. Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper. Designed especially to aid beginners, Tells how to fur-' nish the kitchen sensibly ; the right way to buy food and to care for it, etc, A plain book for plain people. A book that farmers' wives and daughters will be glad to own, One from which any housewife may obtain an immense amount of valuable aid ^ /• ^ o <> >• $1,00 l\^iss Parloa's New Cook Book. The most thorough Cook Bock published. The directions are clear and concise. It is thoroughly prac'' tical, perfectly rel: : ble and is marked by strong good sense. Con., ins 1,724 receipts, etc, Sl,50 Miss Parloa's Kitc'an Companion, a complete. compendium of cc 'iery. Marvellously com/ prehensive and copiously illustrated »» $2.50 Any of the above sent postpaid opoa receipt of price. Order from your bookseller or of os. ESTES a LAURIAT, Publishers BOSTON. ^ j "-fCC f • VOL. XIV. NO. 12. ALBION, N. Y., DECEMBER, 1897. Whole No. 139 Wants, Exchanges, and For Sales. Brief special announcements, "Wants," "Exclianges" "For Sales," Inserted In this department for 2.5c per 25 words. Notices over 2.5 words, charged at the rate of one-halt cent per each additional word. No notice Inserted for less than 25c. Terms, cash with order. Strictly First-class specimens will be accepted In payment at one-third list rates. What's Your Number? Examine the number following your name On the wrapper of this month's Oologist. It denotes when your subscription expired or will expire. No. 139 your subscription expires with this issue 140 •• " " " Jan., 1898. 145 " " " " June, " 150 '• " '■ " Nov., •• Intermediate numbers can easily be deter- mined. If we have you credited wrong we wish to rectify. How dear to our hearts Is cash or subscription. When the generous subscriber Presents It to view, But the man who don't pay. We refrain from description. For perhaps gentle reader. That man may be you.— A'x'. CAMERA Bargain. — Excellent 1897 Vive ; printing frame; 11! sensitized paper; 25 cards and instructions. $4.00--holds 18 glass plates, 4x4. DR. TROTTER, Camp Point, Ills. FOR SALE.— Several royally bred Llewellyn Setters, pups and broke dogs, and some high ..scoring silver laced Wyandotts. DUNZIL W. COE, Carthage, Mo. EXCHANGE.— Eggs of Bald Eagle, skins of Florida Screech and Burrowing Owl, Audu- bon's Caracara, A 1 with data, for Standard or International Dictionary with patent index. A new pocket kodak for $4.00. D.D.STONE. Lansing, N. Y. OOLOGICAL Invention. Hand Egg Blow- pipe for blowing and rinsing eggs. A very usei"l instrument. Many unsolicited recom- mendations. Price 75 cents, sent prepaid with printed instructions. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY. 457 Greene Street, Augusta, Ga. J2t. FOR EXCHANGE.— Fine skins of Mexican Raven and Prairie Falcon, also tine New Mexi- co Opals ready for mounting or in the rough, ior flrst-class sets,, skins or Instruments. WALTON I. MITCHELL, Box No. 170, East Las Vegas. New Mex. WANTED:— Ridgeway's Manual, first class treatise on taxidermy, or any reliable work on ornlthologv, in exchange for first class eggs with complete data. WINFIELD S. CATLIN, Annapolis, Ind. D2t WANTE D : Singles of Golden andBald Eagles, Duck Hawk, Stormy Petrel, Parauque, Swal- low-tailed Kite. Sandhill Crane, Roseate Spoonbill, Albatross, Penguin for cash, choice Southern sets. DR. M. T. CLECKLEY, 45T Greene St., Augusta, Ga. D2t STAMPS AND BILLS cheap! 10 varieties of square cut used obselete U. S. stamped en- velopes, catalogue price 75c, only 20c; 3 varie- ties entire oltlcial size, catalogue 52c, only 13c; set of 1 1 Austrian stamps, 1 to 50kr, catalogue value 26c, only 9c; 10 varieties of old paper money 2.5c to $100, genuine originals, only 30c ; a $10 bill and catalogue of over 150 varieties 8c; 2 Indian arrows from N. C. 8c. J. E. HAND- SHAW, Smithtown Branch, N. Y. N3t WANTED.— A 20 gauge shot gun— I will give a high-grade bicycle nearly new and rare sets and eggs. I will pay cash for Indian relics. C. H. WATRONS, Chester, Conn. I WILL exchange 100 varieties of foreign and native woods for Sargent's Botany, or Andrews S. Fuller's Practical Forestry. LOUIS W. HAHN, Box 360, Silver Creek, Chau- tauqua Co., N. Y. WANTED.— A Marlin or Winchester rifle, field glass, a small tent, relics, coins, watch, and sets of eggs. I will give a good trade for the above in rare seta and skins, volumes of the Osprey, Nidologist and Oologist, auxilliary barrel! and outfit for 12 gauge gun, also a high grade bicycle. C. H. WATRONS, Chester, Conn. WHITE FOX.— First-class skin suitable for rug or mountiner. Will sell for $6.00 cash. ROBERT BURNHAM, No. 143 Gallup St., Prov- idence, R. I. EXCHANGE.— A first-class 22 rifle to ex- change for a kodak in good condition. Write for particulars. J. R. DAVIDSON, Box 4, Mil- ton, Wis. Ull The Oologist. VOL. XIV. NO. 12. ALBION, N. Y., PECEMBER, 1897. Whole No. 139> The Oologist for 1 898 Will be fully up to its old standard of the early '90s — in fact we in- tend to make it second to none. In order to accomplish this we ex- pect to have the hearty co-operation of every person interested in Nature Study and Natural Sciences as well as those interested in Ornithology and Oology. In order to elicit this co-operation we have made on last two pages of this Supplement, one of the most liberal subscription offers ever made by an American Publisher. Our experience as a Publisher has taught us that subscribers bring SUCCESS. Our Offers will bring the former and the latter will surely follow. In order to fully merit this "success," which will surely come our way we intend to give our subscribers a trial in line of Articles, Exchanges and Advertisements, and in order not only to secure but guarantee this "treat" we offer the following prizes: For the best Mss. of about 1,000 words (800 to 1200), accompanied photos or drawings, if convenient: ist prize $5 Cash. 2d prize $5 Books. 3d prize $5 Premiums. For best Notice of 35 words or under (exclusive of address) suitable for the "Want, For Sale and Exchange" columns: I St prize $1 Cash. 2d prize $1 Books. 3d prize $1 Premiums. For best advertisement occupying from 2 inches to full page: 1st prize, one page advertising space. 2d prize one-half page space. 3d prize, one-fourth advertising space. All Mss., Notices and Advertisements considered in this compe- tition must be forwarded not later than March 15, 1898. Awards will be made in a fair and impartial manner, satisfactory to all contestants. Address, FRANK H. LATTIN, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. m ROBERT BURNHAM, DEALER IN PRECIOUS STONES, OPALS, CURIOS AND FINE MINERALS. Cutting and polishing Agates and Gem Stones, and setting the same in solid gold settings a specialty. 143 GaUup St., Providence, R. I. PRICE LIST OP GEMS. OPALS. Australian 50c to WO.OOper kt. Hungarian 50c to 50.00 Mexican 10c to 20.00 " Opal Scarf Pin.s set in Solid Gold in four siz- es, as follows: 75c, J1.25, 2.50, 3.50. STUDS. Screw or Separate Back, $1.00 to $3 CO. Clus- ters to order. EARRINGS $3.00 to $5.00 RINGF, ETC., SET TO ORDER. Prices an application for snecial settings or extra fine stones. AMETHYST, TOPAZ, MOONSTONE^ BLOODSTONE, AGATE. CROCIDOLITE, &c. In all forms and sizes for Rings, Pins, Charms, 10c to $5.00. Tourmaline .50c to $1.5.00 per kt. Aciuamarine 50c to 5.00 Part Exchange will be accepted in pay- ment during the next thirty days. Good Live Agents ^Wanted in all parts of the world. Liberal cash commission paid. Having a large stock on hand. I will, for a short time, sell 20 lbs. of good Minerals for $1. One to forty kinds as you want then, large or small. MIMED A I Q SHELLS, etc. The White minCnMLO city collections. 50 fine cabi- net specimens, $3. 50 smaller size, 82. 50 ama- teur size, $1. Printed name and locality with each specimen. 50 Shells, Corals, and Marine Specimens, only 83. 100 Fossils, including fine Fish, Trilobite, Crinoids, Corals, Sponges, several fine Ferns, etc., only $8. A great varie- ty Unios with one valve highly published from 35c to 81, very showy. Taxidermy in all its branches at reasonable prices. Illustrated catalogue by mail, 10c. J.M.WIERS, Natural- ists Agency, 357 W. VanBuren St., Chicago, 111. GEORGE G. CANTWELL, JUNEAU, ALASKA. The spoils of an eight months collecting trip among the Islands of the Alaskan coast ar& now offered for sale, consisting of rare Sea Birds and Eggs, Puffins. Auks, Murrelets, Cor- morants, etc., and many interesting curios of the SIWASH INDIANS. Full line of 5x8 views of the route to the Gold Fields. Juneau, Dyea, Skagaway. Chilkat Pass, Yukon river, etc., 50 cents each. $5 per assorted dozen. Send for Price List. N6t CABINETS. Send 10 cts for photo of our speciality— Self Locking. T perches -Oak sam- ples by mail 8c, 10c and 15c: also stands, shields, glass cases, game panels. &c. Cabinets to or- der. HANAFORD CABINET CO., 139 and 141 W. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, Mich. 58MOtf Shells, Marine Curios, &c. I am now ready to supply first-class stock at low prices and should you wish anything from this section, let me hear from you. All inquir- ies will have a prompt reply. mtf J. H. HOLMES, Dunedin, Fla. PUBLICATIONS, EGGS, BOOKS WANTED: I will allow EOc each for any back number of the -'Aul:" you may have, if iii good condition and sent prepaid. You to take your full pay in Eggs, Shells (showy or scientific). Corals, Echinoderms. Fossils, Minerals. Stamps. Hand- books, Curios or Novelties. (Books, lu.stru- ments and Supplies will be given in exception- al cases by special arrangement) as listed in the Premium List Supplement. I can also use on same terms the following numisers of the OOLOGIST at prices quoted: "June, 1888, 2.5c: July- Aug , 1886, 20c: Jan. -Feb . 1887 or Dec, 1886 with same attached, 10c: June-Sept., 1887, lac: Apr.. 1889, 15c: Jan--Feb., 1886, 10c: Jan.. 189,5. .5c: March, 1897, .5c: May. 1897, '^c. All must be complete, clean, and in good condition. I will also accept back No's of Ornitholoqist and Oolo- gist. Recreation. Insect Life, any issue and in any quantity at 5c per copy on same terms. (I will allow 2.=c for Oct.. "93 and Feb., '94 "J\'irfs," also for October and December "96 Osprey.) If you have other publications along my line. Write and state what is wanted. I can also use books on sub.iects pertaining to Natural History if in good condition and cheap, also A No. 1 sets of eggs with data at i/i"Stand- ard" rates. Lists of books and eggs must be submitted for my selection or approval before sending. Address at once FRANK H. LAT- TIN, Albion, N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. Many Rare Books ! Offered by "Lattin" for the first time. PRICES GOOD UNTIL APRIL 1, 1898. Starred (*) titles are secondhand copies, but as a rule the inside pages are "good as new.'' Many are practically new, but previous owners' name has been written within. The unstarred titles are for new books, in a few instances the covers are slightly shelf-worn. Many volumes and sets cannot be duplicated— hence the necessity of sending your order ear- ly. When ordering always state whether you have a second choice, or whether you wish money refunded, in case books ordered have been sold. Many of the volumes offered in this list are taken from my private library and I ofler them for sale: First, because 1 need the room for other books, and Second, because I need the cash to purchase these "other books." See additional books in Jan. Oulogift. IMPORTANT! Lack of time and space prevents my listing more books this month. I have hundreds of other publications in stock and can procure anything obtainable. Write your ■wants. Remit in most convenient manner, but do not send sums of $I.-00 or over loose in your letter. All books are PREPAID at prices quoted. Address all orders plainly and in full to FRANK H. LATTIN, Publisher, ALBION, N. Y. Entomology. Ashmead, Monograph of N. A. Proctotry- pida3, ATZ p , 18 plates $2 50 Descriptions of IchueumomidtB, 66 p — 35 Ballman, The Myriapodaof N. A., SIOp.... 1 25 Chambers, Index to Tineina of U. S. and Canada, J4p 35 Dodge, Life and Entomological Work of T. Glover, 68 p 50 Edwards, Bibliographical Catalogue of Transformations of N. A. Lepidop- tera, 14S p 75 Fernald, Directions for Collecting, Pre- serving and Transporting Small Moths 15 Forel, Ants' Nests, 28 p., 2 pi 25 Grote, N. A. Pyralidffi, 38 p., 14 flg 35 Le Conte, Rocky Mt. Coleoptera, 56 p 35 Marx, Aradlceof N. A., 98 p 50 Packard, The Phyllopod Crustacea of N.A. 298 p., 39 pi., 73 hg 2 00 Rocky Mt. Locust and Other Insects In- jurious to Garden and Field Crops of W. States and Tex., 228 p., 9 pi., 67 flg.. 1 25 Directions for Collecting and Preserv- ing Insects, 54 p , .55 flg 40 Riley, Directions for Collecting and Pre- serving Insects, 148 p., 140 flg 75 Packard and Thomas 3d Report U. S. Ent. Com., 4.50 p., 64 plates 2 50 et al, Insect of Death Valley Ex. 34 p.. 35 Catalogue of Published Synopsis, Cata- logues and Lists of N. A. Insects with other Information to assist the stu- dent, 78 p 50 ■Smith, Lepidopterous Family, Noctuidas of Temperate N. A., 234 p., 5 pi 1 25 Lepidopterous Super-family, Noctuidas, in Boreal America, 424 p 1 75 Revision of Homohadena and Hadena, 62p.,2pl 35 Revision of the Mamestra, 80 p., 4 pi 50 "Williston, Sjraopsis of the N.A. SyrphidiE, 336 p., 12 pi 1 50 Ethnology and Archaeology. Eells, Indians of Washlngtons, 73 p .50 Mason, Aboriginal Skin Dressing, 38 p., 33 pi .50 Primitive Travel and Transportation, 358 p,, 25 pi., 260 fig 2 00 N. A. Bows, Arrows and Quivers, 50 p., 58 pi 1 00 McGuire, Primitive Methods of Drilling. 132 p., 201 fig 1 00 Powell, Reports of Bureau of Ethnology 4to, with maps and plates (many col- ored). Can furnish complete sets. Odd volume each $2 to $5. Write wants. Rau, Directions for Collecting Aboriginal Antiquities 15 Thomas, Directions f orMound Exploration 10 Thompson, Te Pito Te Heuna or Easter Island. 106 p., 49 pi 1 00 Wilson, The Swastika; Migration of In- dustries in Prehistoric Times, 256 p., 25 pi., 374 fig 2 00 Wilson, Criminal Antropology, 70 p 40 Stud of Prehistoric Anthropology, Hand Book for Beginners, 76 p., 20 pi., 287 flg. 1 00 Botany. Coulter, Manual of Plants of Western Texas, The Polypetalse, ].56pp $ 1 CO Do do do. The Gamopetalee, 250pp 125 Do do do. The Apetalse, Monocotyle- donffi, Pteridophyta, 2.50pp 1 50 Revision of North Americian Cactuses, 44pp.... 35 Plants of Rio Grande, 40pp 35 Revision of Echinocactus, Cereus and Opuntia, 112pp 75 Carleton, Plants of Oklahoma and Indian Territory, 50pp 50 Coville, Botany of the Death Valley Ex- pedition, 320pp, 22 plates 2 00 Eggers, Flora of St. Croix and Virgin Isles, 134pp 75 Flint, Catalogue of U. S. Materia Medica Collection, 48pp 25 Gray & Hooker, Rocky Mt. Flora, 78pp .... 50 THE OOLOGIST. Havard, Flora of Western and Southern Texas, 84pp 35 Holzinger, Plants of Northern Idaho. 96pp 50 Hitchcock & Rose, Flora of Southwest Kansas and Big Horn Mountains, 80pp Splates 50 Knowlton,Directions for collecting Plants, 40pp, 9 fig 25 Leiberg, Botany of Coeur D'alene Moun- tains, Idaho, 84pp 50 Merriam, Desert Trees and Shrubs of Death Valley, 60pp 35 Rose, Plants of Sonora and Colima, Mex- ico, 150pp, 13 plates, 10 fig 75 Rydberg, Flora of Sand Hills of Neb.,72pp -10 Flora of Black Hills, Dakota, 80pp 40 Vasey, Grasses of the Southwest (Desert region of Western Texas,New Mexico, Arizona, South California). Vol. I, lOOpp, 50 plates 1 00 Vol. II, lOOpp, 50 plates 1 00 Grasses of Pacific Slope (California. Or- egon. Washington, New Mexico Coast and Alaska). Vol. I, lOOpp, 50 plates 100 Vol. II, lOOpp, 50 plates 1 00 Grasses of the South, 64pp, 16 plates — , 75 Grasses of U. S. and British Amer.,100pp. 75 Ward, Flora of Washington, D. C. and Vicinity, 266pp : 150 Ichthology, Conchology and Sea Products. ♦Kingsley, Lower Invertebrates. 500 pp., 22 plates, 500 cuts, sheep, ($7.50) $4 80 Brown, The Whale Fishery and Its Appli- ances, 116 p 75 Binney, A Manual of N. A. Land Shells, 518 pp., 516 flg 3 50 Bibliography; of N. A. Conchology by American Authors, 6.50 pp 2 00 do do do by Foreign Authors,, 298p 1 25 Bean, Collection of U. Fishes at Gt. Int. Fish. Ex., 12i p 50 U. S. Coll. of European Fishes, 36 p 25 Directions for Collecting and Preserv- ing Fish 10 Catalogue of Fishes of Alaska andAdja- cent Waters, 34 p .50 Clark, Fishery Products and Apparatus Used in Preparation, 124 p 75 Collins, Fishing Vessels and Boats and Their Equipment; Economic Condi-'' tion of Fisherman; Angler's Outfits, etc., 180p 1 00 Ball, Index to Names Applied to Sub-divi- sions of Brachiopoda, 88 p 60 Marine Mollusks of the S. E. Coast of U. S., 222 p., 74 nl. con., 700 fig 3 50 Instructions for Collecting Mollusks and Other Useful Hints for the Con- cliologist, 56 p., ills 50 Limpets and Chitons of Alaskan and Arctic Regions. 64 p 50 Florida Land and FreshWater Shells.35 p 35 MoUusca and Brachiodopa of Alba- tross Exploration, 144 p., 10 pi., 105 fig. 1 50 Earll, Apparatus for the Capture of Fish, 206p 1 00 Fish Cultural Exhibit, 96 p SO Eigenmann, Fishes of San Diego,Calif.,50p. 35 Evermann & Jenkins, Fishes from Guay- mas, (Mex.) 46 p 35 Fresh Water Fish of So. America, 82 p. 50- Goode, Fishes of the Bermudas, 82 p 50 Exhibit of U. S. Fisheries and Fish Culture at Berlin, 264 p 1 25 Descriptive Catalogue of Collections from U. S. to Gt. Int. Fish. Ex., Lon- don, '83, 1334 p 3 50 Synopsis of U. S. Collections, Gt. Int. Fish Ex.. 108 p 50 Fishes of St. Johns River, East Coast and Peuracola, Fla., 48 p 50 Gill, Bibliograpy of Fishes of Pacific. Coast, 74 p 50 Jordan, Review of Raflnesque's Memoirs on N, A. Fishes, 53 p 35 Contributions to N. A. Ichthology— (Etheostomaticlix , PerchicUe, Siluri'dce, etc., etc.) 120 p, 45 plates 1 CO- & Brayton, FisheK of Alleghany Reg. of So. Car. Ga. and Tenn., 96p 50 Synopsis of Family Catostomidce ("Suckers"), 140 p 75- & Gilbert, Synopsis of Fishes of N. A., 1018 pp 3 50 et al, Fish of E. Fla.; Des. of many Pacific Fish (Calif. -Alaska), etc., 132 p. 75 Fishes of Pacific Coast of U. S. , 72 p 50 & Gilbert, Fishes of Pensacola,Fla. and Galveston, Tex., 66 p 50 & Gilbert, Fishes of Charleston, South Carolina; Panama, .52 p 35 Fishes of Key West, Fla., 48 p 35 List of Fishes of W. I., 55p 35 Catalogue of Fresh Water Fishes of N. A., 36p 25 Kidder, Animal Heat of Fishes, 24 p 25 Lockington, Pleuronectldoe of San Fran- cisco. 40 p 35- McMerrich, Actiniee of the Albatross Ex- pedition with Classification of Antho- zoa, 98 p., 15 pi 75 Rathbun, Economic Crustaceans, Worms, Echinoderms and Sponges, 32 p 35 Scientific Investigation of the Sea and Fresh Waters, 112 p 75 Catalogue of Recent Echni, 38 p 35 Crabs of Family Percicerida?, 46 p., 13 pi 50 Crabs of Family Maiidffi. 42 p., 6 pi .50 Smith, Crustac£B Dredged in 64 to 325 fath- oms off S. N. E. Coast, 40 p 3> Crustacea of Labrador S5 Brachyura and Anomura of S. Coast of N. E., 56p 50 Stearns, West American Shells, 22 p., 3 pi. 35 Shells from W. Coast of S. A. , 30 p 25- West African Mollusks, 24 p 25 Mollusks of Gal pagos Is., 98 p., 2 pi 75 Simpson, Notes on UnionidEE of Fla. and S. E. States, S2p.,26pl 75 True, A Review of the Family Delphinidae, 192 p., 47 pi 2 00 Collecting and Preserving Whales and Porpoises, 24 p., 11 pi 35 Verrill, Marine Invertebrata Of N.E. Coast of America, 40 p 35 MoUusca, Annelida, Echinodermata,etc. Jrom N. E. Coast of America, 54 p 35 Winslow, Economic MoUusca, etc.. 86 p. . . 50 Williamson, Shells of San Pedro Bay, 42 p. , 5 pi 50 THE OOLOGIST. Geology and Mineralogy. *Dana, Manual of Geology, 2d Ed., 800 p., overlOtOflgs. ($5) 2 50 *Dana, System of Mineralogy, 4th Ed. 850 p.,600Ug. ($12..=)0) 5 00 Dewey, Economic Geology and Metallur- gy, 256 p., 34 plates 1 50 Egelston, Catalogue of Minerals and Syn- onyms, Alphabetically arranged for Museum use, 198 p 1 00 Gurney, Crystallography, 128 p, 46 fig 60 Hayden, Geological Survey of Idaho and Wyoming by Endlich. White, Peale, St. John, et al., 680 p., 76 pi 3 00 Hayden Survey Case containing 7 large Geological Maps of Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Yellowstone Park, etc 1 00 Hayden Survey of Wyoming, Prelimi- nary Report, Geology Paleontology. etc., 512 p 2 00 Hayden Survev, Yellowstone National Park. Geology by Holmes; Thermal Springs, Peale; Topography, Gannet, 528 p., 96 plates, 33 g., 10 maps 3 00 Marcon, Bibliography of Publications re- lating to Fossil Invertebrates, 334 p — 1 50 Catalogue of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Fossils, 54 p 35 Merrill, Hand-book and Catalogue of Building and Ornamental Stones in U. S. Nat. Museum, 372 p 1 50 Hand-Book of Dept. Geology of U, S. Nat. Museum, 50 p 35 Geology; Materials of the Earths Crust, 90 p., 12 pi 50 The Onyx Marbles, 48 p., 18 pi 50 St. John, Geology of Wind River (Wyo.) District, 100 p., 49 pi 1 00 'White, Cretaceus Fossils of Western Sts. andTer., 84 p , 18 pi 1 00 Fossils of Ihe Laramie Group, 66 p. 11 pi. 75 Relation of Biology to Geological Inves- tigation, 134p 75 & Nicholson, Bibliography of N. A. PalaBontology, 132 p 1 00 Cope, Vertebrata of Tertiary Formations, 4to, 1043 pp, 134 plates $ 6 00 Lesquereaux, Cretaeeous and Tertiary Floras, 4to. 29.5pp, 60 plates 4 25 Leidy, Fresh Water Rhizopods of North America, 4to, 33.5pp, 48 ill., 1190 col. figs 4 25 Scudder, Tertiary Insects of North Amer- ica, 4to, 734pp, 28 plates 3 25 U. S Geological Survey, Annual Reports. Can furnish complete sets or odd vol- umes at from $1 to $3 each. Write w'ants. Pacific Railroad Survey. Report of Ex- plorations west of Mississippi River, 13 vol., cost $200. 4to. over 7000 pages, 640 plates. &c.. &C. Birds, Mammals, Fishes, Reptiles, Botany, Geology, Palaeontology, &c. Freight at pur- chasers expense. Only 15 00 Odd volumes $2 to $5 each. Write wants. Hayden, U. S. Geological and Geographi- cal Survey of Territories. Annual Reports. Bulletins, &c. Write wants. AVheeler, Geological Survey west of 100th Meridian. Reports. Write wants. Ornithology and Oology. Baird, Review of the Birds of North and Middle America. 478pp, 80 fig f 2 00 Bcndire, Directions for CoUecting.Prepar- Ing and Presesving Birds Eggs and Nests 25 The Cowbirds, 38pp, 3 plates 35 Bruner, Birds of Nebraska, 142pp, 51 fig.. 1 00 Cooke, Bird Migration of Mississippi Val- ley, 312pp 1 00 Birds of Colorado, 142pp 1 00 Coues, American Ornithological Biblio- graphy Systematically Arranged by Families, ,536pp 2 00 Do do do Faunal Publications other than North American, 9ipp 75 Coues & Prentiss, Avi Fauna Columbiana, (Birds of District of Columbia) revis- ed edition, 134p, lOOflff .. 1 50 Davie, Egg Check List North American Birds, 1st edition .50 Nests and Eggs of North American Birds, 2d edition 1 00 Fisher, Hawks and Owls of U. S., 210pp, 25 colored plates 3 00 Hatch , Birds of Minnesota, 488pp 2 50 Kirk wood. Birds of Maryland, 142pp 1 85 Knight, Birds of Maine, 182pp 1 25 l^everkuhn, Fremde Eier i?n Neste, 214pp.. 1 00 Lucas, History and Anatomy of Great Auk, 38pp, 2 plates 35 Macfarlane, Birds and Eggs of Arctic America, 34pp 50 Merrill, Ornithology of Southern Texas' 56pp. 3 plates 75 Gates, Birds of British India, Ceylon and Burma. 994pp, 271 fig., 2 vol 5 00 Ridgeway, American FalconidcB, 92pp 75 American Heriodiones, 34pp 50 Aquatic and Fish Eating Birds. .58pp.. . .50 Birds of Illinois, 2 vol., 802pp, 65 plates. 7 50 Catalogue of North AmericanBirds,84pp 35 Directions for Col lectiug Birds 25 Hummingbirds, ]32pp, 46plates, 47 flg.. 2 00 Nomenclature of N. A. Birds, 94pp 35 Sennett, Ornithology of Lower Rio Grande, 136pp 125 Shufeidt, Comparative Oology of North American Birds, 34pp 50 Smithsonian Instructions for Collecting ■ Nests and Eggs 25 Steere, Birds and Mammals of Philippines, 30pp 25 Thompson, Birds of Manitoba, 188pp 1 50 Tristarm, Field Study in Ornithology 25 Zoology. Hornaday, Directions for Removing and Preserving Skins of Mammals 25 Extermination of the American Bison, 180pp, 22 plates 1 35 Kumlien, et al. Natural History of Arctic America, 180pp 1 35 Lucas, Preparation of Rough Skeletons.. 15 Scudder, Nomenclator Zoologicus (An Alphabetical list of all Generic names employed by Naturalists for Recent and Fossil Animals from earliest times to 1880), 716pp 3 00 Stejneger, Directions for Collecting Rep- tiles and Batrachians 25 THE OOLOGIST. REMOVAL SALE. In May I expect to remove to my new house at Kew Beach, Toronto, and wish to reduce my large stock of Birds Eggs and Skins, and in order to do so I am offering sets and single eggs at astonishing low prices. Here are a few samples. Ancient Murrelet, sets of 2. $2 50 per set Parasitic Jseger, sets of 2 35 Least Anklet, sets of 1 2 00 Mew Gull, sets of 3 :.. 35 Franklin's Gull, sets of 3 40 Stormy Petrel, sets of 1 20 Manx Shearwater, sets of 1 30; Cormorant, sets of 4 40 " American Eider, sets of 5 60 Dunlin, sets of 4 50 " Ringed Plover, sets of 4 40 " Turnstone, sets of 3 2 00 Harris Hawk, sets of 3 60 " Swainson's Hawk, set 3 50 " Kestrel Hawk, sets of 4 , 40 '" GoldenEagle, setsofS 5 00 Gray Sea Eagle, sets of 3 3 00 Duck Hawk, sets of 4 3 50 Send for full list to -W. RAI?(£, D2t 181 Bleecker St., Toronto, Canada. BARGAINS FOR COLLECTORS. 100 first-class specimens $1 00 100 nice Sea Shells 25 100 beautiful Shells 5 00 10 varieties Sea Shells 35 12 mixed Olive Shells, beauties 50 12 mixed Sea Beans 20 100 mixed Sea Beans 1 50 100 mixed Coins 3 00 33 mixed Coins 1 00 30 Tropical Botanical specimens 1 00 12 arrow points 50 10 nice minerals 1 00 All prepaid. .500,000 specimens in stock from all parts of the wor.d. Everything perfect. Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. Send stamp for bargains list and drawings. All orders promptly filled. JOHN B. WHEELER, East Templeton, Mass. NEW ENGLAND MINERALS. Rhomb Spar, R. 1., Beryl, N. H. ; Actinolite. R. I. ; Galenite, Mass. M pound specimens of either postpaid for only 10 cents : or the four for only 30 cents. The above is only a sample of the bai:gain8 I am offering in New England Minerals. Write your wants and send for lists. I handle only good fresh material— no rubbish. ROBERT BURN HAM, No. 143 Gallup St., PROVIDENCE, R. 1. THE ROCHESTER HERALD ONE GENT. $3 A YEAR. ORDER OF YOUR DEALER, OR BY MAIL. "Saved Her Life.*' rRS. JOHN WALLET, of Jefferson. "5) Wis., than whom none is more highly esteemed or widely known, writes. "In 1890 I had a severe attack of LaGrippe and at the end of four months, in spite of all physicians, friends and good nursing could do, my lungs heart and nervous system were so completely wrecked, my life was de- spaired of, my friends giving me up. 1 could only sleep by the use of opiates. My lungs and heart pained me terribly and my cough was most aggravating. I could not lie in one position but a short time and not on my left side at all. My husband brought me Dr. Miles' Nervine and Heart Cure and I be- gan taking them. When I had taken a half bottle of each I was much better and contin- uing persistently I took about a dozen bot- tles and was completely restored to health to the surprise of all." Dr. Miles' Remedies | are sold by all drug gists under a positive I guarantee, first bottle | benefits or money re- funded. Book on dis- I eases of the heart and | nerves free. Address, DR. MILES MEDICAL CO.. Elkhart. Ind. MEXICAN COINS. Ic 2c and 5c nickel uncirculated, and Ic copper. Set of 4 prepaid for only 12c. The nickel coins were in circula- tion only a few months in '82-'83 may become exceedingly rare In a few years. ROBERT BURNHAM, 143 Gallup St., Providence, R. L THE OOLOGIST IIIIUSHb'PGUNS 5INQLE-SH0TRlMeS ANDALL KINDS OR. Pronounced by Experts the Standard of the World. Ask your dealer for WINCHESTER make of Gun or Ammunition and take no other, FREE;— Our new illustrated Catalogue. WINCHESTER REPEATING ARWIS CO,, New Haven, Ct. The Nidologist. By a recent purchase I have obtained all the remaining back numbers of this valuable magazine from its Publisher. The "Nid" was, during its existence, the most popular of all O. and O. publi- cations and was the pioneer illustrated "Bird" magazine. Back numbers are just as valuable to the collector today as they were on the date of issue. Now is the time to fill the gaps in your file or to obtain complete volumes. Send your list of wants and obtain prices. — I will make them right. I now quote, prepaid: Volume I complete, $4.00. II 1. 00. III 2.00. IV " I. GO. Complete File, Volumes I to IV, $7.00. I will send you a package of 14 back numbers all different, my selection for 75 cents. Or a package of 25 all different, my selection, for only $1.25. . I WANT and will allow good exchange or cash prices for the following issues September, October, November and December, 1893; February, 1894; September and October, 1895. Address, FRANK H. LATTIN, ALBION, N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. SHINE? Minei-als, Fossils and Shells cut and polished at our Steam Lapidary Shop, recently fitted up on the most improved plans, where we do flrst-class work at reasonable prices. Cabinet work a specialty. Polished material for sale. JOHN G. BUXTON, Milo Centre, N. Y. FOLDS We have some com- pound Folds in rock, and a few Banded Sandstone Faults, both very interesting to Geologists, and a quantity of polished rdaterial for sale. We make a specialty of cutting and polishing cab- inet material at our Steam Lapidary Shop. John G. Buxton, Milo Centre, N. Y. VI THE OOLOGIST PRICES FOR BACK NUMBERS OF THE YOUNG OOLOGIST AND THE OOLOGIST ^ivill, during 1898, remain as quoted below Alter which the prices of many numbers will be advanced and possibly not obtainable at any price. Should you desire back numbers to complete your file now is the time to purchase. You can never obtain them for less money and possibly not at any price, as our stock ranges from only 2 to 25 copies of an issue. Prices for 1898 are as follo-ws: Nos. 18, 32 and 42 can no longer be furnished,— 35 cents each when in stock. Nos. 15, 21. 23-24, 34-3.=>, 89, 111 are 25c each. Nos. 1, 14, 88, 127. 15c each. Nos. 9. 11, 13, 16. 53, 66-67, 75, 76. 77, 78, 79, 80, 87, 90, 101, 113, 114, 11.5, 130, 133, 137, 10c each. j^^AU other numbers, 5c per copy. For 50c I will send a package of twenty (90) all different back numbers, my selection. For $x I will send a package of fifty (50) back numbers, all different, my selection. For $2 I will send a package of ninety (90) back numbers, all different, my selection. For $5 I will send by return mail a copy of every issue published (excepting 18, 32 and 42)— Nos. 1 to 139 inclusive. My prices for back Nos. of the Young Oolo- GiST and OOLOGIST in volumes, are as follows: Vol. T. 1884-5, Nos. 1 to 12 $ .60 " II. 188.5, " 13 and 14 20 " III. 1886, " 15to20aackingNo.l8i .35 " IV. 1887, " 21 to 25-26 45 " V. 1888, " 27to38(lackingNo.32) .50 " VI. 1889, " 39 to .50 do 42 .40 '• VII. 1890, " 51 to 63 .50 " VIII.1891, " 63 to 74 50 " IX. 1892, " 75 to 86 70 ■' X. 1893, " 87to98 75 " XL 1894, " 99tnll0 50 " XII. 1895. •• 111 to 122 60 " XITI.189rt, " l«tnl27 25 " XIV.1897. " 128 to 139 50 BOUND VOLUMES. Can be furnished, strongly bound in cloth and boards, as follows: Vol. I and II Young Oologist bound in one volume $1.00 Vol. Ill and IV, The Oologist, bound in one volume, only 1.00 Vol. IX. The Oologist for '92, 298 pages of valuable and instructive Oological and Ornithological matter with many full page illustrations 1.00 Or, if you order the three volumes at one time. we will send tbem by return mail for only f2..50. Every student of birds, their nests and eggs should have these three volumes in their libra- ry. The valuable information they contain, is worth many times the price. Address plainly FRANK H. LATTIN, Publisher of THK OOI^OGIST, ALBION, N.Y. IMPORTANT, This issue of The Oologist was at first intended as a Supplemental one for December issue, and the January one mailed with this was to have been dated December. However it was con- sidered better to call one issue the De- cember and the other January issue — thus avoiding double numbers as ar- ranginjj it so we can catch up by issu- ing both February and March numbers early in March. This December, '97 and the January, '98 issues are mailed to regular subscribers in the same wrap- per on February 14 Extra Special. Any person purchasing Books to the amount of $1.00 or over at prices oflfer- ed in this issue will be entitled to The Oologist one year, with an exchange coupon, gratis. Ofifer good until April first only. CALIFORNIA CURIOSITIES. Mounted Horned Toads, Tarantulas, Scorpions, Trap-Door Spiders, 5 Specimen Collections, etc. Also Trap-Door Spider's Nesis. Headquarters for Pincushions both from Yucca Palm and Redwood Bark. Lowest prices on Orangewood Goods, such as Napkin Rings, Fancy Paper Cutters, etc. Best work on mounted specimens. No trash. Wholesale Illustrated Price List free to o5t dealers only. G. W. TUTTLE, PASADENA, CAL. NATURALISTS' PRINTING ^fo^'ltl^'^ cheap. Egg labels 15c per 100 small; 25 per 100 large. Fossil 10c per 100. Letter heads 35 per 100. Send copy for prices. D. H. EATON, Woburn. Mass. H. H. & C. S. BRIMLEY, COLLECTORS, RALEIGH, N. C. First-class Skins of Birds and Mammals, Bird's Eggs, Reptiles and Batrachia both Alive and in Alcohol. Histological Ma- terial. Full data. Send stamp for lists. THE 05LOGIST. vii Date 1898. FRANK H. LATTIN, Publisher, Albion, N. Y. Enclosed find 50 cents for which send The Oologist one year, including one Exchange Coupon and $1.00 -w^orth of Preaiiums to the following address: Name P. O. Box or Street Address ... County Post-Office State I select the following for my One Dollar's worth of premiums l^Renaember.— That for only 50 cents every subscriber will receive The Oologist, as issued, for one year, and in addition will receive by return mail, one exchange coupon and $1.00 worth of premiums as otYered on back of this blank. Write above the ones you prefer and mark on back of this blank a few extras to be used in case we should be out of your first choice. This offer Aivill hold good until April 1, 1898, only. BE SURE.and address all of your letters and orders plainly and in f nil to FRANK H. LATTIX, Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. THE OOLOGIST. $1.00 WORTH OF PREMIUMS ABSOLUTELY FREE TO EVERY SUBSCRIBER TO THE OOLOGIST. HOW? Kill out blank on re- verse, naming the Premiums you want or prefer, tuclose. with only 50 centHt in a plainly addressed envelope to Frank H. L,attln, Publisher. Albion, Orleans Co , N.Y., and mall at once. 15y return mall you will receive the coupon and the Premiums selected and the Oologist will be mailed as issued for an entire year. Remit in most convenient manner. Stamps accepted. BIRDS EGGS. Pied-billed GrPbe $ 10 Common Tern 10 Farallone Cormorant _ .SO Shoveller .S.i Pintail .S.5 White-faced Glossy Ibis... 1 OJ Bartramian Sandpiper 35 Spotted Sandpiper l.i Killdeer ao Florida Bob-white 10 •Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse 50 American Barn Owl 40 Screech Owl 40 Burrowing Owl 20 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 10 Hairy Woodpecker 50 Red-bellied Woodpecker... 25 Red-headed Woodpecker... 10 Flicker 5 Red-fchafted Flicker 10 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 10 Kingbird 5 Phoebe _ 05 Acadian Flycatcher 15 Little Flycatcher 25 Least Flycatcher 15 Prairie Horned Lark 15 American Magpie 15 Blue Jay U5 California Jay 25 American Crow 05 Fish Crow 35 Cowbird 05 Dwan Cowbird 10 Red-winged Blackbird 05 Western Meadowlark _ 10 Orchard Oriole 05 Purple Grackle 05 Brewer's Blackbird 05 House Finch 05 Vesper Sparrow 05 Seaside Sparrow 25 Sharp-tailed Sparrow 25 Lark Sparrow 05 Field Sparrow 05 Heerman's Song Sparrow 10 Towhee ]0 California Towhee 10 Cardinal 05 Gray-tailed Cardinal 25 Rose-breasted Grosbeak... 10 Black-headed Grosbeak , .. 15 Painted Bunting 10 Sharpe's Seed-eater .50 Dickcissel 05 Purple Martin 10 Barn Swallow 05 €li£f Swallow 05 Red-eyed Vireo 10 Bell's Vireo 16 Yellow Warbler 05 Parula Warbler 20 Y'ellow-breasted Chat 10 Long-tailed Chat 15 Hooded Warbler .'iO Mockingbird 05 Catbird 05 Bendire's Thrasher 75 California Thrasher 20 Carolina Wren 10 House Wren 10 Parkipaus Wren 15 White-breasted Nuthatch . 35 Chickadee 15 | Oregon Chickadee 35 1 California Chickadee ... Yerdin Wood Thrush Wilson's Thrush Russet-backed Thrush. American Robin Bluebird English Sparrow Ring I'heasant Gopher Hammerhead Shark .... Red-leg Turtle Snapping Turtle SHELLS. Murex brandaris trunculus " saleanus Sycotypus papyratia Eburna Japonica Oliva litterata. extra Stronibus alatus Cypraa3 nioneta erosa caurica •' carneola " vitellus Ovulum gibbosum secale on Ptero- gorgia twig Nerita peleronta, select Turbo chrysostoma Trochus (Livona) pica Helix tideles Bulimus Bahamaensis Partula gibba Orthalicus melanochilus . undatum Liguus fasciata Achatinella perversa uniplicata " spirizona olivacea Pythea pyramidata Fissurella barbadensis Chama arciaella Cardinm isocai'dia Pholas costatus (Angel wings) Tellina radiata Fasciolaria distans Melongena corona Haliotis cracherodii I 25 SEA CURIOS. Precious coral. 1 oz. pkg. of polished twigs 25 Organpipe Coral 10 Creamy Sea Fan 35 Y'ellow Se i Fan 35 Purple Sea Feather .^0 Sand Dollar 10 Phillippian Urchin :!5 Purple Urchin, select 25 Black Starfish 35 Acorn Barnacles 10 Keyhole Urchin , 25 Lucky Tooth of Cod 0 Hermit Crab in Shell b.'i MINERALS, &c. ChiastoHte Crystals $ 1 Coqulna 25 "Electric" stone 25 Chalcedony Geodes select.. 50 Gem Stones, small cut and polished semi-precioua stones, many suitable for mounting: Sard Trilby heart intag- lioes i 15 Opals. Mexican _15, 25, 3.5, .50 Red Onyx 15 Black Onyx 15 Crocidolite, Tiger-eye .10, 15, 25 Lapis Lazuli a5 Chalcedony, tinted 10 varigated lO showing an artificial tree 15 Black Ribbon Agates 10 Red Ribbon Agate 10 Carnelian 10 Assorted above and others dozen 50 Ditto, selects 1 00 Fossil Shark Teeth 5, 10 Scaphites nodosuslO, 25, 50, 1.00 Polyp Coral 10, 25, 50 MISCELLANEOUS. Arrowheads, half doz. as- sorted 8 50 Revolutionary Gun Flint 15 Dove Shell from British Guiana exhibited at World's Fair, pkg. of 13_ 36 Chines Horn Nut 10 Beetle Nut 10 Pkg Liver and Sea Beans, assorted 15 Scoipiou in Box .50 Broken Bank Bill 10 Confederate State Bill 10 Chameleon in Alcohol 25 Alligator Tooth 5, 10, 15. 25 Young Naturalist's Mar- velous Collection, "95 ed- ition, nearly 50 labelled specimens .' 1 00 Chinese Corn 05 Trap Door Spider's Nest... .50 "Eye Stone" 10 Mexican Watchman's Whistle, clay 10 "var.unusedCubanStamps 35 Resurrection Plant, Mex.. 10 Bird Arrow Point 25 French Enamel. Armorial Design Stick Pin 25 Set of Souverir World's Fair Tickets 1 00 PUBLICATIONS. Oologist, 2J numbers 50 Nidiologist. 8 numbers 1 00 Ornithologist andO&logist, 8 numbers _ : 1 00 The Wilson Quarterly and Semi Annual 4 numbers 1 00 Natural Science News, 52 back numbers _ 1 00 Back numbers of above pub- lications are all different and of our selection. Oologist, 1892, bound in cloth _ 1 00 Penikese, a bound volume of 96, 6x8 in. pages. Giv- ing a valuable record or account of Agasslz's summer schodl at Peni- kese Island 50 Loncks, Pro then otary Warbler hO Short, Birds of W.N. Y. .. 25 46 PlTi: