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ORNITHOLOGIST¢AND*OOLOGIST,

|

vy
4

iG
ke) AR 2% =<
<I +> 3 <—— e

This Magazine, being designed as a means for
the interchange of Notes and Observations on Bird i
and Insect Life, appeals for its support to all who are | |
interested in those departments of Natural History. \es

5 4 B GRR © 0 ee
er Ova,

<i a
OL

if 4

RSS BLISHED 1878.

AP EW;

Pre THOLOGIST

AND

MOLOGIST.

BIRDS: DREIR NESTS AND EGGS.

PAWTUCKET, R. I.

IDIRVAINIIE 1B}, NWO Soh elKe

1885.

ORNITHOLOGIST®

CONTENTS OF VOL. X,

Absorbent, What is the best ?..... 64, 80
AB GIONUS VNATIM, . ower eee ee eee ee 161
Ageleus p. qubernator.......++.++ 40, 72
EERE) OH cretatatsicieinte'<'s sin]aisinie aleielsie=isieie AT, 152
SEC PAGO DG clatetelotalsinlsinwsislsieire!«\nle's'sies)«\nt=i=1 96

Aluco flammeus americanus. .
American Ornithologists’ Union.
Ampelis cedrorum...-
Antrostomus vociferus.
A phelocoma floridana.

BAONTIRES POLCLUS annie a mnic in v\e'e'es'oieieie-inie 15 |
Arctic Birds, The Social Life of...... 178
LAM EG OG C152) Be AAD OC OC DCEO SOOO oO 75 |
REO TROTOM? CSseix's «\aie\tie'e's!«(<icie. == .-11, 178 |
Astraqalinus tristis. ...-..---0+ 0000+ 162
Asyndesimus torquatus,...-...+0.-06+ 79 |
Atkins, The late Dr. H. A........... 120 |
PART Basteteette ania pints sels cigis/<'<'wisiaicre aioxciete’e 181
Bartran®a longicauda......+-+- =293 |
Belchertown, Mass., Notes from..... 160
Bird Visitors at a Florida Light-house
Riptatetatbraidin ins! via cimatr='eiaa’ Iejaisfaleta’s sis sis 157
Birds Confused by City Lights. ....... 95)
Birds’ Nests, Rare and Cnrious...... 111
Bittern, American............ 14, 30, 178
Who MOA ngac gabon soeso sae sao 191
BLACICDIGGe COLO clic ee siccic sei sisie ate 183 |
BESTE Ces ahstetnicis cfatera las cloke iw asera(s)einines vile 129 |
B Rocky Mountain........... 149
TE}s)a a bel 's cee Sono 168, 183 |
Boston—Reviews.. ..32, 64, 192
Botaurus lonennint Seon 14, 30, 178 |
Brehm, The late Dr. Alfred E........- 8s
Bristol County, Mass., A Ramble in, 114 |
Bunting, Black-throated.......... 99, 163 | |
te Indigo.. 131 |

ue Towhee.......... Secor oe

Us: «Notes on Nests of...
PB eZ ARO sw DUN RE Ye fc /yatcin’aln oi ciein/<iainieta 80, al |
Californian Oological Notes......... 141
Cape Cod, Rare Birds Taken at.....- 160
Caprimulqus vociperus, .. 0.0. 200-4 145
Cardinal, An Albino.........--...-+-+ 47
Cardinalis virqintanus .... 22-00. .0+s 0)
CAtROPteS QT. «65 oo ccne cen nen eee 80, 92
Carpodacus cassini... - 90

i! purpureus.. 5 “130

COdaT BING |. ee. neieciewicce sess rcin = 174
Centurus carolinus, ...+-+..+0 20 10
Certhia familiaris. «23 |
Ceryle aleyon..... |
Chetura pelasgica. 71, 145
Chondestes qrammica 99, 162
Chordeiles popetue.. 91, 178
Chrysomitris pinus..... 95, 162

.35, 92
: sepa
2, 146 |

Circus cyaneus hudsonius.
Coceyzus erythrophthalmus
Colaptes auratu

Collectors, Hints to..... ee a
Oy Best Gun for. . :
Colors of Birds, On mewerihine enon mr

Dolichonyx oryzivorus. .

si

AND#OOLOGIST.

1885.

Contopus virens.......00cceccccencees 178 | Geothlypis trichas.
C Tlacesastaa: ar CTU Pr sgecing od ob nbearoce
eas re crested a | Gnateatcher, Blue Grey.. ..
LS DOPUS ..2crcee . .
ch lat ‘| Goldfinch, American.............++-
Cotile riparia.... Sati tt :
Pine.
Cowbird. . ler
s | Goose, Canada, in Nova Scoti
Crane, Sandhill Geteletetabelefeteiein dmineiers 94, 147 |
= ae Graces PHT) Gs irteas sterainyaisiadotele sielnielels
Creeper, Black-and-White, . .23, 160, 183 re iia
GROHETSINATR ERICH sock. oe Gin Gannen pretneeesteeeees
os A sess Ss nay Grebe, Red-necked, in Western On-
Red. 32, 79, 80 ;
ic White-winged 161 | LATLOS eapapdeiete see statete ive aietaiercteyemtsatas 95
\Gxpe tee eeee ee Grebes, Thick-billed................. 165
; E mon Peas cine he aes ‘* | Grosbeak, Cardinal, in Central Park,
Cuckoo, Black-billed......... ...... 183 N.Y 60
Ee eYellow=pilleds 2. ccc cw sae 191 | PEE y eee Gana Nd Dea
rare . | Grosbeak, Rose-breasted,........-..
| Cupidonia cupido........ccec cere ee eee BB | eee
; d 3 Toone ca nace DAO TH OL oT eo
Curious Nesting Place...........-.++ 127 “
rein ertibitn Tr seael Grouse; PINGAtCU.. ceric nce vcs eens inn! 33
cd TE a a aa as al “¢ Sharp-tailed............... 84, 93
Danvers, Mass., Notes from.......-.. 47 | ee contents sfetevel=teles/=}=iafeteyeisfain 94, 147
Darter, Florida | COHINER, foie ens code nodansocdnadscorn + «181
Davie’s Egg Check List .| Terns and Grebes at Emporia,
Dendrovca ccerulescens....... | TKADBAB! oc cic tires ieiie ene ivleisi= stai=inini 152
Us fain EN ASE Re ate OD DOe 98 Gulls, Three-toed... +182
“ Sah ee ee ey Ta Gun for Collecting, What?........... 46
Ws DEPTIV TINUED ciaatuato'are\ tie uisiaia)aie'a'« sO
3 DER Le Lasts cratcio cxsivis/a creates 188 | Hematopus palliatus..........+++++- 160
23 townsendi..... +00. Eee 34 Hamilton, Ont., Among the Migrants
Dermal Preservative.............. 15, 32 | Ab esse eee eee ee 101
Destruction of Birds for Millinery Harrier, Marsh........ 9
DPR POREM ee tices dasiane reset 15, 31,48 | Hawking............. St)

. 168, 183

Dove, Mourning......... .. 146
| Wak. RHE Sse ocu e nae boaonosyBpoOeee 179 | “6 Sparrow ...- ++. .eseeseee ee eees
« Swainson’s
Eagle, Caracara, Fags of..............30 Nee GRE gone hone ee eee an
“Golden, Peculiarly Marked | Hawks in Greenfield, Mass........--» 90
Eggs of...--. -- oe ie es 94 | Helmintherus swainsoni..... 0.0.0 .00 89
Beg Check Tist. Davie’s... 53 | Welminthotherus vermivorus..... +++ 176
Pres eg CMAN, toe rsmernc es 9 Heron, Great Blue....... ....+++. 11, 168
*« Removing Ink Marks on. Herong, Little Blue.........2-.2-.5++ i
| weret, Great White............. te Onwlhnect eee ee 117
| Embalmed Bird....-.-...---+- Heronry, A Florida............++-..- 100
| Empidonax pusillus trailli z “ iA Visio eee ee t
Emporia, Kans., Notes on the Water Hirundo erythrogastra.........++ 71, 161
Birds /Ofe ea ceice sine oon ene -104° Hummingbird, Broad-tailed......... 164
Entomology, Practical..........1f 55, 170 “ Ruby-throated ...... 145
Hummingbirds, Six Species of the
Faleo periqrinus, .. 0. cee ceceer eee cee 92 (Srila ellasenccaphcchezen soon: 96
UOTE ER CGO EELS: Sy is Hylocichla mustelina.... .129
Malena Prairies: Bop ot) unalascce pallast.......+++ QT
Gp CARIN Par ple, eel | ce ustulata swainsoni. ...26, 183
. © Grass. -162 |
SER SELOUS Oats 0ies eiens 149]
eee parler ey m=, , 162 This, Glossy....---.-.--e2ee0+ seeeeces 8
“ Purple 130 Felerus gaits la..
Flicker, Yellow-shafted............+. nL} ear :
| Florida Bird Life.......-.+-+ 4, 20, 41, 74 Ilinois Bird Laws

Indigo Bird, Notes on

Flycatcher, Great-crested.........-+. 178
“ Iiealiliatee eden oscacsece 35 | Lonornis MANTINICH. ss ccesccccce cess 29
Franklin Co., Ind., Observations on Towa City, Ia., Notes from.........- 63
Faunal Changes in...........0++++ 98
Jay, Blue........ccecceeeeenseeeeceee
Gallipage media wilsoni........+.0++ 447 “* The Florida or Serub.
WELSONE sc occ cic due cursiese sins 183 Junco hyemalis.......+0..+
“ee

Gallinule, Purple.............-29, 63, 191 OP EGONUS , os eee rae

Kaneas Bird ite... -.cc ssesies ce seine 52 | “Oology of New England,”.......... 184 | Scoter, American Velvet in Wis...... 183

Kansas Birds, Fall Migration......... 72 | Oporornis formosa ...... c Sea Islands, Notes on the Birds of the
Kalamazoo Co., Mich., A Catalogue Oriole, Baltimore... LBD |e a, urstae Sega eteoer asses ee ee 13, 27, 44, 62
OIE LEINGS! Olle veleisteclyteteiites oats SESS OLCHALG rietameratetee rts s seein) 132 Silver City, N. M., Notes from...... Ans
, 149, 166, 189 | Oswego, N. Y., Notes from........-. 160!| 0" cua duacics sabe eee tte 3, 147, 163
rage 93, 147 | OWI, Barn.........4+-4ss0s-+se.+4++++-79 | Shrike, The Northern, as a Singer... .53

163) “ Large Set of Eggs of...... « White-rumped, Song of the, 111
Rappers 63| ‘* California Mottled............. Shelter Island, N. Y., Notes from....80

wc The Crown of the......... 176 | Owl’s Eggs, Great-horned...........- Sialic ataliaccsneasesasceeemeeecatee 129
GMP DINGS! <i. ese. cee ..91, 132. 160 | Owl, The Florida, or Burrowing. .

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Kingfisher, Belted, BOOST OSGOOD NCI 5 146) “ Little Screech.. Siurus auricapillus.... 0.00.02: 183, 181
KDE sae egen ongc soaps oso akcos Io 183 ‘* Mexican Screech Sturus motacilla..... Solel 79
| “ Short-eared...... | Bea Rooper osnicn <eelen
Lanivireo flavifrons........0.e-0-00e LG 1 Se Snowy sets es - | Skunk Scent, To Remove. ..80
Oy solitarius..... Be ES} | CO Steitetd \oeeeorinserce oceeeboorncns 47 Snipe, Wilson’s............
ss te COSSING «pe nteera AT “« My Experience with a | Snowbird, Black-headed.........-++.-
Lapland, A Birds’ Nesting Ramblein |. .........--- Spor anasaoe odes 61, 75 | & Oreronieacesne cree
so eiso'sslelsatstaes eae eee 124, 139 | Owls «06.0000. eee sees sees -++eee+-4%, 111 | Sparrow, Black-chinned...
Tank. AERO Pe etettoern enctee eevee Saori | | Oxyechus vociferus...... a ‘“* throated..
Iba Gal dhbacariedanoniasokricssendoc 0 95 | Oystercatcher, American..........-. 160 se California Sone
UMA PILL: ctetalnc a acts eee sleet ae ete 75 | | 65) *Chipping.cecmesisis telecine
Locke, Mich., Summer Birds of........ 3) Parula, americana ......+..++++ 101, 183 | “> sBleld cra. accaceeenetee
Loons at Portland, Me.............+ 165 | Parus hudsonicus ...2.6--20seeneee ee 64 B ‘A New Species of,......
OLED QMeCTACANG ose © cc ccons'scu cules 79 | Passerculus princeps......c.eserereas 1) Meri ng “Ahern cc! 5, 24, 127
* curvirostra amnerii -110 | Passerella iliaca..... ..130 aS POX ve acess ae Scie i{")
BO MLERECOIOT. Oh cmtatetatsyeieieisiteieielsiaielsl» 161 | Passerina cyanea 131 we Heermann’s Song.. 143
Pediwcetes phasianellus columbianus oa Intermediate White-crowned
Manhattan, Kan., Notes from........-29 | eee «34, 93 |
ue aS Winter Birds of. «84 |Periorine..1-cccee mn e\asiaincivier enemas 92 | pe
Manitoba, Notes on the Birds of, 76, 91 Perisoreus canadensis... 91 | ae
9 U2 “ Zoology of...... | Petrochelidon lunifrous. 72, 98, 161 | ne
Baik eXeletove ie’eieicialaiaterason cferelajeaink 102, 121 ef BYWaM Ps co cmaclcs «clever tae
Marlboro’, Ohio, Notes from......... 79 ss White-throated ............. 64
Martin, Purple............ 16, 17, 71, 190 | Peucowa estivalis illinoensis........-. 79 | Speotyto cunicularia floridand......-- 21
Melanerpes erythrocephalus, 92, 146, 188 Phalacrocorax dilophus........0. 006+ 147 | Sphyrapicus varius ..........cecereee 145
CO eae LON GULAULA Saissin ss aele sie tents Phoebe indices si -ceese ree -i senate a 145 Spizella atrigularis.. . 30
Melanetta velvetind........+..-+++ 3 | Philohela Mminor.... ....s+eeeeeeeeee 147) “fs domestica. -130
Melospiza Jasciatd........0.-sceeeses Pipilo opie He St 131, 183 iG US TELD: 5 s/a'e ajatat=nts ciel 162
Bp oe heermanni Plain Enclish.. = Ot kee OE ee Lh wortheni 5, 24, 127
“ “& gsamuelis........ Plegadis fale fnalien var ordi nasieantelous 8 | Spiza americand......-.++1.00++ 99, 163
= palustris. ........« nis Plotus ANWingd......cccccceaccceecees 74 Spring Shore Bird, Migration at Cape
Merganser, Red-breasted. Plumage of Birds, On the Seasonable | Coley: Want): ep ersoseereee cobcob occ 117
Metrices Chanpestofeen cece ccseestecsenen 96 | Squirrel, Albino Red............ Banoce.!)
Michigan Notes, with an Addition to Podiceps holbolli...... .95 Strix flammea........ ah eiaistaltatte Aposnclt)
NGA REIT Blsreinis wie'niatare'k’arcle aveteisierslaicieictere Podilymbus podiceps. . ..165 | Sturnella Magnd.......2+0cceccerces 131
Micropalama himantopus. 2 Powcetes gramineus. . « .162 | Swallow, Bank................ agncass 71
Migrations of Birds..........-..,..+« 35 | Polyborus cheriway.. -30 | se Barn ......-...+200200e
Millinery Purposes, Destruction of | Porzananoveboracensis. ..168 | Swift, Chimney...............+..
IBindafion.s ter ccecccnaemeees 15, 31, 48} Progne subis........- 17, 71 | Swallow, Cliff.......
Mississippi Valley Migration— | “* — White-bellied. .
Bird Waves.........---..---.-. 1,49 | Quiscalus purpureus.......cccee0es 183 | Swallows........-.-+-.
Relation of Migration to Atmos- “ « @Nneus......-.. 132 | Swan’s Eggs, Black....... .......
pheric Warm and Cold Waves. .17 | |
Relation of Migration to Barometric | Rail, Carolina..........+-...sseeeeees 94 Taftsville, Vt., Notes from...... aeeeate 10
Pressure and Temperature, 65, 82) (California Clapper............. 142 | Taxidermal Note.......... 0000s. eeeeee 05
Distribution, 1884................ 33) « Little Yellow in Kansas........ 168 | Taxidermy, Practical—
List of New Stations and Obsery- = “ Virginia, Nesting in California, 176 | Chap. I, Collecting.............- 137
OTB... 2 ee ecceres os --113 Raleigh, N. C., Fall Migrants of...... 183 | «TI, Work-room and Tools, 153
Spring of 1883, Notes............... | “ ‘© Notes from........ 14, 79 | * TIT, Supplies
Bane sneis . 129,145, 161, 177 | ci ** Summer Birds of...... 143 © TV, Skinning ae
Mocking Bird...........-.+0+--+ 147, 190 “ «Winter Birds of.......128 | Templeton, Pa., Notes from..... Bere i:
Molothrus ater .......0.000.20ieeee es 177 Raptores, Some Californian. 7,25|Terrebonne Parish, La., Sketches
Mytarchus crinitus........0--20+ +20 178 | Re-discovery for Texas... + AT2 PROM Se ciee eee ee eee eRe 190
Red-poll, Common.... .161 | Texas, A New Bird for.............. 127
New York, Science.....-......+.--.- AVG Rond-minneressacseeceeccetcr ances: 149 | Thrush, Curve-billed...........-.... W447
North Carolina, Notes from...... 29, 63 ae Golden-crowned........... 183
Norwich, Conn., Notes from......... 74 | Sandpiper, Bartram’s................. 93 Wi UG ae Song of the, 191
Nuthatch, Red-bellied........ 63, 79, 183 “ Baird’s at Hamilton, Ont. 160 “ — Large-billed Water...........79
ae Bini Ged isaee eeisteiereisie cinta 160 sé Olive-backed.........
Obituary—Dr. H. A. Atkins......... 120 | Sayornis fuscus.......-.++ - 145 fe «and Hermit in Mich-
Dr. Alfred E. Brehm. Scolecophagus ferrugineus . . settee eens 0 eB
Dr. William Wood.......136 | Scops asio bendirii........ C 3 es - 183
Oological Suggestions—Metrices....111 “ trichopsis .... Serene cisco $6 WO0G..... sere eee e cee enes 129

asedion+

—

a

Titmouse, Hudsonian in Mass........ 64 | Warbler, Bay-breasted in Mich....... ba a OOC COCKS erstetaactas(ercieistsiasistcciee as =i 147
xe Wollweber’s ..........--+ 164 G3 Blackburnian.............. 183 | Woodpecker, Cal............. fcate oe 164
Tit, Lead-colored...........--++0.0++ 148 Se Black=polleds is. wee asec ae 183 Me Golden-crowned . ..92, 146
Towhee, Canon........-..-- Seeanness 164 ** Black-throated Blue........183 a EP ANTISU ser alslelsiis Seiais efi 164
SE Spurred... .e.e sees eeeee eee a a eo GROG erie 183 Trawikt eastern 35
Trachycineta bicolor..... ms Blue Yellow-backed, 183, 191 “ “ in Texas.
Trochilus colubris.......+ sf * ee Nest and “ Red-bellied ..........-.
Troglodytes cedon =e PPR Oba aacafun nae «'biafdsisis’s ies)aurcs 101 “ Red-headed .. .92, 146, 183
. Vi MASE OO RE ae Warbler, Chestnut-sided............. 182 ee Yellow-breasted ...... 145
Meee teeters rtemietsyamaneieiaoni=i= annie * ==} F =
Tyrannus carolinensis, ...62, 91, 132, 176 | me ile Fyne cer J aes ee Gas Sig kota p

& vainson’ i v Jaro- SOP MHLOMRO eennciccieinia safeelersteins
Upper Passaic Valley, N. J., Birds of... aaa So Nene ee |) taf tegen emats
is este sietal alate rielelersiciaic'<ierel They ZEUS RE ee ae aici | Ey
ze “© 'Townsend’s... RON EOe SL untae WROCKearcne ateeise tetera:
Vermont, Southwestern, Winter Birds « Worm-eating, Nesting of in
GEN sires iadereesennerie nee. 63 Chester Co., Pa.........--.- | Yellow-throat, Maryland......... 60, 190
Vireo, Blue-headed............-.. 80,183 Warbler, Yellow-throated............
6 Cassin’s «0... cceerer eee e ee eees 47 | Webster, N. H., Winter Birds of. Zamelodia ludoviciana..... 5, 37, 181, 198
* Warbling...... -161 | Whip-poor-will............+..-+. 5 | Zenaidura carolinensis......ceces+« 146
‘« Yellow-throated .. -161 | Wood, Dr. Wm.......--.s0.seee eens Zonotrichia gambelli intermedia...... 34
Vireosylvia gilvd.... 2120-02 2e0scees 161 | Woodchuck, Albino... . 5

eS
VOLUME

Andros, Chas. §., Taunton, Mass............. 60
Anthony, A. W., Denver, Col........47, 188, 152

Atkins, Dr. H. A., Locke; Mich........-..+.-8, 009
Averill, C. K., Jr., Bridgeport, Conn..........53
Baldwin, Prentiss, Cleveland, Ohio............80
Barrell, H. F., New Providence, N. J....... 21, 42
Bates, Frank A., Boston, Mass................ 63
Beckiamy, (C<Wieai(e72 Hency iss ert ae eae 176 |
Bishop, L. B., New Haven, Conn.............3
Bladen, W. Wells, Stone, England..............23

Brehm, The late Dr. Alfred E., (Pop. Sei. MW). .178
eae H. H. & C.§., Raleigh, N. C..

; . .14, 63, 80, 128, 143, 183
Brown, Terbare rucaorls ATIZ.- coco cE Ae
Butler, A. W., Brookville, Taree earnest OS

Cahoon, J. C.,

vadeste.s . 21, 30, 117, 160
Madiaon, Wi is. .

Carr, C. F., ...188, 189
Center, Geo. H., Staunton, Tn. . 64
Chamberlain, M , St. John, N. B.. pees)
Chapman, Alfred C., (Zb7s).......... “105, 124, 139

(Zoologist) .... . . 97
Clarke & Morgan, Newherne, N. ee. Bence eee 96
Clemens, E. V., Ansonia, Conn.. 598

Comstock, 8. W., Greenfield, Nass, 47. 64, 90. 111
Cooke, Prof. W. W., Burlington, Vt., 1. 17, 33,
47, 49, 65, 81, 113, 127, 129, 145, 161, 172,177

Christy, Robert Miller, (Zoologist)............ 76, 91
Co We Re, Washington, DiiGirn. snmevessecsenano
DS DS HOS weeds ds se ceca esters ee ORL OO.
Dickinson, J. E., Rockford, Ill........ ..47, 80

Dyche, Prof. L. L., Lawrence, Kansas.........168

By CW hou: Wins sc). cnccacese coat LALO
g

Hiddy-HNe <A... Bay! Citys Michs erecnvccsctsaeerare

Edwards, W. W., Abbeville, La................80
Blink Robert.s. i foceeacm ee eciece 95°
Emerson, W. Otto........... "142, 143, 173
Enty, Geo., Templeton, aes SOIT VORTEC OTST ke)
** Falco”... 14
BE We an 114
Gentry, Prof. Thos. G. (The Museum)........ 111
G. H. R., Boston, Mass. . Siac .165
Gibbs, Dr. Morris, Ralaiaucoo, Mich Se IO.A

6, 26, 38, 54,68, 86, 118, 133, 149, 166, 189, 191
Gunn, Chas. W., Grand Rapids, Mich... ...26, 30

Hancock, E. M., Waukon, Iowa................
Hasbrouck, E. M., Palatka, Fla... ...4, 20, 41, 74
iH. Hi: B:;, Newberme: NiG encase acres. ccOU

Howland, Snowdon, Newport, R. I.. . 94
Hoxie, Walter, Frogmore, So. Car..
. 13, 27, Me 48, 62, 111

Sie INDEX’ ‘TO "CONTRIBUTORS:

Xe; BOSD:

Jackson, Thos. H., West Chester, Pa........ 176
J. M. Wey Nocwitts Conn... see. ne ee
Bannon A. I. Hydeville, Vt. Sate tec 32, 63

Jones, J. Matthew, in F.and S..............-

Keegan, P. Q., (Hard. Sci. Gos.)..
Kellogg, V. L., Emporia, Kan........... 104, 152
Kent, G. L., Belchertown, Mass...............-160

Kent, P: E., Poway, Calisoce a) ses eee ee 96
| Kine, Horace*A., Polos Ml]. -5)-cae eee eee
Lantz, Prof. D. E. Manhattan, Kansas........
| 10, wy 29, 52, 72, 84
| L. M. B. es ene ..79
Lucas, F. " Washineiont oD, C. Bt
McCormick, L. M., Washington, D. C............- 48
Mcllwraith, K. C., Hamilton, Ont........101, 160

Marsh, Chas. H., Silver City, N. M.. <a
= oe Ds 111, ‘1M, 163
Merrill, anes Bangor Wines

15

Mundt, A. H., Fairbury, ll. SG ances Soeeeeec!s1
Myhill,A., Medina, N: Wij... «cn. sees
Nichols, Andrew, Jr., Danvers, Mass..........47
Noe, Fletcher M., Indianapolis, Ind.............82
Northrup, Edwin F., Syracuse, N. Y.......... 11
Ohberholtzer,; Mirs: 8; Li... .scssew + soci cle oe eee
Paine, A. Gardner, New York City..........60, 64
Parkhurst, A. L., San Jose, Gall... ....5.2 7, 16, 25
| Presby, W. H., East Cambridge, Mass.... .... 61
Preston,.J: W., Baxter, [a..<. . 22 secsceunn cereal
Ragsdale, G. H., Gainesville, Texas............ "9
Rathbun, Frank R. Auburn, N. Y..... . . 174

64 |

Richards, E. A. in Orange Co. (Fla.) Roa 100

Saunders, W. E., London, Ont............. 46, 95
Shaw, S. Albert, Hampton, N. H.........30, 32, 101

Smith, H. G., Jr: Denver: Gol... . ..-...40eseeeeae
Taylor, H. R., Alameda, Cal...............000-A4
| Todd, Louis M.; Calais, Me.................0se 69D
Tozer. R. J., Cleveland), Ohio:.....--eseeeeee 47
Tracy, C. O., Taftsville, Vt...........10, 37, 71, 80
Wade, Joseph M., Boston, Mass....... ...5, 127
Webster, Frank B. Boston, Mass...........--
See feiek canter de 32, 64, 153, 169, 184, 186, 192
W.. BH, Pairviews, We View con scctnessreneeeeaee
Wilder, C. H, Wayland, N. Y 99, 110, 111
Wood, The late T. B. (Zoologist)......... 102, 121
Worthington, W. W., Shelter Island, N. Y....80

Wright & Bates, Boston, Mass...........155, 170

ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

$1.50 per

OOLOGIST.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Pusutsuer. Single Copy
Annum. Established, March, 1875. 15 Cents.
1885.

VOL. X.

Mississippi Valley Migration.
BIRD WAVES.

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.
The idea of studying the bird waves was not
thought of until migration last Spring had fairly
commenced. No instructions were issued to the
observers to note bird waves and only a few sent
any specific notes on the subject. Under such
adverse conditions, there would have been no at-
tempt to write up the waves, were it not for the
extreme importance of the subject. It is during
these nights of bird waves that the bulk of migra-
tion occurs. This is especially true of Fall mi-
gration, but also toa large extent in the Spring.
If then, we are to study migration successfully,
we must study it when it is most active. More-
over, it is on bird waves that the action of the
weather is most apparent, hence they furnish the
readiest means for studying the relation between
meteorology and migration.

The great drawback is the difficulty of accu-
rately observing and reporting the bird waves.
It is by far the hardest part of the field work in
the study of migration, and requires more time
and a more constant presence in the field than
most observers can give.

The word “bird waves” has been used many
times, but no meaning has been given to it.
There are indeed, two meanings and two modes
of study. We may consider a bird wave as an
unusually large number of birds which, during
one or more days, spread over a portion of our
district.

Viewed in this light, the work before us is to
ascertain the several species of birds constituting
the wave, and the boundaries of the territory
over which it passed.

Or, having learned that certain species were
migrating together on a given day, we may con-
sider these species as a wave and watch their
northward progress day after day and week after
week, now stopping or receding before the breath
of a fierce norther, and now urged rapidly for-

PAWTUCKET, R. I., JANUARY,

IN'On er:

ward by the gentle south wind, until they reach
their Summer homes im the far north.

It is this second method which we will now
employ, but it is applicable only to the earliest
waves. It is only early in the season that these

| species which are together in the south keep to-
| gether during their entire journey. In all the
| later waves the species migrating together change
| constantly from day to day.
| ‘The first wave last Spring consisted principally
| of Ducks, Geese, Blackbirds, Larks, Killdeer,
Robins and Bluebirds. After being driven south
by the extreme cold of the first week in January,
they returned to St. Louis, 384, on January 31;
but went no farther, nor was any advance move-
ment made until February 25, when a small por-
tion moved one degree farther north. Then
came a total standstill until March 10; but the
full influence of the warm weather was not felt
until the 18th to 15th of the month. The period
| from March 10 to 16, was one of great activity.
During this time the birds of the first wave spread
the whole northern half of Illinois, the
southern edge of Wisconsin, the whole of Iowa
and Nebraska, while scouts followed up the
Mississippi River almost to St. Paul. During
the next few days, from March 17 to March 21,
the advance was continued and the birds visited
| all the country to latitude 44°, with a few irregu-
lar appearances at points half a degree farther
north, and one impetuous Goose clear up to St.
Ansgar, Dak., 46°. By March 26, they haye
been reported from every station to 46°, with
scouts of Ducks and Geese hunting up the Mis-
souri and Red Rivers, almost to 48°.

over

| From here northward, the observers are few
and confined to the valley of the Red River of
the north. Judging by the reports, it would
seem that by this time the different species of the
first wave were beginning to be widely separated.
The Bluebird has fallen out entirely since we left
| latitude 45°; the Robins and Blackbirds still move
| onward, but they are several days behind the
Ducks and Geese. The latter crossed the bound-

Copyright, 1885, by Frank B. WEBSTER and EaToN CLIFF.

2 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 1 —

ary line about April 1, reaching Two Rivers,
Manitoba, 4988 on April 3, while Robins and
Blackbirds did not appear until the middle of the
month.

If now we consider the speed at which this
wave moved, we find that all the efforts of Febru-
ary were productive of no real forward move-
ment; and that its true advance dates from March
9. During the next seven days, it passed to Jati-
tude 43°, or forty-three miles a day. This high
rate is probably due to the previous retardation.
The next five days it advanced to latitude 44°, or
only fourteen miles a day. This slow rate may
be due to the north winds and abundant rains
which occurred on these days; or it may be that
having moved rapidly to the limit of open water,
their further progress was necessarily slow, until
they were overtaken by the general advance of
To reach latitude 46° required five
more days, being twenty-eight miles a day, and
the next eight days, at thirty-one miles a day,
brought them to latitude 49°. It will be seen
that the last three hundred and eighty miles were
travelled at nearly the average speed, i. e., thirty
miles aday. This is nearly twice as fast as the
first wave of last year, which started early, pro-
gressed slowly, and reached its destination even
later than that of this year.

In the preceding remarks we have intimated
that the notes of last Spring were not altogether

the season.

satisfactory. This was to have been expected
from the fact that less than half of the observers
had ever done any previous work of the kind.
But what was done shows that there are in the
Mississippi Valley, men sufficiently interested in
the work to make it in the future a grand success.
A very propitious beginning has been made, and
we intend that this shall be but the beginning.
The particulars in which last Spring’s notes
were lacking, are principally in regard to the
movements of the bulk, and the weather reports.
In regard to the weather the fault is mine rather
than the observers. It was my belief that the
Signal Service reports would prove amply suffi-
cient, and so the observers were told they need
not pay much attention to weather reports. Ex-
perience has proved that I was wrong, and there-
fore the coming Spring it is desired that full
weather reports be furnished by each observer.
Instructions in regard to the form of the report
have been printed and will be sent to each ob-
server. Concerning the movements of the bulk,
the problem is more difficult of solution. Theo-
retically the arrival of the first, and of the bulk,
give us all the data we need, but practically, we
are met by the difficulty, that less than twenty
per cent. of the observers haye the requisite ex-

perience, or can spare the necessary time to de-
termine when the bulk do arrive. To obviate
this difficulty, a slightly different series of observa-
tions will be requested in the forthcoming circu-
lar of the committee. With these changes and
increased attention paid to the matter of bird
waves, there ought to be nothing lacking in next
Spring’s work.

Of course, it is hoped that all the observers will
be able to help on the work again next Spring,
but in addition we are in need of many more new
observers, and particularly in the following new
localities: One more in southern Mississippi;
one in northwestern Mississippi; two in central,
two in northern Louisiana, and one at New
Orleans; three in southeastern Texas, one near
Corpus Christi, and one near Brownsville; two in
southern and two in central Arkansas; one in
eastern and one in western Indian Territory; two
in southeastern, and one in northwestern Missouri;
one in western Tennessee; one in western Ken-
tucky; one in southern Illinois; several in western
Kansas; and the same in western Nebraska; one
in southwestern, and one in northwestern Iowa;
as many new ones as possible in Wisconsin and
Minnesota north of 45° latitude; three in the
upper peninsular of Michigan; while the whole
of the prairie region of Dakota is practically
without observers. There is a rich field for ob-
servation in southwestern Dakota, and it is very
desirable to get as full notes as possible from that
district; while the Turtle Mountain region offers
a very fine chance for the ornithologist, especially
during the breeding season. Here then are about
forty-five new observers needed in order to have-
every part of our immense district under close
observation. The larger part of the places men-
tioned have been comparatively little visited and
studied by ornithologists and will richly reward
any one who devotes his spare time to the work.
In this connection we cannot refrain from men-
tioning the excellent work done last Spring by
some of the lady observers. One of the best and
fullest report received came from a lady, while
for clearness and beauty of finish it was excelled
by none. Hence when we call for observers, we
wish both sexes to be considered as addressed.

A year ago, a call for observers was issued in
this magazine. The results far exceeded the ex-
pectations; some forty-five answers were received
from the Mississippi Valley and about fifty from
other parts of the United States. May this year
prove as successful. Let all who are willing to
aid, send their address, and full instructions will
be furnished. Those outside of the Mississippi
Valley will please apply to Dr. C. Hart Merriam,
Locust Grove, N. Y.; others can obtain circulars
from me.

Jan. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 3

Summer Birds of Locke, Michigan.
BY DR. H. A. ATKINS.

A list of the birds seen or captured in the town-
ship of Locke, in June, July and August, 1884.
The asterisk (*) prefixed to a species indicates that
it was known to breed during the season. The
annotations have reference only to the year and
months specified above :

1* Robin, Turdus migratorius,) abundant.

2* Wood Thrush, (Turdus mustelinus,) rather scarce.

~3 Alice’s Thrush, (Zurdus swainsoni aliciw,) one only

seen, (Aug. 25.)

4" Cat Bird, (Mimus carolinensis,) common.

5* Brown Thrush, (Harporhynchusrufus,) rather common.

6* Bluebird, (Sialia sialis,) common.

7* Black-capped Chickadee, (Parus atricapillus,) rather
common.

-8 Carolina Chickadee, (Parus atricapillus carolinensis,)

rare,

9* White-bellied Nuthatch, (Sitta carolinensis,) common.

10* Honse Wren, (T'roglodytes domestica,) rare.

11* Long-billed Marsh Wren,
scarce.

12 Horned Lark, (Eremophila alpestris,) not common.

13 Black and White Creeper, (Mniotilta varia,) not com-
com,

14 Golden-winged Warbler, (Helminthophaga chrysoptera,)
rare.

15" Yellow Warbler, (Dendreca cestiva,) common.

16 Blue Warbler, (Dendraca cerulea,) rare.

17 Chestnut-sided Warbler, (Dendreca pennsylvanica,)
rare.

18 Golden-crowned Thrush, (Siurus auricapillus,) rather
common.

19 Large-billed Water Thrush, (Siwrws motacilla,) rather
common.

20 Maryland Yellow-throat, (Geothlypis trichas,) rather
common.

— 21* Hooded Warbler, (Myiodioctes mitratus,) common.

22 Redstart, (Setophaga ruticilla,) rare.

23* Scarlet Tanager, (Pyranga rubra,) common.

24* Barn Swallow, (Hirundo horreorwm,) abundant.

25* White-bellied Swallow, (Tachycineta bicolor,) not com-
mon.

26* Cliff Swallow, (Petrochelidon lunifrons,) not common.

27 Cedar Bird, (Ampelis cedrorum,) rare.

28 Red-eyed Vireo, (Vireo olivaceus,) common.

29" Warbling Vireo, (Vireo gilvus,) common. One nest
found; the first ever met with in the township.

30 Yellow-throated Vireo, (Vireo flavifrons,) rather com-

mon.

Great Northern Shrike, (Lanius borealis, rare.

32 Yellow Bird, (Chrysomitris tristis,) abundant.

33* Bay-winged Bunting, (Poawcetes gramineus,) abundant.

34* Song Sparrow, (Melospiza melodia,) abundant.

35* Chipping Sparrow, (Spizella socialis,) abundant.

36* Field Sparrow, (Spizella pusilla,) abundant.

37* English Sparrow, (Passer domesticus,) not common.

38* Rose-breasted Grosbeak, (Goniaphea ludoviciana,)
scarce,

39” Indigo Bird, (Cyanospiza cyanea,) common.

40" Towhee Bunting, (Pipilo erythrophthalmus,) abundant.
First and only nest found was on the 4th of August,
was built in a small clump of briars; height above
ground, 3 feet 5 inches.

41 Bobolink, (Dolichonyx oryzivorus,) common.

(Telmatodytes palustris,)

42* Cow Bunting, (Molothrus ater,) common.
43 Red-winged Blackbird, (Agel@us pheeniceus,) abundant.
44 Meadow Lark, (Sturnella magna,) common.
45 Baltimore Oriole, (Icterws baltimore,) not common.
46 Purple Grackle, (Quiscalus purpureus,) common.
47* Crow, (Corvus americanus,) abundant.
48* Blue Jay, (Cyanurus cristatus,) common.
49 Kingbird, (Tyrannus carolinensis,) rather common.
50 Great-crested Flycatcher, (My/archus crinitus,) rather
common.
51* Phebe Bird, (Sayornis fuscus,) abundant.
52 Wood Pewee, (Contopus virens,) rather common.
53" Acadian Flycatcher, (Empidonax acadicus,) rare.
54 Traill’s Flycatcher, (EZmpidonaz trailli,) rather common,
55 Whip-poor-will, (Antrostomus vociferus,) common.
56 Night Hawk, (Chordeiles virginianus,) rare.
Chimney Swallow,) Chetura pelasgica,) common.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, (Trochilus colubris,) com-
mon.
59 Kingfisher, (Ceryle alcyon,) rare.
60* Black-billed Cuckoo, (Coceyzus
rather common.
61* Yellow-billed Cuckoo, (Coccyzus americanus,) rather
common.
62 Pileated Woodpecker, (Hylotomus pileatus,) rare.
63* Hairy Woodpecker, (Picus villosus,) common.
64* Downy Woodpecker, (Picus pubescens,) common.
65 Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, (Sphyrapicus varius,) not
common.
66* Carolina Woodpecker, (Centurus carolinus,) rare.
67* Red-headed Woodpecker, (Melanerpes erythrocephalus,)
common.
68* Golden-winged Woodpecker, (Colaptes auratus,) com-
mon.
69 Barred Owl, (Syrnium nebulosum,) rare.
Marsh Hawk, (Circus cyaneus hudsonius,) rare.
71 Sparrow Hawk, (Falco sparverius,) rare.
72* Red-shouldered Buzzard, (Buteo lineatus,) common.
73 Wild Pigeon, (Eetopistes migratorius,) one only seen
during summer.
Mourning Dove, (Zeneedwra carolinensis,) rare.
Ruffed Grouse, (Bonasa umbellus,) not common.
Quail, (Ortyx virginianus,) not common.
Killdeer, (gialitis vociferus,) not common.
Semipalmated Sandpiper, (Hrewnetes pusillus,) one only
(Aug. 13,) the first appearance of this species in this
township.
79 Solitary Sandpiper, (Votanus solitarius,) one only seen,
(Aug 13,) the first one of the season.
80 Great Blue Heron, (Ardea herodias,) rare.
81 Stake Driver, (Botaurus lentiginosus,) rare.
82 Sandhill Crane, (Grus canadensis,) rare.

erythrophthalmus,)

aaa 4
Aan es

aD

Notes from Silver City, N. M.
BY CHARLES H. MARSH.

To my list of birds from Silver City, for last
June, I should have added the Arizona Jay, one
specimen of which was taken early in the month.
Early in September, I took a trip to the Carolina
Divide, some twenty miles from Silver City, in
the expectation of securing some rarities for my
collection, but unfortunately the rainy season
set in, and after four days of long-continued
showers, I was obliged to take my leave.
I however improved the brief intervals of
sunshine, as best I could, and did not return

4 ORNITHOLOGIST

entirely empty handed. Our tent was pitched in
a grove of oaks near the top of the Divide,
which, all through the day, resounded to the
harsh cries of the California Woodpecker. Scores
of Rufous Humming-birds darted hither and
thither, now pausiug over some bright-hued
flower, or perching daintily on the branch of an
oak or pine, now darting with a sharp zip before
us as we sat at our meals and poising in mid-air to
gaze curiously at the intruders on their privacy.
Slender-billed Nuthatches dodged from side to
side of the hugh pine trunks, while in the brush
lining the banks of a tiny stream, could be seen
the bright yellow.plumage of the Pileolated War-
bler. In aside canon some little distance from
our camp I shot two Red-faced Warblers, high
up in the branches of a quaking aspen, and
not far distant, a young Grace's Warbler, On our
homeward trip I secured a few Band-tailed Pig-
eons, Gambel’s, Scaled and Messena Quail and
other more common birds.

With the advent of cold weather the Titmice
are once more with us, and within the past few
days I have secured some fine specimens of the
Gray and Wollweber's Titmice, as well as of the
Lead-colored Tit. I am daily on the lookout for
the Black-eared Tits, a few specimens of which I
shot last Winter. In the cactus on the plains are
the Curve-billed Cactus Wrens;
among the Scrub Oak lining the ridges the Crissal
Thrush, Arctic and Mexican Bluebirds, Wood-
house's Jays, Mexican Flickers, Oregon, Pink-
sided and Gray-headed Snowbirds, while flocks
of Mexican Shore Larks, MeCown’s Bunting
and Chestnut-collared Longspurs may be seen
here and there upon the prairie, But space will
not permit me to enumerate a fraction of our
Winter birds, and seldom do [ return from a col-
lecting trip without a well-filled bag.

Thrushes and

Florida Bird Life.

BY IK, M, HASBROUCK, PALATKA, FLA,

For the last year*l have had an intense desire
to visit Florida, and to get a glimpse of the bird-
life which it afforded, yet scarcely daring to
dream that my fond hope would be realized, at
least not for along time to come. But fate de-
creed otherwise. Oct. 9, 1884, found me on board
asteamer in New York harbor, bound to Palatka,
Mla, After a delightful sail of three days, I ar-
rived at Savannah, thence by rail to Palatka on a
smoky little train that stopped every three or
four miles, to let a cow get off the track, or at
some little station that consisted of a house with
ashingle nailed on toa post, telling the name.

[Vol. 10-No. 1

But at length I arrived at Palatka, a pleasant lit-
tle town, situated on the St. Johns river, 75 miles
from Jacksonville. After spending a few days in
securing rooms, and getting everything prepared
for a season’s study and collecting, | took one of
the many little steamers that ply on the river, and

_ started for “ Crystal Lake,’ situated about 380

miles back in the woods. I arrived at my jour-
ney’s end about 6 o'clock, and during the evening
prepared everything for two weeks’ studying. I
retired early and was soon lost in slumber,
Awaking just as the first rays of daylight were
peeping into my room, I dressed as hurriedly as
possible, and catching up my gun and bag con-
taining note book and pencil, I started forth for
my first glimpse of Southern birds. Making my
way through the orange grove towards the lake,
I came upon a number of Mourning Doves feeding
on the ground, or perching on the bare branches
of a Mulberry tree, On the top branch sat a
Sparrow Hawk, no doubt pondering in his mind
whether to make a raid on them, or to have for
breakfast some one of the many little Warblers
that inhabit the bushes near by. Blue Jays, and
Mocking Birds are numerous, while from the
woods came the clear mellow whistle -of Quail,
not from one direction, but from every quarter of
the woods, showing that this country is plenti-
fully stocked with the bird. I have not yet
heard them utter the “Bob White” for which
they are so famous, but instead, it is “ Bob-by-
White” repeated several times in suceession, with
the accent sharp on the last syllable. Soon I
reached the “ lake” which is nothing but a small
pond, covered with patches of lily pads here and
there, over which the White-bellied Swallow was
skimming in considerable numbers. On its sur-
fuce were a number of species of water fowl,
among which I identified the following ;—Wood
Duck, Coot, Mud Hen and Hell Diver. Rounding
a curve, | came suddenly upon a number of Little
Blue or White Herons, feeding on the shore, I
watched them for some time, until they took alarm
and flew away to some other part of the lake.
Hearing a “chip” in the bushes to my left, I see
a little form hopping about, busily engaged in
gleaning the insects from the leaves. Not recog-
nizing it, I resort to the gun, to find it to bea
male Maryland Yellow-throat. I have not heard
his song since I have been here, though I have
met with him times. In a certain
clump of trees, I find dozens of the Red-bellied
Woodpeckers, feeding on the larvee found in the
dead pine stumps. The Downy Woodpecker is
also quite numerous, and the Hairy is frequently
met with. One bird is ever present in more or
less numbers, the Turkey Buzzard, sailing about

several

Jan. 1885.]

constantly in broad circles. You may see them,
now close to the ground, now skimming the tops
of the trees, and still others mere specks in the sky.
It is an interesting sight to see hundreds of these
useful scavengers, gathered about some dead car-
cass, busily engaged in devouring it, and yet to
those not interested in bird life, scarcely any-
thing more disgusting is to be found. In some
of my articles I will endeavor to describe what I
have witnessed more than once, but my present
intention is simply to allude to a few of the birds
met with ina day’s ramble. The Meadow Lark
is here, and utters the same note as he does when
in the pleasant fields of Central New York, but
somehow, it seems to lack the life and vigor here
which it expresses when in the North. It is fre-
quently to be met with on some little knoll in the
woods, and may be approached within a few
yards. The Cardinal Redbird, is also quite
numerous, and I meet him every little while,
mostly in brier patches near some house. IT have
so far failed to catch more than one note, which
sounds very much like that of the familiar Chip-
ping Sparrow, I also identified the Varied
Creeping Warbler and Black-throated Blue,

I made many notes of interest which next
month, [ will try and weave into something
worthy of the attention of the readers of the
O, and O,

—_—=———_

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

BY JOS. M. WADE, BOSTON, MASS,

My Rose-breasted Grosbeak “Jack,” so often

mentioned in your columns, commenced his song
this year Jan. 28, and within a few weeks was in
full song, whieh was continued nearly up to Oc-
tober, after which he sang considerable, but in a
lower key. This vear he has sung his own notes
less than ever; in fact very little of his own free
wild notes. But he has been quite a mimic, im-
itating other birds, but being in a changed tone, it
was always pleasing. He imitated more particu-
larly the Wren, the Bluebird and the Song Spar-
row, and sueeeeded very well—enough so to
bring passers-by to a halt to listen’ He shed the
first three long feathers July 18, and continued
for six weeks or two months, singing all the
while. THis eating capacity is something remark-
able. It ismy impression that there are days in
which he eats his weight in celery, beside his
seed and other food. THe will eat or drink any-
thing that he sees the family eating or drinking—
from medicine, beer, liquor, to sour krout. He
ean be persuaded to twitter and trill any time
during the year. His. affectionate performances

are something remarkable, but he willnot exhib-

AND OOLOGIST. 5

it before strangers. Te eats green peasand opens
the pods himself, sometimes eating the pods en-
tire, or rather the succulent part.
does with string beans.
bill and will sometimes hold one on his elevated

This he always
Grapes he takes on his

beak until he has about finished a whole grape
except the skin. It is always interesting to see
Ile will

do it with ease, when it seems impossible. He

him place a grape or pea on the perch.

Ile is now in his
seventh year, and has never lost the rose breast

never uses his feet in eating.

when putting on the female plumage in the Fall.
IIe has never been without several kinds of food
in his cage atthe same time. He is now, Nov, 28,
gradually moulting for his early Spring song. In
this moult he never sheds his long feathers, simply
puts on his male plumage. The rose breast
which came with the nest feathers has never
been changed, except to become slightly speckled
in the Fall.

July 3d, 1888, he was stolen from his cage on
the piazza when in full song.
wards, | found “ Jack” in a bird store in Boston—

Several days after-

asad looking bird.
i~ :
A New Species of Field Sparrow.
(Spizella northent?)
BY CHARLES H. MARSH, SILVER Cry, N. M.

On the 16th of June, I shot on the flat near the
town a new species of Field Sparrow, Spizella
northent. The bird was an adult male with plu-
mage slightly worn; crown light fulvous-brown,
with rufous tinge and no trace of lighter median
line. Entire side of the head ash-gray, including
the anterior part of the forehead and whole su-
perciliary and supra-auricular region. Eyelids
white, forming a distinet orbital ring. Bill cin-
namon-brown. Back and seapulars light fulvous-
brown, broadly streaked with black, Rump and
upper tail-coverts brownish ash-gray, latter with
medial streaks of dusky. Wings dusky, feathers
edged with light grayish-brown; middle coverts
tipped with whitish buff; chin and throat
grayish-white ; lower parts brownish-white deep-
er in the jugulum; crissum and lining of the wings
nearly pure white. Legs and feet horn-brown,
About the size of the Eastern Field Sparrow.

[We question the name given by Mr. Marsh,
having no knowledge of its derivation.—En,

oe

TAxipERMAL Nory.—Mr. William Brewster
suggests nearly boiling hot water, poured through
a funnel in the stuffing between the edges of the
skin, as a ready and efficient means of softening
astuffed bird which it is desired to turn into a
“skin.”

6 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 1

A Catalogue of the Birds of Kalama-
zoo County, Michigan.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.—PART I.

Kalamazoo County is embraced within 42° 5’
and 42° 25’ north latitude, and 8° 20’ and 8° 45’
west longitude. The general aspect of the land
is level, although ranges of hills are found in
many parts. The soil within the valley of the
Kalamazoo river is a dark sandy loam, while
heavy clay and sandy regions are found at many
points. The geographical or geological features
are in nowise unusual. Many small streams,
draining at least twenty lakes, flow into the river,
or south into the St. Joseph.

The valley of the Kalamazoo river is sunk be-
low the general level of the country to nearly one
hundred feet, while some of the higher elevations
are quite one hundred and fifty feet above the
river.

The city of Kalamazoo, situated nearly in the
center of the county, is built upon an extensive
Burr Oak plain, while the surrounding hills are
covered with Hickory, White Oak, Black Oak,
Beech and Maple. The river bed is covered with
a growth of Black and White Ash, Sycamore,
Basswood and Elm. Formerly Whitewood and
Walnut were found plentifully. Numerous Tam-
arack swamps are found in the courses of the
smaller streams.

Kalamazoo is situated about midway between
Chicago and Detroit, and about thirty-five miles
from Lake Michigan. The short description
given here may afford some idea as to the merits
of the county as a collecting section, and those
who have studied the topography of other coun-
ties may readily tell what the character of our
avian fauna is.

The notes presented are principally the result
of my own efforts during the last eighteen years.
I am indebted, however, to B. F. Syke and F. H.
Chapin for valuable notes.

The numbers in brackets
Smithsonian Check List.

1. [1.] Aylocichla mustelina (Gmel.) Baird.
Wood Thrush.—Abundant Spring and Summer
resident. Arrives from April 29 to May 4. The
eggs are laid from May 15 to June 10.

2. [2.] Hylocichla fuscescens (Steph.) Baird.
Wilson’s Thrush ; Veery.—One of the last of the
family to make its appearance. Arrives from
May 1to10. A few remain to breed. Occasion-
ally lay five eggs; usually four.

8. [8.] Hylocichla alicie. Baird. Gray-cheeked
Thrush.—Once taken in the county by Mr. Chapin.

are those of the

4. [4a.] Hylocichla ustulata siwainsont (Caban.)
Ridgw. Olive-backed Thrush.—A rather com-.
mon migrant, still the rarest member of the fami-
ly here. Occasionally remain to breed. One nest
secured. Arrives in the early part of May. A
retiring bird and rarely seen.

5. [5b.] Hylocichla unalasee pallasi (Cab.)
Ridgw. Hermit Thrush—A common migrant.
Arrives from March 20 to April 10. A great
loiterer. Departs as late as Nov. 1, occasionally.
Not known to breed.

7. [7.] Merula migratoria (Linn.) Sw. & Rich.
American Robin.—Our best known bird. Ocea-
sionally found throughout the year.

7. [12.] Galeoscoptes carolinensis (Linn.) Cab.
Catbird.—Abounds Spring and Summer. Breeds.
Arrives the last week of April or first of May.
Eggs laid from May 10 to 20.

8. [13.] Harporhynchus rufus (Linn.) Caban.
Brown Thrasher.—Arrives from April 6 to 20.
Departs about Sept. 20. Breeds abundantly.

9. [22.] Stalia sialis (Linn.) Haldem. Eastern
Bluebird.—The earliest recorded arrival is Feb.
8. Generally arrives from March 10 to 20.
Abundant Summer resident. Breeds. Departs in
November generally. Occasionally not till De-
cember,

10. [27.] Polioptila carulea (Linn.) Scl. Blue-
gray Gnatcatcher.—Earliest recorded arrival in
my notes is April 18. Begins building about May
10. Eggs usually Jaid about May 28. Abundant
in White Oak woods.

11. [80.] Regulus calendula (Linn.) Licht.
by-crowned Kinglet—Generally
April 2; sometimes much earlier. Abundant mi-
grant. Depart usually in early November, but
occasionally in late November.

12. [83.] Regulus satrapa (Licht.) Golden-
crowned Kinglet—May remain in the county
during mild Winters. Frequently observed in
February in dense Tamarack swamps. Abundant
migrant. Departs in October or November.

13. [36.] Lophophanes bicolor (Linn.) Bp. Tuft-
ed Titmouse—Observed in the county by Mr.
Syke.

14. [41.] Parus atricapillus (Linn.)
capped Chickadee.—A resident. Breeds abun-
dantly from April 25 to June 15. Two broods
probably reared in aseason. One nest found con-
taining eight eggs. Usual number six or seven.

15. [51.] Sitta carolinensis Gmel. White-bel-
lied Nuthatch.—An abundant resident, but most
common Spring and Fall. A few breed. Nest
placed often in the dead limb of a tall tree, or
again in a knot-hole in clapboard of house in the
city.

Ru-
arrive about

Black-

Nuthateh—Migrant, and occasionally a Winter

resident. Remains with us sometimes as late as
June 1. <A quaint fellow. Notso familiar as the
last.

17. [55.] Certhia fumiliaris (Bartr.)
Ridgw. Brown Creeper—A common migrant.
Often a Winter resident. A rare Summer resident.

18. [60.] Thryothorus ludovicianus (Gm.) Bp.

rupi

Carolina Wren.—lI feel positive that I once saw
an individual of this species. A large Wren with
aloud song. Known by several collectors in the
State.

19. [61.] Thryomanes bewicki (Aud.) Baird. Be-
wick’s Wren.—Have only taken this species once,
May 5, 1877. Two others have been secured.
Not known to breed.

20. [63.] TLroglodytes aedon Vieill. House Wren.
—A common resident from May 5 to Sept. 15.
Arrives occasionally as early as April 20 Breeds
plentifully. Twenty years ago.a rare species
here.

21. [65 ] Anorthura troglodytes hyemalis(Vieill.)
Cones. Winter Wren.—The earliest date of ar-
rival is March 19. It is to be doubted if the bird
ever remains throughout the Winter. A few re-
muin during Summer. Common migrant.

22. [67.] Telmatodytes palustris (Wils.) Brad.
Long-billed Marsh Wren.—A common. species.
A great many breed each year. Nests found at *
Gull, East and Sugar-loaf Lakes.

28. [68.] Cistothorus stellaris (Licht.) Caban.
Short-billed Marsh Wren.—Only rarely met with.
A few taken. Mr. Syke once found young.

a

Some Californian Raptores.

BY A. L. PARKHURST, SAN JOSE, CAL.—PART I.

Fes. 22,1884. Found a nest of the American
Barn Owl with five eggs so nearly hatched that I
could not save them. The nest was a hole in the
face of a steep bank.

Marcu 29. Found a nest of the Western Red-
tail with three eggs partly incubated. The female
did not leave the nest until frightened off by a
shower of fine clods and dirt. After leaving the
nest she kept well out of gun-shot, alighting in
oak trees in the vicinity and venting her wrath
and indignation by loud shrill screams.

Apnrit 6. Found another nest of Western Red-

. tail with three large, fine, well marked eggs, The
female left the nest just as I got under the tree
and flew around from one tree to another with
her mate, each keeping well out of range and
continually uttering their loud screaming notes.

Apri 7. Took a set of three handsome eggs

AND _OOLOGIST. 7

from a White-tailed Kite, (Zlanus glaucus) which
were ready on the 4th, but were left over for an-
other egg, The nest was one built this year of
fine twigs, and stubble pulled up by the roots.
It was lined with stubble and grass and was in
the same tree from which I took a set of four last
year. <A large live oak near this: tree (which is
also a live oak,) bears evidence that they have
nested here for several years past and that they
build a new nest each season. This tree
tains a very large Buteo’s nest and when I first
visited the place March 6, 1888, a pair of Buteos
lingered in a large dead Sycamore near their
house. As I approached nearer, I saw the male
Kite leave his perch in the top of a Black Oak, and
dash toward the tree in which the Buteos were
sitting. The Buteos howeyer seemed peaceably
inclined and left the place without so much as
attempting to assert their rights.

also con-

I visited the place several times after this in
search of the Kite’s eggs which I expected to find
in the Buteo’s nest. The male was always found
perched in the top of the Black Oak sometimes in
company with his mate. In due time the female
began to sit and yet the bird was so wary that I
could not catch her in the act of leaving her nest,
which she always did at my approach. April 6,
I stayed in the vicinity longer than usual and had

just started for home discouraged, when as I ap-

proached the tree, in which the nest was placed,
from an unusual quarter, I was suddenly startled
by the bird leaving the nest when I was within a
few yards of the tree. She immediately joined
her mate on the Black Oak, and together they
witnessed the robbery of their home. As I left
the place, the male swooped toward me as if half
inclined to make an attack. —

In a week or so the Kites left, and were suc-
ceeded by a pair of Buteos who patched up their
old home. On May 13,1 climbed to their nest
in the presence of the old bird, who, thinking
perhaps that I was “too familiar on short ac-
quaintance” concluded to take up quarters else-~
where.

The Kites however were not so easily disheart-
ened and this year returned. The male still held
his old perch but not so constantly as last year.
The female however betook herself to the tree in
which she was building and remained there.
Although I walked around the tree and threw
sticks into it,she did not fly until I began to
climb in order to visit last year’s nest.

The eggs are nearly elliptical, about the size and
shape of the Long-eared Owls. In color they
closely resemble the eggs of the Osprey.

———

8 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 1

THE
ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

OOLOGIST.

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NATURAL sEL iS Ge

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

EDS:

THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES

AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,
PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Editor’s Notes.

To our readers—one and all—we wish a
Happy New Year—a year of increased use-
fulness, increased knowledge and with these
increased happiness.

For the proper conduct of the Migration
Observations in the Mississippi Valley, an

increase in the number of observers is
necessary. We desire to call attention to
Prof. Cooke’s list of localities where such
are required. It is a matter of much diffi-
culty ‘to get at those who could, if they
would, render the assistance needed, and
the cooperation of all who take an interest
in the investigation of Bird Life is desired
for this end. If any of our subscribers
know of suitable parties in the districts
named, they will assist the work by send-
ing the names to Prof. Cooke, in order that
personal endeavor may be made to enlist
their services.

We insert a letter from an old subscriber
on one of the most important subjects that
can engage the attention of Bird Collectors.
It is of course much to be desired that a
non-poisonous “Dermal Preservative” could
be found, but the most important point is
that it should be truly a Preservative. On
this subject, the testimony of some of our
veteran Collectors would assist greatly to
definite conclusion.

We have frequently been applied to for
information as to what course has to be
adopted to obtain a permit to collect eggs
and skins of birds. To answer these
questions is very difficult—each State in
the Union has its own laws which are con-
stantly changing—and it is almost impos-
sible to get correct information except on
the spot. It will give us pleasure to re-
ceive from friends in each of the States a
brief epitome of the local regulations on
the point, which we will print in an early
number. We can sympathize with those
who find themselves threatened with in-
definite penalties when in pursuit of orni-
thological knowledge, while being of opin-
ion that indiscriminate and needless bird-
killing and egg-collecting are to be depre-
cated. We cannot find room for the
voluminous bird laws of each State, and
only desire concise answers to the question
as given.

ne es
Some Michigan Notes, with an Addi-
tion to its Fauna.

BY N. A. EDDY, BAY CITY, MICH.

The Glossy Ibis, (Plegadis faleinellus var. ordit),
is such arare bird, so irregular in its distribution
and so erratic in its wanderings, that any record
of its appearance must be of interest and value.
Seen in Texas, taken in several of the Atlantic
coast States and at Prince Edward’s Island, with a
solitary appearance in southern Illinois—a single
individual is now seen making its way over the
Saginaw Bay—a young bird wearied with long
flight it settles down in one of the numerous
marshes along the shore for food and rest, only to
be soon brought to bay and to make for its species
its first record in our State. “I am indebted for
the knowledge of this interesting capture to Mr.
F. J. Jennison of this city, who had but recently
kindly consented to furnish me with such notes as
might come under his observation, and I quote _
from his letter for particulars: “The Ibis was
killed Oct. 6th, (84), just west of the town here, in
a piece of marsh almost solid enough to walk on
—a grazing place for cattle. He was very tame,
probably on account of being a young bird. Dan
McDonald shot it; he had no gun when it lit and
got close enough to it to reach it with his pike-
pole before it took ashort flight; then came for

“Jan. 1885.]

his gun and got the bird.’ The letter is dated
“Rifle Boom,” which is located at the mouth of
the Rifle River on the west shore of the Saginaw
Bay, about twenty-five miles north of this city.
The specimen at present in my collection I find to
be a young bird, without doubt of the year, want-
ing on the head entirely and to a considerable de-
gree on the back, the beautiful gloss and purple
reflections of the adult bird. The length is about,
24 inches; tarsus 4 3-16; 3d toe and claw 3 4-16;
naked tibiae 2 6-16; while the bill exceeds the ay-
erage of measurements, being 57-16. The anterior
half of the middle claw is pectinate with four dis-
tinct incisions forming four separate teeth.

But few other notes of interest have been made
the past season. Several cases of Albinism have
been observed in the English Sparrow, while a few
of these carnivorous (?) individuals were seen one
day feeding on an old beef bone thrown into the
street. A perfect albino Horned Grebe is exhib-
ited in one of our store windows, taken at the
Quannicassee marshes, Oct. 1883.

More ‘‘ Plain English.’’

RY MONTAGUE CHAMBERLAIN, ST. JOHNS, N. B.

I have been requested by a highly esteemed
correspondent to answer the following questions
through the columns of “The O. & O.” and I
gladly accede. He writes: “Have your views
regarding the use of the vernacular instead of the
scientific names, in writing of our birds, under-
gone any change since you penned the article en-
titled “ Plain English,” (““O. & O,” VIII, p. 53),
and if so, what would your advice now be, to
young students, concerning the use of scientific
names?”

My friend is something of a Brahman in scien-
tific matters, and would keep science for the few,
and of course like the majority of his caste holds
firmly to the belief that scientific names and they
only should be used in scientific papers. My
friend is also a bit of a wag and I imagine he
thinks he has me cornered by these questions, and
expects to turn the langh against me, for he con-
siders that my practice has not always been con-
sistent with the ideas expressed in the article to
which he refers.

Well, however the laugh may go, I will admit
that I do hold a higher respect for technical
terms, and a greater appreciation of the necessity
for their adoption, than formerly. But while ad-
mitting this, I must affirm that experience has
strengthened my convictions that a mischievous
effect has been produced by the unnecessary use
of technicalities in scientific writing; and I am

AND OOLOGIST. a

more strongly confirmed than ever in the belief,
that scientific papers can be made plain and pre-
cise without the absurdly extravagant use of these
terms, which have made so many books and
articles repulsive to the general reader—and these
were the points which I aimed at in “ Plain
English.”

That the birds, and, indeed, all objects in nature
should have a scientific name, no thoughtful
student will probably deny; though many will
doubtless admit that while, for convenience sake,
these names have become a necessity, they are
also in some ways a nuisance which would gladly
be dispensed with were such a change prac-
ticable.

Many writers no doubt become so accustomed
to using these scientific names that they recur to
their minds more readily than the vernacular do,
but this is no reason why amateurs should ape
such intimacy, for affectation of that sort is a dis-
play of weakness as well as bad taste. Some
amateurs have the habit of using none but the
scientific names in private correspondence, and in
making out “exchange lists.” I receive such
documents very often, and will confess that they
neither increase my regard for their author's

knowledge, nor my respect for his good breeding,

nor do they improve my temper. In such cases I

think a correspondent might much better have

- copied the English names, and saved me the

trouble of hunting them up, as well as saved his
own credit. I use the word “copied,’ for the
number of amateurs, or even of advanced students,
who know the scientific names of all the birds of
America, 01 of even a limited area, are compara-
tively few.

As I have have said elsewhere, it seems advis-
able to teach young beginners that these scientific
names, and, indeed, all technical phrases, are
simply conveniences and nothing more ; that these
words which are to many so repulsive in appear-
ance, and so difficult to master, are not, as some
laymen appear to consider, the most important
part of science; theirs is a very subordinate part,
and they can be advantageously passed over by
young students until they have advanced so far
that their need of these technicalities as conven-
iences, will impart to them an interest and remove
their apparent repulsiveness. But teach the be-
ginners likewise that the winecessury use of these
same conveniences becomes abuse, and that no
abuse will be tolerated.

This is my answer, and if my waggish and
Brahmanitical friend is not satisfied, let him lodge
his complaint with “The O. & O.,” and I shall
sharpen my quill for another effort.”

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 1

Notes from Taftsville, Vt.
BY C. 0. TRACY.

The occurrence of the White Ibis, (Hudocimus
albus,) so far north of their usual range may seem
almost phenomenal, still a fine example of the
species was taken in South Woodstock, Vt., some
six or seven years ago the past Summer, (the ex-
act date is not readily obtainable), and is now in
the possession of my friend, W. L. Damon, Esq.,
of Woodstock, Vt.

Four species of birds have been noted by me
the past season for the first time at this place, viz:
Wood Thrush, (7/ylocichla mustelina,) two birds,
May 10th; Kentucky Warbler, (Oporornis formosa,)
May 19th; Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, (Hmpidonax
Jlaviventris,) frequently seen throughout the
Summer, first occurrence May 25th; Mourning
Warbler, (Geothlypis philadelphia), Sept. 20th.

Among the more prominent autumnal migrants,
the first White-throated Sparrow, (Zonotrichia
albicollis,) came Sept. 16th, they were common by
the 20th, and continued so until Oct. 5th, and oc-
casionally one up to Oct. 24th, when they were
plentiful and disappeared.

Oct. 4th, brought White-crowned Sparrows,
(Z. leveoph:ys), They continued fairly common—
in much larger numbers than I have ever seen
them before—until their final departure Oct. 24th.

The first Fox-colored Sparrow, (Pusserella ilia-
ea,) appeared Oct. 14th, by the 27th they came in
immense numbers, lingering until the 80th. One
individual was conspicuous among its fellows by
having a white tail and primaries, and very light
upper plumage. This species has oecurred here
only as a rare migrant before.

Blue Snowbirds, (Juneco hyematlis,) were com-
mon from the last of Sept. to Nov. Ist. Tree
Sparrows, (Spizella montana.) were common
throughout Oct. The northern influx of Robins,
(Merula migratoria,) oceurred Oct. 6th to 9th, in-
clusive, thousands of them passing this place.
Large numbers of Bluebirds, (Sa/ia sialis,) passed
from Oct. 8th to 16th. Yellow-rump Warblers,
(Dendraca coronata,) were also uncommonly abun-
dant from Oct. 7th to 16th. A little snow on the
morning of the 16th, caused large numbers of
them to seek shelter about the buildings. Fol-
lowing the very abundant Autumnal migration
has been a period almost destitute of bird life, but
for an occasional Jay, Hairy, and Downy Wood-
pecker, Nuthatch, and Chickadee. From the
number of Owls sent me in the past few weeks,
it would seem that they are much more plentiful
than a year ago. '

The Red-bellied Woodpecker.
(Centurus carolinus)—(LEN) sw.
BY D. E. L., MANHATTAN, KAN,

In this part of Kansas four species of Picidae
are common and permanent residents. These
are the Downy, the Hairy, and the Red-bellied
Woodpecker and the Yellow-shafted Flicker.
The first and the last mentioned are more abund-
ant than the others. The Red-headed Wood-
pecker is a common Summer resident, rarely re-
maining later than Sept.1. It is alsoa late arrival
in Spring migration. The Red-shafted Flickers
(Colaptes auratus and hybridus) are rather com-
mon in Winter. The Pileated Woodpecker, al-
though common in more-heayily timbered por-
tions of the State, is rare here, only two specimens
having been observed in a residence of six years.
Of the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker but one
specimen has ever been observed in this locality.

There is so much uniformity in the breeding
habits of our Picidae that one would think there
is nothing new to learn. Yet I feel that I have
been amply repaid for the casual attention given
to our common Centurus carolinus.. Knowing
that many of the readers of the O. and O. have
not had opportunities for an intimate acquaint-
ance with it, I take for their benefit, a few notes
from my records.

One of the first facts to be noted about our
western Woodpeckers is their familiarity and
boldness even in the breeding season. None but
the Hairy seem to have the retiring habits so
often noticed in the east. The Flicker, the Red-
headed, and the Downy Woodpeckers come into
the door-yards in the most thickly settled parts
of our towns, and excavate holes for their nests
in the decayed limbs of shade trees. The first
two frequently make holes in the cornices of
buildings, and rear their young under the same
roof that shelters us. Singularly enough, the
Red-bellied Woodpecker shares in this familiarity,
and receives the protection of those whom he
favors with his noisy company.

My first acquaintance with its nest was in 1882,
when I found a nest near the Big Blue river.
This nest was in a large Elm tree which grew in
an open space not far from a farm-house, and
near the edge of the timber. The excavation was
in a large dead limb, about twelve feet from the
ground. On climbing to it, [found three fresh
eggs, and left them for the full set which I found
to be five eggs. These were taken May 12. Dur-
ing last season I found about a dozen nests of
these species from which I collected several sets.
The nests present nothing new in choice of

Jan. 1885.] .

AND OOLOGIST. 11

position, being usually less than twenty feet from
the ground. My earliest date for a full set was
May 10. On May 13 two sets were taken, one of
four and the other of five eggs; both -were slight-
ly incubated. It was a great surprise to me to
learn how devoted this bird is to its nest. After
incubation has commenced, no noise or distur-
bance is sufficient to drive the bird away. In
several cases if was neccessary to remove it by
force before the eggs could be secured. After
being robbed, it almost immediately begins the
excavations of a hole for a second set of eggs.
This is always in the vicinity of the first, often in
the same tree. Their attachment for their nests
is an additional trait of character which should
commend these birds to our protection. Besides,
the fact of its being a permanent resident and
thus an ever useful “ insecticide,” renders it one of
the most beneficial of the Picidae.

The eggs of this species are in size and general
appearance so much like those of the Red-headed
Woodpecker that they cannot be distinguished.
In making exchanges of Woodpecker’s eggs with
others, faith in the reliability of the collector is an
essential factor.

a

A Visit to a Heronry.
BY EDWIN F. NORTHRUP.

In a swamp on the north shore of Oneida Lake,
N. Y., the Great Blue Herons, ( Ardea herodias,) con-
gregate every Spring to breed. For several acres
nearly every tree contains one or more nests of
these strange birds. Their eggs have a scientific
value of about thirty cents each and can be ex-
changed for other eggs at that price.

On May 11, 1883, my friend John Dakin, a
close observer and an honest man, with myself
made a visit to this place for the purpose of col-
lecting eggs and studying the breeding habits of
the Herons. We found we were ten days too
late for obtaining fresh eggs; so on the follow-
ing Spring we repeated the visit, but at an earlier
date.

Thinking it may interest the readers of the
ORNITHOLOGIST AND OoLoGisT to learn about
this curious place and to read the experiences of
two ardent collectors, I cull from my notes the
material for this article. In accordance with our
plan, May 1, 1884, found us at 3.30 in the morn-
ing, seated at the table of Nett Wood’s, in Brew-
erton, eating heartily of a warm breakfast, for we
knew a hard day was before us. After breakfast
we started off by the light of a lantern, in a boat
loaded with guns, baskets, climbers, lunch, birch-
beer, and other equipments necessary for a col-

lector’s use. After having rowed in the darkness
for some time, we reached Great Bay swamp in
which the Herons breed. The entrance to the
heronry is a road used in Winter for drawing
wood, but which at this season ef the year is cov-
ered, as is all the rest of the swamp, with from
two to three feet of water. This road runs back
a mile or more to dry land and passes the heron-
ry a few rods to the west. Along this water road
we poled the boat without much difficulty, till
we were opposite the nests. But when we left
the road and pushed the boat into the unbroken
swamp, it became harder work. Logs had to be
gone around or the boat dragged over them,
brush to be cleared away and many other annoy-
ances to be overcome. But at last we found our-
selves in the midst of the heronry, and a wild
place it is. The flooded land extends back from
the lake shore for about one and a half miles and
much farther along the shore.

Between the 25th of March and the first week
in April, the Great Blue Herons begin to congre-
gate in this swamp to breed. From that time
until their eggs are laid, they may be seen flying
to and fro in the swamp carrying large sticks in
their bills with whieh to repair their nests. I
say repair, for the Herons seem to be attached to
their old nests and to use the same ones year after
year.

The timber in the swamp is all Black Ash and
erows very high, branching at the top. The trees
are slender, varying from one to three feet in di-
ameter, and are readily climbed with spurs, that
is if one is an adept at using them. Several hun-
dreds of these nests, built in the crotches of the
limbs, are grouped together at one place in the
swamp and cover a space nearly or quite half a
mile across. Nearly every tree which rises to the
general height of the rest and which has favor-
able crotches, contains from one to four nests.
Two, however, is the more usual number in one
tree, four being seldom, found. The nests are
constructed of sticks about one-fourth to half an
inch in diameter. A large bundle is laid ona
crotch and lined with finer twigs, making a flat
nest from twenty-five to forty inches in diameter.

Audubon describes the Great Blue Heron’s
nests in the south as being lined with a layer of
weeds, but there is nothing of this kind here.
The nests and tree tops are all white from the
droppings of the birds, which, possibly, has a
tendency to kill the trees, as many have dead
tops. From the higher trees one can look down
into many nests, all of which contain eggs. The
usual number is three or four, and many nests
contain five, a few have two, and John found one

12 ORNITHOLOGIST ‘

[Vol. 10-No. 1

nest containing six! We went at just the right
time to find full sets and the eggs fresh.

Their average measurement is 2.63 by 1.75
inches. John found one abnormal egg which
measured but 1.66 by 1.34. These eggs are pale
greenish blue, shells not very rough, and general-
ly oval, although they sometimes vary from this
shape.

At this season there are few other birds in the
heronry itself, A few small flocks of Black-
birds wander in and Woodpeckers rap the trees.
A little earlier, and in other parts of the swamp,
many Black Ducks are found, and later, many
Wood Ducks build in holes their feather-lined
nests.

When a gun is first fired in the swamp, hun-
dreds of terrified Herons rise off their nests, utter-
ing from their long throats most deafening
squawks quite similar to the quack of a duck,
but coarser and much louder. You can see them
everywhere anxiously flying over the tops of the
trees, with their necks reefed and their long legs
held closely together and thrust straight out be-
hind. They are now easily shot with a long
reaching gun and many could be killed, still one
is surprised, when he considers the size of the
marks, to see how many he fails to bring down.

I want some for their skins, so am prepared to
shoot the next one that came along. It is but a
moment before I see a fine specimen with broad
pinions, approaching. His neck is reefed, ner-
vously he turns his crested head from side to
side, trying with his sharp yellow eyes to catch
sight of the hostile collectors below. 1 raised my
gun to fire, the Heron sees the movement, when
suddenly giving a loud squawk, he changes his
course and strives to escape by vigorously beating
the air with his wings. But too late. A fatal
pellet has crushed through his wing-bone and the
heavy body, unsupported, falls crashing through
the bare limbs and far down to the water with a
loud splash. I hasten to catch the wounded bird,
he sees me coming and raising on his stilt like
legs first attempts to make off. But the wounded
Heron soon finds that he is overtaken ; then with
broken wing drooping, he stands and stretching
up his long neck with its feathers all on end, and
erecting his wavy crest, the sharp bill being
partly opened, in a rasping voice he bids defiance.
He is certainly“a fierce looking bird, and as he
stands there with ruffled feathers, a beautiful one.
Arming myself with a club, I cautiously approach
and striking the towering bead a sharp blow, lay
him quivering on the water. Such is the mercy
of science !

Up to this period, May 15,the birds have not

been sitting long enough to injure their plumage
and as only full plumaged birds breed, and are
found in the heronry, the specimens shot here are
in the finest feather. Generally, in heronries
farther south, other species of Herons breed with
the Great-blues, but at this place only the one
kind is found. There are several Eagles at Onei-
da Lake and while on this trip I saw one dash in
among the Herons, scattering them right and left,
the terrified birds raising loud cries, and I won-
dered if the Eagles ever killed any, or disturbed
their eggs. This Eagle at least flew off with empty
talons. I should be glad to learn through the
columns of this magazine, from any one having
positive knowledge as to what may be the habits
of the Eagle in this respect.

Fortunately it was a warm, bright day and we
thought we could do better by wading from tree
to tree than by pushing the boat about in the
brush. So after eating our lunch and haying
strapped on our steel climbers and adjusted to
our sides the cigar boxes in which the eggs were
to be carried down from the trees, we were soon
at-work. It makes me chilly now to think how
I felt, when first I stepped into the cold water
nearly up to my waist. Then, too, when all heat-
ed from the hard exercise of climbing, it was a
severe experience to suddenly cool off by wading
in the cold water to another tree. To take the eggs
from the nests which were out of reach, we used
small scoops attached to the end of long sticks.
Having taken and marked the sets of all the eggs
in one tree, we would descend and pack them
with moss or cotton in a market basket and then
seek another tree containing more than one nest.
When we were up ina tree the Herons would
often approach quite near. They could be seen
in different places, with heads drawn down on
their shoulders, perched on a limb guarding their

‘precious eggs, or sometimes we would see one

55")
quite near us, dressing its long black and white
breast feathers and displaying its graceful plumes
and the beauty of its arched neck.

We worked hard till nearly sun down, having
collected over a hundred eggs each and shot a few
Herons. When we were ready to start back for
the boat, we found that we had wandered from
it not a little distance. It is no easy task to wade
in two feet of cold water with hidden brush to
catch the feet; two six pound Herons are not a
very light and compact bundle; a heavy basket of
eges will take away the use of one hand, and legs
which have used climbers all day work clumsily;
empty stomachs are not silent, and taking all to-
gether, by the time we reached the friendly boat,
our greatest desire was to sit down. We were

Jan. 1885.]

not enough exhausted, however, to fail to notice
the rappings of a Pileated Woodpecker, a bird not
recorded heretofore as being in Onondaga county,
in fact I gave him a long chase, but he was too
wary for me and escaped.

It was hard work, with our tired muscles, pil-
ing the boat out of the swamp, but at last we

reached the lake, just as the enveloping shades of

night were creeping over the wild, wet hole be-
hind us.

What a luxury it was to change our wet and
torn clothes, and to sit down to a warm supper
and think of our work in the heronry as success-
fully accomplished.

Notes on the Birds of the Sea Islands.

BY WALTER HOXIE, FROGMORE, SO, CAR.—PART I.

These notes are a digest of my notes since Oct.
1867. I have kept them on the margins of the
leaves of a copy of Baird’s report Vol. 1X Pacific
R. R. The locality includes Ladies and St.
Helena Islands and the Hunting Islands between
St. Helena Island and Port Royal Entrance. I
shall follow no special order but give the Waders
first as they are essentially the typical birds of
this locality. The other orders as fast as T can
get my notes into shape. Of these (251) two hun-
dred and fifty-one are species which are attributed
to this locality. I find by my notes that I have
now killed or otherwise identified (238) two hun-
dred and thirty-eight species. The Smithsonian
numbers will I think serve for identification, as

well as the Latin names and save space.

Great Blue Heron, (487,) Resident:—Breeds the
second week in May on nearly all the Hunting
Islands, Called Sambo” by the natives.

White Heron, (489,) common in the latter part
of Summer. A few seen all Winter and a few
in Springin breeding plumage. Retires to some
interior locality to breed.

Snowy Heron, (490,) arrives about the last of
March, (Mch. 25, Apl. 5, earliest and the latest
observed dates.) Begins to lay in the latter part
of April, nesting in company with the next two
species in low trees and bushes in swamps.
Leaves here shortly after the middle of October,
“Job” of the natives.

Louisiana Heron, (492,) nearly the same dates
apply to this as to the preceding. Possibly re-
tires a little earlier.

Little Blue Heron, (498,) arrives a week later in
Spring, and tarries at least a month later in the
Fall. Must be more partial to the interior as a
breeding ground, still many are here all Summer.
Late in the season the young of this species seems

AND OOLOGIST. 13

to outnumber two to one all other Herons except
the Green.

Green Heron, (494,) very common and breed-
ing plentifully, arrives a few days after the mid-
dle of March and begins nesting before the mid
dle of April. Departs about Oct. 10, ‘* Skow” of
the native.

Night Heron, (495,) not uncommon, breeds, of-
ten seen in winter.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, (496,) common,
arrives early in May and the Fall departure de -
pends upon the supply of coarse fish upon which
this bird seems (while here at least) to feed ex-
clusively. If the ponds and swamps become dry
they leave as soon as the young can fly, otherwise
they linger until late in the Fall. Breed later than
any of the other Herons, in high trees surrounded
by water; nest very slight. One of my colored
friends says, that the old bird cries herself sick if
she has to use more than
building.

Bittern, (497,) Spring and Fall migrant.

Least Bittern, (498,) common,
broods are probably reared as I have obtained

three sticks in her

breeds.—Two

the eggs early in May and again in August; sel-
dom seen in broad daylight but easily procured
before and after sunset.

Wood Ibis, (500,) common in July and August.
Flocking in the marsh and about all the ponds in
the Hunting Islands.

White Ibis, (501,) seen once.

Glossy Ibis, (505), rare or only occasional in
young plumage; (June 30.)

Spoon-bill, (505,) quite rare; one or two taken
every year on Port Royal Island.

Golden Plover, (515,) scarce, have taken it in
every month from October to April.

Killdeer, (516,) common resident and Winter
visitor. Some years breeds and occasionally re-
tires altogether.

Wilson Plover, (522,) arrives the first week in
March, breeds early in May. Leaves in Septem-
ber.

King Plover, (517,) migrant, common in April
and May. Retiring as early as the first of August
and often lingering late into the Winter.

Piping Plover, (520,) not very common in April
and May. Quite rare in the Fall, must return by
a different route.

Black-bellied Plover, (518,) migrates slowly in
the Spring and usually in fine plumage, Searcer
in the Fall.

Oyster Catcher, (507,) common resident, breeds
in May.

Stilt, (667,) saw a flock in April, (out of pow-
der.)

14 Ee

[Vol. 10-No. 1

Winter Binge 6 of Weneten N. H.

BY FALCO,

A list of birds seen and taken during winter, in
and near Webster, N. H., covering a period of
eight years careful observation :

Robin, (Merula Migratoria). One specimen seen
Dec. 25, 1880.

xolden-crowned Kinglet, (Regulus satrapa). Com-
mon Winter resident

Black-capped Chickadee, (Parus atricapillus).

Hudsonian Chickadee, (Purus hudsonicus). One
shot Nov. 1875, and two seen Noy. 1878.

White-bellied Nuthatch, (Sitta carolinensis).

Red-bellied Nuthateh, (Sitta canadensis).

Brown Creeper, (Certhia fumiliaris rufa).

Winter Wren, (Anorthura troglodytes hyematis).
Seen as late as Nov. 15, probably breeds, as
it remains in small numbers during Summer.

Great Northern Shrike, (Lanius borealis).

Loggerhead Shrike, (Lantus ludovicianus). One
specimen taken in Concord, N. H., Jan.
20th, 1879.

Cedar Bird, (Ampelis cedrorum). A flock of twenty
or more seen in Jan. 1878, and several shot.

American Crossbill, (Lovia curvirostra americana).

White-winged Crossbill, (Loxia leucoptera). Rare
Winter visitor.

Pine Grosbeak, (Pinicola enucleator.

Purple Finch, (Carpodacus purpureus).

Common Redpoll, (Aegiothus linaria).

Goldfinch, (Astragalinus tristis).

Pine Goldfinch, (Chrysomitris pinus).

Snow Bunting, (Plectrophanes nivalis).

English Sparrow, (Passer domesticus).

White-throated Sparrow, (Zonotrichia albicollis).

Tree Sparrow, (Spizella montana).

Black Snowbird, (Junco hyemalis).

Red-winged Blackbird, (Ageleus phoniceus). A
fine one taken in Warren, N. H., by Mr.
M. C. Harriman, Jan. 7, 1878.

Meadow Lark, (Sturnella magna). One specimen
remained through the Winter of ’74°75.

American Raven, (Corvus corax carnivorus). One
specimen taken in Sutton, N. H., Dec. 20
1878, and another seen.

Common Crow, (Corvus frugivorius).

Blue Jay, (Cyanocitta cristata).

Hairy Woodpecker, (Picws villosus).

Downy Woodpecker, (Picus pubescens).

Black-backed Woodpecker, (Picotdes arcticus).

Banded-backed Woodpecker, (Picoides american-
us). Very rare; one specimen taken in
Jan., 1875.

Pileated Woodpecker, (Hylotomus pileatus).

Barred Owl, (Strix nebulosa).

’

Saw-whet Owl, 1, (Nyctate acadied).

Screech Owl, (Scops asio).

Great Horned Owl, (Budo virginianus).

Snowy Owl, (Wyetea seandiaca).

Hawk Owl, (Surnia funerea). Very rare; two
specimens taken, and another seen.

Cooper’s Hawk, (Accipiter cooper’).

Sharp-shinned Hawk, (Aceépiter fuscus).

Goshawk, (Astur atricapillus).

Red-tailed Hawk, (Buteo borealis).

, (Buteo lineatus).

Rough-legged Hawk, (Arechibuteo lagopus saneti-

Rare, several specimens in the
light plumage taken, and one in the black
seen.

Bald Eagle, (Haliwetus levcocephalus).

Ruffed Grouse, (Bonasa umbellus).

Quail, (

Sheldrake, (Mergus merganser americanus).

Red-shouldered Hawk

johannis).

Ortyx virginiana).

We were induced on the authority of another
person to include the Northern Wax-wing, (Am-
pelis garrulus), in our list published in the Forest
and Stream, but think it somewhat doubtful,
probably the Common Waxwing was mistaken
for this species, as the observer was not scientific.

SE

Nores From Ratercu, N. C.—Black-throated
Blue Warbler, (Dendraca cwrulescens). Shot a
male of this species on Sept. 18, while hopping
about from twig to twig in some willow bushes.
It was in company with Water Thrushes, (Siwrus
nevius), and Redstarts, (Setophaga ruticilla). 1
noticed it by its dark coloring and the white spots
on its Wing ; unfortunately it was too much injured
by the shot for preservation. Brown-headed Nut-
hatch, (Sitta pusilla). These are by far the com-
monest Nuthatch in this locality, Sitta carolinensis
being rather scarce, and are most usually to be
met with in pine woods. They are plentiful
throughout the whole year and are decidedly gre-
garious in their habits, going about in flocks of
from five to twenty. Winter Wren, (Anorthura
hyemalis). Fairly common Winter visitor, found
chiefly along the creeks and branches. Pine
Finch, (Chrysomitris pinus). Shot two of these
birds from out of a flock of Goldfinches on Dee.
10. Is not this rather southerly to get this bird ?
—H. H. and C. 8, Brimley.

Se

AN AMERICAN BITTERN, (Dotaurus lentiginosus,)
was brought to me on the first of Dee., killed
about two miles south of our village. The bird
was a male. I have not seen anything of the kind
before in this locality so late—A. Myhill, Me-
dina, N. Y.

<

rs

Jan. 1885.] AND

15

CORRESPONDENCE.

Dermal Preservative.

To THE Eprtor oF THE “0. AND 0.” Sir: The question
of Dermal Preservatives is one of the most important that
is presented to the Taxidermist, whether he is a profession-
al or an amateur, for upon this one item depends the insect
killing and lasting qualities of his work, and, consequently,
the yalue of his collections. Being of such vital impor-
tance to all interested in doing work or making a collection
that will be permanent and not merely temporary, it would
seem to be advisable for taxidermists to compare notes as
to the results of their observations and personal experi-
ences with different preservatives, for the purpose of ascer-
taining what they can look to for best results.

Arsenic is undoubtedly the preservative most used, and
among the many compounds that have appeared from time
to time it has stood the test best of all, and proved its
great value as an insecticide and preventer of decay. Arsen-
ical soaps, pure dry arsenic, and arsenic and alum mixed,
each have their votaries and all are undoubtedly of great
value.

The objection to arsenic is found in its effects upon the
human system, and while all taxidermists recognize its great
value, there are probably few who have not suffered from
its effects in one way or another. Owing to this fear of
jeopardizing one’s health, any new and non-poisonous, sub-
stitutes are no doubt used by many (and among the many I
may count myself) without sufficiently considering the pos-
sible results.

Mr. C. J. Maynard, a well known naturalist, has within a
few years introduced a secret preparation which is known
as “ Maynard’s Dermal Preservative,” for which he made
the following claims in 1883, when the preservative had
been used some two years: 1st, while being a perfect pre-
seryative, it is not a poison; 2d, it prevents carbonization ;
3d, it will remove fresh oil or old grease from feathers.
While these claims will more than meet the requirements
we are further informed (in 1884) that ‘* during the past year
this preservative has been constantly improved by adding
composites,” and that now it is also ‘‘a disinfectant and
deodorizer.”

Now there can be no middle ground for him who uses
this compound, either he has secured a long wished for
boon, or else he is doomed to sorrow and disappointment.
Is joy or sorrow to be our lot? Let us who have used this
new preparation compare notes fairly and without prejudice,
and see what may be the result.

It seems somewhat paradoxical that a compound war-
ranted as harmless to man, should prove fatal to a bug, and
why has the preparation been ‘‘constantiy improved” by
“adding composites” if it was all that was claimed for it in
1833. Those claims were surely broad enough, if tenable,
to cover the entire ground without any improvements, and
by “adding composites” to a preparation already so perfect,
might not the efficacy of the whole be endangered ?

Persons using this preparation must do so asa matter of
Faith merely, for its constituents are a secret, and all are
obliged to accept statements as facts without the power to
judge for themselves.

If Mr. Maynard would publish his formula it seems to me
that, upon the hypothesis of its being all that is claimed for
it, he would increase the demand for it, as well as prove
himself a benefactor of the race.

Many persons I know are now unwilling to use it because
of their uncertainty as to its desirability, and I know of
others who have ceased using it because they could not
longer afford to give it the benefit of any doubts as to its
eflicacy.

Mr. M. probably will not publish his formula, and it be-
hooves us to take action ourselves and endeavor to arrive
at some rational conclusion as to its claim upon our favor.
I began the use of this preparation some three years ago,
and placed the safety of my collection against my faith
and hope in the claims made for it. A short time ago my
attention was called to one of my specimens that was
“cured” with it, and I found it was being destroyed by
moths. Arsenic cured specimens near it were untouched,
and in a ten years experience with arsenic I have never lost
a specimen on which that preservative was used. Thinking
it possible that proper care had not been used in applying
the preservative, I cut the specimen in pieces and found
that the application has been most thorough. As yet no
other specimen in my collection has shown signs of being
*“ inhabited.” Iam aware that a single case like mine may
prove nothing, but since my experience I have written to a
number of taxidermists on the subject and their replies lead
me to suggest a general giving in of evidence. We would
all prefer to use a non-poisonous preparation, but cannot
afford to do so blindly any longer.

Mr. Maynard has informed me that he has sent large
quantities of his compound to the Smithsonian Institute.
Will some of the gentlemen who have used it there please
favor us with their views in relation to it? Iam informed
that Prof. Henshaw has expressed himself in regard to it.
Will he not kindly give us all the benefit of his knowledge ?
Will not‘ all who think alike act together” in this matter
and give us more light? With the hope that ‘‘ Maynard’s

Dermal Preservative” may prove all that is claimed for it, I
am, etc., Harry MERRILL, Bangor, Maine.
Dec. 15, ’84. Since writing above I have found three
more specimens that were attacked by moths—all of which
were prepared with ‘* Maynard’s Dermal Preservative.”

THE DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS FOR MILLINERY PURPOSES.

Ep1rorO. anpDO: Ihave read the lengthy article from L
M. McCormick in the November O. and O., very carefully two
or three times, and I am compelled to confess that if there
are any facts or arguments in it which will tend in the least
to show that our insectivorous and song birds are decreas-
ing by reason of their being slaughtered for commercial
(millinery) purposes, Iam so extremely dull of comprehen-
sion I have failed to discover: them,

In the same number, in reply to Mr. Lucas, I said I had
been able to get generalities ad nauseam. After the perusal
of Mr. McCormick’s article, will not your readers agree that
in this case, at least, I am correct? He gives, not one
fact, not a scintilla of evidence, that Ist: Our insectivor-
ous and song birds are decreasing numerically at all, or 2d:
That if they are, it is because they are being destroyed for
commercial purposes. In dates he goes back to the last
century, but fails to tell us whether the Titmice and Wood-
peckers were destroyed in Saxony for millinery purposes;
he quotes Buffon and the Isle of Bourbon, but I fail to see
the force of the quotation, especially when we know that
that amiable Frenchman had the faculty of making asser-
tions that would not bear the light of investigation. Mr.
McC., rambles into the wilds of Nebraska and Dakota and
finds Blackbirds killed off in great numbers ; quotes Prof.
Jenks “sixty years ago,” but neglects to tell us whether
the rage for ‘hat birds” was the cause of the destruction
or whether in his estimation in this year of our Lord 1884,
there are too few Blackbirds. He leaps into figures with
a recklessness that is amazing; in Missouri, by confining
himself to what he is pleased to style the ‘‘ main question,”
he goes into a calculation that runs up into millions of dol-
lars of tax “paid to this error.” Pray, what error? and
what was the tax paid for? He does not tellus. He has

ORNITHOLOGIST

Sete

[Vol. 10-No. 1

the beautiful, simple plan of all those who deal in these de-
lightful generalities of trying to astonish the reader with
the magnitude of his arithmetical genius and erudition,
forgeting the point he is endeavoring to make, and trust-
ing to its being considered amply conclusive, seems to say:
: ““T am Sir Oracle;
And when I ope my lips let no dog bark.”

There is one calculation, however, which staggers me at
first glance, and that is to be told that the great State of
Illinois, rich as I had thought it to be in bird life, should
have but an ayerage of ‘three per acre,” and that barren,
sandy Long Island should so teem with it that ‘she can
spare 70,000 from one village.” I confess that this would
be a very taking argument if a person did not choose to ex-
amine it closely, but I think your readers can readily see
the utter absurdity of the statement without comment,
though they would probably like to be informed what in-
sectivorous birds (for no others are in discnssion,) these
70,000 were, and might properly ask for something more
than unauthoritative ‘careful estimates” and bare state-
ments.

Again, he tells us, the Potato Bug came east because
“the way was graded by Grouse and Quail being shipped
east by the car load.” Did you everhear of Grouse and
Quail luxuriating on Colorado Beetles? Were the Grouse
and Quail killed for commercial purposes? Had you heard
that the Beetles went down to Maine because the insectivor-
ous birds had been ruthlessly destroyed by collectors and
taxidermists? Was the $50,000 paid in that State for Paris
Green the result of the work of these fellows who make such
large dividends in their business? And finally, have you
ever heard of any wild bird that had got so degenerate as to
eat a Potato Bug under any circumstances ?

To sum up the whole matter, Mr. McCormick’s communi-
cation seems to be a great deal of sound and nothing more;
it would be a waste of time to discuss it in detail, and I do
not consider the “ game worth the candle,” for I fail to see
anything in it that bears upon the question. It seems to
be simply-a collation of assertions made by various writers
dating from the last century down to “sixty years ago,”
and which have no bearing whatever upon the question un-
der discussion.

The O. and O. made a statement, as I believe correctly,
that the various plaints which every now and then appeared
in the press “ were purely sentimental ba * * and
that birds of prey were far more destructive than either
collectors or taxidermists.” Mr. Lucas answered and “un-
hesitatingly aflirmed” to the contrary, but withholding any
reasons, if he had them, why he made such a statement. I
asked Mr. Lucas for them and he declined giving them as
he said I was sarcastic in my article, and as Mr. McCormick
says, because i “dodged responsibility.” But the latter
takes up the battle and in doing so drops the question en-
tirely, and deyotes a great deal of space to floundering
about in a mass of generalties of what was done in Europe
and elsewhere a century ago, dug out from authorities
whose only merit lies in their antiquity. So far as ad-
vancing even the semblance of an argument to help out his
friend, there is not one word. He deems my article abusive,
but your readers may judge as to what his may be consid-
ered, especially when they bear in mind that he has taken
up another’s battle and one in which he was not nor could
be interested unless as the guardian of Mr. Lucas. He in-
sinuates that Iam in the “skin and egg collecting” busi-
ness, wish to hide my operations undera ‘scientific cloak,”
and am thereby ‘‘ shaky lest the matter be settled.” Allow
me to say that if I am correctly informed as to our young
friend’s age, I commenced that business some years before
he made his appearance on the stage of life, and with the
jamented Kennicott was under the guidance of probably as

enthusiastic a lover of nature as this.country has ever pro-
duced. Certainly no one will say that Jared P. Kirtland
would ever countenance the destruction of a bird except it
be for a good purpose.

I have yet to sell or offer for sale an “egg, nest or skin,
and when Mr. McCormick insinuates that I am one of the
“hypocritical humbugs who rail against the promoters of
protection , a I to throw dust 7 bien
and to bluff off close investigation of questionable transac-
tions,” I will call your attention to the fact that it is in very
poor taste for any one, who, as both he and Mr. Lucas have,
exposed and offered for sale Orioles, Bluebirds, Meadow
Larks, Yellowbirds, Goldfinches, Sparrows and Snow

Buntings. to attack any one, even though it was well —

known that he was in the business of collecting ‘hat birds,”
with insinuations as to ‘questionable transactions,” much |
less to stigmatize them as ‘“thypocritical humbugs.” For
my part I cannot see that there is so great a difference as
to the increase or decrease of bird life whether a bird is
killed and the skin adorns a lady’s hat, or in execrable
mounting, her mantel piece. For the fellow who mounts
for the mantel, to make wry faces at the one who mounts
for the hat and call him “humbug,” looks as though it was™
very like “ pot calling kettle black.”

My only excuse for occupying so much of your space is
that it seemed necessary to show up the fallacies of Mr.
McCormick’s article and reply to his polite (?) insinuations.
Tam glad to see that others are considering the question,
and I fully endorse the opinion of A. T. G., in your last
number, in relation to that pest of the fields, the house cat.

I will try before long to give what facts I am in posses:
sion of upon my side of the question.

W.. W.G:

(We have taken upon ourselves to strike out some of the
less important parts of our correspondents letter, partly
from the necessities of space, and partly because we desire
to restrain personalities in such discussions. We are at all
times anxious to encourage free discussion of questions
that will interest our readers. Whatever opinions we may
hold upon any point, will not affect the fair treatment it is
our intention to give to every correspondent who has any-
thing to say which adds light to matters under discussion in
our columns.—ED.]

WHERE Does THE PURPLE MARTIN SPEND THE WINTER
montHs? A yalued correspondent asks us this question, ad-
ding ‘‘ I heard aman say that, no one couldtell. Icould not,
but don’t believe his statement nevertheless.” Dr. Cones
has an interesting note, (Birds of the Colorado Valley, p.
447, et. seq.) in which he says that “ we have yet to discover
where the great mass of Martins bred each year in the
United States, stay in winter.” The Progne purpurea which
is frequently referred to asa Central and South American
bird, is very probably our Purple Martin. The point is one
worthy of observation by those in a position to give it
attention.

Inquiries. Through your columns I would like to ask
your readers,—Do birds ever play ‘possum’? A. L. Park-
hurst.

Could not some one through the O. and O, tell how to re-
move ink numbers from eggs without hurting the shell?
Ammonia and oxalic acid will do in some cases, but in oth-
ers it softens the shell. W. Otto Emerson.

CALIFORNIAN NOTES. ERRATA, (0. AND O. IX.)
P. 136, 2nd col. line 4, for Jan. 15, read April 5.
P. 144, Ist ** “ 34, for ‘‘ Texan Kingfisher,”
read “ Belted Kingfisher,
(Ceryle aleyon.)”
“© 44, strike out ** Cuban.”

The change we are making in mailing, will, we expect,
improve the condition in which the numbers are received,
and also insure more certain delivery.

RNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

OOLOGIST.

$1.50 per
Annum.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuBuisuEr,
Established, March, 1875.

Single Copy
15 Cents.

VOL. X.

Migration in the Mississippi Valley.

THE RELATION OF MIGRATION TO ATMOSPHERIC
WARM AND COLD WAVES.

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.

Puree Martin, (Progne subis,). This species
will be treated ‘vith reference to the influence
which the atmospheric warm and cold waves had
upon its movements. If we study the reports of
the Signal Service we will find that there is a suc-
cession of cold and warm waves passing over our
district. They begin in the northwest, or in the
Rocky Mountains, passing eastward and south-
ward, This is true of the warm waves as well as
the cold. The common idea that a warm wave
begins in the south and passes northward is
wrong; it begins in the north and passes south-
ward. To take a concrete example, on the night
of April 23, 1884, a warm wave began at Custer,
in the Rocky Mountains. At 11 p. m., the tem-
perature was 63°, while at Memphis, Tenn.,
several hundred miles farther south and east, it
was 15° colder, the mercury standing at 48°. This
warm wave reached the Missouri River at Yank-
fon and Omaha on the night of April 25th; the
Mississippi at Keokuk and St. Louis on the 26th;
the next night it is shown in the records at Cairo
and Memphis, while the maximum heat is not
reached at Vicksburg until the night of the 28th.
Thus this warm wave occupied five days in pass-
ing from the Rocky Mountains to Vicksburg.
Before this, on the 27th, a cold wave had already
struck Custer, reducing the temperature to 35°;
and this cold wave also passing south and east,
reached Vicksburg the next night after the warm
waye.
and their influence on the migration of birds is
very marked. Seldom, if ever, will a bird at-
tempt to move against a well pronounced polar
wave, while the night of maximum heat, other
conditions being favorable, is the time when the

In this way, waves are constantly passing,

greatest movement will be made.
These facts having been thoroughly proved by
the records of last Spring’s migration, let us note

PAWTUCKET, R. I., FEBRUARY, 1885.

|
|

No. 2

their bearing on the study of the notes as con-
tributed. We find in the record of any one of
the more common species, first, certain notes
which are self-evident mistakes; these we throw
out; secondly, we find a number of records, vary-
ing from ten to thirty per cent. of the whole num-
ber contributed, stating that the first or bulk of
the species arrived during a night which was the
minimum of a cold wave. What shall we do
with such records? Often the high standing of
the observer precludes the possibility of a mis-
identification, and even a wrong name would not
help us out of the difficulty. The probability is
that in seven or eight cases out of ten, the birds
actually came during the preceding warm wave,
and were unnoticed until several days after their
arrival; the other cases being those in which a
species, starting to migrate under favorable
auspices the early part of the night, is overtaken
en route by a storm and forced to seek the
nearest shelter; or those cases, toward the latter
end of migration, when eyen the comparatively
cold waves do not reduce the temperature sufli-

ciently to stop migration.

The rest of the notes group themselves princi-
pally around the maximum of the warm wave; a
large number exactly on the night, some one day
before and some the day after. Out of a list of
some six hundred notes, not selected but taken,
just as it happened, and studied with special
referenee to the waves, it was found that about
seventy-five per cent. as many movements were
recorded for the night before the maximum, as
for the maximum night, showing that the birds
made much use of this night for migration. We
arrive at the same conclusion if we study the
record of the single station at St. Louis, Here we
find that the great moyements of the birds, the
bird waves, are about evenly divided be-
tween the maximum and the night
Some would therefore say that the birds foresee

local

previous.

the approaching atmospheric warm waye and mi-
grate accordingly, but probably a better state-
ment would be that increasing warmth becomes

Copyright, 3885, by FRanx B. WEBSTER and Eaton Curr.

18°

[Vol. 10-No. 2

ORNITHOLOGIST

sufficient, even before the maximum, to start the
migratory tide.

On the day following the maximum there are
few records, indeed scarcely more than for the
minimum nights, so that when we consider that
probably one half or more of these records are of
birds that came on some previous night, we see
how little movement normally occurs on this
night. We cannot say that no migration ever oc-
curs, for we have two positive records of such
occurrences last Spring at St, Louis.

To recapitulate, the greatest movement takes
place on the nights of maximum heat; the next
greatest on the night before the maximum; very
little on the night after, and_ still
large number of notes only about twelve or fif-
teen per cent. on the minimum night of the cold

less, in a

wave.

Let us turn now to a conerete example and
study the effect of the atmospheric waves on the
movements of the Purple Martin. So far as last
winter's observations go, this species was not
found in our district during the cold of January,
nor of the greater part of February. Contrary to
the ordinary rule, the advance was about the
same time in the west as in the éast, as if the birds
were invading our district by land from Mexico.
The first arrivals came to 3122 Texas, February
25th; four days later they were heard by Mr.
Ragsdale at 3326 Texas, while on the afternoon of
Mareh 5th, at 3411 Indian Territory, I was hur-
riedly brought to the door by the sound of their
twittering around a neighbor's house.

In Louisiana the first one is reported at 2959
February 238d, and in Mississippi at 341 March
Ist. These birds were a few stragglers that had
gone far ahead of their fellows. I saw no more
at Caddo until March 11th, nor is any
noted from either Louisiana or Mississippi until
about the same date.

increase

During the night of March 10th, there was a
sudden and very pronounced warm wave in the
Mississippi Valley, marked by a strong south
wind. Its influence was felt almost simultaneous-
ly from Bismarck, Dak., to Vicksburg, Miss.,
raising the temperature about twenty degrees.
This marks the first advance within our territory.
New birds come to 341 Indian Territory, fresh
arrivals are noted from 2957 Louisiana, and the
first ones from 3334 Mississippi, and 3536 Arkansas.
But this auspicious start was to receive a severe
check; the next night the temperature fell thirty-
two degrees af Omaha, and in the northern part
A halt was called and
the Martin rested on their arms—or wings.

Slight warm waves occurred after this, and

of the valley even to zero,

even quite a pronounced one on the 16th, but the
Martins did not heed them; it is not until the
wave of the 25th that we find another note. This
wave, though slight, carried them forward, and
the next morning they are noted from the stations
in southwestern Missouri at 3656 and 3702.

The night of the 22d, a warm wave started from
the Rocky Mountains and reached Vicksburg the
24th. It did not have much effect in the north,
but gaining force as it went, in. the southern
Mississippi Valley it raised the temperature to the
highest of the year. The commander-in-chief of
the Martins ordered an immediate advance, and
morning light on March 25th found the picket
line stretching almost due east and west from
3943 Tllinois to 3912 Kansas. Again a halt is
called for about a week.

There was'a warm wave the night of the 27th,
preceded at St. Louis by much movement among
other species on the 26th. There is no record
from any station for this wave unless the two
records for 4136 and 4138 Towa, on the 30th, belong
here, but it is probable that at this time they were
passing over northern Missouri and central Illi-
nois, where to our great regret, we have no ob-
servers. At the most this could have been but a
slight movement, and is followed by a greater,
simultaneous with the atmospheric wave of March
30th and 31st. This brings numbers of Martins
to all the country from 39° to 42°, but marks no
advance beyond the limit attained by the preced-
ing wave. .

April 3d, in the upper Mississippi Valley was
almost the warmest of the year, and tempted one
adventurous Martin to fly two hundred miles be-
yond his proper limits, to Lanesboro, Minn.,
4343 only to leave immediately, nor were any
more seen for eleven days.

The tirst two weeks of April were for the most
part cloudy and cold, with occasional snows, so
that it is nothing strange that we find no advance
recorded, The maximum of the first warm wave
was in the upper Mississippi, April 15th, and the
observations agree very well with this maximum,
There are a few notes one and two days previous,
as if some of the restless ones had a premonition
that warm weather was coming, and wished to
be ahead of their companions. The van is now
brought fairly to 4348 Minnesota and 4306 Wiscon-
sin, with large arrivals at various points south to
St. Louis, Mo., and Manhattan, Kans. The
wave of the night of the 17th, brings the temper-
ature at St. Paul for the first time above 50° and
as a consequence, Martins are reported from four
stations in that vicinity, with a corresponding ad-
vance in Wisconsin to about 4430,

om

AND

OOLOGIST.

19

Feb. 1885.]

For some unknown reason the rest of April is
marked by no advance, almost the only record
being that after a sudden cold snap, almost to
freezing, about a dozen Martins, refugees from
the north, crowded into Mr. Widmann’s Martin-
boxes at St. Louis on the night of the 23d, and
among them the first male of last year in a half
starved condition, With a twenty degree rise
two days after, they were all off again. The first
warm wave in May, on the 3d, finds them at 4648
Minnesota, and 4752 Dakota, while on May 19th
they arrive at Oak Point, Manitoba, 5029,

To recapitulate, there were one hundred and
ten observations contributed on the movements of
the Purple Martin. After making a few changes
of date where it seems fully warranted, we have
forty-nine per cent. agreeing with the maximum
of the waves; twenty-two per cent. on the day
before, seven per cent. the day after, six per cent.
mistakes and eleven percent. indeterminate; or
in other words, seventy-one per cent. agreeing
with the waves and only twelve per cent. contra-
ry to them. Considering that most of the obsery-
ers have had very little practice in making ob-
servations, this is a very creditable showing.

In the light of the preceding remarks, let us

calculate the average speed of migration of this

species. It seems probable that in the line of
migration from New Orleans to Lake Winnipeg,
almost the entire migration took place during the
following twelve nights: March 10th, 20th, 25th,
27th, April 11th, 12th, 13th, 17th, May 3d, 9th,
17th and 19th. The distance being fourteen hun-
dred and forty miles, it gives a speed of one
hundred and twenty miles a night for every night
of movement. Had each station furnished a
record, similar to the one from St. Louis, of every
night of decided movement, every night of slight
movement, the nights of standstill, we could trace
the advance with great accuracy and take a long
forward step in our knowledge of the phenomena

of migration.
= —_— —~> __ —

The Kentucky Warbler.
(Oporornis formosa,) (Wilson,) Baird.
BY D. E, L., MANHATTAN, KANSAS.

The Kentucky Warbler is a common Summer
resident of the timbered portion of Kansas, being
more abundant in the south-eastern part. Man-
hattan is near the western boundary of the range
assigned to it by ornithologists, it having been
taken at Fort Riley, a point about twenty miles
west. But it is so common a bird at Manhattan
that I doubt not that it is a regular visitor west of
Fort Riley, wherever the growth of timber and

underbrush is sufficient to afford it its favorite
shelter for a Summer home.

Although the habits of the Kentucky Warbler
are well known, and excellent descriptions of its
nests and eggs are published, it is so retiring in
the breeding season that its eggs have found a way
to comparatively few oological collections. My
experience is that the nest is difficult to find. I
have spent hours in watching .the birds and
searching for the nest without success. The few
nests that I have found have been the result of ac-
cident rather than the reward of my diligence.

At this place they arrive from the south about
May 1. My earliest record is April 30; my latest
is May 3. They soon pair and begin to look
about for a building site, at this time the maleisa
diligent and rather loud singer, and keeps the
woods ringing with his “tiecedle, tweedle, diveedle.”
If disturbed, both birds resent any approach by
their usual sharp “ tship” repeated at intervals as
long as one continues moving about in their vicin-
ity; but should one conceal himself and remain
quiet, they disappear noiselessly in the thickets
and the song of the male is soon again heard. I
presume that the female could be just as musical
were she so disposed, but that the cares of house
building occupy most of the time at her disposal.

Many a pair of these Warblers have I watched,
and although I was certain that the nest was in
the near vicinity, I have almost uniformly failed
to discover it. Once, after visiting a locality at
odd times for several weeks, I really found the
nest; but the young had just deserted it. In fact,
I started the last one away. This was on June
26, 1883. The nest was almost under the top of
a fallen tree. It was built in plain view at the
foot of a small shrub. Although I must have
passed a dozen times within a few feet, [had failed
to discover it. It was on the ground in a mass of
dry leaves. The chief material was leaves, but
the lining was of grass and long horse-hair. It
was the most neatly built nest of the species I
have yet seen.

My first nest of this Warbler was found on May
26, 1883. I was passing along an unused wood-
road in a low, damp forest, intent upon finding a
Poor-will which had alighted in the vicinity,
when I was startled by the flutter of wings at my
feet. On looking down, I saw within a foot of
me the nest for which I had often looked. The
female Warbler had perched upon a low branch
about two rods distant and was tilting and bal-
ancing like a Water-thrush, while it uttered its
sharp note of alarm. The nest contained two
eggs of the Warbler and one of the Cow-bird.
Although incubation had begun, I left the nest
two days hoping to be rewarded with a larger

[Vol. 10-No. 2

20 ORNITHOLOGIST

set, but was disappointed. The nest was on the
ground at the foot of a bunch of tall weeds. It
was composed outside of leaves and within of
rootlets, grass, and horse-hair, The eggs were
white and sprinkled about the larger end with fine
reddish-brown dots.

On May 31, 1884, when collecting about twelve
miles from Manhattan on Deep Creek a tributary
of the Kansas river, I found a nest of this War-
bler. This nest was also upon the ground, or
rather upon a large mass of decayed leaves. The
nest was protected by a bunch of low shrubbery
and the leaning tops of a small sapling. It was
composed of a rude foundation of the leaves, and
lined with a thin layer of fine grass (agrotis) and
horse-hair. It was very carelessly built, hardly
deserving the name of nest. It contained three
eges, one of the Warbler and two of the Cow-bird.
Another Warbler’s egg was on the ground at a lit-
tle distance from the nest. This had evidently
been removed by the Cow-bird to make room for
its own. Incubation had begun in the other eggs.
I have always found the Cow-bird eggs to ac-
company those of this species. On June 18, I
met a family of these birds consisting of the
parent birds, two young Warblers anda young
Cow-bird. The parents were equally solicitous
for all the young, and fed them industriously, not-
withstanding I was quite near to them. :

Eggs of the Kentucky Warbler average about,
73 by .56 of aninch. The birds leave forthe south
early in September.

Florida Bird Life.

PAKT II.

BY KE. M. HASBROUCK.

In my former communication (O. & O., X, p. 4),
I stated that I should try and make the rest of my
articles more interesting, and this I hope to do. I
find that I am not far enough south for the Ibises,
Spoonbills &e., &e., but intend going where they
are to be found in the Spring. At present I must
stay where chance has placed me. Let me com-
mence with :—

Oct. 20. Virginia Quail, (Ortye virginianus).
These birds are very numerous here, and may be
found in covyeys of from ten to twenty within a
ten minutes walk in any direction.

Oct. 20. Mockingbirds, (Wimus polyglottus,) are
as numerous here as Robins at the North, and

much tamer; their song seems to be made up of

the songs of all the other birds put together.

Oct. 22. Red-bellied Woodpecker, (Centurus
carolinus,) are very common in the pine lands and
swamps. They may be recognized by their harsh,
rasping, guttural “chip.”

Oct. 23. Screech Owl, (Scops asic). Shot one
of these birds to-day in the pine trees. They are
quite plentiful, judging from the number I hear at
night.

Oct. 24. Bald Eagle, (Zuliwetus leucocephalus).
Saw.one of these birds sailing over the lake to-day.
This is the second I have seen since I came
here. They are said to de quite rare.

Oct. 29. Savannah Bunting, (Passerculus sa-
vannd). IT saw about a dozen of these birds in a
flock to-day, they seemed to haunt the bushes and
grass. :

Oct. 30. Little Blue Heron, (Ardea cerulea).
These birds may be found in considerable numbers
around the small ponds and lakes, but they are
very shy and difficult of approach, The young are
pure white in color.

Nov. 26. Towhee Bunting, (Piptlo erythroph-
thalmus), Weard a number of these birds in the
underbrush to-day, and caught sight of one or
two. The plumage seems to be remarkably light.

Dee. 8. Florida Darter, (Plotus anhinga,y are
quite numerous on the river and small streams.
When flying for a distance their manner is much
the same as that of a Hawk.

Dec. 20. Cardinal Grosbeak, (Cardinalis virgin-
qunus,) are in abundance in the swamps or “hum-
mocks.” Their only note at this season is a single
“chip,” repeated at intervals.

Dec. 25. Barred Owl, (Syrnewmn nebulosum), I
shot one of these birds in a clump of Oaks, on
high pineland. They may be heard in abundance
in the swamps at dark, and occasionally during
the day.

Oct. 24. Red-cockaded Woodpecker, (Picus
querulus,) ave very numerous in the pine woods,
but the females seem much more numerous than
the males. They seem to remain in small flocks
ot from four to eight. Have heard only one note,
a single “yip” repeated at intervals, loudly and
sharply.

Dec. 27. Yellow-winged Sparrow, (Coturnien-
lus passerinus). Wave seen two of these little
birds. They are very shy, and hide in the tall
grass, only stirring when approached within a few
feet. They do not fly much, but creep along the
ground very swiftly, and will not fly unless forced,
but instead sneak under the grass, logs, brushes,
&c. I have seen them run down the gopher holes

to hide. Not common.
Dec. 29. Maryland Yellow-throat, (Geothlypis
trichas). Quite numerous, butshy. Found in the

scrub palmetto and distinguished only by its com-
plaining “chip,” exactly like that of a Wren.

Dec. 29. Red-shouldered Hawk, (Buteo linea-
tus). Quite common,

*

pileatus). A number of individuals seen in the
wildest parts of the swamps; very shy and diffi-
cult to approach.

Dec. 31. Golden-winged Woodpecker, (Colup-
tes auratus). Quite a number seen in the pine
lands.

Dee. 31. Common Crow, (Corvus americanis).
Saw one of these birds to-day, the first in a very
long time, very scarce.

Jan. 2, °85. White-bellied Swallow, (Jrido-
procne bicolor). Quite a number may be seen skim-
ming over the ponds.

Jan. 7. Yellow Red-poll Warbler, (Dendraca
palmarum). Saw anumber, and afterwards found
them to be quitenumerous. Heard only one note,
a single “chip.”

Jan. 7. Brown-headed Nuthatch, (Sitta pusilla).
Found four of these little birds in company to-day
in the top of a tall pine tree busily engaged in get-
ting insects. Heard them hammer like Wood-
peckers a number of times, once in a while
uttering a low “che—che—che—che—che,” with
the usual Nuthatch tone.

Jan. 8. Catbird, (Mimus carolinensis). WWeard
and saw one to-day in the swamp, the only one
I have seen this winter.

St a

' The Florida Burrowing Owl.

(Speotyto cunicularia floridand).

BY J. C, CAHOON, TAUNTON, MASS.

While collecting in Florida last Winter, I had
the good fortune to find a few Florida Burrowing
Owls and their eggs. But little has been written
about this remarkable Owl, which is getting
scarcer every year, and from what I could learn,
is not common in any locality in the State. I
spent two days collecting, and observing their
habits, ete. I found these Owls on a prairie about
three miles long, by two wide, near Charlotte
Harbor, Manatee Co. The first time that I visited
the prairie, March 24, was too early in the season,
and I found but two single eggs. There were
quite a number of old burrows, showing that
these Owls had been plentiful in years past. The
second time I went there was twelve days later,
and I got one full set of eggs. I copy the follow-
ing from my note-book: The complete measure-
ment of one female was as follows, length 7.50;
wing 6.50; tail 3.00; tarsus 2.90; chord of culmen
without cere .68; eyes bright yellow; contents of
stomach bugs and small insects. The measure-
ment of the bill and tarsus of the others are, fe-
male, bill .61; tarsus 2.10; female, bill .60; tarsus
2.05; male, bill .61; tarsus 1.85; male, bill .60 ; tar-

AND OOLOGIST.

21

sus 1.85; male, bill .62; tarsus1.86; adult male
and female, upper parts brown, rather lighter
than the Barred Owl, which they resemble very
much except in size, profusely spotted with white
and very pale ochre-like marks, finer and thicker
on the back of the neck and top of the head.
Quills of wings with six to seven whitish or light
ochre-like bars, mostly broken into cross rows of
spots; tail more distinctly marked with five to six
rows; chin and throat pure white separated by a
dark brown collar; the under parts white or light
ochre, quite heavily and regularly barred with
transverse spots of light brown; under parts of
tail and the whole of legs unmarked.

The holes or burrows in which these Owls
breed are about five or six inches in height and
diameter, and from four to ten feet in length, and
three or four feet from the top of the ground.
Many of the tunnels are shaped like an §. The
nest is generally at the end of the burrow, and is
composed of small pieces of palmetto roots. The
eges are pure white, subspherical. The measure-
ments of the set are as follows, 1.22x1.02, 1.21x
1.05, 1.20x.98, 1.17x1.04, 1.24x1.05, 1.20x1.02, 1.18
x1.03. The two single eggs measure 1.25x92 and
1.27x1.05.

These Owls are not very shy and will allow one
to approach quite near before flying. They fly
but «a short distance and then alight suddenly,
bobbing their bodies.up and down and making a
short, mournful cry. At other times they stand
upright, and do not move fora considerable time,
Their chief food consists of bugs and other insects.
I found a large number of dead bugs and small
insects near the burrows in which they were
breeding. I think they occupy a hole but one
season, burrowing a new one every year. The
holes I found them occupying were new ones and
I found many old holes on the prairie but none of
them were occupied.

Birds of the Upper Passaic Valley,
New Jersey.

BY H. F. BARRELL, NEW PROVIDENCE, N. J.

Observed or taken within a circle of one mile.
Among the migrants, the dates of the first arrival
and of the last one seen are given for the past season
also those known to breed. Latitude 40° 43’, lon-
gitude 74° 25’.

1 Wood Thrush, (Hylocichla mustelina,) Sum-
mer resident; common; generally found in
in woodland. Breeds. May 4—Sept. 14.

2 Wilson’s Thrush, (J/ylocichla fuscescens,) tran-
sient visitor; tolerably common. May 5th.

3 Olive-backed Thrush, (/ylocichla ustulata,)
transient visitor; rare. May 9—Oct. 29.

22

ORNITHO

4

i

7

o <}

Hermit Thrush, (Hylocichla unalasce pallasi,)
transient visitor; tolerably common ; gener-
ally seen near ground in woodland. April
22—Oct. 26.

American Robin, (Merula migratoria,) Sum-
mer resident; abundant, everywhere.
Breeds. Feb. 15—Nov. 6.

3 Catbird, (Galeoscoptes carolinensis,) Summer

resident; abundant everywhere. Breeds.
May 5—Oct. 5.

Brown Thrasher, (Hurporhynchus rufus,)
Summer resident; common. Breeds. Sings
early in Spring. April 17—Oct. 3.

Bluebird, (Sialia sialis,) permanent resident;
abundant. Breeds.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet, (Regulus calendula,)
Winter visitant; tolerably common.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, (Regulus satrapa,)
Winter visitant; tolerably common.

Tufted Titmouse, (Lophophanes bicolor,) resi-
dent. Breeds. Tolerably common.

2 Black-capped Chickadee, (Parus atricapillus,)

resident; common. Breeds.

White-bellied Nuthatch, (Sitta earolinensis,)
resident; common. Breeds.

Red-bellied Nuthatch, (S/tta canadensis,) acci-
dental visitant ; rare.

Brown Creeper, (Certhia familiaris rufa,)
Winter resident; rare.

House Wren, (Zroglodytes wdon,) Summer
resident; tolerably common. Breeds. May
5—Aug. 20.

Winter Wren, (Anorthura troglodytes hyem-
alis,) Winter resident; rare. Sept. 23.

Black and White Creeper, (Mniotilta varia,)
Summer resident; common. April 29—
Sept. 13.

Worm-eating Warbler, (elminthotherus ver-
mivorus,) transient visitant; rare.

Blue-winged Yellow Warbler, (Zelmintho-
phaga pinus,) transient visitant; tolerably
common. May 14—Sept. 14.

Nashville Warbler, (Helminthophaga rufiea-
pilla,) transient visitant; rare. May 14.

Orange-crowned Warbler, (/elminthophaga
celata,) transient visitant; rare.

Tennessee Warbler, (LHelminthophaga pere-
yrina,) transient visitant; rare.

Blue Yellow-backed Warbler, (Parula ameri-
cund,) transient visitant; tolerably com-
mon. May 8—Sept. 21.

Summer Yellow Bird, (Dendreca estiva,) Sum-
mer resident; tolerably common. Breeds.
May 8—Ausg. 20.

> Black-throated Blue Warbler, (Dendreca cer-

ulescens,) transient visitant ; tolerably com-
mon, May 10—October 5.

28

29

30

31

32

36

37

38

39

4

i)

41

43

44

46

i
~

transient visitant; abundant.
October 27.

Black-and-Yellow Warbler, (Dendraca macu-
losa,) transient visitant; common. May 18.

Cerulean Warbler, (Dendrwca cwrulea,) tran- —
sient visitant; rare.

Chestnut-sided Warbler, (Dendrawca pennsyl-
vanica,) Summer resident; tolerably com-
mon. May 20.

Bay-breasted Warbler, (Dendrwea castaned,)
transient visitant; rare.

Black-poll Warbler, (Dendreca striata,) tran-
sient visitant; common. May 16.

Blackburnian Warbler, (Dendraeca black-
burnie,) transient visitant; tolerably com-
mon, May 19.

Black-throated Green Warbler, (Dendraca
virens,) transient visitant; common. May 3.

Pine-creeping Warbler, (Dendraca pinus,)
transient visitant; rare in Spring, common
in Autumn. April 16—Oct. 12.

Red-poll Warbler, (Dendraca palmarum,)
transient visitant ; tolerably common. April
20—Oct. 24.

Golden Crowned Thrush, (Stvrus aurica-
pillus,) Summer resident; common. Breeds.
Generally seen on the ground. May 3—
Sept. 28.

Small-billed Water Thrush, (Sivrus nevins,)
tolerably common some years; Summer
resident. May 18—Oct. 5.

Connecticut Warbler, (Oporornis agilis,) tran-
sient visitant; rare.

Kentucky Warbler, (Oporernis formosa,) tran-
sient visitant; rare.

Mourning Warbler, (Geothlypis philadelphia,)
Summer resident; rare; said to breed in
this locality. Last seen Oct. 23.

Maryland Yellow-throat, (Geothlypis trichas,)
Summer resident; common. Breeds. May
8—Sept. 21.

Yellow-breasted Chat, (/eteria virens,) Sum-
mer resident; common. Breeds. Generally
seen about swampy thickets. May 6—
Aug. 20.

Black-capped Yellow Warbler, (Myiodioetes
pusillus,) transient visitant; rare. May 13—
Sept. 21.

Canadian Flycatching Warbler, (Myiodioctes
canadensis,) transient visitant; common.
May 14.

American Redstart, (Setophaga ruticilla,) Sam-
mer resident; common. May 8.

Red-eyed Vireo, (Vireosylvia olivacea,) Sum-
mer resident; common. Breeds. May 8—
Sept. 28.

April 26—

oe

Feb. 1885.}

AND OOnOGIST. 23

48 Warbling Vireo, ( Vireosylviu ie) transient
visitant; common. May 2

49 Yellow-throated Vireo, (Lanivireo flavifrons,)
Summer resident; tolerably common.
Breeds. May 14.

50 Blue-headed Vireo, (Lanivireo solitarius.) tran-
sient visitant; rare.

51 White-eyed Vireo, (Vireo noveboracensis,)
Summer resident; tolerably common.
Breeds in thickets. May 8—Sept. 14.

52 Great Northern Shrike, (Lanius borealis)
Winter visitant; rare ; first seen Oct. 18.

58 Cedar Wax-wing, (Ampelis cedrorum,) perma-
nent resident; common. Breeds.

54 Cliff Swallow, (Petrochelidon lunifrons,) Sam-
mer resident; tolerably common some sea-
sons. Breeds.

55 Barn Swallow, (Zirundo erythrogastra,) Sum-
mer resident; abundant. Breeds. April
20—Aug. 10.

56 White-Bellied Swallow, (Zuchycineta bicolor.)
Summer resident; common. May 11—
Oct. 12.

57 Rough-winged Swallow, (Stelgidopteryx ser-
ripennis,) Summer resident; rare. Breeds.

58 Scarlet Tanager, (Pyranga rubra,) Summer
resident; tolerably common. Breeds. May
13—Sept. 14.

59 Pine Grosbeak, (Pinicola enucleator,) Winter
visitant ; rare.

60 Purple Finch, (Carpodacus purpureus,) Winter
visitant ; common.

61 Common Redpoll, K#yiothius linaria,) Winter
visitant ; rare.

62 American Goldfinch, (Astragalinus tristis,)
permanent resident ; abundant.

63 Pine Goldfinch, (Chrysomitris pinus,) Winter
visitant; rare.

64 Snow Bunting, (Plectrophanes nivalis,) acci-
dental visitant; very rare.

65 Savannah Sparrow, (Passereulus sandwichen-
sis savanna,) Summer resident; common.
Breeds. April 20—Oct. 24.

66 Grass Finch, (Powcetes gramineus,) Summer
resident; common. Breeds. April 12—
Nov. 1.

67 Yellow-winged Sparrow, (Coturnieulus pas-
serinus,) Summer resident; common.
Breeds. May 16.

68 English Sparrow, (Passer domesticus,) perma-
nent resident; abundant. Breeds. <A per-
fect curse to the country.

69 White-throated Sparrow, (Zonotrichia albi-
collis,) transient visitant; common. Nov. 6.

70 Tree Sparrow, (Spizella montana,) Winter
visitant; abundant. Oct. 18.

71 Ghivane Samo. (Spizella domestica,) Sum-

mer resident; abundant. Breeds. April
14—Oct. 27
(To be Gontinned.)
—————

The Creeper. (Certhia familiaris.)

BY W.WELLS BLADEN, STONE,

As the Creeper (Certhia familiaris) is common
to both the Old and New World, I thought that
some observations upon its nesting habits would
interest your readers.

The Creepers are sub-divided into several
species, varying in color, and the rufous form
which is found in Western North American, is
undistinguishable from the British form of which
I write.

In May last year a friend and I went to explore
a tree in Sandon Park which has the local repu-
tation of being an “ Owl-Tree.” It is an old Elm
of which only some ten feet of trunk remain. As
soon as we arrived at the tree, my friend ex-
claimed “ Here’s a Creeper’s nest” and between
the loose bark and trunk we founda nest contain-
ing four lovely eggs. Scarcely had we found
them, when a Creeper flew from behind the bark
about a yard above, and on examining the place
we found asecond nest, which was empty. I
visited the tree a week later, and not finding any
eggs in the second nest, pulled it out for the pur-
purpose of examination. It exactly fitted the
erevice from which I took it, the bottom part was
composed of fine twigs then roots and moss with
a lining of fine strips of inside bark, and chips of
decayed wood. Upon pulling it to pieces, IT was
surprised to find in the middle five Creeper’s
egos, apparantly a full clutech—two of them I
broke, and the jellied state of the contents showed
they were far from fresh ; evidently the bird had
forsaken them and built upon the top of them.
About ten days afterwards I found yet another
Creeper’s nest in a different part of the same
trunk, close to where the first one was built, but
no further eggs were laid. I watched the tree
closely on various occasions, and only saw the
one pair of birds, these I believe built the four
nests.

The Creeper rears two broods in the year, the
first clutch being from six to nine in number.
The eggs differ considerably in the amount and
arrangement of marking, but those of a clutch are
much alike. They are pure white in ground
colors, beautifully marked with brownish red
spots; these forma zone round the larger end,
at other times are more generally distributed. In
length they are .7 or slightly under, and in
breadth .5 inch.

STAFFORDSHIRE, ENG.

24 , _ ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 2

THE
ORNITHOLOGIST

AND

COLOGISE:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NA TAR Ate His. Ros

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

BIRDS,
THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,
PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Editor’s Notes.
It has not been possible for us to thank
individually more than a few of the many
subscribers who have expressed their satis-
faction with our enlarged Magazine. We
therefore take this opportunity of assuring
those who haye so written us, that their
appreciation is a material assistance in

carrying on our work.

In reference to “A New Species of Field
Sparrow” described by Mr. Marsh in our
last number, (O. and O. X, p 5), Mr. Ridg-
way writes us. ‘The name should read
Spizella wortheni—a name which was be-
stowed by me in honor of Mr. Chas. K.
Worthen, of Warsaw, Ill., who generously
presented the type and only known speci.
men to the National Museum. I firstrecog-
nized its distinctness from S. pusilla, and
after informing Mr. Worthen of the fact,
obtained his consent to give his name to
the species. I was not posted as to the
name of the collector, otherwise I should
have been very glad to give Mr. Marsh due
credit for its discovery.” Mr. Worthen
also writes us, giving the same information.

It always gives us much pleasure to call
attention to a useful book, and a useful
book certainly is the “Ege Check List of
North American Birds,” just published by

Mr. Oliver Davie, of Columbus, Ohio. It
contains condensed descriptions of up-
wards of four hundred species of North
American Birds’ Eggs, arranged in the
order and by the numbers of the Smith-
sonian Check List. With the aid of this
book the collector will be ablein most cases
to identify his specimens. The informa-
tion is given concisely, in well chosen
terms and in a form which renders refer-
ence easy. Few collectors can have suffi-
cient knowledge of Birds’ Eggs to be able
to do without Mr. Davie’s Check list.

An 1884 Hawk List.

BY J. M. W. NORWICH, CONN.

In my observations in the O. and O. on the
Butees for 1882, it was noted that a line drawn
just outside and around this city would pass
through the breeding-places of sixteen pairs of
Red-shouldered Hawks. Now, an avian atlas of
this part of New London county would also show
that an outer circle, girdling Norwich about six
miles away, would cut through the ancestral
homes of ten pairs of Red Tails, all breed-
ing on dry wooded uplands or hillsides. And
1 do not find any neighborhood record of a

Red-tailed Hawk breeding on a Jow damp
site or in the thick swamps so much af-
fected by its two local congeners. To the

nesting Cooper, lowlands or uplands are all the
same.

Taken from these outlying and concentrie su-
burbs, on the evening of May 12th, I had twenty-
five unblown hawk’s eggs on hand, the product
of two day’s field work and involving half a day’s
further labor to prepare in good shape for the eabi-
net. These were taken at about the height of the
season when Cooper's were laying freely, the har-
ried Buteos trying to hide their second clutches,
and Marsh and Sharp-shinned Hawks just com-
ing in. Supplemented by the season’s complete
take given below, they represent many hours
close observation, confirm previous records and
views, and give a mass of useful and corrobbor-
ative data. Any especially fresh details about the
nidification, or novel about the eggs of these
Raptores, will be given in another paper. Suffice
to say here that Owls, Buteos, Harriers and Ac-
cipiters, bred for the most part in nests used
before, in familiar localities, and very generally
in Chestnut trees. It will be seen that in no in-
stance did the clutch of borealis exceed two and

“Feb. 1885.]

‘ -
be asap = — =
, _ lineatus exceeded trios but once. To several of

the sets is a reference to last year’s record which

in turn refers to former years, so that the com-

plete breeding history of some pairs can be traced
for a generation. It is proposed below to give a
plain condensed record with the accompanying
notes of course omitted. The statistics as present-
ed are in no sense an advertisement, but show
that the yearly take of a single avian family
makes a rather formidable list. Neither will the
list cote as a directory or Complete Guide to the
novice in hawking in this region, as some of the

localities are given purely local names and are
not all on published maps of the county.

BUBO VIRGINIANUS: February 27, set of two,
Quail-trap Meeting-house.

SYRNIUM NEBULOSUM: Tuesday April 1, set of
three, Whippoorwill Ledge.
two, May 9, second set of two, Hell Gate.

Burno Boreas: April 1, three sets of two,

* Broad Brook, Holme’s Woods, and Quinebaug

River. April 13, two sets of two, Lime Rock
Woods and Rix Rude’s. April 17, set of two,
Lantern Hill.

B. urneatus: April 13, set of three, The Com-
mon’s. April 18, two sets of three, Brick Yard
and Boggy Meadow. April 20, set of four, Peg’s
Chase, two sets of three, Sunnyside aad Spicer
Ledges. April 21, sets of two and three, Ox Hill
and Gallows Hill. April 22, set of three, Hell
Gate. ‘April 26, three sets of three, Bowen Hol-
low and Fairview Reservoir. April 27, set of
two, Cranberry Bog. May 4, set of two, Hop-
kin’s W. May 10, set of two, Sunnyside. May
12, set of three inc., Wawecus Hill, two fresh
eggs Whippoorwill Ledge. May 29, one inc.,
egg, Hopkin’s W. June 1, set of two ine. Hell
Gate.

B. PENNSYLVANICUS: May 10 and 11, two sets
of two, Folly-Works Brook.

AccIPITER CcoopERr: May 4, set of four, Cedar
Swamp. May 11, set of five, Gate’s Pond, three
sets of four, Hell Gate, Folly Works Brook and
Brown’s Mountain. May 18, one fresh egg, Mo-
hegan, set of five, Spicer Ledges. May 29, five
fresh eggs, Kinney’s W. June 18, set of five inc.,
Gardner’s Lake.

A. Fuscus: June 7, set of three, Cow Bridge.

Crrcus Hupsonivs: First set of four May 18,
second set of five June 2, and third set of three
June 18, Long Society. May 18, two sets of fives,
Broad Brook and Ayer’s Factory.
five, North Stonington. :

PANDION CAROLINENSIS: Set of two, May 18,
Sandy Hollow. May 5, set of two, old Whale
Rock Spindle, Fisher’s Island Sound.

i AND OOLOGIST.

April 5, first set of

May 23, set of

25

Some Californian Raptores.

PART I.

BY A. L. PARKHURST,

SAN JOSE, CAL.

)

April 4. Flushed a Buteo from her lofty home
in a tall Syeamore. She merely left the nest and
perching on a limb near by, eyed me inquisitively.
In the approaching twilight I could not identify
her, but felt sure that she was not the Western
Red-tail. AsI was unarmed TI could not decide
the matter then. 3

May 8,1 again visited the place and secured the
bird, which proved to be the Western Red-tail in
the full adult plumage. Last year this same (?)
pair of birds occupied this nest and reared their
young. They were then in the lighter and com-
mon plumage. This year both wore the dark
plumage. I secured the set of three thickly
marked eggs, which were almost round.

April 19. Found a set of five fresh Sparrow
Hawk’s eggs in a natural cavity ina Sycamore.
The female quietly left the nest and did not reap-
pear. The male was extremely bold. Poising in
the air about thirty feet above me, he would close
his wings and dart down within a foot of my head,
gracefully shooting past and upward, describing a
parabolic curve. This was repeated many times,
accompanied by loud screaming notes. So threat-
ening was the bird in its attitude that I was mo-
mentarily expecting to be struck in the face.

April 19. Found a set of the Barn Owl of five
eggs in a cavity ina Black Oak. The bird quietly
left the nest at my approach.

April 26. Took a set of the Cal. Screech Owl,
four eggs, in a cavity in a Sycamore Tree. The
old bird was caught on the nest but promptly lib-
erated. I have taken one or more sets of eggs
from this nest each year for five years. The earliest
a set of three fresh eggs was taken April 7, 1883,
the latest a second set of two badly incubated
eges was taken May 27, 1882.

May 2. Found a nest of Barn Owl with one
young and six eggs in various stages of incubation,
but all nearly ready to hatch. This set was in
tle same nest as the one taken Feb. 22.

May 3. Found a nest of Barn Owl in a cavity
in a Sycamore with five nearly fresh eggs.

May 4. Found a nest of Burrowing Owl with
six fresh eggs. It was composed entirely of horse
manure in a squirrel’s hole. The nest itself was
in a neat round chamber near the surface of the
ground and the burrow slanted upward just before
reaching the nest. The eggs of this Owl are
rather small in comparison with the size of the
bird.

May 12. Found a set of Cal. Screech Owl,

26 ) ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 2

in a small cavity in a Sycamore, three eggs. The

a e
female refused to leave the nest, but offered no re-

sistance when I removed her.

May 20. Found a nest of the Barn Owl in a
Black Oak with seven eggs not badly incubated.
I have noticed in every instance that the Barn
Owl begins to sit as soon as the first egg is laid
and that generally two eggs are laid on successive
days, then a couple of days elapse and two more
are laid and so on until the set is complete.

In April the creeks rose high, washing away the
banks, and with the banks many Owl holes.
Yet as soon as the waters receded the Barn
Owls dug new holes. On examining them I found
the size and direction very irregular, showing that
the birds avoid the hard portions of the banks.
The burrows, however, extended in quite a dis-
tance, so that the eggs could not be obtained.

—————

On Six Species of Hummingbirds of
the Pacific Slope.

BY CHAS. W. GUNN, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

The past Winter I spent adding to my orni-
thological collection at Colton, San Bernardino
county, Southern California, and as of late there
have appeared in the O. & O. several lists on the
birds of that section, perhaps a few notes on the
Hummingbirds would also be acceptable.

Trochilus alecandri, Black-chinned Humming-
bird. This species first made its appearance in
the valley April 8th, when five specimens were
taken, and from this time until my departure in
June it was abundant. No nests were taken and
Iam unable to say whether it breeds here or not.
Its favorite resort was a dead twig in the top of
some small bush, where it would sit for hours, oc-
casionally darting after a passing insect, which
constituted its only food, and at no time did I ob-
serve it feeding on the flowers, of which the valley
was one vast field.

Selasphorus rufus, Rufous-backed Humming-
bird. April 5th I made a journey to Riche’s canon
after Hummers, and in the lower part of the canon
where we found the black sage in blossom, Hum-
mers were abundant, especially this species which
was represented by hundreds. A few weeks later
on raaking a second trip to the canon they had
entirely disappeared on their northern migration.
Mr. R. B. Herron informs me none remain in the
valley during the Summer, all passing to the north
to breed.

Selasphorus allent, Aen’s Hummer, Not com-
mon, five specimens taken, found in company
with S. rufus.

Selasphorus anne, Anna’s Hummingbird. Com-

mon and resident, found breeding as early as
April 7th.

Selasphorus coste, Costa’s Hummingbird. First
taken April 5th, and in a few days it became com-
mon all along the foot hills. Nest and eggs taken
on Slover mountain April 29th, attached to the
almost perpendicular branch of a sage bush, about
five feet from the ground ; being composed mainly
of sheep’s wool, the exterior covered with very
small leaves and an occasional feather. The nest
measuring 115 inches in diameter by 114 ifenes in
depth, the cavity being .75x.40.

Stellula calliope, Calliope Hummingbird. This
miniature Hummer was very rare, but five speci-
mens being taken by our party of five during the

season.
>

The Olive-backed and Hermit
Thrushes in Michigan.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.

Tylocichla ustulata swainsoni (Caban.) Ride.—
Olive-backed Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush.

This is one of our rarer Thrushes, and its habits
are but little known, even to the close observer.
The information as regards arrivals and depar-
tures during migrations is meager, for the species
never appears in any numbers, and many collect-
ors pass"an entire season in the woods without
seeing a specimen. It is a silent, retiring bird,
and though a straggler occasionally enters the
city and remains some time in private dooryards,
it is as a rule scarcely seen. Arriving from the
south in the early part of May, the Olive-back
leisurely passes northward, but few remaining
south of the 44th parallel. While migrating its
presence is rarely detected, except by chance or
the closest search by the collector. Although well
distributed throughout the larger part of the
Lower Peninsula, it is only locally dispersed even
in those localities where it remains to breed.

Cabot, in his list of birds of Lake Superior and
vicinity, and J. Tl. Steere, in his list of the birds
of Sault Ste. Marie, omit this species. It is, how-
ever, undoubtedly found in the northern parts of
the State during the nesting season, and most
certainly as a migrant.

The nests are, so far as observations extend in
the State, placed in bushes a few feet from the
ground.
one set of eggs. The nest was placed in a bush
about four feet from the ground, and was com-
posed entirely of twigs, fibrous roots, bark and
weed strippings. The structure is much more
artistic in workmanship than the nests built by
any others of the genus. Less bulky than that of
the familiar Catbird, it is somewhat similar in

It has been my good fortune to secure -

Feb. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 27

respect to material, and yet looks entirely differ-
ent, not being so compact, but far neater in ap-
pearance.

Three eggs, comprising a set taken in Kalama-
zoo County, are faintly marked with obscure
brown blotches, principally at the larger end;
but in four eggs from Wexford County, the entire
surface is more or less thickly spotted with um-
ber. In ground color, the eggs more nearly re-
semble those of the Catbird than any other
species, but are not of so dark a shade of green.
The Swainson’s Thrush is the only one of the
genus which lays spotted eggs.

In the Fall migrations, the birds are found in
the southern counties as late as October Ist, and
a few stragglers occasionally even later. This
Thrush is undoubtedly the most eccentric in its
geographical range of any in its family famed for
migrating. We learn that the Olive-back is
known to Winter in Venezuela, while its northern
haunts extend (probably) nearly to the Arctic
circle.

THylocichla unalasee pallasi (Cab.) Ridgw.
mit Thrush, Rufus-tailed Thrush.

Next to the Robin this is the first species to ar-
rive in the Spring, and it occasionally’appears as
early as the last week in March, although the
Hermits are rarely seen in any numbers till the
middle of April. The species appear to migrate
with great deliberation, and specimens can often
be found lojtering in the southern counties as late
as May 10th. It isa common occurrence to ob-
serve numbers about the dooryards in villages,
and even in sequestered favored locations in large
cities during the latter part of April and early
May. These silent wayfarers often make a neigh-
borhood their temporary home for a week or
more. Such protracted stays occur both in Spring

~and Fall, the autumnal migrants usually remain-
ing with us for several weeks, the severe weather
of November often finding the hardy feliows fre-
quenting hedgerows and thickets at the edges of
woods.

Her-

Though silent while migrating, with the excep-
tion of the call note occasionally uttered, the
birds break into full song on reaching the breed-
ing haunts, and from May 15th to July 20th the
woods are filled with the sweetly modulated notes
- of these charming singers. The ceremony of
mating is accomplished with expedition, and soon
after the birds are at their nest building. As yet
IT have not heard of a nest being found south of
43° north latitude, and it is reasonable to suppose
that the species very rarely, if ever, remain as a
Summer resident in our southern counties. It is
only in the middle and northern portions of the

State that the Hermit is found plentiful, where
in Pine lands its beautiful song can be heard al-
most constantly.

The nest of this species is more difficult to find
than that of any other member of the family.
Placed on the ground, always in a retired situa-
tion, concealed by small bushes, weeds and grass
its location can only be discovered by the acci-
dental flushing of the old bird as you walk near the
little home where she patiently sits, or by watch-
ing the parents as they bring material for the
nest. The latter method would be next to im-
possible, for the birds are unusually shy and very
difficult to study. A nest found by Mr. W. A.
Gunn, May 20th, 1879, was entirely concealed by
a fallen withered Pine branch. A nest which
came under my notice June 10th, 1882, in Mont-
calm County, was placed beneath a small bush,
and the rim of the structure was even with the
surface of the ground.

The eggs in every instance were three in num-
ber, and are of a beautiful blue color, much re-
sembling in form and color those of the tawny
Thrush, but a little smaller. The nest is generally
composed of grass, fibrous roots, fine twigs and
some moss. Those that I have met with are not
strongly put together.

This beautiful singer is one of our most com-
mon birds north of 44°, where, though not known
by the settler, it trills sweet music among the
stately Pines and gaily passes the pleasant Sum-
mer months among Nature’s wildest surround-
ings.— Forest and Stream.

————E

Notes on Birds of the Sea Islands.

BY WALTER HOXIE, FROGMORE, SO. CAR.—PART IT.

Turnstone, (509,) common migrant. Have
taken itin July, but not found it breeding. Re-

turns in October and lingers till frost.

Wilson’s Snipe, (526¢,) Winter visitor, October
to April. Partially returns in mid-winter, but a
few can always be found. The ponds and
marshes of St. Helena cannot be excelled for
Snipe shooting.

~Red-breasted Snipe, (527,) arrives about the 10th
of April and returns as early as the end of July,
lingering till frost.

Robin Snipe, (529,) from the first week in April
till the middle of May. In the Fall from Sep-
tember to the middle of November. About a
week earlier in the Spring than the preceding and
does not arrive in the Fall till a full month or
more later.

The Curlew Sandpiper (540,) is ascribed to this
locality, but I have not yet taken it.

28 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 2

Red-backed Sandpiper, (539a,). Have taken it
in every month from October to June.

Jack Snipe, (534,) migrant. Arrives about the
end of March and is about six weeks in passing.
Returns the first of August, staying about two
months.

Least Sandpiper, (538,). About the same dates
apply to this as to the preceding.

White-rumped Sandpiper, (536,) the latest mi-
grant of all the Sandpipers, and also the most
rapid in the Spring transit. Passes through the
last of May, being with us only a week or ten
days. Returns the last of October more leisurely
in its movement, a few lingering into the next
month.

Sanderling, (542.) passes quite rapidly about the
middle of April. In the Fall returns before the
middle of August and lingers well into the
Winter.

Semipalmated Sandpiper, (541,) our commonest
Sandpiper, passing through in myriads in May
and September. A few linger all Winter about
the sea beaches.

Stilt Sandpiper, (528,). I have been informed
of its occurrence in Spring, but have not taken it
myself. ,

Willet, (552,) resident. Breeds in May.
broods may occasionally be raised.

Greater Yellow Legs, (548,) Winter visitor.
Have taken it every month from the middle of
October to third week in July.

Two

Lesser Yellow Legs, (549,) not so common as
the preceding. ~ Retires during the Winter and
migrates quite rapidly in the Spring.

Solitary Sandpiper, (550,) common in April and
August.

Spotted Sandpiper, (557,) from the last of March
to the last of May. Returning as early as the
first week in July, and lingering about three
months.

Field Plover, (555,) rare in April and August.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, (556,). I think I have
taken this bird once, in 1869.

Godwit, (543,) not uncommon. Have taken it
every month from August to May.

Long-billed Curlew, (558,) resident. Less com-
mon than formerly.

Hudsonian Curlew, (559,) rather rare Winter
visitor.

King Rail, (569,) common resident, but partially
retiring in Winter.

Clapper Rail, (571,) abundant resident.

Virginian Rail, (572,) very rare in Winter.

Sora Rail, (574,) scarce in Fall and Winter. I
have not yet detected the little Black Rail.

Yellow Rail, (575,) taken in May, 1869, on
Ladies’ Island.

Coot, (580,) not common. Have once taken it
(Noy. 12,) in the salt marsh; but usually fre-
quents fresh ponds and swamps.

Florida Gallinule, (579,) common. Retires in
the Winter. Breeds in fresh ponds and swamps,
making a bulky nest often in a low tree. Eggs
laid early in May.

Purple Gallinule, (578,) not as common as the pre-
ceding, but still by no means rare. Quite plenti-
ful on Port Royal Island.

The Mallard, (601,) common in the larger fresh
ponds from early in November till warm weather.

The Black Duck (602,) arrives a little later and
departs earlier. Also frequents salt and brackish
water more than the Mallard.

The Pintail, (605,) very rare.

The Green-winged Teal (612,) arrives late in
Summer, and the Blue-winged (609,) about the
same time. Both are called Summer Duck while
here. I have taken the Blue-winged in Winter,
but both probably pass much further south. The
Green-winged probably takes a more inland route
than the others, at least in the Spring migration,
as I have never taken it then.

The Shoveller, (608,) not rare in Winter. Have
taken it as late as May 13, (1869).

The Gadwall, (604,) rare. Both this and the
Pintail, 1 am told, are quite common further in-
land.

The Widgeon, (607,) quite comm@. Arrives
and departs with the Mallards, and associates
with them while here.

The Wood Duck, (613,) rare.
but one shot—a young male.

The Scamp (614,) and Blue-bill (615,) are found
in immense flocks in all the creeks and sounds
during the Winter. Called here Raft Ducks.
Scattered parties and individuals visit the fresh
ponds in the coldest weather. Most numerous
after Christmas. But few remain later than
April Ist. ,

The Canvas-back (617,) and Redhead (618,) are
occasional visitors throughout the colder part of
the year. Both called Canvas-back.

The Bufflehead (621,) arrives in all the large
creeks and sounds in November. Called Teal, as
is also the Ruddy Duck (634,). Both often visit
the fresh water in cold weather in company with
the “Raft Ducks.”

Some of the Scoters are said to have been taken
in Trunkard Sound, but they do not seem to lin-
ger in these waters.

The Sheldrake (636,) and Merganser (637,) are
about equally common. They seem to be very
irregular in the times of arrival and departure,

Have never seen

29

Feb. 1885.]

being in some years plentiful early in the season,
and in others few or none are seen till well toward
Spring.

The Hooded Merganser (638,) is very common,
arriving with great regularity the last of Novem-
ber, and leaving before the middle of March.
Called here Shagpoll. The male in full plumage
is quite rare. While here they feed mainly on
acorns and acquire a very fine flavor.

The Brown Pelican (641,) is not at all uncom-

“mon except in the breeding season when it retires

farther South. The same probably may be said
of both the Cormorants (643 and 643,) I never
see either of them after the first of May. In
August afew young arrive. Both are common
soon after about the outer sounds and islands and
remain all Winter. I have never found speci-
mens here which intergrade and must consider
P. floridanus a valid species until I do.

I have never seen the Gannet, (650,) but. it is
doubtless an occasional visitor.

The Anhinga (649,) may breed sparingly on
some of the larger wild islands. I have seen it
on Edding Island as early as the last week in
March. It breed regularly on Port Royal Island.

The Black-backed Gull, (663,) rare in Winter.

The Herring Gull, (6667,) common all Winter.
A few Summer in young plumage.

The Ring-billed Gull, (669,) rather common all
Winter and late into the Spring.

The Laughing Gull (673,) breeds. Retires early
in the Fall, but some of the young remain all
Winter.

Bonaparte’s Gull (675,). A plentiful migrant in
Spring and Fall. A few young remain about all
Summer and depart with the regular Fall mi-
grants.

The Royal Tern (681,) may breed sparingly, but
is scarce from May to August, and partially re-
tires in midwinter.

The Sandwich Tern, very rare.
obtained it except in Spring.

Wilson’s Tern, (686,) occasional in Winter.

Forster’s Tern, (685,) common in Spring and
Fall. I on one occasion suspected it of breeding.

The Roseate Tern, (688,) very rare in Spring
and Fall. This and the Sandwich seem to pass
this locality very rapidly.

The Least Tern, (690,) abundant, breeds. Re-
tires about the first of October and returns in
March.

The Short-tailed Tern (693,) is very rare in
Spring, but the young are common during the
whole of August and September. The arrival
and departure of the Fall migrants is singularly
simultaneous. One day none are to be seen. The
next they are hovering over every pond and

Have never

AND OOLOGIST.

creek in small parties of a dozen or more. As
suddenly they are all off. Not one lingers behind
the rest of the company.

The Skimmer (656,) undoubtedly breeds. Com-
mon all Winter in immense flocks.

The Loon, (736,) quite common in young:
plumage all Winter. Called “Bad Luck Bird”
by the natives, who will not speak of it, or if
possible even look at it when they meet it on a
journey by water. The same superstition at-
taches also to the Alligator, which they will only
speak of in a conciliatory way, as “an old person.”

The Red-throated Diver, (740,) rare in Winter.

The Dabchick, (735,) very common in August
and September. The Crested and Horned Grebes
are common all Winter.

Brief Notes.

Nores FroM MANHATTAN, Kan. June 7, 1884.
—Saw a White Pelican sailing in circles above
the college orchard. It was probably delayed in
migration by accident.

Oct. 11, 1884.—Saw a large flock of Cowhbirds
in chase of a Red-tailed Hawk. They attacked
him from above, after the manner of the King-
bird, though not so vigorously, He seemed anx-
ious to avoid them, and often changed his course;
but they pursued him until out of view.

Dec. 27.—While hunting, I saw a male Cardi-
nal Grosbeak eating a field-mouse. Several others
attempted to take it from him, but were unsuc-
cessful. At my approach they left it lying on
the snow. It was about half consumed.

Jan. 14, 1885.—Weather very cold.
the collecting season by taking an ege of the
Great Horned Owl. This had been laid several
days, and was frozen. The egg was laid in con-
finement in this city. The early date of laying is
remarkable, as the Owl-house, although sheltered
from the wind, is open on the east side, and the
temperature within the cage differs but little from
that outside. The three Owls in the cage fought
the intruder savagely, when he attempted to re-
move the egg. It was secured by driving the
Owls into one compartment of the house and
closing the door between it and the other, while
the egg was drawn out with an iron poker. This
is the third season these birds have laid in con-

Opened

finement. (See Vol. [X,, page 127).—D. E. L.
Nores FROM Norrm CaAronuina. — PuRPLE

GALLINULE, (lonornis martinied). A specimen of
this rare bird was procured by Clarke & Mor-
gan, at New Berne. The bird had been caught
alive, in a ditch running through some marshes,
on Neuse River. The fishermen who caught it
kept it alive several days and then sold it to

30

_ ORNITHOLOGIST

- [Vol. 10-No. 2

Clarke & Morgan, who mounted it and it is now
on exhibition in Raleigh.

Hornep Lark, (Hremophila alpestris). Four
of these birds were lately shot nedr Raleigh, by
Jim Busbee, a boy of about fourteen. They were
in a flock numbering in all about eighty or a hun-
dred. Is not this rather southerly for them to be
found ?

Hooprep MrrcGanser, (Lophodytes cucullatis).
A very fine male specimen of this bird was shot
on or about Jan, 9th, near New Berne, and_pre-
served by Clarke & Morgan of that city. The
only other instance of its occurrence I know of,
was a female killed a year ago near New Berne.

Fisa Duck, (J m. The com-
monest of the Mergince round New Berne, but
not common at that, and specimens in full plum-
age are scarce. A pair of males in full plumage
were shot there the first week in January and pre-
served by Clarke & Morgan.

TirLtark, (Anthus ludovicianus).
tiful in eastern Carolina during
months.

Pink Frvcn, (Chrysomitris pinus). Wave found
these birds to be fairly common here this winter,
having seen them several times since last writing,
and akways in company with the Goldfinches,
(Chrysomitris tristis).

americanus).

Fairly plen-
the Winter

Observed the following species at New Berne
during the first week of January: Kingfisher,
(Ceryle aleyon,) Thrasher, (Harporhynchus rufus, )
White-bellied Swallow, (Zachyeineta bicolor.)
Towhee, (Pipilo erythrophthalmus,) Rusty Grackle,
(Scolecophagus ferrugineus,) ete.—H. I, & C. 8.
Brimley, Raleigh, N.C.

BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW, (Spizella atrigularis).
A fine male of this rare species was shot by Mr,
Rh. B. Herron on Slover Mountain, (near Colton,
San Bernardino Co., Cal.,) April 28th, and a sec-
ond specimen taken by myself in the same locali-
ty the 29th. Under date of May 2, 1884, Mr. L.
selding writes me from San Diego, as follows,
regarding this species: ‘‘ Frank E. Blaisdell of
Poway Valley, in this county, shot one a few
days ago, and Mr. F. Stephens sent me a list of
San Bernardino birds recently, in which it is
given as a very rare Summer resident of the foot-
hills.” —Chas. W. Gunn, Grand Rapids, Mich.

EeGs oF THE CARACARA EAGLE.—I have been
presented with a beautiful set of eggs of the Cara-
cara Eagle, (Polyborus cheriway). The nest was
found in Burnett County, Texas, in 1882, (exact
date not kKnown,) in a large Live Oak situated
solitarily on a bare hill, and was about twenty
feet from the ground, composed mainly of sticks
and lined with coarse grass, leaves and weeds. It
was large and bulky with slight depression. The

eggs measure 2.44 by 1.86, and 2.38 by 1.86. The
shorter egg is the most inclined to be pointed at
one end, but it is hard to tell which is the small
end of either of them. The ground color of the
longer is considerably lighter than that of the
shorter, but both are of a rich cinnamon brown,
thickly blotched with bro-wn of different shades.
The longer has one side entirel y free from blotches,
the bare part extending from one end to the other
so that by holding the egg in a certain position
with one end slightly inclined from you, there is
not a blotch to be seen. The color there is rather
lighter than the reab ground color of the egg.
When taken from the nest they were fresh and
the same color that they are now, so the variation
between the two sides of the egg is natural. I
would like to know if that rariation between two
sides of an egg is a common occurrence. _ It cer-
tainly makes a very queer looking eg¢.—Prentiss
Baldwin, Cleveland, Ohio.

Ipswicn Sparrow.—I would like to inform
you that on March 24, 1883, I shot a male Ips-
wich Sparrow, (P. princeps,) and on Nov. 26,
1884, another. The first of these has been identi-
fied by Prof. Verrill and Mr. T. B. Osborne, and
the second is just like the first, except that the
yellow above the eyes is almost entirely wanting,
and the plumage is altogether more dirty looking.
—Louis B. Bishop, New Haven, Conn.

ALbrno Rep SqurmrreL.—lI have just mounted
a pure white Red Squirrel, shot near this place;
also mounted a Ruffed Grouse, about one-third
white, taken a short time ago.—J. C. Cuhoon,
Taunton, Mass.

Birrern,—On Dee, 11, 1881, I obtained a fine
Bittern, (Botawrus lentiginosus,) which rose from
some rank grass on a piece of boggy ground I
was passing over. Examination showed that one
wing had been broken but was entirely healed.
This, perhaps, may explain why it was detained
until so late in the season.—S. Albert Shaw, Hamp-
ton, N. H.

BLACK Swan’s Eaes.—I have just received
from Tasmania some beautiful sets of freshly taken
and perfectly prepared eggs, which were packed
and labeled with exceeding care. Largest among
these are the eggs of the Black Swan, (Chenopsis
atrata). They are three in number, and of a light
blue green color, twelve inches in oblong circum-
ference and nine around the bulge The Swan
are less abundant in Tasmania than a few years
ago when their eggs were used largely for culinary
purposes. These eggs were obtained from Adven-
ture Bay Lagoon, Bruin Island in 1884.—Mrs.
S. L. Oberhyltzer.

—— a

el

Feb. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 31

CORRESPONDENCE.

The Destruction of Birds for Millin-
ery Purposes.

Eprror O, anp O.—Let me beg to assure W. W. C., that
my silence has not been caused by a desire to ‘‘back out,”
and that Mr. McCormick’s letter is not ‘‘ replying by proxy.”
Although W. W. C., has confused my statements somewhat
and supplied me with several more affirmations than I
made, yet I must confess myself largely to blame for not
having more sharply defined the two entirely distinct ques-
tions at issue. These were—is the destruction of birds
more than a purely sentimental grievance ? and—does man
destroy more birds than do the birds of prey?

To the first I replied that the grievance was more than
sentimental, while in answer to the second I unhesitatingly
aftirmed that he does. This constitutes the ‘‘italicized as-
sertions” and various aflirmations W. W. C., credits me
with. From the heading of my letter it is apparent that the
phrase “collectors or professional taxidermists” includes alt
the feather hunters and “ bird stuffers” who are engaged in
supplying the millinery trade.

There is nothing in the second proposition limiting it to
song or insectivorous birds, as W. W. C., seems to imply.
It is simply a question of the comparative destruction of
al birds by man and birds of prey.

First, a word regarding the food of the Raptores, a matter
which has a most important bearing on the present discus-
sion. As a naturalist, W. W. C., must be well aware that
birds form but a small portion—an entrée so to speak—of
the bill of fare of Hawks and Owls. Small mammals, frogs,
snakes and insects,— especially grasshoppers,—will be
found to preponderate in nearly every crop examined.

Now for answers to a few of W. W. C.’s questions, some
of which have been replied to by Mr. McCormick. Al-
though he has touched somewhat on ‘‘the boys who are
anxious to have collections of eggs,” let me add a word of
personal reminiscence. In my own class at school were at
least eight boys who had pretty good sized collections of
eggs. Not one of these boys ever developed into a natural-
ist, and the eggs—representing many hundreds of birds—
eventually ‘went to smash.” I recall two large nesting
places of the Purple Grackle that we broke up completely,
and much damage done to the Red-winged Blackbird.
Moreover, haying been indirectly connected with the ‘‘egg
business,” I can speak positively about hundreds, nay,
thousands, of eggs being offered for sale by those who have
not the slightest interest in them, other than a pecuniary
one. It would hardly seem necessary to reply to sucha
question as ** What insectivorous birds are so largely used
for millinery purposes?” since a glance at any milliner’s
window will ordinarily show the Red-winged Blackbird,
Bluebird, Meadow Lark, Barn Swallow, Oriole, Cedar Bird,
and many well-known species of Flycatchers and Warblers.
Tn fact, an inspection of the shop windows this Fall shows
that no bird is too large or too small, too plain or too pretty
to escape being used for decorative (?) purposes.

But it is not alone insectivorous birds that are beneficial
to man, many even which are strictly graminivorous render-
ing most excellent service by eating the seeds. of harmful
weeds, and many birds of prey being valuable from the
number of field mice, etc., they destroy. In Great Britain
the Gulls are protected on account of the services they ren-
der. This must be borne im mind later on, just now the
mention of graminivorous birds reminds me that last sea-
son one New York dealer had in store 6,000 skins of the
Snow Bunting.

How long does W. W. C., suppose it would take the birds

of prey to destroy an equalnumber? Owing to the extreme
difficulty of obtaining facts—a difficulty of which W. W. C.,
is doubtless well aware—he must kindly excuse me if I go
abroad in quest of them. This he will the more readily do
since as a naturalist W. W. C., would not wish to see any
species of bird extirpated, a thing which has come to pass
in England.

The same causes which exterminate birds in one country
will, if unchecked, do so in another, and our birds are no
wore limitless than our trees.

Observation of what has happened elsewhere may serve
to guide us here as it is much cheaper to take experience
at second hand. Rey. H. B. Tristram testified in 1579, be-
fore the Committee on Wild Birds Protection, that ha/f the
species of English Waders had been exterminated, as well
as other birds, which, like the Kingfisher were shot for the
sake of their feathers. Can W. W.C, instance one species
which has been utterly destroyed by birds of prey throngh-
out an area as large as Great Britain? Incidentally Mr.
Tristram mentioned having seen 200 Redbreasts, (Zrythaca
rubecula,) in one shop, and a dress trimmed with the
skins of 500. Before this same committee we find Mr. Rim-
mer, formerly Justice of the Peace in Canada, testifying
that the Orioles and Humming Birds had been nearly ex-
terminated in his district by feather hunters, but that since
the passage of a protective act they were again on the in-
crease. This is a case right to the point, and comes very
near home. Coming nearer still is the communication to
the Washington Star, stating that the celebration of the
“Oriole” had caused the extermination of its namesakes
around Baltimore. This I give with some hesitancy, the
article not being at hand for verification. Prof. Newton
states in the Quarterly Review for January, 1851, that in
1868 “the Kittiwake Gull at Flamborough was threatened
with speedy destruction * * * one man boasted that he
had killed 4,000, while another had taken an order from a
London firm for 10,000. * * * An order for 1,000 a week
was given and accepted by the lessee of Ailsa Craig.”

True, this happened abroad, but its parallel exists right on
our own coast among the Terns on Cohb’s Island, where
for the past year or two the feather hunters haye been hard
at work. In 1883 the Caspian ‘Tern was still abundant there,
but this year Mr. S. of this city failed to secure a single
specimen. The birds, old and young, had been sytematical-
ly slain throughout the breeding season, the nestling being
left to starve, until the above result was arrived at. As
these Terns are retailed moun‘ed for 85c—see ad. in Wash-
ington Republican—the first cost can be imagined. In the
same ad. I find “handsome wings” 18c. Since then the
price has been lowered to 5c. Does this imply any exten-
sive destruction of small birds?

I regret my inability to respond to W. W. C’s. challenge
and produce the figures that would give some little idea of
the number of bird skins used in the trade, but as the deal-
ers decline to talk on the subjectit is as impossible for me to
do so as it would be to tell how many ladies wore hats trimmed
with birds. But when a single dealer employs seventeen
assistants to prepare birds for the trade, it is easy to see that
many thousands would be needed to keep them busy. And
that they ave busy anyone who has seen the heaped up
tables of dead birds can testify. The dealer who had the
6,000 Snow Buntings had other birds in proportionate num-
bers and if W. W. C. wished to purchase from 10,000 to
100,000 birds for millinery purposes, he could readily do so.
There is difficulty regarding the decrease of birds in any _
given locality, this being a question that it requires thor-
oughly good testimony to decide.

The decrease of Gulls and Terns on the New Jersey coast,
of Egrets and Pelicans in parts of Florida, of the Swallow
in some portions of Long Island and of the Parrakeet in the
southern states generally, are the only cases that Ican at this
moment lay my finger on.

32

In my turn I would like W. W. C. to answera question or
two.

Does he consider the members of the A. O. U. “ gentle
idiots” because they have entered a protest against the
slaughter of birds?

Can he adduce one case where the numbers of birds have
been lessened by the ravages of birds of prey?

Does he not know plenty of instances where birds have
been perceptibly thinned out by the direct agency of man?

Does he think it best to wait until his house is burglarized
before putting locks on the doors?

Is he not needlessly prolonging this discussion when—
judging by inference—he has simply to produce his facts to
bring it triumphantly to a close? Freveric A, Lucas.

Apropos of bird destruction I have just looked over a
drawer of miscellaneous skins and find: 45 insectivorous,
216 graminivorous, etc., 28 Shrikes, 6 Hawks, 1 Owl. That
is a fair sample of the work of one collector. Can any sane
man prove mea fell destroyer on that confession ?— Walter
Hoxie, Frogmore, S. C.

Do WiLp Birps Eat THE Potato Bue? I notice in
the O. and O. for January that ‘* W. W. C.” seems to doubt
that any wild bird will eat the Potato Bug. One or two
instances have come under my observation :

On June 27, 1882, a Quail was brought to me to be mount-
ed, andin the process of skinning, I discovered that the
crop contained a number of Potato Bugs. On inquiry,
learned that the bird had been shot in a pasture adjoining
which was a large field of potatoes.

July 20, 1881, while at work among potatoes, I observed a
Chipping Sparrow hopping along between the rows, fre-
quently picking up something from the ground. By close
watching saw him pick up several larvie of the Potato
Beetle and deyour them.—S. Albert Shaw, Humpton, N. H.

DERMAL PRESERYATIVE.—‘In your last issue of the O.
& O, the article contributed by H. M. hits my case exactly.
About one year ago I sent to Mr. Maynard and procured
some of his preservative, thinking that if it would answer
the purpose, it would be a great deal safer to have around,
than a poisonous preparations

In the Spring I made up several skins of rare Warblers,
that could only be procured during the migration here, and
left them exposed during the the drying process. Upon my
examining them a few days later I found them all spoiled.
Later in the Fall I nsed the preparation on some Squirrel
skins and as a resnit I have some mutilated Squirrels. The
above were left exposed, but some other specimens that
were not exposed but kept in cases, are all right yet.

I have specimens that were prepared with dry arsenic and
others with arsenical soap that have been exposed for
several years and no insects have ever damaged them, so I
have put the Dermal Preservative aside, and am now wait-
ing for something yet to fill the place of arsenic.

While I have no doubt Mr. Maynard’s preservative will
preserve specimens all right if they are not exposed, yet
from experience I know it will not if the specimens are ex-

posed.

I hope to hear from others on this subject, and to find if
possible where the trouble lies.

I do not wish to do any injustice to Mr. Maynard, but it is
a matter that is of importance to science, and also to the
public.—A, I. Johnson, Hydeville, Vt.

I must say a few words and give you a little of my exper-
ence with “‘Maynard’s Dermal Preservative.” I used only a
small quantity but used it thoroughly, though I must say
with not much faith. Perhaps that is one thing required, as
I have lost several specimens that were prepared with it,
while in the same cabinet those prepared with arsenic are
not disturbed. I aiso know of one other that has used the
same with similar experience so that Mr. Merrill is not

ORNITHOLOGIST

Vol. 10-No. 2 7

alone in the loss of specimens from the use of Dermal Pre-
servative.—Chas. K. Reed, Barrington Centre, R. I.

Rep CrossBitt iNINDIANA. Mr. Fletcher M. Noe of In-
dianapolis calls attention to a note of Mr. Eyerman’s in the

“OQ, & 0.” for April °S3, in which, recording his capture of

Loxia curvirostra on Feb. 10th, of that year, he says they
were the first recorded in that Stete. Mr. Noe says it was
his good fortune to secure two males and one female froma
flock of eleven on the 5th of the same month. This was
probably the flock that was afterwards seen by Mr, Ever-
man.

How vo Sorren Drrep Skins. (F. M. R., Farmington,
Me). ‘Remove the stufting; fill the interior with cotton or
tow saturated with water, but not dripping ; put pads of the
same under the wings; wrap thé bill and feet and set the
specimen in a damp, cool place.”

HAWKs AND OwLs IN VERMONT. C. S. Phillips, Glover,
Vt., says a friend of his in Westmore, Vt., caught twenty-
one large Hawks and thirteen Owls in a trap set on an old
stub—which our correspondent justly says seems a very
valuable stub.

Hyzrip Duck. E. C. Greenwood, Ipswich, Mass., reports
having bought a strange Hybrid Duck in that town, prob-
ably a cross between a Black Duck and Mallard. It is par-
ticularly fine and interesting.

eee 5

BostoN—ReEviIEw FoR JANUARY.—Hawk Owls,
usually considered rare, have been quite plentiful
from Maine to Minnesota. We have received
many letters offering them for sale. Mr. Vieka-
ry, a well-known taxidermist of Lynn, Mass., re-
ported one taken near that locality. We think
that it must have taken a circular route, as we un-
derstaid Mr. Bowler of Bangor has established
a dead line across that section. Barred Owls
have been a drug in the market, at 25c. While,
Short, Long Eared and Great Horned are searce.
We have not heard of a single capture of the
Snowy Owl this season.

There has been a noticeable absence of the

Pine Grosbeak, which were so plentiful last win-
ter, and Snow Buntings have not appeared in
any quantity. In December fine Mallards could
be bought at 25c. Several barrels of Blue Grouse
were brought in, but as the shippers had taken
the precaution to chop off all heads, they and we
were a sorry set. We succeeded in finding just
one female that was perfect. The flesh was white,
juicy and tender, in our opinion far surpassing
the common Grouse. Sharp-tailed Grouse are
nearly as plentifulas the Pinnated. No collector
in New England can have an excuse for not im-
proving the opportunity by placing a pair in his
cabinet,
Two or three invoices of Ptarmigan from
Labrador, arrived within the last week, and were
offered at the stalls at $1.50 to $2.00 per pair.
From the way several prominent taxidermists
are prospecting in the vicinity, we are led to be-
lieve that more than one eye is on a future corner
in the market.—F. B. W., Boston,

4
;

ORNITHOLOGIST

$1.50 per
Annum.

VOL. X.

Mississippi Valley Migration.

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.

The migration season of 1885 is close at hand in
the northern part of our district, while in the
more southern localities it has already commenced,
The prospects for success in its study are more
flattering than ever. The number of observers at
present is much greater than at this time last year,
and their average ability ranks much higher.
But while almost every mail brings the names of
new observers, there are only a few of these from
the localities mentioned in the January ““O. and O.”
Hence we would like to repeat both our request
and also that of the editor, that any one in or out
of our district, who knows the
thologist—and in this case we mean by ornithologist,

name of any orii-

any one who knows the commonest birds by sight and
by name—in the places named in the January 0.
and O.” will please send their names to me.

Before migration is fully started this Spring, it
may be well to record some of the facts brought
to light last year, though they are concerned with
distribution rather than the migration. We will
begin with the,

PRAIRIE
onia cupid).
interesting.
»astern United States, it has now exter-
minated from about eastern Illinois eastward. Its
northern limit has always fallen short of our

Hrn—PINNATED

The distribution of this species is
Formerly common in much of the
been

northern boundary until last Summer, when they
invaded Manitoba. Mr. C. W. Nash of Portage
La Prairie, says: ‘‘This last Autumn we had a
Curious influx of the Pinnated Grouse. Limagine
that they, like some other birds, are following up
civilization, for until last year (1884) none were
seen by the Indians and half-breed hunters.” It
has also been gradually spreading westward, and
during the years before the great extension of the
railroads, kept just about abreast of the settle-
ments. Dr. Coues, writing in 1874, says that it
then inhabited the eastern half of Minnesota, but

Grousb, (Cupid-*

PAWTUCKET, R. I., MARCH, 188s.

|

Copyright, 1885, by Frank B. WessTER and Eaton CLF.

AN D—

OOLOGIST.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, PusuisuEr.
Established, March, 1875.

Single Copy
15 Cents.

Nor 3)

that he had it occurs
at all in northwestern Minnesota or northern Da

kota.”

“no reason to believe that

Six years later T found it abundant up to
47°, and only forty miles from the Dakota line.
I also heard of its having appeared across the Red
River at Grand Forks, Dak. Last Fall I ques-
tioned several hunters in the vicinity of Fargo,
Dak., and they all agreed that the Pinnated
Grouse was about as common as the Sharp-tailed.
It has worked its way about sixty miles west of
the Red River, along the line of the Northern
Pacific Railroad.

At the same time it has spread from middle to
western Kansas, and from eastern Texas to Cole
man County, a little west of the middle of the
State. It is found abundantly in either the typi-
cal or “lesser” form, to the middle at least of In-
dian Territory,

The Prairie Chicken is commonly counted a
resident bird, and so itis through a large part of
its range, but in the northern portions of our dis
trict, especially in Towa, a regular though local
migration takes place. This has been mentioned
by former writers, and last year a special study
was made of the matter. Many observers unite
in testifying to the facts in the case, and what is
One
ites when he says that

more important, there is no dissenting voice.
of them hardly ex: ri

they migrate as regularly as the Canada Goose.
Summing up all the information received we get
In and De
cember, large flocks of Prairie Chickens come

the following results : November

from northern Towa and southern Minnesota to
for the Winter in northern Missouri and
bulk
During an early

settle

southern Towa. ition varies in
with the severity of the Winter.

cold snap, immense flocks come from the north

This mig

ern prairies to southern Iowa; in mild open Win-
Dur
ing a cold, wet Spring the northward movement
in March and April is largely arrested on the ar-
rival of the flocks in the northern Iowa ; but an
early Spring with fair weather will find them
abundant in the southern tier of counties in

ters the migration is much less pronounced.

Minnesota, and many flocks will pass still farther
north,

The most curious part is the sex of the migrants.
It is the females that migrate, leaving the males
to brave the Winter's cold. Mr. Thos. Miller of
Heron Lake, Minn., fairly states the case when
he says, ‘‘ The females (of Cupido) in this latitude,
migrate south in the Fall and come back in the
Spring, about one or two days after the first
Ducks, and they keep coming in flocks of ten
to thirty for about three days, all flying north.
The Grouse that stay here all Winter are males.”
By this, of course, it is not meant that no female
ever stays in Minnesota during the Winter, but
that their numbers are very few compared with
the males. At Iowa City, Ia., the first of the
flocks passed over March 10th, and the bulk on
the 22d; at Newton, Ia, the bulk is mentioned
on March 23d. The ‘‘booming” of this species
is marked from March 7th, at Caddo, Indian Ter-
ritory, to March 24th, at Barton, Dak.

As supplemental to the Pinnated Grouse, we
may mention that of the SHARP-TAILED GROUSE,
(Pediacetes phasianellus columbianus). Dr. Coues
in his ‘‘ New Key,” gives the range of this species
as follows: ‘‘The Pintail Chicken inhabits the
western portions of Minnesota, a small part of
Towa, all of Dakota thence diagonally across
Nebraska and Kansas to Colorado in the Laramie
and upper Platte regions, thence westward in
suitable country to the Sierra Nevada and Cas-
cade Ranges.” To this range several places can
be added extending its range eastward. In
Minnesota it is found in the northern and north-
eastern portions, while in the middle of the State
it ranges as far east as Elk River, and probably
across the State, as they are found in adjoining
portions of Wisconsin. I am indebted to Mr.
C. F. Carr of Waupaca, Wis., for the boundaries
of their range in that State. He writes: ‘‘They
are quite abundant on Sisson’s Prairie, Portage
County, in the Fall of the year, but as soon as
cold weather sets in, they keep in the edge of the
woods, They are associated with C. Cupido.
They range in the northwestern portion of the
State from about the center of Waushara County,
but are most abundant in Waushara, Waupaca,
Portage, Shaweeno, and Marathon Counties, but
not many in the latter.”

They also extend northward into Manitoba, be-
ing resident and common at Portage La Prairie,
latitude 50°; though the form found in British
America is considered to be the typical form, P.
phastanellus,

Col. Goss says they are still resident in middle
western Kansas, but becoming rare, while Dr.

34 _ ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 3
Watson says that in the vicinity of Ellis, Kans.,
they disappeared in 1875 and since then Cupido
has taken their place. Even in Illinois, accore-
ing to Mr. Ridgway, a very few are still found
on the prairies in the northern part of the State.

It will thus be seen that the range of the Sharp-
tailed Grouse forms a half circle to the north of
the range of the Pinnated, and following this
bow that the two ranges overlap in Illinois, Wis-
consin, Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.

BLACK-HEADED Snowsirp, (Junco hyemalis).
Mr. J. A. Balmer, sends the following notes from
Danville, Ill., 400: ‘‘Many large flocks win-
tered here, but the bulk left by the first of May.
On June ist, a male bird noticed; June 7th, male
and female; and again on June 2ist, I saw a
male bird, always near the same spot. This led
me to think the pair might be nesting here. I
have searched pretty thoroughly for their nest,
but without success.”

INTERMEDIATE WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW,
(Zonotrichia gambeli intermedia). Inthe ‘‘Auk” for
January, 1884, p. 100, Col. Goss gives a short
note of the addition of th’s species to the birds of
Kansas, it having been taken by Prof. Lantz at
Manhattan, Oct, 9th, 1883, and by the Colonel a
few days later at Fort Wallace. During migra-
tion the following Spring, Prof. Lantz took it
again at Manhattan, on May 7th, which was
eleven days later than the migration of the com-
mon White-crown, which probably accounts for
its being formerly overlooked. Nor is this the
most eastern record, since a single specimen was
reported from Iowa years ago, and in 1871 Dr.
Hoy took one near Racine, Wis.

During the Fall migration of 1884, Prof. Lantz
was again on the watch for this species and found
so many that he writes under date of December
26th: ‘It is now fully established that this form
is common here, being even more numerous than
the eastern form.” All observers in Texas, Kan-
sas, Nebraska and Dakota, should be on the look-
out for this form during migration, and it might
be well for those in western Iowa and Minnesota
to pay some attention to the subject. The dis-
tinguishing mark of this form as given in Coues’
new Key is, exactly like the White-crown, but
“lores gray or ashy, continuous with the white
stripe over the eye, i. e., the black of the fore-
head does not descend to the eye.”

TOWNSEND’s WARBLER, (Dendreca townsend).
This western Warbler has been added to the birds
of the Mississippi Valley district by Mr. Wm.
Lloyd, who found it at San Angelo as an abund-
ant migrant and also as a Summer resident,
“though rarely secured, as its habitat is the

March, 1885.]
thickest underbrush in a very restricted locality.”
Through the courtesy of Mr. Lloyd I had the
pleasure of examining a specimen—a fine male—
taken during the Fall migratian.

TRAILL’S FLYCATCHER, (Lmpidonax pusillus
trail). No record of the breeding of this species
south of Missouri, had come under my notice. It
was therefore with considerable surprise that I
read in one of Mr. Lloyd's reports from San
Angelo, Tex., ‘‘Breeds in June, two clutches
taken of four each.” I wrote, asking if there
was any mistake about it, and he answers, ‘The
Traill’s Flycatcher is correct. I shot three in
June, 1882, and sent them to my friend, Mr.
Everett Smith, who said they were typical 2.

traili. He diagnosed the various allied species,
* * * sending me at the same time eastern

specimens. I compared one this July that was
also typical.”

Lewis's Wooprrcker, (Melanerpes torquatus).
The same observer has also added this species to
the birds of Texas. It had previously been
brought into the Mississippi Valley by Dr. Wat-
son, who took it at Ellis, Kans., as reported by
Col. Goss in his ‘‘ Birds of Kansas.” Mr. Lloyd
says of his specimens: ‘‘ Two «were here (at San
Angelo,) before Christmas, and four arrived after
our bad Christmas norther, I secured a male
and a female; a friend shot another but lost it,
two left during the snow of January 20th, and
one still remains.”

——

Hawk Notes.

BY J. W. PRESTON, BAXTER, TA.

THE Marsu Harrier. This Hawk has been
a favorite with me not more for his usefulness
than for his trim build and graceful flight. Many
a fine Spring morning have I seen the male fly to
a great height, then close his wings and fall and
rise in easy, long curves, almost to the earth, then
ascend, turning over and over, uttering a loud
chattering cry. This curious performance is
frequently continued for a great distance.

During the Spring of 1872, while at a piece of
work near a grassy marsh, I noticed a female
Harrier flying over the marsh in search of food,
returning at short intervals to a spot which
proved to be her nest. This nest differed from
the ordinary heap of grass; it being firmly built
of a large number of sticks and twigs, lined with
grass and feathers, and placed on top of a high
tussock.

A large number of sets collected by me in pre-
vious seasons contained from four to six eggs
each. One exceptional nest having eight eggs

_AND OOLOGIST. -

ranging from fresh to well incubated. The nest
of the usual form was on the ground, in a low
Hazel thicket on a high ridge.

Swarnson’s Hawk.—A_ pair of Swainson’s
Hawks having selected an old Crow’s nest in a
small Oak sapling near a field in which I was
ploughing a few Springs since, I had good oppor-
tunity for observing some of their habits. Fora
number of days they were flying about over the
fields and timber, gathering material for the nest ;
being partial to a stalk-field, from which they
carried many pieces of husk. Occasionally one
would fly close over my team, caring nothing for
my presence, even /oldly pouncing upon a field-
mouse only a few rods away, retiring to a fence
to devour its prey. In course of a week the
female stayed on the nest, and supposing the eggs
had been laid, I climbed the sapling and found
but one egg, which I left several days, and on
returning found two eggs. One was elongated,
the other of the usual shape; both were white,
with rich brown spots. Sets collected by me
have mostly contained three eggs, much resem-
bling those of the Red-tailed Hawk, but smaller.
Nests were old ones, which had been occupied by
other birds. One exception, was a handsome
nest in a very tal] Hickory, and had not the birds
been identified, the nest would have passed as
that of the Red-tail.

Although this Hawk is careless at times, and
appears sluggish, yet he is capable of swift and
graceful flight; often sailing to an immense
height, from which he will descend in easy
curves.

An interesting feature of their migration is the
habit of gathering in vast flocks as they proceed.

Es

The Migrations of Birds.

EXTRACTS FROM AN ARTICLE IN THE “EDIN-
BURGH REVIEW” FOR JANUARY, 1885.

In any attempt to explain phenomena so re-
markable as some of the periodic movements of
birds, a knowledge of the facts relating to them is
absolutely indispensable, and some progress has
doubtless been made since the period, not very
long ago, when naturalists gravely debated the
pros and cons of the hybernation of swallows in
pools and ponds, since that more ancient time
when the augurs watched the fight of birds and
found an omen of good or evil according as the
Eagle might take its flight from left to right or
the contrary. But the longer migrations of the
feathered races, especially when they cross the
sea, and not always by the nearest and _ easiest
route, are still sufficiently puzzling. It will he

36 _ ORR EOS

_[Vol. 10-No. 3

well therefore in the course of our remarks on
migration, if we advance gradually, considering
first the simple cases, which present no difficulty,
It is obvious that some birds are always resident
in this country, such as the Sparrow, which sup-
plies its wants the whole year round in the neigh-
borhood of our homesteads. Some of these resi-
dents are wanderers—in fact, every bird is a
wanderer more or less when it shifts its quarters
during the year in seeking food. 4

The experimental flights of birds for the a: of
discovering nesting places, food, or some other
object, must not be regarded as ae vagrant or
mysterious; for whatever name may attach to
such excursions, they belong to a kind of migra-
tion which is constantly occurring. They may
be compared, perhaps, to the rambles of gipsies,
who set up their tents wherever they can find a
vacant spot by the roadside, or perhaps they may
be more accurately likened to the extension of a
fir forest, which literally marches up the slopes of
a Scotch hill and occupies new ground by the
scattering of its seeds. By such accidents, by
wandering and migration in the case of man and
other animals, and by an analagous seizure of new
sites in the case of vegetables, the world has been
peopled and planted.

In his work on the “ Distribution of Plants and
Animals,” Mr. Wallace remarks that migration in
its simple form may be best studied in North
America, where it takes place over a continuous
land surface with changes of climate North and
South. We have there every grade of migration,
from that of species which merely shift the
northern and southern limits of their range a few
hundred miles to that of some other species
which move over 1,000 miles of latitude and are
birds of passage in all the intervening districts.
Some have extended their range under conditions
favorable to them and induced by human agency,
such as the Rice Bird and the Mexican Swallow,
and we may be sure that in all parts of the world
the range of birds has always extended under
favoring conditions of one kind or another. The
cultivation of fresh tracts of land will bring such
birds as follows the plough into new districts, and
the presence of an advancing bird population will
carry the individuals composing it into all parts
where life can be sustained. As the birds in-
crease in any district they naturally wander
farther, for the same reason that man himself
emigrates from an over-crowded country. There
is of course a distinction between migration and
distribution, but when migrating birds become
more widely distributed from any cause the
range of their migration must necessarily be
extended. So far as the initial motive is con-

cerned all Tomaioaa are similar, though they
differ widely in their extent and in the cireum-
stances that attend them. Natural-
ists have drawn distinctions between different
kinds of migration, which they have classified as
those of Spring, when our Summer migrants arrive,
departing again after breeding, and those of Au-
tumn, by birds that winter here and depart from
our shores in the Spring. The birds of passage,
as they are called, which pass through a country
without remaining long, are bent on exactly the
same business as the true migrants. They are
simply passing to their quarters. A Fieldfare
prefers England to the Arctic circle in Winter,
and comes here accordingly, and if he rests on
Heligoland, he is there a bird of passage. In
Spring he returns perhaps. <A bird of passage
may breed in the north or south; he may pass
the particular spot where he is observed as a bird
of passage in Autumn or in Spring; his migration
may be long or short; he is at the end of his two
journeys a true migrant, like the Swallow, or like
those sweet Warblers in our groves and hedges
which disappear entirely at their season, while
the partial migrants, Pied-wagtails, Woodcocks,
Snipes and others, do not entirely leave us. The
Song Thrush and Robin are among the birds
which as species remain always with us, but the
nuinber of individuals of all these kinds is in-
creased by migration in Spring and Autumn more
extensively than casual observers might imagine.
The Redbreasts though they do not flock at the
end of Summer, pass constantly southwards,
prompted by their migratory instincts, and do
not stop at the Channel. Another movement of
a migratory character on the part of the same

familiar birds, is that which brings them to our .

homesteads on the approach of severe weather.
This is not migration in the ordinary sense, and
it offers no problem hard to solve, but the short
journeys are undertaken with the same objects as
the long ones, and they may serve as illustrations
of the first promptings of the instinct of migra-
tion. The flight from wood and field offers no
difficulty ;. it is guided evidently by sight and
memory of former flittings; or perhaps some of

the inexperienced birds may wander hither and ~

thither for a while seeking the shelter and food
they need, finding it haphazard or failing to do so
and perishing in their search. The long flights
of Cranes and other strong-winged birds have
formed the subject of theories still wilder than
the flights perhaps, and arising from the in-
sufficiency of the facts relating to them. The
argument should be inductive. The short flit-
tings perhaps will be found to explain the longer,
and thus the mystery may be found to rest on
simple causes after all.

Lh Hoe, Ai}

We have shown the frequency with which
several supposed residents wander, and Professor
Newton tells us in his able article in the new
edition of the “Eneyclopedia Britannica” that
“there is scarcely a bird of either the palearctic
or nearetic region, whose habits are at all well
known, of which much the same may not be said ;
and hence we are led to the conclusion that every
bird of the northern hemisphere is, to a greater
or less degree, migratory in some part or other of
MUSMRAUMeC ee es

The character of the soil and site also influen-
ces bird life, and therefore migration. There are
birds of the swamps and streams, of the moun-
tains, the deserts and the grassy plains. Speaking
generally the migrants that resort to our shores in
Winter, come from the northern sub-region already
indicated. Our Summer migrants, the Swallow,
Cuckoo, Nightingale and others more or less
familiar, come from the southern sub-region, from
the Mediteranean basin, from the Nile as far as
the first cataract, the Pyrenees, Alps, Balkans,
Caucasus and other districts of what Mr. Dresser
has designated the European bird region. It is
interesting to observe at what a leisurely pace
migrations proceed in some districts, how rapid it
becomes under a pressing emergency, how
thorough and complete the movement of the
birds is in localities where the food supply abso-
lutely fails, while in others it is only partial, a
limited bird population always remaining. The
migrants quit the burning plains ot Central Africa
on the same principal that they leave the in-
clement North. In each district the animal and

vegetable food which abounds in one ease in
Winter, in the other in Summer, entirely fails

them, and their banishment is complete. But the
manner of leaving differs, since there is rarely any
urgency in the exit from the warmer countries,
where the period of migration frequently extends
over several weeks. In Autumn, on the contrary,
the climate of the north sometimes closes up all
food resources suddenly, and at such times a con-
tinual stream of birds arrives on our shores,
showing how great the pressure in the rear must
er cs fs : A curious example of
the beosional carentures of migrants occurs in
the case of American birds, especially the shore
birds from North America, which sometimes pay
us visits, that the naturalists appreciate, though
the birds themselves had no intention of crossing
the Atlantic. Itis curious too that these birds
usually appear on our eastern coasts, and not on
the shores nearest their homes. . F

Avoiding further analysis of an abstruse ques-
tion, we must be content with conclusions which
may thus be briefly summarized :

In districts where the supply of food never
fails, the instinct-of migration could never have

AND OOLOGIST. 37

been developed. We may look forit in its lowest
form in those home-keeping birds whose flittings
in search of food are least extended; and in its
highest state of development in such travellers as
the Swallow or the Nightingale, the Wild Swan
‘Or thie Stork). 2s

But when all is said, science bas done but little
to explain the extraordinary faculties whith im-
pel and enable the bird creation to encircle the

globe, to seek for food and warmth in unknown
lands, to steer their course with unerring pre-

cision across the depths of air and tracts of ocean,

and to return in season to their wonted nests.
Se es

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

(Zamelodia ludoviciana.)

BY C. 0. TRACY, TAFTSVILLE, VT.

This bird is a fairly common Summer resident
of this locality. Within the memory of the wri-
ter it was very rare. Mr, Zadock Thompson dit
not include it in his list of Vermont birds in his
“Thompson’s Vermont,” published in 1842. It
seems probable, however, that it was known in
the State before that time. (Will any one having
knowledge of its early appearance in Vermont,
kindly report the same to the O. and O. or the
writer?) The male
is at once conspicuous, both by his beautiful plum-
age and melodious song. While essentially a
forest bird—and one must see and hear him in
his forest home to see his full beauty, and hear
him in his happiest song—they often come into
the orchard and shade trees about our homes.
Along the lightly timbered river banks and road-
siles they find their favorite breeding places, but
these must be at no great distance from the more
heavily timbered forest. The forked top of
sapling is usually selected for a nesting place.
Sometimes, however, the horizontal branch of a
large forest tree is chosen. The nest is a frail
structure, made of fine dry twigs and a few grass
or weed stalks. Sometimes only twigs are used,
and these are nearly always Hemlock. It is sel-
dom less than eight, or more than twenty feet
from the ground. The full complement of eggs is
usually four, sometimes but three. Dimensions
vary from 1.x.75 to .90x.70 of an inch; color green-
ish blue, spotted with different shades of brown

Most of their eggs are laid the first week in
June. The earliest and latest dates that I have
taken full fresh sets are June 2d and 23d. Botan
sexes incubate, the male performing his full share of
this important duty. My records show that where
I have made observations in thirty-four cases, the
nests were occupied by males twenty-three times
and females eleven. By the second week in Sep,-
tember they have all dep.rted for the south.

The sexes arrive together.

38

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10--No. 3

A Catalogue of the Birds of Kalama-
zoo County, Michigan.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.—PART IT.

24. [71] Anthus Indovicianus (Gm.) Licht.
American Titlark.—Transient. Arrive from the
South in April, and are found in May. Reach us
from the North in September and are occasionally
seen as late as November. Usually seen in large
flocks. Never observed in Summer.

25. [74.] Muiotilta varia (Linn.) Vieill. Black-
and-white Creeper.—Arrives from April 22 to
May 10. Principally transient, but a few remain
during Summer. One nest found by Dennis
Nolan contained three young and an addled ege.
It was built by the side of a decayed log on the
ground, and was composed in its body of grape-
vine bark and dried maple leaves, and was lined
with roots, hair and fine grapevine bark strips.
The nest was found during the last week in May,
in a high beech and maple woods.

The song of this bird, if we may call the notes
a song, is Che-wheepy, teepy, seepy, ka wheepy,
cheepy. The call notes are Chat terrrrrrrr
rr, or Tset, set, sit t t t t t, very rapidly uttered.
Sometimes we hear a simple tweet, tweek or
peeet uttered in a lower key than the usual call.

26. [79.] Helminthophaga pinus (Linn.) Baird.
Blue-winged Yellow Warbler—A rare species
with us. Mr. Arthur Chambers secured a speci-
men May 5, 1879. The Blue-wing may summer
with us, but the fact has not as yet been proven.

27. [81.] Helminthophaga (Linn.)
Baird. Blue Golden-winged Warbler—A com-
mon species, arriving from April 26 to May 11.
Breeds abundantly, but the nests are rarely found.
But few nests have been met with in this county.
The nests are always, so far as my knowledge
goes, placed on the ground, and at the edges of
woods or in a new or partial clearing. The nests
are bulky affairs and compare well with those of
the Yellow-throat. The eggs, usually five in
number, are small, white, and spotted with fine
dots of reddish-brown, chiefly at the larger end.

This is one of our handsomest Warblers and is
known to nearly all collectors. The females are
rarely shot, owing to their retiring nature. The
Golden-wing is rarely seen later than August 25.
They may remain sometime later but it is difficult
to find them in the undergrowth, as they so
thoroughly conceal themselves in the rank grass
and bushes. The species prefer low, damp woods
and the edges of clearings. The song is Zw eee
eeeeceeeceee e,longdrawn out. The notes
often seem to come from a distance when the bird
is quite near; again the singer may be at quite a

chrysoptera

distance and the bird be searched for near at hand.
The notes are very deceptive. There are other
notes of the Golden-wing, a half song difficult to
describe, and the usual call notes, low chirps com-
mon to so many of the Warblers.

28. [85.] Helminthophaga ruficapilla (Wils.)
Baird. Nashville Warbler.—Arrives from May 3
to 10. Remains with us until the last of the
month and occasionally later. It may remain
through the Summer, but has never been taken to
my knowledge at a time to lead me to think that
it nested here.

The Nashville is an active and pleasing Warbler
and well known to all the collectors. In a large
Tamarack swamp near Sugar-loaf Lake, hundreds
may be heard singing from the 10th to the 20th of
May. The song is similar to the syllables Ca twee
ca twee ca tivee ca twee twee twee twee twee, or ca
weet cu weet ca weet tweetle teetle teetle, uttered ina
sprightly manner as the little fellow skips about
among the branches.

In the Autumnal migration the birds reach us
in the latter part of August and remain a month.
At this time of the year the song is seldom if ever
heard. I have only heard tlie call, a simple chirp.

29. [87.] Lelminthophaga peregrina (Wils.)
Baird. Tennessee Warbler.—This is the last
member of this genus to arrive, and in fact one of
our latest arrivals of all the migrants. My earliest
recorded arrival is May 18, and my latest date re-
corded, as the first seen for the season, is May 23.
The species passes rapidly by us and it is rare to
meet with specimens for more than two days
during Spring.

The species arrives so late that the foliage has
reached that degree of density by the time of their
appearance that few are seen. The Tennessee
keeps in the tops of the tallest trees, principally
the Elms and Maples, and it is difficult to secure
specimens. They are more often heard than seen,
and frequently a flock will pass through without
a chance of securing a shot. Occasionally a bird
will be seen to dart from the dense top of a tree,
immediately enter the foliage of the next before a
shot can be had. The song is a rather sharp
chatter, but not at all like that of the Pine War-
bler. The call notes are short chirps, similar to
others of the genus

30. [88.] Parula americana (Linn.) Bp. Blue
Yellow-backed Warbler.—Arrives from April 22
to May 11. I have never taken a specimen in
June in the county and do not think that the
species remains to breed. It may prove to be a
rare Summer resident, as it is not rare during
Summer a hundred miles north. The song of the
Yellow-back is very pleasing although simple.
Tne division of the note is something like this,

ch, 1885.]

Mar

with our imagination stretched to the compre-
hension of supposed sounds Zuee zuee zuce dee dee
dec. The song is frequently uttered, both from
the tops of the tallest trees and the low bushes,
the bird seemingly having no preference as to
either elevated or a nearer terrestrial mode of
travel. In its late Summer and Fall migration the
species is not so tuneful, and the little fellows can
only be detected by their faint chirping calls, or by
watching them as they flit silently from tree to tree.

3L. [90.] Perissoglossa tigrina (Gmel.) Baird.
Cape May Warbler.—Generally a rare species but
quite abundant fora day during a season. Arrives
in early May and hastens by us as rapidly as any
member of the family. Returns to us in Septem-
ber—I have taken it as early as the 6th—and re
mains some time.

32. [93.] Dendraca wstiva (Gmel.) Baird. Sum-
mer Yellow Bird: Yellow Warbler—One of our
most abundant species. Arrives from April 19 to
May 11. Breeds abundantly, generally selecting
low sections or banks of streams, but occasionally
found breeding in gardens where the nest is some-
times observedin the currant bush. Nests are
frequently found in Plum and Apple trees. A
beautiful and vivacious species, well known and
liked by all. I have not observed it later than
September 20. It becomes rare, or at least is diffi-
cult to find, after the Summer months.

33. [94.] Dendreca cerulescens (Linn.) Baird.
Black-throated Blue Warbler.—A species though
very abundant to the north of us, quite scarce as
a rule in this county. The earliest arrival is April
25, while one season the first seen was on May 13.
The species does not remain during Summer. In
late August we see them again on their southern
journey, at which time they remain with us for
quite a fortnight. We may calculate on seeing
the Black-throat about every Spring, if a good deal
of collecting is indulged in, but to those who only
take an occasional day in the woods, he isa rarity.

34. [95.] Dendrwea coronata (Linn.) Gray.
Yellow-ramped Warbler.—Arrives from April 16
to 28, Remains with us until late May, when
they move north. In their Autumnal migrations
they usually reach us in early September and are
quite numerous by Sept. 20. Have seen them by
August 25. They appear plentiful until October
10. A few remiin until November 1 and even
later. One of our first Warblers to appear and
the last to leave us.

35. [97.] Dendreca maculosa (Gmel.) Baird.
Black and-yellow Warbler.—Atrives from May 4
to 14. A regular transient with us. Never really
plentiful. Linger with us often until late in May.
Again seen in August and September on their
journey south. A beautiful species and never
known to sing with us,

AND OOLOGIST. 39

36. [98.] Dendreca coerulea (Wils.) Baird.
Cerulean or Blue Warbler.—Have met with this
species but once. Shot a beautiful singing male
May 11, 1884, while hunting with Mr. F. H.
Chapin in low woods of Elm, Basswood and Ash
near the river. Only two specimens have been
taken. It may be considered decidedly rare at
this latitude.

37. [99.] Dendrwea pennsylvanica (Linn.) Baird.
Chestnut-sided Warbler—A common species gen-
erally, that is during a series of years, but often
quite rare for a year or so, and again exceedingly
common. In 1875 a great many nests were found,
the first eggs being taken here in 1874. Since
1878 very few nests have been taken. The species
arrives from April 25 to May 6. I cannot say
how late it remains with us but have found it to
be a rare bird in the Fall.

38. [100.] Dendreca (Wils.) Baird.
Bay-breasted Warbler. I cannot call this a really
plentiful species in Spring, but have often found
it rather common for an afternoon’s walk. Ar-
rives from May 10 to 20 and leaves us generally
in a very few days. I have averaged seeing this
bird about half the year. Frequently found in
early September. Remains with us generally in
considerable numbers fora month. This bird has
a beautiful song, which is however rarely heard,
aud but little known to collectors.

39. [101.] Dendraca (Forst.) — Baird.
Black-poll Warbler.—This is one of a very few of
the Michigan Warblers which I have never met
with. It is never common in the county. Mr.
Chapin has taken a number of specimens and re-
ports it as a late arrival. It is usually seen from
May 22 to 31. In the southern migration it is
seen with us in late August and early September.

40. [102.]_Dendrweu blackburnie (Gm.) Baird.
Blackburnian Warbler.—Arrives from April 24 to
May 11. The large majority pass north, but afew *
remain to breed in the county. Mr. Benjanin F.
Syke has had the good fortune to secure two
nests with eggs of this species. Both nests were
placed on limbs well up in Tamarack trees. One
was all of forty feet from the ground. The
Blackburnian is again common in September and
all do not leave us until early October.

A1. [103.] Dendraea dominica albilora Baird.
White-browed Yellow-throated Warbler.—A rare,
early migrant. The species has never appeared
common here. It is as a rule an early arrival. My
first specimen was secured May 10, 1877, but they
usually appear earlier. One was brought me
Sept. 21, 1878, which was captured in a store in
the city. Once observed a pair of birds building
a nest in a tall Sycamore tree on the bank of the
river.

custaned

striata

are ; ORNITHOLOGIST

OERNITHOLOGIS®E

—AND—

OOLOGILST.

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF
NeAVRU RAY: ELLS I: OR YE
» ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF
BiRDS:

THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES

AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,
PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Editor’s Notes.

What causes the Migration of Birds?
This question is answered by a writer in the
Sdinburgh Review (extracts from whose
article we reprint) and answered very post-
tively—too positively we think—as wholly
a matter of food. We venture to think
this solution by no means explains the
phenomena seen annually all over the
world. No doubt itis « cause of the peri-
odical movements of the Birds, but scarce-
ly the ov/y, perhaps not the principal, one.
Impelled by hunger, many cf our New
England Birds flock into the towns and
villages in severe weather; a season which
has been unfavorable for the ripening of
certain berries will cause our Winter birds
to seek other localities; the extension of
population westward takes certain birds to
localities they had never previously been
accustomed to yisit—and on the other hand,
causes the wilder species to seek more re-
But these accidents of the
seasons or of civilization are not “Migra-
tion.” If it were only a question of food
would not all the birds flock to genial cli.
mates, where insects and vegetable food are
abundant all the year, and stay there ?

tired quarters.

Why should the Hummingbirds leave the
flowers of Florida and Mexico, to seek the

-[Vol. 10-No. 3

compartively rare ones of New England?
Would not each species soon find his Win-
ter resort also his best Summer home?
Perhaps we are not yet sufficiently ac
quainted with the facts of migration to
venture upon explaiming them, but we
know enough to say the Reviewer's opinion
falls very far short of explaining points
already beyond doubt.

This month again, we insert another
letter upon the Destruction of Birds for
Millinery Purposes. We have endeavored
to give both sides an opportunity of main-
taining their positions, and we regret the
somewhat personal tone which has pervaded
the discussion. We allude. to the matter
here because we think it advisable to place
some limit upon our correspondents. We
are promised facts, but do not seem to get
further than “going for” the other man—
which appears to be the preliminary. We
hope both sides are now ready to return to
first principles. In any further letters we
may insert, we shall endeavor to keep
them to the points at issue, rather than to
the records of the other side. And the
points at issue are surely of sufficient im-
portance. If a senseless fashion is causing
widespread and probably permanent injury
to the more attractive part of our Bird
Life, it is well we should know it and use
every means to diminish orremove the evil.
On the other hand if the birds killed bear
only a small proportion to the total, we
may wisely conclude that there is no reason
for interference or cause for alarm.

Mr. Walter Hoxie writes us that he shot
a specimen of Red-wing Blackbird of va-

riety gubernator, in a flock of the ordinary —

type. That this Pacific slope variety should
be found in South Carolina is certainly
very wonderful, more especially as the
Red-wings winter in the temperate zone,
and a frequent cause of straggling—win-
tering together in the narrow American
Tropics where east and west almost unite
—is removed in their case.

—

BY E. M. HASBROUCK, PALATKA, FLA.

PART III.

Jan. 31. Taking my gun and note book I
started for the swamps to see what was going on
among the birds, and to try and glean some new
facts concerning them. The first bird that I saw
was the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, (Sphyrapicus
varius), clinging to the side of a large Water Oak,
and thundering away for dear life. This was the
first bird of this species that I had seen in Flor-
ica, and I felt at home immediately on meeting
this old friend.

Occasionally he would pause to utter a whining
note, best represented by the syllables “ Che-cheo
—che-e-e-cheu.” I soon found that my friend
was not alone, for IT heard a number in different
parts of the swamp, and on hunting them up,
found them all af work gleaning insects from the
trunks of the trees. Presently a large flock of
Bluebirds flew overhead, and on watching them
I found that they were flying about in wide cir-
cles, and constantly calling to each other with
their peculiar note so familiar to all. Suddenly
they paused, shot towards the earth and alighted
in the top of a tall tree, there to renew their
chattering. They soon as suddenly dashed away
again. These were followed by a_ flock of
about three hundred Robbins, at a great height,
which were flying back and forth, and chirping
loudly, as if undecided in which direction to fly.
These were soon joined by a larger flock, and
after a short flight they all suddenly pitched to-
ward the earth with a rushing noise that was
plainly heard at a distance of a quarter of a mile,

_and alighted in the trees. In the meantime some
twenty or thirty Purple Grackles, (Quisealus pur-
pureus), came skipping from tree to tree, and
these were followed by a large number of the
American Goldfinch, (Astragalinus tristis.) Seeing
these birds in flocks, all within twenty minutes,
and after watching their manauvres, I came to
the conclusion that the tide had turned, and that
the great wave of migration was slowly advanc-
ing towards the north.

While seated on a log I became lost in admir-
ing the beautiful singing of a Mocking Bird,
(Mimus polyglottus), in the bushes near by. They
are just commencing to sing after two months of
comparative silence. Soon the harsh scream of
the Blue Jay, (Cyanocitta cristata), reaches my
ears from the top of a tall Pine tree. Looking
up I perceived this saucy rascal, busily engaged
in pecking at the pine cones in true Woodpecker
style. All at once the familiar note of a Pileated
Woodpecker, (1ylotomus pileatus), reached my

AND OOLOGIST. 41

ears, and thinking that I might gain something
by following him, I treaded my way carefully
from tree to tree until finally I saw him on the
top branch of a dead Cypress, calling and acting
as though he expected an answer from some

quarter. Soon he was joined by another,
and after a moment’s conversing, one flew

away, while the other, after a moment’s pause,
flew a short distance and alighted on a
Cypress tree, a couple of hundred yards off,
and disappeared on the other side. Some-
thing induced me to follow, and it was well
that I did so. On reaching the tree and search-
ing carefully, I at first failed to find the object of
my pursuit, but finally just as I was about to give
it up, my eyes rested on a brand new hole, almost
entirely concealed by an immense bunch of Span-
ish moss. Waiting patiently for some time, I
was rewarded by at length seeing the long looked
for bird fly out of it, and alight in a neighboring
tree. I leave it to the readers of the “O. and 0.”
if my patience and perseverance were not amply
repaid. I did not climb to it, as the actions of

the birds did not promise my finding a complete
set of eges, but I intend doing so two weeks from
that day, and if successful, will let you know the
results in my next. As it was, I contented my-
self with thinking what a splendid haul I would
make at no distant day.

Feb. 7. During a short walk this morning |
noticed for the first time the Yellow-rump War-
bler, (Dendrwea They were quite
numerous and very busy catching insects. Ts
heard only one note, a single “ Chip” repeated at
intervals. This morning a live female Sparrow
Hawk, (Tinnunculus sparverius), was brought to
me by a young man who said that he had caught
it while attempting to get at a Mocking Bird that
On putting
it into a cage it at once turned over on its back
and feigned death. One not acquainted with the
circumstances of the case would readily have
supposed the bird to be dead. There he lay, limp
and motionless; all the poking with a stick had
no effect. Finally, after my keeping quiet a few
moments, I observed one eye cautiously opened,
and then closed again as he saw that I was watch-
ing him. I then retired behind some boxes and
watched to see what he would do. Soon he
again cautiously opened his eyes, and not seeing
me, began to beat the bars of the cage in a wild
effort to free himself, On my approaching he
threw himself into the position of a Night Hawk
when feigning lameness. I think this answers
the inquiry of a gentleman, made in the colamns
of your paper, as to whether birds “ play possum.”
But to go back. Emerging from the swamp, I

corondtt).

was ina cage hanging by his door.

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 3

and in passing through it came upon a flock of
about ten Ground Doves, (Chamepelia passerina).
They were quite tame and allowed me to come
within a few yards of them before taking wing.
I notice that they are quite common in this vicin-
ity, and may be found in any Orange grove.

The Mourning Dove is here in large numbers.
They stay in flocks of from ten to a hundred and
fifty, frequenting the skirts of the woods, an] de-
scending from time to time into the fields and
Orange groves to feed. I have never heard them
utter a single note since I have been here, and yet
I have seen them under many circumstances.
They are very shy and difficult of approach, and
when feeding on the ground usually have a sen-
try stationed in the top of some dead tree near
by. At dusk they all betake themselves to some
certain spot, and, at a certain time, to drink. I
never knew them to vary more than a few min-
utes from 5.30 p.m. If the coast appears clear
they fly straight to the spot until directly over it,
ata height of about five) feet, pause with loud
whistling and rapid beatings of the wings and
alight. After alighting they remain motionless
for as long as three minutes, and then commence
to drink and dress their plumage. Should they,
however, perceive cause for alarm, they wheel over
the spot several times, and should they deem it
unsafe, fly away to some other place. Their flight
is accompanied by a whistling noise that may be
plainly heard, if everything is quiet, at a distance
of two hundred yards.

Birds of the Upper Passaic Valley,
New Jersey.

BY H. F. BARRELL, NEW PROVIDENCE, N. J.
(Continued from page 23.)

72 Field Sparrow, (Spizella pusilla,) Summer
resident; abundant. Breeds. March 25—
Oct. 24.

73 Black Snowbird, (Junco hyemalis,) Winter
visitant; abundant. Oct. 14.

74 Song Sparrow, ( Melospiza fasciata,) permanent
resident; abundant. Breeds.

75 Swamp Sparrow, (WMeloxpiza palustris,) Sum-
mer resident; commmon. Breeds. April 14.

76 Fox-colored Sparrow, ( Passerella iliaca,) Wir-
ter visitant ; common.

77 Chewink, (Pipilo erythrophthalmus,) Summer
resident; common. Breeds. April 80—
Oct. 1.

8 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, (Zzmelodia ludovi-
ciana,) Summer resident; tolerably com-
mon. Breeds. May 10—Sept. 2.

79 Indigo Bunting, (Passerina cyanea,) Summer

80 Bobolink, (Dolichonyx

895

86

91

98

99

resident ; Breeds.

May 12.

tolerably common.

oryzivorus,) Summer

resident ; common. Breeds.
May 6.

Cowbird, (Molothrus ater,) Summer resident;
common. Breeds. April 9—Oct. 14.

Red-and-buff-shouldered Blackbird, (Ageleus
pheniceus,) Summer resident; common.
Breeds. February 28—August 13.

Meadow Lark, (Sturnella magna,) permanent
resident ; tolerably common. Breeds.

Orchard Oriole, (Jeterus spuwrius,) Summer
resident ; tolerably common. Breeds. May
6—August 13.

Baltimore Oriole, (Jcterus galbula,) Summer
resident; tolerably common. Breeds. May
2—August 13.

Rusty Blackbird, (Seolecopha gus ferrugineus,)
transient visitant ; tolerably common. Seen
more in Autumn in flocks, migrating.
Oct. 18.

Purple Grackle, (Quiscalus purpureus,) Sam-
mer resident; common. Breeds. Feb. 19—
Oct. 11.

Common Crow, (Corvus frugivorus,) perma-
nent resident; common. Breeds.

Blue Jay, (Cyanocitta eristata,) permanent
resident; common. Breeds.

Kingbird, (Zyrannus carolinensis, Summer
resident; common. Breeds. April 14—
Sept. 15.

Great Crested Flycatcher, (Myiarchus crint-
tusx,) Summer resident; tolerably common.
Breeds. May 4—Sept. 15.

Phebe Bird, (Sayornis fuscus,) Summer resi-
dent; common. Breeds. March 22—Oct. 27.

Wood Pewee, (Contopus virens,) Summer resi-
dent; tolerably common. Breeds. May
10—Sept. 21.

Yellow-belled Flycatcher, (Himpidonaw fluvi-
ventris,) Summer resident ; rather common.

Least Flycatcher, (Hmpidonax minimus,) Sum-
mer resident; common. Breeds. May
10—Sept. 24.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, (Trothilus col-
ubris,) Sammer resident ; tolerably common.
Breeds. May 9—Sept. 21.

tolerably

7 Chimney Swift, (Chetura pelasgica,) Summer

resident ; Breeds.
Sept. 14.

Whip-poor-will, (Caprimulgus vociterus,) Sum-
mer resident; tolerably common. Breeds.
May 3—July 31.

Nighthawk, (Chordeiles popetve,) Summer resi-
dent, but very seldom seen. Very rare.
Aug. 21—Oct. 1.

common. May 3—

March, 1885.]

100

101

102

103

104

105

124

Hairy Woodpecker, (Pievs villosus,) perma-
nent resident, but very rare.

Downy Woodpecker, (Picus pubescens,) per-
manent resident; common. Breeds.

Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, (Sphyrapicus
varius,) resident ; tolerably common. Mostly
seen in Autumn.

Red-headed Woodpecker, (Melunerpes erythro-
cephalus,) Summer resident ; tolerably com-
mon. Breeds.

Yellow-shafted Flicker, (Coluptes auratus,)
Summer resident ; common. Breeds. March
27—Sept. 28.

Belted Kingfisher, (Ceryle aleyon,) Summer
resident; tolerably common. Breeds. April
4—Oct. 16.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, (Coceyzus americanus, )
Summer resident; tolerably common.
Breeds. May 22—Sept. 29.

Black-billed Cuckoo, (Coceyzus erythrophthal-
mus,) Sammer resident; tolerably common
some seasons. Breeds.

American Long-eared Owl, (Asie americanus,)
permanent resident ; tolerably common.

Short-eared Owl, (Asio aecipitrinus,) resident ;
rare,

Barred Owl, (Strix nebulosa,) resident ; rare.

Saw-whet Owl, (Nyctule acadica,) resident;
rare. Breeds.

Little Sereech Owl, (Scops asiv,) permanent
resident; common. Breeds.

Great Horned Owl, (Bubo virginianus,) resi-
dent; rare.

Pigeon Hawk, (salon columbarius,) resi-
dent; rare.

Sparrow Hawk, (Zinnunculus sparverius,)
resident ; tolerably common.

Marsh Hawk, (Circus ludsonius,) resident :
tolerably common.

Cooper's Hawk, (Acc/piter cooperi,) resident ;
tolerably common.

Sharp-shinned Hawk, (Aceipiter fuscus,) resi-
dent ; tolerably common.

Red-tailed Hawk, (Buteo boreulis,) resident :
tolerably common.

Red-shouldered Hawk, (Buteo lincatus,) resi-

dent; common. Breeds.
Mourning) Dove, (Zenaidura carolinensis,)

Summer resident ; common. Breeds. March
24—Sept. 28.
Ruffed Grouse, (Bonasu wmbellus,) permanent

resident ; tolerably common. Some seasons
rare.

Bob White, (Ortyx virginiana,) resident; tol-
erably common. Breeds.

Great Blue Heron, (Ardea herodias,) Summer
resident; rare. Breeds. April 19.

AND OOLOGIST.

137

138

149

} Black-crowned Night

Green Heron, (Butorides virescens,) Summer
resident; tolerably common. Breeds. May
5—Sept. 28.

Heron, (Wyctiardea
grisea nevia,) Summer resident; tolerably
common. Breeds. March 23—Sept. 13.

American Bittern, (Botaurus lentiginosus,)
Summer resident; rare. May 5.

Killdeer, (Oxyechus vociferus,) very rare.

American Woodcock, (Philohela minor,) Sum-
mer resident; common. Breeds. March 10.

English Snipe, (Gallinago media,) transient
visitant ; tolerably common.

Red-breasted Snipe, (Macrorhamphus griseus)
transient visitant ; tolerably common on the
wet meadows during migration.

Least Sandpiper, (Actodromas minutilla,) tran-
sient visitant; tolerably common.

Semipalmated Sandpiper, (Hrevnetes pusillus,)
transient visitant; tolerably common.

Yellow-legs, (Zotanus flavipes,) transient visi-
tant-; tolerably common during — the
Autumn.

Solitary Sandpiper, (Riyacophilus solitarius.)
Summer resident; common. May 14.

3 Spotted Sandpiper, (Tringoides macularius,)

Summer resident; common. Breeds.
3—Sept. 15.

Canada Goose, (Bernicla canadensis,) Occa-
sionally settles down on the Passaic during
Spring migration.

Mallard, (Anas boseas,) transient visitant; tol-
erably common on wet meadows some two
miles away.

Black Mallard, (Avas obseura,) transient visi-
tant; tolerably common on wet meadows.

Gadwell, (Chaulelasmus streperus,) transient
visitant ; tolerably common.

Pintail, (Dafila aevta,) transient visitant; tol-
erably common on the low lands of the
Passaic.

Widgeon, (Mareca penelope,) transient visi-
tant; tolerably common during migration.

Shoveller, (Spatula clypeata,) transient visi-
tant ; tolerably common.

Blue-winged Teal, (Querquedula discors,) tran-
sient visitant; tolerably common.

Green-winged Teal, (Neftion
transient visitant ; tolerably common.

Wood Duck, (Aér sponsa,) Summer resident ;
tolerably common. Breeds.

American Sheldrake, (Mergus merganser amer-
icanus,) transient visitant ; rather common.

Hooded Sheldrake, (Lophodytes cucullatus,)
transient visitant; tolerably common.

Thick-billed Grebe, (Podilymbus podiceps,)
transient visitant ; tolerably common.

May

carolinensis, )

44

Notes on Nests of the Indigo Bird
and Towhee Bunting.

BY W. E. H., FAIRVIEW, W. VA., (PANHANDLE).

On the 18th of August, 1883, the writer found
in a mass of Blackberry briers on the border of a
wood, within a radius of nine feet, two nests, one
that of the Towhee Bunting and the other of the
Indigo Bird, each not less than three feet from the
ground, and containing 3 and 4 fresh eggs respect-
ively. In connection with this circumstance the
writer deems three things as noteworthy. First,
the close proximity of said nests. Rarely, if ever,
has he found nests of different species within so
short a distance of each other and occupied sim-
ultaneously, although it may occur eftener than
his own observations would indicate. It would,
perhaps, be a matter of interest were correspon-
dents of the “O. and O.” to note instances of this.

A second feature of interest was the lateness of
the season of the occurrence of said nests. It is
generally supposed the Indigo Bird, like the Sear-
let Tanager, is quite sensitive to the frosts of our
northern climates, and observations in this lati-
tude pretty generally agree, that, as it is among
the latest of Spring arrivals, it is among the first
to take its departure in the Fall. The finding
therefore, of anest of this bird, with freshly laid
eggs, after the middle of August, the writer be-
lieves to be, at least, quite extraordinary.

A third interesting fact in connection with the
above was the elevation of the
from the ground. Several years ago,
noted exceptions to the ground building habit of
this bird, and quite recently a number of corres-
pondents of the “O and O” have reported instances,

Towhee's nest
writers

as coming under their own observation, of its
nesting in a bush or low sappling, some feet from
the ground. And yet there are reputable writers
who still persist in saying “the Towhee Bunting
aleays builds its nest on the ground,” e. g., Dr.
Abbott in his recently published “ Rambles of a
Naturaiist about Home,” page 141. One “O.and
QO.” correspondent called attention to the interest-
ing fact that every reported instance of this bird's
departure from its usual practice of nesting on the
ground, as he believed, uniformly occurred during
the latter half of the breeding season, which
agrees with the case in question. His theory,
however, in explanation, viz.: the Summer foliage
contributed to form a bed for the nest, would
hardly hold good in this case, my notes minutely
describing the nest as “attached to a bunch of
four or five upright dead Blackberry stalks, par-
tially shaded by taller Elderberry bushes.”

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 3

Notes on the Birds of the Sea Islands.

BY WALTER HOXIE, FROGMORE, 80. CAR.—PART HI.

The Wood Thrush, (1,) an occasional migrant.

The Hermit Thrush, (52,) a common migrant
and occasional Winter resident. ,

Wilson’s Thrush, (2,) occasionally an abundant
migrant, usually I think when the next is rare,

The Olive-backed Thrush, (4¢,) generally an
abundant migrant and Winter resident, but ocea-
sionally seems to be supplanted by the Wilson’s.

The Robin, (7,) abundant Winter resident.

The Mockingbird, (11,) abundant resident.

The Catbird, (12,) very rare until the present
year. This Spring not rare, and this Fall very _
abundant. A few seem inclined to pass the Win-
ter here.

The Bluebird, (22,) common Winter resident.
A few breed. The eggs are laid late and are very
small.

The Ruby-crowned Wren, (30,) common in
Winter.

The Golden-crested Wren, (33,) rare in Winter.

The Brown Thrasher, (13,) common resident,
and abundant during the migrations.

The Mocking Wren, (60,) common Summer
resident,

The Long-billed Marsh Wren, (67,) abundant.

The Short-billed Marsh Wren, (68,) very rare.

The House Wren, (63,) very abundant in Win-
ter. A few Summer residents.

The Winter Wren, (65,). Taken once in 1869.

The Brown Creeper, (55,) occasional in Winter.

The Brown-headed Nuthatch, (53,) rare resi-
dent.

The Blue-gray Gnateatcher, (27,) rare migrant,
and occasional Summer resident.

The Tufted Tit, (86,) rare formerly, but now
becoming an abundant resident.

The Carolina Tit, (42,) common resident.

The Titlark, (71,) abundant all Winter.

The Black and White Creeper, (74,) common
migrant. Early in its arrivals in both Spring and
Fall.

The Blue Yellow-backed Warbler, (88,) an
abundant migrant and common Summer resident.

The Prothonotary Warbler, (75,) very rare mi-
grant.

The Maryland Yellow-throat, (122,) very com-
mon migrant, lingering late in the Fall.

The Mourning Warbler, (120,) probably acci-
dental. One specimen taken in Spring.

The Connecticut Warbler, (118,) occasional,
both in Spring and Fall.

The Kentucky Warbler, (119,) taken twice in
Fall.

March,

, 885.]

The Yellow-breasted Chat, (123,) very common
Summer resident.

The Worm-eating Warbler, (77,) very rare.

Swainson’s Warbler, (76,) rather rare Summer
resident. I think this is one of its most abundant
localities.
~ The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler, (79,) and

Golden-winged, (81,) each taken once in Spring..

Bachman’s Warbler, (78,) quite rare Summer
resident.

Nashville Warbler, (85,) occasionally an abund-
ant migrant.

The Orange-crowned Warbler, (86,) taken twice
in the Fall.

The Tennessee Warbler, (87,) not a rare mi-
grant.

The Golden-crowned Thrush, (115,) common
migrant. °

The Water Thrush, (116,) rare migrant.

The Black-throated Green Warbler, (107,) an
occasional late Spring migrant. Not yet de-
tected in the Fall.

The Black-throated Blue Warbler, (94,) the
earliest Fall Warbler. But once detected in the
Spring. “ Discouragingly fat.”

The Blackburnian Warbler, (101,) very rare
migrant.

The Bay-breasted Warbler, (100,) occasional
migrant.

The Pine Creeping Warbler, (111,) common
resident and very abundant migrant.

The Chestnut-sided Warbler, (99,) not a rare
migrant in Spring.

The Blue Warbler, (98,) very rare in Spring.

The Black-poll Warbler, (101,) taken once.

The Yellow Warbler, (93,) abundant migrant.
A few stay and breed.

The Black and Yellow Warbler, (97,) taken
once,

The Cape May Warbler, (96,) abundant Spring
migrant in 1869. Not detected since then.

The Yellow Red-poll, (113,) rather common
Winter resident. ‘

The Yellow-throated Warbler, (103,) not an un-
common Summer resident.

The Prairie Warbler, (114,) not uncommon in
Spring. Very rare in Fall.

The Hooded Warbler, (124,) taken once in Fall.

The Yellow-rumped Warbler, (95,) common
Winter resident.

The Small-headed Flycatcher, (126,) Green
Black-capped Flycatcher, (125,) and Canada Fly:
catcher, (127,) have each been taken once.

The Redstart, (128,) abundant Fall migrant.

The Scarlet Tanager, (161,) occasional Spring
migrant,

AND OOLOGIST.

45

The Summer Redbird, (164,) abundant Sammer
resident.

The Barn Swallow, (154,)a common migrant,
especially so in a wet Spring.

The Cliff Swallow, (153,) very rare migrant.

The White-bellied Swallow, (155,) migrant.
Our most abundant Swallow.

The Rough-winged Swallow, (158,) common
Summer resident.

The Purple Martin, (152,) common migrant and
Sammer resident.

The Cedar Bird, (151,) occasionally a very
abundant Winter visitor.

The Loggerhead Shrike, (149,) abundant resi-
dent.

The Red-eyed Vireo, (135,) migrant.

The Warbling Vireo, (139,) rare migrant.

The White-eyed Vireo, (143,) abundant migrant
and common resident. ?

‘The Blue-headed Vireo, (141,) very rare migrant
and still rarer resident.

The Yellow-throated Vireo, (140,) migrant.

The Purple Finch, (168,) is rare here. I have
never taken it, and only seen it once or twice in
Spring.

The Yellowbird, (181,) is only an occasional
Winter At least, I have never seen the
male here in breeding plumage.

visitor.

The Savannah Sparrow, (1938a,) our commonest
Sparrow in Winter. Arrives the first week in
October and becomes plentiful by the last of the
month. Have never taken it after the middle of
May.

The Grass Finch, (197,) Winter visitor from the
last of October till March, or later.

The Yellow-winged Sparrow, (198,) is never
very common, but often taken in company with
the Savannah Sparrow in Mid-winter, when it
feeds about the yards and buildings.

Henslow’s Bunting, (199,) seems to be quite er-
ratic in its movements here. I never detected it
until this Fall, when I found it in the vicinity of
the rice fields, in the middle of October. Now
(the end of December,) I cannot find any.

The Sharp-tailed Finch, (201,) is common along
the creeks and edges of the marsh till late in No-
vember, and may breed here. But I have seldom
seen it in the Spring.

The Seaside Finch, (202,) common in March
and October about the outer beaches. I do not
think it ever breeds here, but both this and the
preceding are so shy that some might be about all
Summer without being detected, (“by the old
chap with the specs,” says the irreverent lad at
my elbow).

The White-throated Sparrow, (209,) comes to us

46

= ORNITHOLOGIST ©

[Vol. 10-No. 3

in January and for some time frequents the
marshes, and does not retire to the woods and
hedges much before March, by the end of which
month it is in full plumage. It leaves early in
April. ;

The Field Sparrow, (214,) and the Chipping
Sparrow, (211,) are met with only at intervals in
dry Oak woods. Both are much more common,
I am informed, at some distance inland.

The Song Sparrow, (231,) common from the
middle of November until March. Sings a little
in warm misty weather, but without spirit (“as if
he had forgotten the tune,” says that elbow cousin
of mine).

The Swamp Sparrow, (233,) and Lincoln’s
Finch, (284,) are only occasional in the Winter.
They both seem while with us to seek the
warmest and dryest situations

Bachman’s Finch, (226,) resident but quite rare.
Ihave taken it in every month. Usually in low
bushes near a swamp. Nests in thick scrably
Oaks.

The Fox Sparrow, (235,) is rare except in the
coldest part of the Winter, and then only when
the weather is very wet.

The Black-throated Bunting, (254,) occasional
at all seasons.

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, (244,) seen once
in Spring.

The Blue Grosbeak, (246,) breeds very sparsely
in the Pine barrens. One of the rarest of our
resident birds.

The Nonpareil, (251,) is very common all Sum-
mer. Arrives about the last of April, though a
few males are often seen much earlier, Indeed,
I took a full set of eggs April 28th, 1870, and an-
other set the next day.

The Indigo Finch, (248,) I have seen but once,
in April, near the sea beach.

The Cardinal, (242,) common resident.
several broods during the season.

Chewink, (237,) a common resident, (the White-
eyed variety, at least). The Red-eyed variety is
Only occasional in Winter and Spring.

The Bobolink, (257,) is occasionally taken in
Spring in full breeding plumage. In the Fall
they pillage the rice fields in immense flocks, and
are locally known as “ Barley birds.”

The Cow Bunting, (258,) occasional in Winter
and Spring.

The Redwing, (361,) very common in the mi-
grations. A few Winter—mostly young males.
Many breed; but much later than in higher lati-
tudes. Called Rice-bird by the natives.

The Meadow Lark, (268,) plentiful all Winter.
A few breed in very dark plumage—occasionally
with a hooked upper mandible.

Raises

The Orchard Oriole, (270,) is very common in
the Spring migration, but I have never detected
it in the Fall. A few may breed, though I have
never taken it later than June 21st, 1869.

The Baltimore Oriole, (271,) seen once in March.

The Rusty Grackle, (274,) occasionally visits us

in flocks during the Winter.
* The Bob-tailed Grackle, (277,) common resi-
dent, but partially retiring in cold weather. Well
known as Jack Daw. Breeds in communities in
April and May. Two broods are sometimes
raised.

The Common Crow, (282,) and Fish Crow,
(283,) are both common residents.

The Blue Jay, (289,) is not at all rare in the
country, and very coramon in Port Royal and
Beaufort, frequenting the shade trees. I have
known the Florida Jay, (291,) to be taken once or
twice on Lady’s Island.

Brief Notes.

Waar Gun to Usk ror Coniectrne.—The.
collecting season being almost at hand, this is a
good time to say a word about collecting weapons.
There seems to be a good deal of indecision and
question among the active members of the fra-
ternity as to the best method of collecting small
birds. After having seen and used several
methods, including, I believe, all the best ones, I
have settled contentedly to the use of an eight
and a half inch insertion barrel, 32-calibre, full
choke. This can be comfortably carried in the
coat pocket, makes but little noise, kills Warblers
up to twenty yards and yet can be used at eight
or ten yards very well. There is a Boston firm
that makes such a barrel, but I am using one
which a local gunsmith bored from a piece of 22
calibre rifle barrel, and for practical work it can
hardly be excelled. A 22 barrel is too small and
will not kill far enough, while a 38 or 44 is un-
necessarily large and cannot be used at such close
quarters as the smaller bore. The cost of the
locally made barrel is $6; I think the Boston firm
charge $8, while a Shelton rifle barrel bored
smooth is about $10 or $12.

Gun cleaning is always a bore to the busy or-
nithologist. In one pocket of a shooting coat
one can carry a strong cord with a bullet on one
end and at intervals of about thirty-six inches
along the cord pieces of tow large enough to fill
the barrels pretty tightly. Using about three to
six such tow wads with the third or fourth well
greased with vaseline, a single draw through each
barrel as one drives home from a shoot, will gen-
erally clean the barrels perfectly and is a great

| March, 1885.) _

saving of time and temper. It is also well to rub
once with an oiled rag on arriving home.— W. #.
Saunders, London, Ont.

Cassmn’s Vrreo, (Lanivireo solitarius cassini).
On June 2d, while collecting in a small grove of
Serub Oaks, the report of my gun started a bird
of this species from a tree near by, and upon
shooting it, I was very much pleased to find it to
be a female which had evidently just left the
nest—but to find that nest was the difficulty, and
it was some time before I at last came upon it, so
well hidden by a mass of leaves that its discovery
was almost an accident. It was in a small Oak,
about seven feet from the ground, about four feet
from the body of the tree and hanging from the
end of the limb, It was a beautiful pensile affair,
composed of light colored strips of bark and dry
grasses, with several scraps of hornets’ nests fast-
ened to the outside, lined with fine dry roots and
grasses. It contained four eggs, incubation just
begun; they were of a beautiful creamy color
with a rosy flush, which disappeared however
after the contents were removed; dotted on the
large end with a few dark brown spots. This
bird, together with the Western Warbling Vireo,
can be found in every Alder or Oak grove about
here from the first of May to the first of Septem-
ber. They are very shy, however, especially
Cassint, and their nests are very hard to find.—
A, W. A., Beaverton, Oregon.

Notes From Danvers, Mass.—The birds of
this section, during the last month, have been
driven quite close to the houses by the fierce
storms and intense cold. A trip through the
Pine and Hemlock groves will reveal a large
number of our resident birds roosting upon the
branches with their feathers puffed- out to such
an extent you can hardly recognize thém as our
sprightly little birds. This is the first Winter for
a great many years that the Robin has not been
seen about our woods. The Crows have come
within a few feet of the house several times to
feed upon the apples that were left upon the trees
at harvest time. On the 3d day of February, I
was called from my work to see a strange bird
which was picking away at a Locust tree at the
back of the house. I recognized it at once asa
Golden-winged Woodpecker, (Colaptes auratus,
Swain.) I have met with this bird so often for
several years and having had it described to me
by different persons so many times, I do not hesi-
fate to call it one of our resident birds, although
quite a number of them migrate by the first of
November. Small flocks of the Pine Grosbeaks
have at different times put in their appearance.
The Snowbirds, (Junco hyemalis, Sclater,) have

AND OOLOGIST.

ae

been quite scarce here this Winter, and what
flocks I have met with have been quite small.
Their travelling companions, the Tree Sparrows,
(Spizella monticola, Baird,) have been more abund-
ant. On the 7th of February an unusually large
flock of Yellowbirds, (Astragalinus tristis, Cab.)
settled upon the weeds by the side of the road,
making the air resound with their low Winter
warbling, or notes. The Redpolls, (#géothus
linarius, Cab.) have been seen quite frequently
since the middle of December; the flocks for the
most part have been small and scattered. Along
the coast the Shore Larks have been seen in large
numbers fearlessly picking up stray oats, &c.,
along the sides or the roads. The Butcher Bird
has been quite abundant, especially in the cities,
where it is lazily obtaining the English Sparrows
for food.—Andrew Nichols, Jr.

ScrEECH Ow1s,—Since my last communica-
tion, I have four more city bred Screech Owls to
mount and heard of several more. They have all
been extremely fat and dingy looking, whilst
one I had.from the country was very poor and
looked much smaller, but the plumage was very
bright in comparison with the others.

On December 30th, I shot a Golden-wing
Woodpecker, and on 31st saw another. I have
not noticed them around here so late in the sea-
son, before. Is it an unusual thing ?—R. J. Tozer,
Cleveland, Ohio.

Aw ALBINO CaRDINAL.—The following notes
were sent me by Mrs. C. W. Poole of Natchez,
Miss.: ‘‘I have now a very remarkable bird, a
true freak of nature. It was killed a year ago,
fifty miles from here. It is a ‘White Redbird’;
it is unmistakably a Cardinal Grosbeak, (C. vir-
gintanus) but milky white, with the most beauti-
ful rose-colored wings, tail and crest, with a dash
of pink on its breast.” —W. W. Cooke.

Ow 1s.—The number of Owls shot in Greenfield
and vicinity since May 1st, 1884, are as follows:
Three Arcadian, six Screech, five Barred, one
Horned and one Long-eared. A number of
Screech Owls have been seen about the town,

anda few Horned Owls in the woods and swamps.
One Screech Owl lives in a pigeon house on the
main street, and can be seen sunning itself all
through the day. Are Arcadian Owls common
or rare this Winter?—S. W. Comstock, Greenfield,
Mass.

Captured one Richardson’s Owl October 15th,

1884. He flew against a store window and was
slightly stunned. Several Snowy Owls have

been shot. Several Northern Waxwings were
taken during the Winter of 1883-4.—J. H. Dick-
inson, Rockford, Ill.

|| &

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE DesTRucTION OF Birps FOR MILLINERY PURPOSES
—EpriTor O. AND O.: I am truly sorry that I should have
nsed your space and my time in answering questions that
now appear to have been asked for reasons other than to
elicit information. And while promising not to repeat the
blunder, I will apologize for not seeing earlier that “W. W.
C.” had not read the text books of the subject which he at-
tempts to discuss, but had the quixotic faculty of seeing
foes where none existed, to a degree worthy of the Don
himself. I must confess that when I wrote my previous
letter, I actually thought that he wanted the information he
asked for. At that time his second effusion was not out,
and although I knew that he was wonderful at quoting
‘“What the great poet says",” I had not seen the way in

which he could find glass to break, where others can see’

only a solid wall. When he tries to find sarcasm in Mr.
Lucas’s letter, he ‘“‘picks up*” the correction of what he
calls a “fancied error*,” and either because he did not know
the definition of animal or could not apply the rudiments of
logic in the formation of the simplest of syllogisms, he pro-
nounces the ‘correction somewhat strained viewed logical-
ly*.” I therefore ask for your patience while I straighten
out the tangle which he makes of my statements, for,
having given them, I naturally do not wish “W. W. C.’s?
criticisms to pass for truths by default.

In his letter of September he wants to know (1) the num-
hers and kind of birds used by milliners; (2) the damage
done by boys collecting eggs, (both questions to be in order
must be as comparative to the destruction wrought by birds
of prey,): (3) the reason why the destruction of birds ‘‘from
the most remote time of history*” had not disturbed the
“nicely ‘adjusted balance of nature.” He also brands as an
“error*” computation showing the damage liable to be
wrought by insects plus their progeny.

To save space, for an answer to the first I referred him to
an article in Forest and Stream, which he did not read, for
a reference to it later in my letter ‘staggers me at first
glance*” and is “utterly absurd.” (My authority for giving
Illinois *‘three birds per acre” will be in Forbes Treatise on
the Food of Birds, with which I thought him familiar, as a
matter of course.)

The second seems to be satisfactorily answered.

The third he has trouble with. Although nauseated with
generalities, “he calls for facts” “from the most remote
time*.” But when I offered a few, dated from 1793 to 1875,
(not “down to sixty years ago,” please,) to show how
wholesale destruction of birds has affected both plant
and insect life, he denies that they bear on the subject be-
cause Ihave not proven that the birds were destroyed for
commercial purposes. As if I had tried to.

“WwW. W. C.” evidently forgot that he himself defined the
“error” and “main question,’ for, in spite of my quotation
marks, he reverses their order for me with his usual obtuse-
ness; it is nearly as hard to believe that he has forgotten
also the Locust plague of the West, (I certainly thought
him old enough to remember that,) but he can find the
figures that he considers so “amazingly reckless,” in the
Report of the U. 8. Entomological Commission on the
Rocky Mountain Locust.

When “W. W. C.”’ quotes me as saying that the Potato
Bug came East because the “way was payed by the Grouse
and Quail being shipped East by the carload,” he shows
himself capable of having discovered that Scriptural text
against fashion, ‘Top (k) not go down,” (Mark xiii, 15). I
had always considered that one of the best examples of per-
yerted meaning on record,

As the Potato Bug was introduced merely to illustrate the

ORNITHOLOGIST

A A eee ee

f [Vol. 10-No. 3

marvelous facility with which insects can verify the “facts
of importance,” which ‘W. W. C.” dubs an “‘error,*” his
questions are fairly out of order, butif this time he really
wants to know about those “degenerated birds,” he will
find out by reading “ Potato Pest,” by C. V. Riley, (now
entomologist of U. S. Department of Agriculture,). Sey-
eral are there given as feeding on the Potato Beetle, among
them Quail, Crows, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

When ‘“W. W. C.” denies that I ‘was or could be inter-
ested” in this discussion, except as a friend of Mr. Lucas’s,
he forgets that the original discussion was between Mr.
Lucas and the “O. and 0.” If “W. W. GC.” fails to dis-
tinguish between the taxidermist who conscientiously
makes the most of the birds he uses, perhaps spending
days or weeks in finishing a specimen artistically, and the
collector who boasts of mutilating 11,000 skins in three
months, (as one did in the Smithsonian Institute last Sum-
mer,) for perhaps ten or twenty cents apiece, I can’t help,
however much I may pity him. To me the same difference
exists as between the settler, who shoots a buffalo to feed

his family, and the butchers who slaughter a herd for their

hides; I think the settler has a right to complain.

I shall await with interest the facts he has twice promised
on his side of the question, especially if he attempts to
prove that the birds slaughtered by man are not in addition
to those killed by birds of prey, and thus make the balance
turn in favor of the insects and against the former.

. L. M. McCormick,

*The words enclosed thus, “ ” are quoted from “W. W.
C.’s” text. (‘The editor and reader will pardon this precau-
tion when they notice that ‘*W. W. C.” does not scruple to
charge me with the sentiments of words quoted from his
own letter).

Do Brrpos Ever “PuLay Possum’? Mr. Walter Hoxie
writes us: “‘In reply to a correspondent’s query in the
January ‘O, and O.’ I will say that the Black Vulture when
wounded will ‘play possum.’ I hung one up by the legs
the other day thinking. him dead, but after some hours
found him to be perfectly hearty barring a broken leg and
wing. Some Woodpeckers when sitting will close their
eyes and suffer themselves to be handied. The simulation
of lameness of many birds in presence of an intruder too
near the nest or eggs might be considered an active phase
of the same phenomenon. They certainly pretend to be
‘partly’ dead.” On page 41 will be found some references by
Mr. Hasbrou@k on the same subject.

Snowy Own. Messrs. Southwick & Jencks write us:
“We notice in February ‘O. and 0. that F. B. W., reports
not hearing of a single Snowy Owl this season. We had
one sent in about November Ist, ’84, that was shot near
Newport, Rh. I. This is the only capture we know of,
though have heard of some being seen.”

SporreD Ropins’ Eacs. (Robt. W. Wilde, Syracuse, N. Y.)
Spotted Robins’ Eggs are by no means rare, and have fre-
quently been referred to in our columns. .

REMOVING INK MARKS ON Eaas. You may inform W.
Otto Emerson that a weak solution of sulphuric acid and
water will probably remove his inkmarks on birds eggs, to
use say ten drops of the acid to two tablespoonfuls of
water. Ifthe ink has penetrated clear through the shell I
know not how to help him, but I have cleaned Quail’s eggs
that were very spotted and rusty, to a pure, clean white in
this manner. The eggs must be washed after each applica-
tion if more than one are required.—A. H. Mundt, Fair-
bury, Til.

Notes from Chas. S. Andros on “The Maryland Yellow-
throat,” and from W. H. Presby ‘My Experience with a
Screech Owl,” will be inserted next month.

| inal

ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

—OOLOGIST.

$1.50 per FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuBuisHER. Single Copy
Annum. Established, March, 1875. 15 Cents.
PAWTUCKET, R. I., APRIL, 1885. No. 4.

VOL. X.

Mississippi Valley Migration.

BIRD WAVES NO. II.
BY PROF, W. W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.

In the January number of this volume, we gave
two meanings to the expression ‘“‘bird waves,” and
used the second; in the present article we will
use the first meaning, i. e., ‘a bird wave is an
unusually large number of birds which, during
one or more days, spread over a portion of our
district. Viewed in this light, the work before
us is to ascertain the several species of birds
constituting the wave, and the boundaries of the
territory over which it passed.”

As this number will reach our readers early in
April, when they have the movements of March
well in mind, they can, by comparison, see how
very different the movements this year have been
in regard to date, but how similar in regard to
the birds which form the van.

As but few stations sent notes on bird waves,
and only a small part of these are for the country
south of St. Louis, and as the record of the waves
at St. Louis is so full, we will take that for our
starting point, giving first the record for St.
Louis, and then see how it compares with that of
the other stations. The first Spring wave oc-
curred at St. Louis, 384, in the latter part of
January. Its record is as follows: On January
25th, a warm wave set in which continued until
February 5th; the warmest day, maximum 67°,
was January 30th. During this time creeks were
free from ice after the 29th, and the ice broke up
in the Mississippi. This first wave brought the
adyance guard of Robins, Red-winged Black-
birds, Purple Grackles, Mallards, Sprigtails and
Canada Geese. The Bluebirds, Shrikes, (ZL. lado-
vicianus,) Red-tailed Hawks, Red-shouldered
Hawks, and Herring Gulls, which had left dur-
ing the coldest term, returned. Many Gulls
passed by going north and the vast number of
Crows, which had swelled during the first half of
January to something near fifty thousand, de-
creased rapidly after the 26th,

This being the state of affairs at St.
work now is to determine the boundaries of this
wave. As would naturally be expected, it affected
a large stretch of country south of St. Louis. If

Louis, our

we go to the extreme south in Mississippi we find
the same wave of warm weather, but, since the
| water fowl and other birds have been passine
and repassing all the month, we fail to distinguish
any special effect of this particular wave; but
when we reach southern Illinois, we find a state
of things exactly similar to that at St. Louis.
Thus at Anna, 3730, the ‘‘ Ducks which had left
January 2d, began to return and remained off
and on during February, which has been variable,
raining and freezing alternately.” West of there
at Pierce City, Mo., 3655, on January 30th and
31st, the Robins and Bluebirds returned which
had been sent south by the cold of January 2d;
also large flocks of Blackbirds passed north, fol-
lowed a day or two later by large flocks of Cana-
da Geese, Brant, Snow Geese, Mallards, Pintails
and Teal. Even as far southwest as Caddo, Ind.
Ter., 3411, the same wave was felt. It began
there January 24th, but was not decidedly felt
until the 28th. It entirely obliterated all signs of
Winter and started the first Spring migration.
Ducks and Geese moved a little, and most of the
birds deserted their thick Winter coverts, appear-
ing in town and on the prairie, while all the song-
sters burst forth in full Spring melody. Red-
winged Blackbirds and Cowbirds increased de-
cidedly; grass started everywhere and one wild
flower was found.

Directly east of St. Louis we can trace the
wave to Osceola, Ill., 3839, where it was warm
| from January 27th to February 4th; snow all
gone and Geese appearing on January 31st, fol-

lowed by Ducks on February 2d. West of St.
Louis, we find migration of Bluebirds at Mt, Car-
mel, Mo., 384, and of Robins and Geese at Glas
gow, Mo., 3914. Here we have the limits of this
wave, for although great in extent south, east

and west of St. Louis, it proceeded no farther
north. A study of the Signal Service reports

Copyright, 1885, by FRaNK B, WEBSTER and EATON CLIFF.

50 ORNITHOLOGIST

shows the reason for this. Although the warm
wave was felt for several hundred miles north of
St. Louis, yet its power was not sufficient to pro-
duce any marked thaw or breaking up of the
streams. Indeed even in the latitude of St. Louis,
no marked effect was noticed except in the low-
lands, Stations in the vicinity of St. Louis and
only thirty or forty miles farther north, felt no in-
fluence from it, and the same is true if we go far
enough west. In Kansas there was no movement
of birds. At Manhattan, 3912, though in the
same latitude as St. Louis, there was no migra-
tion; the Signal Service reports show that the
nights were cold and Winter reigned until a
month later. An apparently accidental move-
ment is reported from Unadilla, Neb., 4053, where
Geese arrived January 31st, and Ducks February
2d, but there is a possibility that these came from
the north, as on January 11th, both Ducks and
Geese were reported from Vermillion, Dak., 425,
where they had never before been seen in Winter.
A single Robin and some Bluebirds are reported
from Carlinville, Ill., 3919, with the statement
that no more were seen for two weeks.

The second wave began at St. Louis the night of
February 18th, and was cut short on the 19th by a
fierce snow storm from the northwest. It brought
the hosts of the Fringillidae, but appears to have
been local. There is no report from other sta-
tions of any record whatever on these dates. To
be sure, we have a few records as follows, of ap-
parently irregular occurrences: a single Bluebird
at Newton, Ia., 4142, none afterwards. for three
weeks; a few Canada Geese at Osceola, Ill., 4110,
on February 20th, and a few Ducks and Geese at
Linwood, Neb., 4122, between February 20th and
25th. The weather reports show that this warm
atmospheric wave was felt even beyond latitude
41°, but such cold weather had preceded it that it
could not break the bands of Winter and produce
a condition of affairs that should invite the birds
to farther migration. A third wave was felt at
St. Louis on February 25th and 26th, but it was
of too short duration to effect much of anything.
Up to March 1st, Winter reigned supreme over all
the land north of latitude 40°, and from February
27th to March 9th, its icy fingers again closed
around St. Louis, driving all the Ducks south on
March 2d, and bringing on a ‘‘second Winter.”

The next period has in the record been marked
“Indeterminate.” It is neither a standstill nor a
period of great movement. It extends from
March 9th, when the second Winter was ended
by a south wind, to March 16th. During this
time there was a continual, though slight, north-
ward movement at St. Louis, and much moye-

[Vol. 10-No. 4

ment in the region just north of it, and what was
of more importance, there was a general advance
of the line of open water inviting a forward
march, and preparing the way for the immense
movements of the following week. At St. Louis
the arrivals were as follows: March 9th, the first
Ducks return and pass north, followed two days
later by large flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds,
Purple Grackles, Rusty Grackles, and the first
individuals of Killdeer, Meadow Lark and Gold-
en-shafted Flicker. On March 12th came the
first Wilson’s Snipe, and on the 16th the first
Brown Cranes.

There was then little change in the species pres-
ent at St. Louis, but a great increase in the num-
ber of individuals. This increase was less ap-
parent at St. Louis than at more northern points.
The hosts of birds sent south by the inclement
weather, did not, on their return, halt at their
former resting places, but pushed rapidly for-
ward and spread over many miles of new coun-
try. The onward movement dates from about
March 12th, and during the remainder of the “‘in-
determinate” period, that is to March 16th, Ducks,
Geese, Robins, Bluebirds, Blackbirds, Meadow

Larks, and Killdeer were found over all of north-~

ern Illinois and the southern edge of Wisconsin,
all of Iowa and eastern Nebraska, while a few
scouts keeping close to the Mississippi River, fol-
lowed it nearly to St. Paul. The general disper-
sion of the birds can be seen from the fact that
seventy-two records were sent in of the arrival in
this section of the first four species mentioned,
namely, Ducks, Geese, Robins and Bluebirds.
The fourth wave occurred on March 17th. At
St. Louis, there was the first rain of the season
after a warm night, 56°, with a light south wind.
Winter ended and Spring began with a sudden
start of vegetation and an awakening of insect
life. Many birds arrived during the night and
others were moving all the morning. The bulk
arrived of the Robin, Flicker, Meadow Lark,
Bluebird, Chewink, Purple Grackle, Rusty
Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow,
and Blue-winged Teal. There was an increase
of Wilson’s Snipe, White-crowned, White-
throated and Field Sparrows. The first arrivals
appeared of the Phaebe, Pectoral Sandpiper, Cow-
bird, Field Plover, and the Little Yellow Rail,
while the bulk of the Tree Sparrows departed.
The movement in this wave being principally an
increase of those species which had already come
in the preceding waves, and few of the stations
reporting anything but the first arrivals, it is
practically impossible to work up this wave from
the notes in hand. There seem to be intimations

——

—_

April, 1885.]

that the power of the wave was not great, but
that its influence was felt more or less for a hun-
dred miles north of St. Louis, and for a great
distance west and southwest.

On March 22d occurs the fifth wave, which
was the next to the largest of the season. The
night before was warm and cloudy, with a light
southeast wind; the day was cloudy and threaten-
ing, with an increasing south wind. Many birds
arrived during the night at St. Louis, and others
were moving all the forenoon. The following
birds attained the ‘height of the season,” that is,
the period of greatest abundance: Robin, Flicker,
male Red-winged Blackbird, Purple and Rusty
Grackles, Chewink, transient Bluebirds, transient
Purple Finches, and Song Sparrows. The bulk
arrived of the Shrike, Phabe, and Wilson's
Snipe; others increased in numbers, as the White-
throated, Field and Swamp Sparrows, male Cow-
birds and Red-headed Woodpeckers. The first
ones appeared of the Chippy, Brown Thrush,
Bewick’s Wren, Grass Finch, Savanna Sparrow,
and Mourning Dove. There was also move-
ment among Hawks, Ducks and Yellow Legs.

To get the full effect of this wave, we must ex-
tend our observations over nearly the whole of
the Mississippi Valley north of St. Louis. The
warm wave was felt almost to British America,
and everywhere it started the birds northward.
Owing to a lack of notes, we cannot study the
movements in the immediate vicinity of St.
Louis. The few stations that have furnished re-
ports make no mention of any special movement,
and notice but few arrivals, the principal one being
the Brown Thrush. Not so, however, as we move
farther northward. The warm weather reached
Towa on the following day, March 23d, and the
general tenor of the reports from Iowa and south-
ern Wisconsin is well expressed by the report
from Waukon, Ia., 4315:
March 23d, and the first wave of birds came then.
That was the greatest day for migration I ever
saw. The bulk of Robins, Bluebirds, Ducks and
Geese came and hundreds of Blackbirds.”

Between Waukon and St. Louis, most of the
reports speak of arrivals which agree very closely
with the birds of the fourth wave at St. Louis.
There is no uniformity about it, so that one could
say with positiveness that the birds of the fourth
wave spread over this section during the night of
March 22d; but there isa general tendency that
way, so that we may say that the arrivals reported
on March 23d over much of Iowa and southern
Wisconsin, were such as would have been noted
had the fourth wave passed over the previous
night. The principal exceptions are found along

“Spring really began

_AND OOLOGIST. 51

the courses of the larger rivers, where the arrivals
were somewhat earlier, that is, about March 20th.

North of Waukon, in favored localities, the
effects of this wave began to be noticed March
23d, but in the majority of cases the following
day witnessed the great advance. Its results are
easily traced to latitude 45°, and in the neighbor-
hood of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers
to latitude 46°. The immense number of birds
which were moving on March 23d, may be judged
from the report from Heron Lake, Minn., 4348,
the report from Storm Lake, Ia., 4237, agreeing
with it almost exactly. It was the first wave of
real migration and brought Mallards, Pintails,
Gadwall, Widgeon, Big and Little Scaups, Gold-
en-eye, Brant, Ravens, large numbers of Black-
birds, Red-heads, Canvas-backs, Butter-ball,
Green-wing Teal, Hooded and American Shel-
drakes, Spoonbill, Herring Gull, Coot, Killdeer
and one Meadow Lark. Most of the species were
in great numbers and some of the Ducks in
clouds. Most of the Ducks came from the west,
being probably part of the Missouri Valley flight.

By way of comparison to show how little we
can judge of the migration at one place by that
of another, let us move directly west of St. Louis
to Manhattan, Kan., 3912. Here during the first
week of March, no arrivals were noticed. On
the 8th the first birds came, that is, Ducks and
Geese. (Mallards, Green-wings, Canvas-backs
and Red-heads were particularly abundant). On
the 11th, the first Killdeer came, and two more
were seen on the 13th, and also Meadow Larks.

But a

was
The fifth wave was not felt here in
the least, the weather being cold and snowy. If
we go southwest, we find a still more different
state of affairs. At Caddo, Ind. Ter., 3411, on
March 22d, the weather is hot and dry with a
continuous south wind, more like Summer than
Spring. There is the least bird life of any time
since February 1st; the most abundant bird is the
Savanna Sparrow: there are no Snowbirds, Tree
Sparrows, White-throated, White-crowned nor
Harris’ Sparrows, no Cowbirds, Red-winged
Blackbirds, Meadow Larks, Ducks nor Geese.
A few of each of these species may still linger,
but the bulk left some days ago, and none are
seen to-day; very little vegetation owing to lack
of rain. s

It seemed that Spring had really come.
polar wave struck, March 138th, and all
changed.

This fifth wave shows that as an atmospheric
warm wave takes several days to pass from one
end of our district to the other, so it must not be
considered that the whole of a bird wave is in-

cluded in a single night. If it is a small wave,

52

ORNITHOLOGIST

almost local in its character, the whole of its
effect may be felt in a single night, but usually it
occupies the whole of two days and often three
or four. Nor must we think that the same bird
wave must include at all places the same species
of birds. We have spoken above of the ‘birds
of the fourth wave,” but we referred, of course,
to the birds which at St. Louis were moving at
this time. The Ducks which arrived at Heron
Lake, March 24th, were as truly a part of the
“fifth wave” as the Brown Thrush and Bewick’s
Wren which came to St. Louis on the 22d.

The rest of March is not characterized by any
specially great wave. There is a steady advance
until about April 1st, when over all of the north-
ern Mississippi Valley occur snow storms which
put a stop to migration for more than a week.

Kansas Bird-life.

BY PROF. D. E. LANTZ.

The State of Kansas occupies the middle of the
continent, and extends east and west 410 miles.
Its elevation varies from 750 feet in the east, to
5,900 feet in the extreme west. The eastern por-
tion is wooded along the streams, while the
western section is an elevated, treeless plain. The
«avi-faund is rich and varied, and presents some
peculiar features to the student of Ornithology.
It is eastern in its essential features; and yet
there are many evidences that the State is the
borderland which separates the bird-life of the
Atlantic region from that of the far west. Indeed,
there are some species that are really typical of
the Pacific coast region; while on the high west-
ern parts of the State, the bleached and faded
forms of the great interior plateau are recog-
nized.

The area of the State is so extensive and the
number of workers in the field of Ornithology is
so small, that many new discoveries are possible
and even probable. This fact keeps the student
ever upon the alert, and adds very much to his
interest in the work. Then there are innumer-
able peculiarities in the distribution of our birds,
peculiarities which are as puzzling as they are
interesting to the observer. For instance, in a
residence of several years at Manhattan but one
Rose-breasted Grosbeak has been seen, by the
writer; while at Clay Center, forty miles north-
west of Manhattan, he found them common in
July, and breeding. This is only one of hundreds
of puzzling questions which present themselves
to the student of birds in this State.

The topographical features of the country ren-
der the study of its fuwna less difficult than in
many of the States. There are no mountains to

[Vol. 10-No. 4
climb or extensive swamps to wade in search of
the birds. Instead, we have the vast prairie and
the restricted timber belts along our streams.
It is in the latter that birds are most easily found.
Nowhere in our eastern States are birds so nu-
merous, Here, on a bright Winter morning, by a
few minute’s walk, one can find Goldtinches,
Tree-sparrows, Juncos, and Robins by thousands,
while Cardinal Redbirds, Song-sparrows, Chicka-
dees, and Woodpeckers will seem to start from
every bush. Or, if one visit the same place at the
height of the Spring migration, the woods will
ring with the songs of hundreds of Wood-thrushes,
Warblers, and Vireos; while Lincoln’s Finch
and the Clay-colored Sparrow will flit from every
thicket along the borders of the woods.

The secret of this abundance of birds seems to
be in the restricted area of forest; and yet every
orchard and garden seems, at the same time, to
overflow with bird-life. And on the great green
prairie every weed and bush seems to be crowned
in springtime by a vocalist in the form of a
Black-throated Bunting, a Western Meadow-lark,
or that ridiculously ambitious songster, the Yel-
low-winged Sparrow.

Aside from this abundance of individual birds,
the number of species and races found in the State
is quite large. Col. N.S. Goss, has catalogued
324. When it is remembered that the water fowl
of the sea-coast are entirely lacking, this large
number is an excellent proof of the careful work
of such observers as the Colonel, Prof, F. H. Snow
of Lawrence, and Dr. L. Watson of Ellis.

The first attempt to catalogue the birds of our
State was in 1872, by Prof. Snow. This list was
twice revised and changed. The third edition
was published in 1875. This enumerated 295
species, a number of which, although inserted
upon seemingly good authority, would undoubt-
edly be omitted should a new edition be issued.
Seven additional species were added to Prof.
Snow’s list ina paper read before the Kansas
Academy of Sciences in 1878.

Col. N. 8. Goss, the noted Western Orintholo-
gist, issued a catalogue of our birds in 1883. This
is in every sense a complete list, as far as the
knowledge of our birds at ‘that time would per-
mit. Four varieties have been added since its
publication. These were reported by Col. Goss
in the first number of “the Auk,’ Vol. I. In
this list a number of those enumerated by Prof.
Snow have been omitted for want of actual
proof of their occurrence in the State. On the other
hand, the Colonel has paid a high compliment to
the Professor by retaining a number based solely
upon the authority of his catalogue of 1875.
Nearly all of those omitted will probably yet be

~ in

——

April, 1885.]

found to occur regularly in the State. Colonel
Goss enumerates about 30 species supposed to
have their geographical range within the State,
but which have not yet been taken.
those catalogued were taken in the State in 1871
by Prof. J. A. Allen, but have not since been
recognized.

Col. Goss has probably the most complete col-
lection of mounted specimens of North American
birds in existence. Every specimen has been
mounted by his own hands. This collection is
displayed in one of the rooms in the State House,
at Topeka, and attracts many visitors daily.
When the main portion pf the capitol building is
completed, three rooms will be devoted to this
collection, and instead of presenting its present
crowded condition, there will be ample space to
do justice to this magnificent collection.

And yet these few workers have far from ex-
hausted the field for Kansas Ornithologists. Col.
Goss has visited many parts of the United States
and Mexico in search of his treasures, but has
left unexplored large portions of this State. Prof.
Snow’s duties in the class-room and his devotion
to other branches of Natural History, have given
him Jess time for Ornithology, so that he has
been largely dependent upon others for field
work. Dr. Watson’s observations, although of
the most careful and conscientious sort, have been
necessarily in a restricted field. The visits of
Prof. Allen and Dr. Coues to the State were but
for a short period, and were made before the con-
ditions for birdlife had reached their present
favorable state. It is well known that Kansas
has undergone great climatic changes in the past
dozen years. But much greater have been the
changes in the physical features of the country.
The planting of hedges and orchards has greatly
extended the range of many species of birds; and
unfortunately, the destruction of timber along our
streams, has restricted that of others.

It is the purpose of the writer to give the
readers of the * Ornithologist” the benefit of his
observations at different seasons, in a series of
papers, the materials for which are in his note
books. There is little that is really new; but the
vast difference between the birds here and at the
east, Was quite striking to me, and may be in-
structive to my fellow-workers.

~~.

The Northern Shrike as a Singer.
BY C. K. AVERILL, JR., BRIDGEPORT, CONN.

I think most of our books on Ornithology over-
look the song of the Northern Shrike. I have not
heard it mentioned except by John Burroughs in
his delightful book “ Locusts and Wild Honey.”

AND O

Some of

OLOGIST. 58

But it is not unusual to hear them sing and they
are certainly gifted in power of execution, as the
human vocalists say, although the quality of tone
is inferior to that of most of our songsters.

The song of one of them is still fresh in my
mind. I heard him on March 4th, this year, at
sunrise singing from the top of a cedar tree in
a field. Iwalked up to the tree, and when he
flew, I saw that he carried something with him
about the size of a small bird or mouse. He had
not got a rod from the tree when he dropped it,
but immediately pounced down and picked it up.
I hurried back to the house, got the gun and was
back again in about half an hour. He was still
singing from the top of a tall chestnut tree in a
grove close by where I had first seen him. I had
no difficulty in walking within easy shooting dis-
tance, but before shooting stopped to listen to the
song. Although I stood for some time listening,
he made no break or pause, but went right on as
if there were no tire about him. I cannot liken
the song to that of any of our song birds. It was
somewhat after the style of a Brown Thrush’s,
but the tone was much less musical, and it must
be confessed, was often squeaky. But frequently
there was thrown in a note almost exactly like
the ringing, musical tone that the Blue Jay often
utters. I cut him open on getting home and took
out a lot of the fur and some ribs of a field mouse.

A gentleman living in the outskirts of our city
tells me that he has often heard them sing, and
that they imitate the songs of other birds for the
purpose of attracting them. I do not put any
faith in this notion. I am convinced that the one
I have just told about sang out of pure physical
enjoyment, or exuberance of spirits, or what-
ever it is that makes a bird sing. Certainly he
had no difficulty in getting his food, and when I
first heard him was carrying his breakfast around
with him, and afterwards was singing with it in
his inside.

Three or four days later, I saw in a small Elm
tree by the road side a Goldfinch stuck in among
some small twigs that grew out from the trunk
about ten feet from the ground. I climbed up
and pulled it down, for it was wedged in too
tightly to shake down. It was dead of course.
On taking off the skin there was no sign of injury
except that the neck was broken two or three
joints from the head. Without doubt this was
the work of a Shrike.

Since then I have only seen one Shrike and
that in the middle of the day. He did not favor
me with a song, but sat on a Sumach bush mo-
tionless, but for the movement of his long tail
which went up and down like a Pewee’s. Once
he got down from his perch and picked up some

54 ORNITH

OLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 4

thing from the grass. On going there I found
several small Grasshoppers (so called) in the wing-
less state, of a dull brown color, having the in-
side of the thighs light green with two black
blotches,

A Catalogue of the Birds of Kalama-
zoo County, Michigan.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.—PART LI.

42. [107.] Dendreca virens (Gm.) Baird. Black-
throated Green Warbier.—A very common species
and may prove a rare Summer resident. Arrives
from April 23 to May 4. Itisa beautiful, grace-
ful bird and well known to all collectors. On its
return trip it appears about August 30, and re-
mains often as late as Sept. 30.

43. [111.] Dendraca pinus (Wils.) Baird. Pine-
creeping Warbler—A common vernal species.
Not so abundant in the Autumnal migrations.
This is one of our earliest Warblers and frequently
appears by April 20. A few undoubtedly remain
during Summer. Taken as late as Oct. 12.

44. [113.] Dendraca palmarum (Gm.) ,Baird.
Red-poll Warbler.—I am not sure that I haveem-
braced the correct species and think this may be
the variety according to Ridgway’s check list,
where is embraced a variety. We have a Yellow
Red-poll Warbler anyway, and it appears from
April 25 to May 5. It remains with us in strag-
gling flocks until the last week in May, when all
disappear and none are seen again until Septem-
ber. Common occasionally in early October.

45. [114.] Dendrweca discolor (Vieill.) Baird.
Prairie Warbler.—A migrant. Never common
here. Arrives in the first’ week in May, and
stragglers may be found till after the 20th. Ap-
pear again from the north in September, but is
rare in the Autumn. :

46. [115.] Siurus auricapilius (Linn.) Swains.
Golden-crowned Thrush.—A common vivacious
fellow found in our county from April 26 to Oc-
tober 1, or later. Breeds abundantly. A well
known species liked by all.

47. [116.] Sinrus nevins (Bodd.) Coues. Small-
billed Water Thrush—I have met with this
Species but once in the county, May 13, 1875, and
the specimen is the only representative the collec-
tors have here. This is not an unusually rare
species in other parts of the State, but its range is
wide of us.

48. [117.] Siurus (Vieill.) Coues.
Large-billed Water Thrush. A common species
during four months of the year. This is un-
doubtedly our earliest arrival among the Warblers,
although the Yellow-rump is generally supposed
to be the first to reach us. The Large-bill arrives

motacilla

frequently on April 12 and 13, and is often common
by the 20th, whereas the Yellow-rump generally
gets here about the 18th. Mr. Chapin found a
nest of this species during the season of 1884 in a
low piece of woods near the river. The date was
May 24, and the nest contained one eggs. After
August few birds are seen about the black pools
of the woods, but the birds are so timid that they
are not found, although they stay with us until
Oct. 1, at least.

49. [118.] Oporornis agilis (Wils.) Baird. Con-
necticut Warbler—I feel confident in asserting
that this species is one of our rarest Warblers, and
also that it is in the last few years becoming more
common, if we may use a term that is to apply to
a species seen for the first time within the boun-
daries of which this list treats, during the last six
years. The first specimen secured was taken in
1880 by Mr. Syke. Mr. Chapin has taken three
specimens as follows, May 27, 1881, May 28, 1883,
and May 25, 1884. He claims that the Connecti-
cut Warbler is the last of the family to arrive. He
describes the song as loud, clear and easil y heard,
and not like that of any other bird.

90. [119.] Operornis formosa (Wils.) Baird.
Kentucky Warbler.—It is fair I think to embrace
this species as a Kalamazoo Co. bird. In 1875,
while actively engaged in collecting, I secured one
day a large number of specimens, and as the
weather was exceedingly warm I found it impos-
sible to preserve them all. At the time, when I
was busily engaged in my heated task, I was
called away, and on my return found several speci-
mens past recall; among them one specimen of
this species which I analysed carefully but could
not save.

D1. [122.] Geothlypis trichas (Linn.) Cabanis.
Maryland Yellow-throat—A very abundant
species from late April to late September. My
earliest record of arrival is April 20. Breeds
abundantly, but the nests from their situation
are rarely found.

52. [120.] Geothlypis philadelphia (Wils.) Baird.
Mourning Warbler.—Mr. Syke has taken a single
specimen. Although common to the north, this
species is extremely rare in ow county. The
birds must pass north to the west of us.

58. [124.] Myiodioctes mitratus (Gmel.) Aud.
Hooded Warbler.—An abundant Summer resi-
dent, arriving from the south in early May and re-
maining to breed in some numbers. Several
nests have come under my eye within the last ten
years. They were all placed in Beech and Maple
woods, with one exception, and were ready for
the eggs about May 30.

54. [125.] Mytodioctes

pusillus (Wils.) Bp.

April, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

55

Black-capped Yellow Warbler—A very rare
species and only thrice captured in the county.
Taken May 16 and Sept. 9.

5d. [127.] Myiodioctes canadensis (Linn.) Aud.
Canadian Flycatching Warbler—A rather com-
mon but irregular migrant. A few may remain
to nest with us. A late arrival generally, not ap-
pearing as a rule before May 10.

56. [128.] Setophaga ruticilla (Linn.) Swains.
American Redstart.—A very common. species.
Breeds abundantly. Arrives from April 25 to
May 4. Remains until late September.

57. [152.] Progne subis (Linn.) Baird. Purple
Martin.—Arrives from April 1 to16. The date of
April 1 is remarkably early and only occurred one
season. The species generally arrive from April
6 to 10. A very common species. Breeds abun-
dantly. Not so numerous as formerly, as it is
driven away by the pertinacious English Sparrow.
Depart for the south in late August. On one
season I did not see a bird after September 1, but
as a rule a few stragglers may be seen after that
date. The large majority of the birds disappear
in one large flock.

58. [153.] Petrochelidon lunifrons (Say) Lawr.
Cliff Swallow.—Known generally in Michigan by
the name of Eave Swallow. Very abundant.
Arrives generally from April 15 to 20. Breeds in
large colonies usually. Have found a hundred
pairs occupying the shelter afforded by the eaves
of barns and sheds on a single farm. The nests,
well known to all, are often built in such numbers
that thirty or more are found attached to the
sides of a barn under the eaves. It has been ad-
vanced by some writers that the nests are usually
placed on the south sides of barns and sheds.
This is, I think, a mistake. I believe the birds
prefer the east and west sides equally well. The
north side is however rarely occupied. Only a
few nests are found in such situations. Eggs laid
from May 25 to June 15.

59. [164.] Mirundo erythrogastra Bodd. Barn
Swallow.—A common species with us frora May
1 to Aug. 15. The earliest arrival is April 12.
The first seen one season was on April 24. Breed
abundantly in the barns and sheds, sometimes in
colonies of over a score of pairs. A well known
and very useful species. Eggs laid from May 20
to June 10.

60. [155.] Tuchycineta bicolor (Vieill.) Caban.
White-bellied or Blue-backed Swallow.+Our
earliest arrival in the family. Appears from
March 29, in very early seasons, to April 12. Gen-
erally about April 5 to 8. Some seasons the birds
will appear at an early date, and on cold weather
returning, will disappear for a fortnight or more.
The eggs are laid from May 1 to 20, usually about

the 10th. The species breeds abundantly in the
vicinity of lakes and streams surrounded by dead
trees. The nests are placed in holes from six to
thirty feet from the ground. Common till late
September.

61. [157.] Cotile riparia (Linn.) Boie. Bank
Swallow.—Arrives from April 12 to the 24th.
Begins excavating in the sand banks soon after
arriving, but rarely lays its eggs before May 15.
Have found the nests nearly completed at the
ends of the burrows by April 30. The Bank
Swallow is a common species with us. It breeds
frequently in colonies, but isolated pairs, or two or
three pairs are often found at roadsides where
suitable building sites are found.

62. [158.] Stelgidopteryx serripennis (Aud.) Brd.
Rough-winged Swallow.—Not what we may call
an abundant species. Not nearly so common as
the last. Arrives about the time of the appear-
ance of the last, but a little later I think. I
am not able to present reliable data of arrivals,
from the fact that I confounded the last with the
Rough-winged until within a few years past, and
am as yet unable to distinguish them in flight.
Have found the species breeding in company with
the more common Bank Swallow.

63. [161.] Pyranga rubra (Linn). Vieill. Scarlet
Tanager.—An abundant Summer resident. Ar-
rives from April 22 to May 12. Remains until
about the middle of September. The nests are
often found, and are most common, containing
eggs, from May 26 to June 10. I think but one
brood is reared during a season. The birds are
moulting in the last half of August, and are quite
silent after the middle of July. The song is very
beautiful, and the singer has the peculiar and
agreeable habit of often singing in the night.
Many people are not aware of the melody of this
bird’s song, and look upon it only asa gaudy gem
of color. To those who are acquainted with the
Tanager in its woodland haunts, however, the
song far outranks the brilliancy of plumage. It is
one of a few of my special favorites.

The Bay-breasted Warbler (Dendraca
castanea,) in Locke, Mich.

BY DR. H. A. ATKINS.

This lovely Warbler I have always found ex-
ceedingly scarce in our township. I have within
the last thirty years only met with three specimens,
all found, as will be seen below, during the vernal

migrations. Dates of appearance as follows:
WEKPRA sdocnseodeoocdnetes or = 1867— 4
Why de eA cipnorocaceacconstior 1877— ¢
Wiel meepensdcorecLcoonente 1883— ¢

The weight of the last one taken was 221 Troy
grains.

[Vol. 10-No. 4

QRNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

OOLOGIST.

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NATURAL 2EuUSaoeoy,

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

BIRDS,
THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE,

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,
PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Editor’s Notes.

We have received the International Sci-
entists’ Directory for 1885, (S. E. Cassino
& Co., Boston). The large number of
names contained in this directory, covering
every quarter of the globe, makes it a
useful addition to one’s reference library.
We are pleased to notice the large propor-
tion of asterisks, showing the addresses
have been verified since the last edition.

The last few months have brought their
Amongst
them we note the Jowrnal of Mycology,
published at Manhattan, Kansas, devoted
to North American Fungi; the Worcester
published by the
Young Men's Scientific Club, Worcester,
Mass.; 7idings from Nature; The West
Selentist ¢ Pacific
Monthly, ete., ete. We have also been in-
formed of still newer aspirants for a place
in a field already more than occupied.

usual crop of new magazines.

County Naturalist,

American Science

Mr. A. W. Butler favors us with reprints
of articles contributed to the American
Naturalist and American Meteorological
Journal on “The Habits of some Arvicol-
ine; ‘Hibernation of the Lower Verte-
brates” and ‘Local Weather Lore.” We
have also to acknowledge “Migration and
Distribution of North American Birds in
Brown and Outagamie Counties, Wis:,” an

exhaustive essay by Mr. 8S. W. Willard,
De Pere, Wis.

Bird life seems unusually late in our vi-
cinity this year. Up to March 26th, Win-
ter reigned undisturbed, and the few mi-
grants ‘were not demonstrative. Fine
Spring days on 27th and 28th, infused a
little enthusiasm, only to be checked by a
heavy snowstorm on the night of the 28th.
Several of our correspondents refer to the
lateness of the season. Dr. Atkins (Locke.
Mich.,) says that up to the 26th, only three
migrants, the Crow, Robin and Mourning
Dove, had made their appearance. On the
other hand, our reports from the Pacific
slope are widely different. Mr. Emerson
writes from Haywards, Cal., March 23d,
that it is the earliest season he has ob-
served in five years. Nests have been
taken that are a month ahead of time.

We insert this month “Hints to Collec-
tors” by a practical ornithologist whose
name, were we at liberty to publish it,
would be a guarantee at once for the cor-
rectness of his opinions and the sound-
ness of his advice. There is much practi-
cal common sense in the writer's remarks.
and we commend them especially to our
readers whose experience in the field is yet
to be gained.

With this number, Mr. Walter Hoxie’s
“List of Birds of the Sea Islands, So.
Car.” is completed. No one can have ex-
amined the lists given in our magazine
since January, without being struck at
once with the great variety of birds which
visit the Sea Islands during the year, and
the keen observation, extending over many
years, which Mr. Hoxie has shown in his
notes. Few fields so rich, or observers so
competent, are to be found either on our
coasts or elsewhere.

We are asked for a list of the birds of
the vicinity of Lake George, N. Y., and
also for one of Long Island. Perhaps
some of our readers will supply us with
these desiderata.

April, 1885.]

Hints to Collectors.

The season for collecting is about opening, and
though some of the more enthusiastic have been
rambling the woods for a couple of months past,
the large majority of collectors are just getting
ready for the onslaught on the birds and eggs.

As Fwrite, the snow lies over a foot deep in
the streets, while it is over two feet deep in the
woods, and the mercury only indicated +4° this
morning. I know that many Great-horned Owls
are sitting, while a few broods may have hatched ;
but the migrants have not appeared in any num-
ber thus far, and we have ample time to consider
the prospects of the coming season.

It has occurred to the writer during the past
few years, to write out a few suggestions and send
them to the “O. and O.” regarding the collecting
of specimens. This idea suggested itselfon our re-
calling to mind our early efforts,-and the at-
tendant failures of twenty years ago. A few sug-
gestions in season would have been invaluable to
us, and saved many specimens which became mu-
tilated wrecks and were thrown away. It is
hoped that the following hints will be of some
service tomany readers of the “O.and O.” who are
ardent collectors, but with limited experience.
We trust that the writer’s continual reference to
himself will not appear improper, as it is only of
one’s own experience of which one can speak
with certainty, and then from necessity we ap-
pear pedantic.

Ourrit For A Day's Trie—Gun. <A light,
double-barrelled shot-gun of 16 to 20 guage is best
for general collecting. It should weigh from 64
to 74 pounds. The barrels should be from 24 to
30 inches in Jength. The gun with which I have
done the most of my collecting, is an old fashioned

muzzle-loading stub and twist, bore 16, length of

barrels 24 inches, weight 634 pounds. Originally
the barrels were 32 inches in length, but I find
that the gun gives about as good a pattern with
the 8 inches cut off, and it is infinitely easier to
carry. A small gun is vastly superior to a great
heavy 10 bore in general collecting. A 12 gauge
breech-loader, weight 815 pounds, with which I
have killed game during the past three years, is
excellent for general hunting but does not com-
pare with the muzzle loader for short range work.
Jollectors should remember that the choice of a
gun is one of the principle points for a season’s
work. Don’t buy a high priced gun, but one
which will do good execution Do not buy a
cane gun or one with a skeleton stock. They are
-a delusion and a snare. A suitable breech-loading
gun with accoutrements can be bought for $25.
Knife. Getagood two-bladed jack-knife, with

AND OOLOGIST. 57

one blade four inches Jong, and the other an inch
or more shorter. Geta strong knife which will
wear well and do good work.

Collecting Bor, Anything will do provided
it is light and conveniently arranged. My box is
of heavy tin, 14 inches long, 715 inches wide, and
515 inches deep. It is double, folding in the mid-
dle, and is carried in the hand by two wire handles,
or can be carried at the belt readily. It weighs
three pounds. It is large enough to carry a big
luncheon, my drills, scalpels, scissors, arsenic &c.,
and 40 loaded shells. On the return at night, I
have carried as many as 20 small birds in it, be-
sides a dozen sets of eggs, and I once carried 107
eggs in it, the result of one day’s collecting. It
has two large sections, and four smaller ccmpart-
ments for eggs. A trout basket is easy to carry
on a trip, but the specimens are very liable to be
injured by the shaking up they get. The collect-
ing box with separate compartments is the best. It
is bulky and often inconvenient to carry, but the
specimens are well preserved, and this is the main
pointin collecting. Anything which is worth do-
ing is worth doing well, and we must not expect
to do_a good day’s collecting without some draw-
backs. If we secure a dozen birds in good feather
and a few sets of eggs all nicely blown, it isa
great deal better than 30 to 40 missed birds and a
lot of eggs mixed together without proper Jabeling
and the majority cracked and ruined. A good
collecting box can be made for two dollars and
will last for twenty years.

Drills and Blowpipes. Four drills are enough
for a collector. One small and very fine drill for
small and delicate eggs; one a trifle larger and
coarser in its burr; one about 14 inch in diame-
ter for general work ; and one large—quite 15 inch
in diameter, for the larger eggs. If I were to se-
lect only two drills, I would take the largest and
smallest, for with care all the work may be done
with them. Glass blowpipes are best. They are
cheap and if lost are easily replaced. Take a glass
tube 16 inches in length, cost 10 cents,and with a
diamond cut it into four equal lengths. Hold one
in an alcohol flame and blow in it with one of the
other pieces. When it is softened, bend the top
around to one side with an old pair of tweezers
and draw the point out to the desired fineness.
The four may vary to suit the collector, the holes
or apertures being large or small as required.

Climbers. My advice is “leave them at home,”
sell them to some other boy. Climbers are good
in case of repairs on a telegraph line, and little
danger is incurred by men used to them in that
business, but when it comes to climbing large
trees with rough bark, please excuse me. I want

[ Vol. 10-No. 4

to rely on my hands more and not entirely on my
feet when shinning a big tree. The older a man
grows the wiser he becomes as a rule, and very
few men of reason will attempt to climb a danger-
ous tree after arriving at the age of discretion.
If I should see a man of 40 or 50 shinning a large
rough-barked tree with climbers, I would say
“an old fool is the biggest fool of all.’ Don’t
risk your life for one set of eggs.

Lunch. Hard boiled eggs and bread and but-
ter are enough for any man if he likes them. A
slice of meat goes well. Don’t take too much
along, but a good square meal. No coffee or tea.
Plenty of good water almost everywhere. I used
to collect with a friend who carried lemons and
sugar, and insisted on making lemonade several
times during the day. He was a first rate hand
ata picnic. He sold out his collection cheap and
soon lost his interest in Natural History. An
enthusiastic collector often forgets to eat his lunch
for hours aftertime, and the majority I think,
when collecting eat their lunches on the move.

What You Dowt Want. Do not encumber
yourself with a hatchet, revolver, cartridge belt,
heavy game bag, duck call, dog, heavy boots,
whiskey bottle or any other of the dozen useless
things to a collector, but generally considered
necessary to a hunter. Go light. Wear the old-
est clothes you have. You are not a dude on ex-
hibition, but a collector at work. Wear a flannel
shirt; a slouch, or straw hat according to season;
Light pants and vest, a light coat too if necessary,
but you had better leave it at home if the weather
permits. Wear the lightest shoes you can get of
good leather. Never wear boots.
snakes. If you are afraid, stay at home. Never
mind the color of your clothes, any color is good,
only let them be dirty and worn. If they are not
so, they soon will be. Many writers talk of dead-
leaf suits and pepper and salt as the best to wear
in the woods, as the game can’t see you. Don’t
be afraid of that. Ifyou go slow the game won't
see you, and if you are not good at wooderaft, no
matter what you wear you will be seen as soon as
you reach the game, And further, you don’t
want a lot of fellow collectors along with you or
little boys of the neighborhood. Never go out with
more than two, a single companion is better.
Most of my collecting has been done when en-
tirely alone, and my best work has always oc-
curred when on a long tramp alone.

CAMPING OUT. You need something addi-
tional when camping out while on a collecting
trip. More food and clothing as well as ammuni-
tion, arsenic, &c. I have slept on the bare ground
next to a fire many times after a hard day’s work
in woods and fields. But it isnotagreeable. I re-

No danger of

call to mind one trip when we camped in a small
grove near a large marsh which we had been col-
lecting in, and from which we emerged wet to
the skin, having been in the water a good deal.
We only had straw for bedding, and did not bring
any blankets, as they occupied too much space in
a twelve miles tramp. We might have gone toa
farm house, but were too enthusiastic to steep be-
neath a roof, and the chances are that the farmer
would have rejected any such an offer when he
saw our muddy condition. The night was quite
cool, and as the fire partially died out, we turned
uneasily on our hard beds and changed sides,
freezing on one side and roasting on the other.
A gust of wind caused a spark to ignite the straw
on which Ben was sleeping, and before we could
lend a hand the flames had caught his coat, which,
though warranted “all wool” soon had a hole in
it of such magnitude, that the wearer had to loop
it up with string, and on his return to the city,
caused him to steal to his home after the shades
of night had fallen. A good heavy blanket is
enough for a healthy man during May and June,
if he understands building a fire. A small shelter
tent large enough for two, is not inconvenient to
carry. I would recommend the readers of the
“O. and O.” to secure Nessmuk’s ‘“ Woodcraft,”
price $1.00, which contains a great deal of valu-
able information, and particularly on the point of
camping, and camp cookery. When you go for
a few days’ collecting trip, I advise you to sleep
at night in farm houses, if possible, or in the
barns, if the farmer thinks you unfit for the house,
but if you prefer to sleep out, take blankets.
Always walk. Don’t ride unless you have a
limited time for collecting, and the grounds are a
good way off. I don’t think much of collectors
who always ride to the woods and lakes. They
miss a great deal on the way. When you go
camping and want to economize in space and
weight, carry dried beef. There is nothing like it.

Your Work in the Field. Rise at 1, 2 or 3
A. M., according to the distance you have to go to
reach the grounds. You want to be on the spot
when the birds begin to sing. I have arisen at
3, and had my days’ stock of birds to skin before
5. Lhave walked twelve miles before breakfast. You
can’t get up too early in the Spring, when the
birds are migrating or laying. Your most im-
portant work, of course, if you are a thorough
student of Ornithology, is the keeping of records
of arrivals, dates of nesting, observations of all
kinds, on song, habits, food, &c., &. Your note
book is rapidly filling as you walk along. You
add a new arrival here, speak of the first nest of
aspecies there, and keep writing as you stop now
and then in your walk across country. Finally

April, 1885.]

good shooting grounds are reached. You draw
your cartridges from the pockets, a No. 10 from
the left coat pocket, and a dust from the right,
while you make sure that the sixes are in your
pant’s pocket, so that you can change at a mo-
ment’s notice if you see a hawk. Warblers are
numerous and you shoot several specimens, always
being véry careful to sprinkle the bloody portions
with plaster of paris from the salt box which you
took from the dining table at home, and filled the
night before. It works admirably and you won-
der you did not think of the plan before. You
then stuff each throat with cotton, being careful
to force the pledget thoroughly within the throat,
and not leaving any fibres hanging out, as that
would allow blood to stain the breast feathers.
The birds are all placed carefully in cones of paper
from 8 to 12 inches long, head downwards, in
which position they will not ruffle, and the speci-
mens being packed away in the collecting box,
you move on. Let me say one word in regard to
general collecting. You may be a most enthusias-
tic Ornithologist, with a wish to devote all of your
time to the studying of birds and the collecting of
skins and eggs, but we would suggest that in your
trips you also take notes in the other depart-
ments of Natural History. In a short time you
can familiarize yourself with the reptiles, mam-
mals, insects and plants as well as be adding valu-
able notes and specimens to book and cabinet.
Never pass a rare turtle, snake, insect or plant,
without making an effort at preservation and iden-
tification. No one can afford to be in the woods
without a note book, if he ever expect to become
a thorough field naturalist. After a year’s effort
at this kind of work, you could not be hired to
omit noting the arrivals, remarks on habits, &e.,
&e. Amateurs are too liable to rush into collect-
ing with a zeal which is quickly quenched as the
season advances, and there are no specimens to
add to the cabinet. Thousands of foolish boys
slash into the birds and eggs for a season, intent
only on securing all they can, and desirous of out-
shining some companions in the nefarious busi-
ness. At the end of the season the eggs, a
cracked, unlabled lot, are lumped off to some itin-
erant dealer in curiosities, or sold to some young-
er boy still interested, while the birds’ skins are
laid away to be devoured by mice and moths, or
thrown into the fire by an over particular
mamma. Such boys never make Ornithologists,
or even true lovers of the study. The class is
however a large one. I wish there were fewer of
them. I would like a law enacted which would
provide for the imprisonment of all such boys.
I was a boy myself, but a skin, egg or insect was
as sacred to me as the awards of merit I received

AND OOLOGIST. 59

at school. There is but little chance of succeed-
ing in becoming a capable woodsman familiar
with the creatures of field and forest, or the pos-
sessor of a good cabinet of specimens, unless the
work is persevered in from year to year. Those
who have not the real love of nature in their
hearts, and who only collect because of the pros-
pect of gain, or with a view of excelling some
friend, had better stop collecting at once and devote
their wasted energies to other channels. In case
you are out for day’s trip, your birds will usually
keep nicely until you can reach home, where you
at once place those you do not intend to skin at
the time, in an ice chest from which you can take
them from time to time as required. Don’t shoot
more birds than you want. If it is your first
year, five birds are enough for you. If yousare a
rapid skinner, shoot 10 to 20 if the weather is
warm, and you have a cool place to keep them.
If you go out but a few times a year, and wish to
make the most of your trip, 30 to 50 birds may be
shot if the weather is cool and you area good skin-
ner. I find that 10 to 15 birds are all I can attend
to after a day’s trip, and all of these are rarely
finished until the next evening. In case of shoot-
ing a large number of birds sit up nights, all
night, to finish them, but don’t let any spoil. It
is a crime to shoot birds and let them spoil.
Sometimes the weather is so warm that birds will
spoil in a few hours, and long before the collector
reaches home. In extreme weather, I frequently
disembowel some of the first specimens shot in a
day’s collecting, and fill the cavity with dry cotton
containing a few drops of carbolic acid. When
ona two or three day’s trip, the birds may be
skinned each night, the preservative applied and
the skins laid away nearly flat until you reach
home, when you must at once arrange the
feathers, and if the skin has become too hard, they
must be treated to asand bath to soften them.
Blow your eggs in the woods, many collectors, I
think the large majority, blow their eggs after
reaching home. Don’t do it unless the eggs con-
tain large embryos which will occupy too much
of your limited time in the woods. You can
pack them in a much smaller space than those
with the contents in, as they do not require so
much cotton and are much less liable to break.
Always wash out the eggs with fresh water, and
afterwards drop in a few drops of “ Fowler's So-
lution” which contains enough arsenic to poison
the egg. It may be bought at the drug store.
After You Get Home.—Unpack all of your
specimens at once. If you have not numbered
your eggs do so at once, so the sets will not get
mixed. Place the number to the right and a little
below the hole, with the small end of the egg at your

60 ORNITHOLOGIST [Vol. 10--No. 4
right. The number reads thus, for example, | Albinos are lovers of abnormalties. I always

1042-3 on each egg of set, and on turning to our
index record for eggs, we find that we must write
down ‘‘ No. 1042, Chipping Sparrow, number of
eggs in set, 3. Date, May 19, 1885. Collector,
John Smith. Locality, Mount Vernon. Remarks:
Common; nest seven feet aboye the ground ina
small Evergreen; bird seen.” Next we get to
skinning our birds, of which we cannot speak
fully here, as a description is too lengthy, and
most of you are familiar with the process. Some
people are born taxidermists ; others never will
make skinners. Some are satisfied with most any
kind of skin; others are hard to please. I have
only skinned about ten birds in my life which
fully satisfied me. The art of skinning a bird
properly is only acquired by long practice. Don’t
be discouraged, and finally you will succeed.
Always bear in mind that one good skin is worth
a dozen poor ones. Attempt to do better work
each season and you will succeed. Always label
each bird with its number, date of capture, name
of collector, locality, dimensions of bird in inches
and hundredths, remarks, &c. This label should
be copied into the index record for birds, and can
always be referred to by number.

Preservatives.—Use arsenic two parts and alum
one part. Mix well together after alum is thor-
oughly pulverized by druggist.

Bueehanges and Sales.—1_ stopped
ing specimens years ago.

exchang-
It does not pay. It is
a loss of time and a waste of postage and express
charges, and you never feel satisfied with your
bargain. Why? Because you did not collect
the specimen yourself. In exclianging you ruin
many valuable specimens, particularly eggs, and
hard feelings are aroused. My advice to young
collectors is, do not exchange, buy or sell. Col-
lect your own specimens for the first few years,
then after you are master of the habits of half the
birds of your own neighborhood, you may with
propriety exchange with some reputable dealer.
Do not collect eggs to sell.

It is a villainous
habit and hardens a man’s heart. A good relia-
ble dealer in eges and skins I uphold, but a mer-
cenary, ignorant, itinerant jobber with boys, I
detest, and so does every honest ornithologist.
Cabinet.—Get a good tight case made, from 4
to 6 feet high and from 30 to 55 inches wide.
For smaller skins and eggs, have drawers two
inches deep; for larger specimens, from 4 to 6
inches or more deep. A good cabinet with twen-
ty drawers ought to be built for $16 to $25.
Caution.—Don't break your neck to shoot Al-
IT have never shot one in my life. They
People who are always talking of

binos.
are useless.

pass by them. We want nature and not freaks.
Never shoot a bird fora lady’s hat. You will
feel guilty every time you see the maltreated
specimen on the street. JOHNNIE.

The Cardinal Grosbeak
Park.

in Central

BY A, GARDNER PAINE, NEW YORK CITY.

The occurrence of the Cardinal Grosbeak,
(Cardinalis virginianus,) in Central Park is not so
much to be wondered at as one might first sup-
pose, who had not studied the habits of the species.
The bird is slowly, but I think surely, extending
its range northward. A colony was naturally
founded in Central Park about ten years ago, and
has been increasing ever since ; a few pairs remain
through the Winter. In the Spring the number
increases considerably, estimated by a gentleman
connected with the Park, at about one thousand
birds. The distribution is more or less local, but
not necessarily confined to the secluded parts,
which seems to contradict the numerous state-
ments of its being a shy inhabitant of the thickest
shrubbery,

During the breeding season, which commences
in June, the males are inclined to be very quarrel-
some, but otherwise they are peaceable enough,
and seem to be fond of each other's society. For
a time a few visited the Arsenal, situated on the
border of the park, in order to procure the corn
which was thrown out for the Peacocks. These
visitations, however, suddenly ceased; the cause
was very likely due to the English Sparrow,
whose enmity to all of our birds isso well known.

The Grosbeaks are not so tame as might be ex-
pected of birds inhabiting Central Park; the male
especially seems to realize the conspicuousness of
his dress, and probably for that reason is more re-
tiring. The male Cardinal is a famous vocalist,
and strangely enough the female possesses the
same talent, her lord and master being very little
her superior. For this accomplishment alone,
setting aside the beauty and other attractions of
the bird, we ought to protect pnd encourage in
every way, the few birds which attcmpt to settle
in this part of the country.

The Maryland Yellow-throat.

(Geothlypis trichas.)
BY CHAS. 8. ANDROS, TAUNTON, MASS.

This beautiful little bird, also known as the
Black-masked Ground Warbler, is generally
ranked as common in this part of the State. It

April, 1885.]

abounds along the brooks and swampy lands, in-
habiting bushes on the edges of creeks and ponds.
The male cannot be mistaken after once being
seen. The black mask completely covering the
head, and handsome yellow throat are his most
prominent features. The female is of a much
duller hue, and her modest plumage is in great
contrast with that of her mate. They arrive in
early May and may be easily approached, not
having that fear of man so often displayed by
others of the family. The female, I believe, is
rarely seen unless flushed from her nest. After
her treasures are removed, she takes a silent fare-
well and is not seen about the locality again.
Walking along beside some swampy land, a male
will take alarm at the sound of your footsteps
and fly from some bunch of ferns near at hand,
quickly followed by another and another, until
half a dozen have flown from the spot, and it is a
mystery where they go. But if you proceed,
another flock will leave the next large clump of
ferns. Whether they believe in concealment or
what their motive is, is to be solved. I have
watched the ferns where they disappear, for
perhaps twenty minutes, and not a sign, but move
towards their place of concealment they immedi-
ately leave. Their nest is built in the latter part
of May. Earliest date for fresh set, June 4. Latest
date, June 17. The latter nest taken during the
season of ’82, contained five eggs of pure white
ground and marked with scrawls and spots about
the crown, with one or two black spots resembling
a dot of “India ink.” The nest is placed on or
near the ground in some swampy land, composed
of leaves and grass and lined with fibres and grass,
arched over and with a small entrance. I have
remained in close proximity with one some time
before discovery. A nest found last season in a
very low bush contained four fresh eggs. The
bottom of the nest was thickly tenanted by black
ants, evidently not in a very peaceable frame of
mind,as my hand and arm testified on reaching
home. How the female could share her home
with such unwelcome guests, I cannot imagine.

ed

My Experience with a Screech Owl.
BY W. H. PRESBY, EAST CAMBRIDGE, MASS,

Several years ago it was my good fortune to
have as pets, several of the feathered tribe that
are usually considered anything but desirable for
cage birds. Thinking that an account of some of
them might be of interest to the readers of the
“OQ, and O.” I have concluded to give you first,
my experience with a little Screech Ow] that was
captured one morning in the early Autumn by a

ND OOLOGIST.

friend, who found it roosting in a thick clump of
Alders by the side of a river, where he had evi-
dently been overtaken by the daylight and con-
cluded to camp for the day. At the report of the
gun he tumbled headlong into the underbrush,
and my friend was considerably surprised on go-
ing for his prize, to find him “sitting up” and
looking as calm as if nothing had occurred to
disturb his morning nap. But with all his calm
exterior, it was only after quite a lively encounter
that he was finally captured and stowed safely
away in a capacious coat pocket. On arriving at
the house we made a most careful examination of
our little prisoner, but were unable to find the
slightest trace of shot marks on either plumage or
body, and finally concluded that he had been
only stunned by the report of the heavily loaded
gun, the contents of which had passed safely
above him.

We placed him in a large granary, that was
lignted only by one small window, and allowed
him to come and go at will among the bins that
were plentifully stocked with mice. Here he
lived for several weeks, apparently well pleased
with his new mode of life. He chose a certain
place in one corner of the granary, to which he
always retired, and remained throughout the day,
but on the approach of twilight he would sally
out on his search for game. During the time he
was confined in the room, I never knew him to
eat anything aside from what he captured himself,
although bits of fresh meat were furnished him
every morning. He seemed to delight in sitting
on the floor of the bins, and watching the holes
through which the mice would pass from one bin
to another. When disturbed he would resort to
his favorite place in the corner of the granary,
and there remain stamping his feet, snapping his
beak, and presenting the most perfect picture of
uncontrollable anger.

He would after a few days allow me to rub the
top of his head with my finger, but would never
permit any further attempt at familiarity.

One morning in October, I fastened a strong
cord to one leg and tied him to the limb of a tree
in the orchard, giving him plenty of cord to reach
the ground at pleasure. About nine o’clock the
following evening, having occasion to pass
through the orchard, I discovered a second Owl
sitting on a dead limb that projected above the top
of an adjacent tree, and immediately returned for
a gun, but on returning a few minutes later the
visitor had flown. I waited quite a long time for
him to return, but finally concluded he had left
the vicinity for good. I visited my captive, who
was busily engaged in making a supper of some

62

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 4

fresh meat I had provided for him, and returned
to the honse. The next morning what was my
surprise, on going to the orchard, to find my pet
lying on the ground under the tree, dead, and
with the scalp completely torn off his head. He
must have been killed very soon after I left him
the previous evening, as he still retained in his
beak a small piece of the meat he was eating
when I made my evening call. The cause of his
death is still as great a mystery to me as ever,
although I have always believed it was caused by
his own relatives.

When I reported the death of the Owl] to my
friends they immediately suggested “the cat” as
the culprit, but, in my experience, I have never
yet seen a cat that showed any disposition to in-
terfere in the slightest with any member of the
Owl family. And besides, as the bird was eight
or ten feet from the ground, it was practically out
of the way of those prowling marauders. It is a
well known fact that several species of birds will
torment and sometimes kill their maimed or feeble
fellows, and who shall say that this also may not
be one of the characteristics of the great family of

the Raptores.
eg ee

Notes on Birds of the Sea Islands.

BY WALTER HOXIE, FROGMORE, SO. CAR.—PART ITV.

The Kingbird, (804,) is a very common Sum-
mer resident.

The Grey Kingbird, (303,) has been taken once
on Ladies’ Island in May, 1868.

The Great-crested Flycatcher, (312,) common
Summer resident.

The Pewee, (315,) common in Winter,

The Wood Pewee, (320,) rare in the migrations.

My record of the Flycatchers is very imper-
fect, but a friend informs me of the occurrence
here of Trail’s Flycatcher, (3257.)

The Least Flycatcher, (826,) Small Green-crest-
ed (824,) and Yellow-bellied, (322.) I have never
identified the last four. Others might perhaps be
added to the list but I have an innate prejudice
against shooting Flycatchers.

The Chuck Will’s-widow, (353,) very common.

The Whip-poor-will, (354,) I have only taken
once in March.

The Night Hawk, (357,) common.

The King Fisher, (882,) rather common and oc-
casionally breeds.

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo, (387,) is common in
the Spring but rare in the Fall.

The Black-billed Cuckoo, (888,) common both
Spring and Fall. A few breed. This seems to be
the stronger bird of the two, with a more south-
ern breeding range,

The Hairy Woodpecker, (860,) rare.

The Downy Woodpecker, (361,) common.

The Red Cockaded Woodpecker, (362,) quite
rare.

The Pileated Woodpecker, (871,) very common.

The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, (369,) not un-
common.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker, (372,) very com-
mon.

The Red-headed Woodpecker, (375,) rather com-
mon.

The Golden-Winged Woodpecker, (378,) com-
mon in Winter but only occasional in Summer.

In former years the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
was not rare in this locality, and I have taken it
on Johnson’s, Pritehard’s and Edding Islands.
Of late, however, I have failed to detect it.

The Ruby-throated Humming-bird, (335,) com-
mon Summer resident.

The Chimney Swift, (351,) common Summer
visitor.

The Screech Owl, (402,) is common and breeds.
Called “Death Owl,” and its note is supposed to
betoken the decease of some near relative.

The Barred Owl, (397,) quite common and
breeds. Called Coo Coo and Tugadoo, both
names no doubt descriptive of its notes.

The Barn Owl, (394,) not uncommon and breeds.

Tam quite certain that I have heard the note
of the Saw-whet Owl, (401,) on Edding Island.

Tam also credibly informed of the occurrence
on St. Helena of the Great Horned Owl, (405,) the
Long-eared Owl, (895,) and the Short-eared Owl,
(896). The Snowy Owl has also been known to
wander as far south in very severe Winters.

The Pigeon Hawk, (417,) rare. Have not seen
more than half a dozen sinee 1867. Usually in
Spring.

The Sparrow Hawk, (420,) breeds but is never
common until Winter when they are numerous,
pursuing the flocks of Sparrows and other small
Winter visitants.

I have been informed hy good observers of the
occurrence here of the Swallow-tailed Hawk,
(426,) the White-tailed Hawk, (427,) and the Mis-
sissippi Kite, (428,) but I have never taken or
fully identified any of them.

The Marsh Hawk, (430,) is rather common in
Winter.

The Cooper’s Hawk, (431,) and Sharp Shinned
Hawk, (482,) neither is rare, but I have never de-
tected them during the breeding season.

The Red tailed Hawk, (436,) and Red-shouldered
Hawk, (489,) rather common residents.

The Bald Eagle, (451,) and the Fish Hawk,
(425,) are both common residents. Their nests are
a feature in the landscape of all the wilder island

63

April, 1885.]

and the Fish Hawk breeds on St. Helena. I have
often heard the natives tell of the “ Eagle’s Stone”
which is said to be in every nest and to bring
special good luck to the finder. I once shot into
a nest thinking the old bird was sitting, anc to
my astonishment down dropped a smooth quartz
pebble such as “never grows” in this locality. I
have it yet, but my wonderful luck is yet to come.

The Turkey Buzzard, (454,) common resident.
Breeds in communities often with the next.

The Black Vulture, (455,) more common than
the above. Breeds in communities and some-
times singly. The locality is usually a small, se-
cluded islet. Eggs almost invariably two. Have
once known a set of three taken. The pair usually
vary as in Brewer's two figures. I once raised a
pair of young Vultures from the same nest, which
on dissection proved to be male and female.
Query—Are the two eggs always one male and
the other female? I have never seen their eggs
deposited in any way except on the ground with-
out any attempt at a nest. Have never taken any
from a hollow stump or from any elevated tussock,
but always ona level spot. But they are often
well hidden by overhanging Yucca or brambles,
and always difficult to see in the half light among
the bushes. The old birds approach them by a
zig-zag path, which is sometimes so apparent that
I have often discovered the eggs by following it.
Sometimes I have smelt them out.

The Carolina Dove, (460,) common resident.

The Ground Dove, (465,) very common. Nests
in the cotton fields. Called Mourning Dove by
the natives who used to have a superstition that
any one who molested their nest would be
“mourned to death” by the grief-stricken owners.

The Quail, (480,) is very common.

The Wild Turkey, (470a,) used to be found on
Ladies Island. I have not known of any, how-
ever, since 1869. I am told that they have not
yet been exterminated in the more retired parts
of Port Royal Island.

Brief Notes.

WINTER BikDs OF SOUTHWESTERN VERMONT, FOR 1885.
—Pileated Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Wood-
pecker, Crow, Blue Jay, Black-cappesl Chickadee, White-
bellied Nuthatch, Chipping Sparrow, Snow Bunting, Pine
Grosbeak, Great Northern Shrike, Screech Owl, Ruffed
Grouse, Merganser, Golden-eye Garrot, Also, February
28th, saw four Horned Larks, which are/the first birds ob-
served, that are not Winter residents. There has been a
noticeable absence of the Snow Bunting, Black-capped
Chickadee, Pine Grosbeak here this Winter.

I have not observed a single specimen of the Golden and
Ruby-crowned Ringlet this Winter; last Winter I found
several of each.

Of Pine Grosbeaks, I observed but a few in the first part
of the Winter, and for some time back have not found a
single bird. I have not found a specimen of Cross-bills.

AND OOLOGIST.

Can some of the readers of the ‘‘O. and O.,” explain why
there are so few male birds of the Merganser, or is it be-
cause I have not had the good Inck to find them. I have
shot quite a number of the females, Winters back, but
have not found or obseryed a male bird till this Winter, I
shot a fine male specimen on the 28th of February last, it
was in company with one other male and two females.
There are quite a number of female Mergansers here every
Winter in the river, to the grief of the small fish and trout.
One specimen I shot two years ago, hada trout minus head,
thst was seven inches long. Since that I have not spared
the Mergansers.—A. I. Johnson, Hydeville, Vt.

PECULIAR Eaa@s OF THE KINGBIRD.—I have just come
into possession of a set of eggs of the Kingbird (Tyrannus
carolinensis,) which present very curious markinzs. They
were collected in 1882, in the town of Braintree, Mass. The
nest was in a tree overhanging a mill pond. Eggs,4; fresh,
with the following markings:

No, 1. Normal in ground color and markings, spots being
at large end, forming a sort of wreath. Size .92x.69 of an
inch,

No. 2. Much like No. 1, but the spots are larger and few-
er, With one faint blotch or stain. Size .87x.75 of an inch.

No. 3. Has no distinct large spots, but is thickly stained
with a reddish lilac; at the large end the stains form a
blotch. Size .97x.62 inches.

No. 4. Has no large spots or stains, but is faintly and
finely stained all over. Size 1.00x.75 of an inch.

These eggs are now in my collection at 73 Hanover street,
where I should be pleased to show them to any visitor.—
Frank A. Bates, Boston.

A Few Notes From Iowa City, 14.—On February 13th,
my brother shot a Cardinal Redbird, which is the second or
third one known to have been shot in this section of conn-
try. On February 21st, a friend of mine shot a Yellow
Shafted Flicker which, although common in Summer, is the
only one I ever saw in Winter around here. Last June I
found a Maryland Yellow-throat’s nest with three Cowbird’s
eggs in and none of its own, the eggs were all partly incu-
bated. On May 29th, 1584, I found a nest of King Rail con-
taining twelve eggs, some of which were nearly ready to
hatch and one or two that were perfectly fresh. On the
same day I flushed a Virginia Rail from her nest in a clump
of weeds in a swamp, and got eight eggs which were all
fresh. On May 3d, flushed a Ruffed Grouse from her nest
and obtained a set of fifteen fine fresh eggs.—Oscar C. Clute.

Notes FROM NoRTH CAROLINA. PURPLE GALLINULE,—
In your February number I made a mistake in stating that
a specimen of this bird was procured at New Berne in De-
cember; it was a young Florida Gallinule and was wrongly
identified.

RED-BELLIED NuTHATcH.—On Feb. 28th, I was walking
without my gun through some Pine woods, when I heard a
bird note which seemed unfamiliar to me; on looking
around for the cause thereof, a small bird flew up from
among the Pine straw and settling on the trunk of a young
Pine commenced running up it- I recognized the bird as a
Nuthatch, and was turning away, thinking it the White-
bellied, when I was struck by something unfamiliar in its
appearance, and on looking more closely, perceived the
black bar from its bill along the side of its head, and the
white superciliary stripe above it, which distinguish this
species from the White-bellied Nuthatch. This is the first
time I have observed this species in the State.

Five days afterwards whilst out collecting with my gun,
I came upon this species again and procured a specimen,
only about fifteen yards from the place where I had ob-
served it before. In both cases there was another bird
with it, but I eould not be certain whether that was a Red-
bellied Nuthatch or not.

Gt ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 4

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.—An Albino of this species
was lately shot in the woods near here. It was pure white,
tail and wings having some little brown on them, otherwise
nnmarked.—H. H. & C. S. Brimley, Raleigh, N. C.

GREAT-HORNED OwL’s Eaas.—Another visit to the Great-
horned Owyl’s nest, March 1, 1835, favored us with two eggs.
The nest was found in the first tree that we rapped and we
had a splendid shot at the female, and afterwards saw the
male and female together. The nest was about seventy-five
feet np and lined with snow and feathers. The eggs were
of adirty white color, and slightly incubated.—S. W. Com-
stock, Greenfield, Mass.

THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK is a voracious feeder on
the potato bug, the advent of which (in 1867,) seems to have
jiargely increased its numbers in this vicinity. Previous to
1871, I considered the Grosbeak a rare bird, but in that year it
was tolerably common, especially about village gardens,
where I first noticed it feeding freely upon the larvie of the
pest mentioned. Since then I find this beautiful songster
more and more frequently mentioned in my notes, and July
Sth, 1883, a record of twenty-two seen in a walk of four miles.
It arrives here almost invariably within the first ten days of
May, my earliest record being April 30th, and my experi-
ence has been that the males precede the females a few
days. I have taken a set of eggs with incubation well ad-
vanced on June 3d. Early in August last year the young
were very numerous, and gorging themselves on the Mar-
rowfat pea. As late as September 4th, they were still with
us and very fond of sunflower seeds. It is worthy of note
that with the increase of the Grosbeak there has been a
marked decrease of the potato bug, though I would not, of
course, attribute it wholly to this cause.—H. M. Hancock,
Waukon, Iowa.

House WRENs REARED By Rospins.—On June 11th, 1884,
I founda Robin’s nestin an Apple tree. On gaining the nest
I saw five little heads sticking up, the possessors of two of
which were Robins, but the other three, which were not
half as large as the Robins, I did not recognize. There was
also a Robin’s egg in the nest.

I visited it again two days afterwards, when the remaining
egy was hatched, making six young ones—quite a nest full.
By the 18th the three Robins had grown so much that one
of the House Wrens (for such they proved to be,) had died.
On the 20.h, I found one of the Wrens had left the nest, and
the other was perched on the edge preparatory to leaving.
This one I caught and examined closely, making sure that
it was a House Wren. Is it common for House Wrens to
deposit their eggs in other birds’ nests ?—Geo. H. Center,
Staunton, Ill.

HupsoNnraAN TITMOUSE IN MASSACHUSETTS.—Mr. Ralph
A. Quimby of Boston had the good fortune to secure a
specimen of the Hudsonian Titmouse, (Parus hudsonicus,)
while collecting in Quincy, Mass., March 14th. It was with
the Common Black-capped.

SSS

CORRESPONDENEGE.

WuatT Is THE BEST ABSORBENT?—A. Gardner Paine,
New York, says ‘* Plaster of Paris answers very well for
birds of white plumage, but seems to bleach all dark color-
ing, especially black.” If our correspondent would try corn
meal, he might avoid the trouble named, though it is not so
good an absorbent as Plaster of Paris. Perhaps some of our
readers may offer suggestions.

Will some of the readers of the O. and O., please tell us
something of the habits of bats?]—W. L. H., Otisfield, Me,

Rece1yED.—Wisconsin and Michigan Fish and Game
Laws from G. W. F, Smith.

We are compelled to postpone until next month, articles
in type from C, O, Tracy, Geo. Enty and L. M. B.

Boston.—Review for February and
March.

Ruffed Grouse and Quail have disappeared from
the market ; Pinnated and a few Sharp-tails still
remain. Canvas-back and Blue-bill Ducks have
suceeeded Mallards and an occasional Eider and
Swan breaks the monotony. Wild Pigeons in
small lots that appear to have been shipped a long
distance are noticed. The severe weather has
been more effectual than the remarkable game law,
in keeping the local gunners at bay. While
making our usual rounds last week we secured a
Quail, which as it stands before us is besf de-
scribed as appearing as if it was just taken froma
bath of Plaster of Paris, the brown tint and other
markings indistinctly showing through. Whether
this bird would have eventually become white or
brightened up in the future would be a good sub-
ject for a discussion without facts. We now and
then get a specimen of the Black-backed Gull,
and understand they are frequently seen on our
coast, though by no means a common trophy of
the shore gunners. Hawk Owls have not entirely
left. We have obtained several of the Richard-
son’s, soft, downy little fellows. Of a number of
Great Horned Owls, our best specimen is a fit
subject for quarantine. We refer to its being
scented by a skunk, which it had evidently at-
tacked. Time is a slow remedy. We have one
that has been mounted over two years and is still
too strong to be admitted to our domicile. We
have had many suggestions offered but have tried
none, A good receipt would be of interest to all.

The last of February we received some fine
Ptarmigans, and expect the last lot of the season
this month. Our attention being attracted by the
call for eyes for the Acadian Owl, we were led to
inquire, and find that a number have been found
dead, or exhausted—from here, northwards.

We heard that two Snowy Owls were shot in
this State during the Winter. A party in Quebee
writes us but one was shot there in the last three
Winters.

Oology has taken a stride of late but the older
boys had their rarities. A few years since a friend
handed us a Goose egg, which in these times
would have its advantages. With part of its con-
tents our family of four were supplied with
poached egg for breakfast, and with the remainder
a custard pie was made which would compare
in size with those on the city lunch counters.

The size of the egg was, 117g in large cireum-
ference and 9 in small, weight, 1115 oz. We
still have the shell. We think no one can eat it.
In our next we will challenge in another diree-
tion —F. B. W.

NITHOLOGIST

—AND—

$1.50 per

OOLOGIST.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuBuiisHER.

Single Copy
Annum, Established, March, 1875. 15 Cents.
VOL. X. PAWTUCKET, R. I., MAY, 1885. No. 5.

Mississippi Valley Migration.

THE RELATION OF MIGRATION TO BAROMETRIC
PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE.

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.

The materials for the present article were ob-
tained principally from the daily weather reports
of the Signal Service for 1884. During the
Spring migration of that year, I received the full
tri-daily reports from all the stations (one hundred
and twenty in number,) of the Signal Service in
the United States and Canada; of which, about
fifty stations are in or near the Mississippi Valley,
and their reports were used in making my maps.
These reports give the temperature, barometer,
dew point, direction and force of the wind,
amount of rain-fall, and character of the sky.
They are made three times a day, at 7 a. m., 3 p.
m., and 11 p. m. In our study, the 11 p.m.,
records were used for those birds which migrate
by night, and the 7 a. m., for such species as
Ducks and Geese, which perform the bulk of
their movements in the forenoon.

To render the study more easy, weather maps
were made, one for each day, based on the 11 p.
m., observations. The maps were made as nearly
as possible like those now printed daily by the
Signal Service at Washington, that is, the state
of the weather and the direction of the wind are
marked at each station on the map in symbols
which are plain and easily comprehended, so that
the eye can take in at a glance the general state
of the weather in the whole Mississippi Valley.
At each station is then marked in figures the tem-
perature, barometer and force of the wind.
Dotted lines are then drawn, connecting all places
having the same temperature, and solid lines con-
necting places of the same barometric pressure;
the former, called isothermal lines, are drawn for
every five degrees, while the latter, called iso-
baric lines are drawn for every tenth of an inch
of pressure, The only difference from the Signal
Service maps is that the isotherms are drawn

every five degrees, while the Government maps
put them ten degrees apart.

Studying these maps, we find that the area of
lowest pressure is not always in the same place,
but is constantly moving and always in an easter-
ly direction. It may be moving northeast, east,
or southeast, and rarely north or south, but never
northwest, west or southwest. The usual direc-
tion is a little south of east. Though it may
move north or south for a time, it will surely
turn east in the end. It so happens that the low
pressure area, which we particularly study at the
latter end of this article, moves toward the north-
east, but this is not the usual direction. One
may ask, what has all this todo with birds? Let us
see. We said in the February ‘‘O. and O.” page
17, that the warm waves began in the north and
travelled southward. It might have been a little
more exact had we said they begin in the north-
west and move toward the southeast, but the
cause of this movement lies in the movement of
the area of low pressure. It is a law of the move-
ment of the winds, that they go toward an area of
low pressure, and from an area of high pressure.
If then an area of low pressure develops, say in
southwestern Dakota, it will be but a few hours
before a south or southeast wind will be blowing
over Nebraska and Kansas, and a warm wave
will be started in those states. As this area passes
eastward to Minnesota, its effect will begin to be
felt in Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas, while by the
time it reaches Lake Michigan, it will probably
have produced southeast winds, even to the Gulf
of Mexico. But an area of low pressure is imme-
diately followed by one of high pressure, pro-
ducing an opposite effect, and the isotherms
which bent north to welcome the coming of the
low area, turn rapidly southward before the icy
breath which blows from an area of high pressure.

Thus the cold and warm waves both come from
the same quarter, and both move in the same di-
rection, that is, the direction in which the area of

66 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 5

and rain, while areas of high pressure are cloud-
less, we would naturally suppose that migration
would take place during high pressure, but as has
already been said, the area of low pressure at-
tracts a south wind and the increased warmth
more than overbalances the cloudiness. Of all
the migration of last Spring, it seems probable
that fully sixty per cent took place in cloudy
weather. It is also probable, though I am _ not
aware that it has as yet been proved, that in Fall
migration, these conditions are reversed and the
larger part takes place in clear weather.

For the purpose of putting the notes on record
that others may compare them with their own
observations, we will give the full record for the
seven days from March 19th to 25th, 1884, though
we are aware that it will be uninteresting and
tedious to the general reader, who can stop at
this point.

March 18th, 1884, at 11 p. m., there was no
marked atmospheric disturbance throughout the
United States, the minimum of the cold wave
had occurred the day before, and the tempera-
ture was gradually rising in the Upper Mississippi
Valley. It is this part of the Mississippi Valley,
from 39° northward, to which we shall confine
our study. The temperature was quite high (50°)
at St. Louis, 37° at St. Paul, but fell rapidly
from there northwest to 20° at Moorhead. (It
need hardly be said that no one can follow the
rest of this article satisfactorily, without a map
before them.) The barometer varied only two-
tenths of an inch, from 29.9 inches in eastern
Arkansas and southern Illinois, to 30.1 at Moor-
head. Prevailing winds, very light E. to N.,
cloudy, with several light rains. There was little
change toward the morning of March 19th, ex-
cept the shifting of the wind to N., and N.W.,
while the area of low pressure moved east to
Cape Hatteras. Very little migration took place,
the few birds which did move belonging exclu-
sively to those which we have marked in a former
article, “‘the birds of the first wave,” that is,
Ducks, Geese, Blackbirds, Meadow Larks,
Robins and Bluebirds. It is these birds with
which we have to deal in our study of these
seven days. Migration is reported from southern
Wisconsia and northern Illinois, against a north-
sast wind with the temperature but two or three
degrees above freezing, and from east central
Kansas, under slightly warmer conditions. It
would seem likely that some of these notes belong
to a warm wave which occurred two days before,
but it is also certain that some Ducks and Geese
were migrating in the early morning hours
straight against the northerly winds.

At 11 p. m., of the 19th, an area of slightly

lower pressure had just passed over the Upper
Mississippi Valley and the barometer rose steadi-
ly all night. Between St. Paul and St. Louis the
temperature remained the same as the day before;
northward it was slightly higher. Winds light,
and everywhere from N.E., N.W.,and W. Tem-
perature from 45° at St. Louis, to 26° at Moorhead.
Average barometer at 11 p. m., 30.07, at 7 a. m.,
of the 20th, 30.15. Cloudy everywhere except in
the Lake Superior region. In general, very un-
favorable to migration, yet new arrivals are still
noted from the same places as on the day previous,
with the addition of records from southeastern
Dakota, eastern Nebraska and south central Iowa.
It would seem that the Ducks and Geese were so
desirous of reaching their breeding grounds that
they pushed northward, in spite of the wind and
the clouds, as soon as the temperature rose two or
three degrees above freezing, regardless of the
fact that the Winter’s snow still covered the
ground, the lakes and rivers, still bound with icy
chains, Not until a week later did any streams
open in the region which was now being invaded
by the migratory hosts.

March 2ist is marked by very high barometer
and quite a marked advance of the isotherm of
30° to points north of Duluth and Moorhead.
There was no place in the Upper Mississippi Val-
ley at 11 p.m., March 20th, where the pressure
was less than 30.2, and in western Dakota it was
30.3. Calm weather, or very light N. winds
prevailed, with clear weather along the Mississip-
pi and the great lakes, and cloudy weather with
light rains on the Missouri. Minimum tempera-
ture at St. Louis 43°, at LaCrosse 37°, St. Paul
20°, Moorhead 23°. A moderately fair night for
migration. It is the culmination of the high
pressure, and already in the southern Rocky
Mountain region is developing the low pressure
which is to bring about the immense movements
of the next three days; already the isotherms in
that quarter are beginning to move northward,
and the wind along the gulf coast has changed to
S.E. The birds seem to have a foreknowledge
of the approaching change and there are double
as many “‘firsts’” recorded as two days before.
Some of these come from central Missouri, where
the change is already slightly felt. Otherwise
they are from the same districts as the day previ-
ous. There is practically no advance of the van,
but a filling up of the country already traversed
by the scouts.

The night of March 21st, at 11 o’clock, an area
of low barometer, 29.9 inches, was passing east-
ward across the Upper Mississippi Valley and
was central at North Platte, Neb. It produced
S.E., winds of moderate strength in all the

May, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 67

Mississippi Valley except the extreme northern
part above LaCrosse. The temperature rose
throughout our district to 56° at St. Louis, and
35° at St. Paul, but north of there, beyond the
influence of the 8.E. wind, fell rapidly to 18° at
Moorhead, and 11° at St. Vincent. The isotherm
of 40° is carried up to LaCrosse. As morning
approached the temperature still rose in the
northern part, and the sky became overcast, with
some local rain. It wasa night of much migra-
tion, owing to the influence of the area of low
pressure, which at 7a. m., March 22d, was cen-
tral at Omaha and Yankton, (29.86 inches). Dur-
ing the next eight hours the pressure fell over the
whole of the United States, the central point be-
ing still at Yankton, where the barometer at 3 p.
m., registered 29.74 inches. Here then was a
fall at Yankton of .32 inches during sixteen hours,
while the center of the low area moved but a few
miles; and the necessary result was a great rise in
temperature and consequently great movements
among birds. But these movements took place
only to the east of the low pressure area; for it is
a law of atmospheric circulation, that the winds
are attracted from the south, not drectly toward
the centre of the low pressure area, but toward
places to the east of it toward which it is moving,
while the winds which it attracts from the north,
move toward places to the west or behind it. We
therefore would look in vain for migration to the
south, west or north of Yankton. The whole of
the immense movement, which in number of
records was as great as the three previous days
together, and in number of individuals was many
times greater, is to the southeast and east of
Yankton. We have said that the $.E., winds
prevailed up to LaCrosse, and this place also
marks the limit of the night’s movement in that
direction. A map was made of the migration
which took place on this day, and it was found
to cover a very nearly circular area, two hundred
and fifty miles in diameter, whose center was
midway between Keokuk and Davenport. The
great number of birds which were migrating
during this night may be judged from the fact
that at St. Louis, twenty-six different species were
noted as having arrived or increased. It is well
to bear in mind that these birds were all migrating
on a rapidly falling barometer, hence in the face
of what is usually considered a sign of an ap-
proaching storm; and also we may notice that all
this great movement did not advance the van,
which still remained where it had been before.
March 23d is a standstill. The area of low
pressure which was central at Yankton in the
afternoon of the 22d, had, by 11 p. m., moved to
St. Paul, the barometer falling steadily to 29.61

inches; during the night it moved N.E., to Mar-
quette, Mich., falling still more to 29,56 inches.
In the meantime an area of high pressure devel-
oped at Dodge City, Kans. The effect on the
winds was as follows: From St. Louis south
ward the winds began to shift to S.W.; to the
northwest of that place they shifted to W., and
still farther north they became N.W., and N.;
while to the northeast of St. Louis they shifted to
S.W., and W. As would be expected, those
places that had W., and N.W., winds had clear
skies, while the district from St. Paul and La-
Crosse to Chicago and eastward was cloudy.
Temperature from St. Paul north, northwest and
northeast, rose; at St. Paul it was stationary, and
thence southward fell a few degrees, but still re-
mained warm. The wave of migration seems to
have exhausted itself in a single night. Some
forty “firsts” are recorded for this day, but ex-
cept at two places they seem to have been ar-
rivals of the previous day which had been over-
looked. The two places, Waupaca, Wis., and
Heron Lake, Minn., with its neighborhood, fur-
nish one-half of the forty records, and are both
on the northern edge of the district covered by
the preceding night’s migration. It seems, then,
that at these places there was a local, though in
the case of Heron Lake, a very large migration.
March 24th is marked by cloudy weather after
a clear night. Southerly winds prevail over the
Upper Mississippi Valley, varying from 8.E., to
S.W., and mostly light. The temperature has
fallen on an average 5° from Chicago to Bismarck
and northward. It has risen strongly, 9° to 11°,
at Yankton and Omaha, this rise being probably
the cause of the arrival of immense numbers of
water fowl during the day, at Heron Lake,
Minn., all coming from the west, that is from the
direction of Yankton, at which place the wind
was §., at 7 a. m. It is a day of general low
pressure; the whole of the district from Cairo to
Moorhead is included between 29.80 and 29.89.
Northward the barometer falls to 29.65 at Mani-
toba; eastward to the same at Marquette, Mich. ;
southwest to 29.71 at Fort Smith, and westward
rises to 30.00 at Deadwood. An area of low
pressure developed at Fort Smith, Ark., in the
early evening of March 28d, and becomes pro-
nounced during the next twenty-four hours. At
7a. m. to-day, the effect of this area is still hardly
felt, but by night the wind has been attracted to
it over most of the Upper Mississippi Valley,
bringing with it from the north, colder, clearer
weather. This day, then, is the turning day and
the beginning of a cold wave which is already
felt at the northwestward of Cheyenne. Tem-

[Vol. 10-No. 5

68 ORNITHOLOGIST

+

perature at 11 p. m., March 24th, is 47° at St.
Louis, 42° at Chicago, 50° at Des Moines, 37° at
St. Paul, and 32° at Moorhead.

This is the last day of the warm wave which
commenced on the evening of the 21st, and the
birds make the most of their opportunity and ad-
vance a whole degree farther north. The hosts
which had rested during the night of the 22d,
again moved forward and fully occupy all the
country up to 45°, with an innumerable host
along the Mississippi River at 4525, and scouts up
even to 47° on the Missouri.

That this is the culmination is easily seen by
the records, which fall from seventy-three notes
on the 24th, to but seventeen the next day.

Let us now calculate the average conditions
under which the birds were migrating during
these seven days. There were a little over three
hundred records of ‘‘firsts” contributed for these
seven days, and the temperature at which they
were migrating is found to be as follows: 25°,
one record, (a Goose—in more senses than one,);
29°, a cousin to the last; 31°, 18 firsts; 33°, 12;
35°, 11; 37°, 40; 39°, 41; 41°, 52; 43°, 16; 45°, 25;
47°, 5; 49°, 17; 51°, 9. It will thus be seen that
37° to 41° are the favorite temperatures of ‘birds
f the first wave” for migration. In cloudy
weather 143 records; in clear weather 101, or ex-
actly 60 per cent. cloudy, to 40 per cent. clear.

With reference to the wind, we find that with
the wind N., there were 29 records; N.E., 31
records: E.,.12; S.E., 75; §., 23; S.W., 27; W.,
39; and N.W., 9. It will be noticed that the
most unfavorable winds, the E., and N.W., are
directly opposite those winds which have the
greatest number of records. Combining, we
have for E., and W., 51 records; for N.W., N.,
and N.E., 69; and for §.E., 8., and S.W., 125
records, showing how greatly the birds prefer a
southerly wind to help them on their journey.

(

As regards barometric pressure, we find that
on March 19th, there were 24 records with an
average pressure of 30.00 inches; March 20th, 35
records at 30.04 inches; the 21st, 43 records at
30.24 inches; the 22d, 82 records at 30.15 inches;
the 28d, 45 records at 29.80 inches; the 24th, 73
records at 29.85 inches; and the 25th, 17 records
at 29.86 inches. These make an average of ex-
actly 30.00 inches or the normal pressure, but it
must be remembered that the great wave of the
22d began when the pressure was very high and
took place on a falling barometer. It is prob-
able that a large number of observations taken
throughout the season would give from 29.93 to
29.97 as the average pressure at which the birds
migrate.

A Catalogue of the Birds of Kala-

mazoo County, Michigan.

BY DR, MORRIS GIBBS.—PART IV.

64. [135.] Vireosylvia olivacea (Linn.) Bonap.
Red-eyed Vireo. Our most abundant species of
the greenlets. Well known to nearly all collect-
ors, and readily recognized from its beautiful and
almost constant song. Arrives from April 25th
to May 11th, according to the advancement of
the season. This Vireo, like all the others, being
influenced to a great extent by the weather, rarely
comes north until the budding of the trees actu-
ally proves that Spring has come to stay. The
Red-eye usually appears in early May, and soon
makes his presence known by his agreeable
warblings. The birds nest abundantly with us,
the eggs usually being laid by May 25th. Some
seasons the first eggs are laid earlier than this;
again, not until June has come. The birds sing
joyously nearly all summer, and are the life of
the woods in the sultry days of late summer.
Cannot say just when the Vireos leave us for the
south, but have found them quite scarce after
September 1st.

65. [188.] Vireosylvia philadelphica. Cass, Phil-
adelphia or Brotherly-love Vireo. I think that
but a single specimen has thus far been taken in
this county. The date was May 23, 1882. It
may be considered a rare species with us. The
song of this little bird I have never heard.

66. [189.] Vireosylvia gilva (Vieill.) Cass. Warb-
ling Vireo. A common and well known species.
A favorite with all. Nests in city and country.
A rare singer, whose liquid melody of song gushes
forth in ecstatic warblings of the finest blended
notes imaginable. One who hears the song of
the Warbling Vireo will ever remember it, if he
has an ear for harmony and a love for birds. I
think if I were to be deprived of the blessed
privilege of watching the movements of the happy
birds, and listening to their carols for a period of
fifly years, that I could readily detect the song of
this rare warbler among a thousand _silver-
tongued performers from all parts of the globe, at
once on hearing it sing. And if confined in some
dismal cell, like the Prisoner of Chillon, I would
anxiously await the return of the bird to sing at
my grated window. And the joyous Warbling
Vireo would be my choice of all the birds.

To describe the song of the Warbling Vireo
would indeed be a difficult task, and were it ever
so well accomplished, the notes as described on
paper would give, but poorly at best, an idea of
the spirit of the song. A description of birds’
songs isa matter on which but little has been

May, 1885.]

written comparatively, and though great interest
has of late been manifested on the subject, little
has as yet been accomplished. The older writers
on ornithology were, perhaps, better versed in
our bird language than the more recent authors,
and the descriptions, particularly those of Nuttall,
are frequently excellent, but the full series of
songs and call notes of a bird, and every species
has a variety—have never been described in detail.

The Warbling Vireo arrives from the 27th of
April to the 8th of May. About the middle of
the latter month the birds usually seek for a loca-
tion for the nest. A nest w s begun on the 12th
of the month one season, but such an early effort
is unusual. The birds depart for the south during
the last part of September.

67. [140.] Lanivireo flavifrons (Vieill.) Baird.
Yellow-throated Vireo. A common Summer
resident. Arrives from April 25th to May 8th,
and becomes common and tuneful soon after the
first appearance. Breeds plentifully, but the
nests are very rarely found with us. The notes
of the Yellow-throat are very penetrating and can
be heard at quite a distance. I have heard the
song over a half mile away on a quiet Summer
day. The modulation of the song is not by any
means equal to the beautiful notes of the Red-eye
and Warbling, but is cheerful, and possesses that
degree of vivacity common to all the Vireos’
songs, which is so inspiring to the stroller. The
only nests which I have met with were placed at
an elevation of not more than ten feet above the
ground, and were situated at the forked extremi-
ties of lower limbs. The nests are, however,
often built well up in trees. They are very neatly
arranged structures and are surpassed in elegance
of workmanship by very few nests known to me.
The outside is covered with lichens of various
colors, the exterior presenting a very neat appear-
ance. The birds disappear in late September or
sarly October.

68. [141.] Lantvireo solitarius (Vieill.) Baird.
Blue-headed or Solitary Vireo. Never a com-
mon species with us. If a collector secures one
specimen each migration he is doing remarkably
well. I have not met with a dozen specimens
during the past seventeen years in which I have
been taking notes. The Blue-head is only a
transient with us, and is found the second and
third weeks in May, as a rule. It occasionally
appears by the 5th of the month. It is not re-
corded later than the 20th of May with us. I
have yet to meet with two specimens in the same
woods at one time. The species may be social in
its breeding haunts, but during migrations, so far
as my limited observations extend, it is pre-emi-
nently solitary.

AND OOLOGIST. 69

69. [148.] Lanius borealis (Vieill.) Great North-
ern Shrike. An irregular transient, generally ap-
pearing from the north in November, and return-
ing north through our county in March. Occa-
sionally seen throughout the winter singly or in
pairs. Quite common some seasons; again rare
for two or three successive years. Have met
with this Shrike in November, December, Janu-
ary, February, March and April. Never seen
here in Summer, and only rarely after April 1st.
It gives way to the more southern species, Lanius
ludovicianus exeubitorides, which appears in March
or late February.

In looking over a copy of the “O. and O.” of
issue January, 1885, I find that Dr. Atkins em-
braces the Great Northern Shrike in his list of
the birds of Locke, Michigan, as a Summer bird.
He, however, fails to embrace the White-rumped
or Loggerhead in his list. There must be a mis-
take somewhere, for I am sure that the White-
rump is common as far north as 43° north lati-
tude, while the Great Northern is not embraced
by any reliable collector in the State as a Sum-
mer resident. If this point could be definitely
settled I would be greatly pleased, and trust that
the collectors of the State will give their experi-
ence with this species.

70. [149.] Lantus ludovicianus. = Linn. Log-
gerhead Shrike. For years I confounded this
species with the next form, and have only within
the last few years extricated myself from such a
surprising and disagreeable dilemma. I cheer-
fully make this acknowledgement of my error,
because it may be that some reader of the “O.
and 0.” with whom I have corresponded will
call to mind remarks I made some years ago rela-
tive to members of this genws, in which I was un-
doubtedly wrong. After a careful study of the
Shrikes I am convinced that this species is rare
with us as compared to the White-rump, and may
be considered as scarce in the State. The data
that I have are still too meagre for publication.

71. [1490.] Lanius ludovicianus exenbitorides
(Sw.) Coues. White-rumped Shrike. Very com-
mon in Kalamazoo County, for at least seven
months of the year. White-rump arrives about
the middle of March, as arule. In advanced sea-
sons he appears sometimes in the last week of
February, and again not till the last week of
March. The eggs are usually found in complete
sets during the last week in April, occasionally
as early as the 18th of the month. The birds do
not all leave us until November.

74. [165.] Hesperiphona vespertina (Cooper.) Bp.
Evening Grosbeak. A rare and very irregular
Fall, Winter and Spring visitor. My earliest
record for the year is November 25th, while small
flocks were seen in 1879 as late as May 1st. The

70 _ORNITHOLOGIST —

[Vol. 10-No. 5

birds have only appeared in the County two
years in my experience. Perhaps they often ap-
pear as transients in severe seasons, when they
hasten by us and are not seen. I can hardly al-
low, however, that either this species or the Pine
is driven to the south by the severity of the
weather. For if this is a fact, it would be reason-
able to expect other northern birds in numbers
during the same cold weather, a conclusion
which is quite at variance with my observations
on our Winter visitors. During, the years that

- the Evening Grosbeak appeared, there was
nothing to indicate that the Pine Grosbeaks were
driven south by the cold weather, In fact, no
specimens of enucleator had been seen for the past
four seasons, nor since then, now ten years.
Neither has it been proven that Snowy Owls,
Bohemian Wax-wings or other rare stragglers
are more abundant during the season when some
other Winter visitors appear as common.

It may be maintained that the scarcity of food
is the prime cause of the movements of these
northern forms. Such a conclusion is even less
tenable than the view of those advancing severity
of the weather as the chief reason, If scarcity
of food caused the birds to seek more southern
sections, we might reasonably infer that the Pine
and Evening Grosbeaks would appear simulta-
neously, as the habits of the two are similar, both
feeding on the same varieties of berries and buds
while here. This is shown not to be the case.
Again, what reason is there to prove that the
Hawk Owl, Snowy Owl and Gyrfaleon, which
are seen in our southern counties during different
Winters, are driven here by scarcity of food?

We must feel satisfied that the same amount of

animal food is found in the north as in other
Winters, if it were not so, a replenishing of the
country occupied by the carnivorous birds could
not possibly take place within one year, and
from necessity they would appear the following
season, a point which is not substantiated.

It is also reasonable to conclude that in case of
scarcity of food the birds would visit other sec-
tions where the trees from which they feed, or
the small mammals and birds on which they feed,
were found, and not to more southern haunts
where a change of faunze and florze would occur.
In this light we might with equal propriety con-
clude that the Owls would seek more northern
quarters, or at least localities situated within
isothermal boundaries. As a very conclusive
proof that the scarcity of food theory is not firmly
founded, I might call to the minds of the readers
of the “O. and O.” a certain work on arctic ex-
plorations—reference not now at hand—in which
Snowy Owls are recorded repeatedly during the so-
journ of a party in the extreme north, and at a time

when the most rigorous weather prevailed, while at
the same time the reported presence of Snowy Owls
within not only the U. §., but in Michigan was
heralded in daily papers as a conclusive proof of
the severe weather throughout the country.

I have diverged from my regular routine in
order to discuss this much talked of and less un-
derstood subject, and trust that in so doing some
readers may be interested to the extent of care-
fully noting the appearances of our northern vis-
itors with careful remarks on correlative condi-
tion of weather, food, &c. The subject of migra-
tion is so little understood, that, notwithstanding
the great strides towards the elucidation of the
main points in the last few years, there still is a
wide field open to the close observer. At present
we are fairly acquainted with the migrations of
those species which come to us in the Spring and
return to the south in the Fall, but in the rarer
species constant variations are recorded by vari-
ous observers in different parts of the country.
These apparent variations are to my mind entirely
due to the fact that the birds are little known,
and therefore not accurately recorded, and it is
my opinion founded entirely on theory and my
own observations, that the irregular migrations
of many northern birds are generally seasonal,
and not in any wise due to either severity of the
weather or scarcity of food.

The fact that many species leave us for the
south every Autumn is not by any means a nec-
essary result of our rigorous Winters. On the
contrary, comparatively few of our Summer
birds would have to go south from inability to
withstand our severe weather. A good illustra-
tion of the ability of a more southern bird to
live in our climate during the Winter months,
was furnished a few seasons ago when an escaped
Redbird, (C. virginianus), was found to live with
apparent comfort throughout a severe Winter. It
sang cheerily and fed on the buds and seeds as if
born in the grove of evergreens which it selected
for its northern home. No instance of a capture
of a wild Cardinal Grosbeak in our county has
ever taken place.

We think that migrations occur each year
among the northern birds, and that various lo-
calities are visited different seasons. It is proba-
bly as fair to credit the Northern Grosbeaks,
Redpolls, Snow Buntings and Owls with seasonal
migrations as it is to admit of the uncertain
changes of the erratic Red-bellied Nuthatch,
Robin and many others. It is reasonable to sup-
pose that the Evening Grosbeak is a common
bird at least, half the Winters, on the northern
borders of Lake Superior, while it is a rare visitor
to our southern counties, simply because it is a
species of the extreme north, and not in the habit
of migrating south of 45° north lat.

-

May, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. rel

Swallows.
BY C. 0. TRACY, TAFTSVILLE, VT.

Their wide distribution, insectivorousand social
habits, and graceful flight, make the swallows
general favorites. The following species occur at
this place :

Barn Swautiow, (Hirundo erythrogastra).
Abundant Summer resident. Arrives from April
25th to May 4th. Breeds, making its nest
against rafters in barns and other outbuildings.
Among our birds no species occupy a stronger
place in my admiration than the Barn Swallow.
Long before tastes which developed later had
manifested an existence, the ‘“ Fork-tailed Swal-
low” was a well known object to my youthful
eye. Later in life as I drove the mowing ma-
chine and hay tedder, scores of them were my
companions, circling about me hour after hour,
catching with an ease and precision that ever
called forth my decpest admiration, he countless
insects which the machine disturbed from their
retreat in the grass. Another feature of this swal-
low which always pleased me was their prompt-
ness in the field upon such occasions. No wait-
ing for them until the work was half completed,
they were there at the start be it morning, noon,
or evening, and often have they followed me un-
til darkness closed around us. Once 1 saw aman
set his dog upon a neighbor's hens that had gone
upon his newly sown grain field. One was soon
nearly stripped of her feathers, when almost in-
stantly a colony of Barn Swallows which were
repairing their previously occupied nests in an
old barn one-fourth of a mile away, appeared on
the scene and in a wonderfully short time carried
the feathers to their nests.

CLIFF SwaLiow, (Petrochelidon lunifrons).
Abundant Summer resident. -Arrives from May
3to8. Breeds, nests beneath the eaves of barns.
It is no uncommon thing to see a hundred or
more of the gourd-shaped mud nests of this spe-
cics beneath the eaves of one barn. The nests
are repaired and used for many years in succes-
sion if not disturbed. A few ignorant farmers
destroy them as they do not want the Swallows
around their barns, but usually they are pro-
tected. This species associates closely with the
preceding, being equally industrious and social,
and much more abundant. For a few weeks be-
fore their departure for the South, large numbers
of Barn and Cliff Swallows frequently alight upon
the telegraph and telephone wires, especially dur-
ing damp and rainy weather, hundreds of them
often being on the wire at once.

Bank Swatiow, (Cotile riparia). Abundant
Summer resident. Arrives from May 5 to 10,
Breeds, often in large colonies along the streams,
where they make an excavation, two or three feet
horizontally into the sandy bank. A few dry
grasses and feathers constitute the nest. This
species is often seen with the two preceding, but
does not, like them, seek the company of man.

WHITE-BELLIED SwaLLow, (TZachycineta bi-
Rare Summer resident. Arrives the last
of April. Breeds, nesting in holes in trees,

PurrLe Martin, (Progne subis). Rare Sum-
mer resident, quite local. Arrives May 1 to 8.
Breeds, nesting in boxes made for their use.

color).

In connection with the Swallows may be men-
tioned the

Cummery Swirr, Chetura pelasgica). Abun-
dant Summer resident. Arrives May 1 to 8.
Breeds, nests in chimneys. The nest is a curious
affair made of twigs cemented together with sa-
liva, by which it is also attached to the chimney.
A very active and industrious species, destroying
large numbers of insects, and easily distinguished
from the other Swallows by its sooty-brown
color, short tail, short quick stroke of the wings,
and rapid flight. In March, 1884, fire consumed
a dwelling house near here in which was a chim-
ney that had been occupied for many years dur-
ing the breeding season by several pairs of Swifts.
Before their return that season, a new house with
an entirely different arrangement of chimneys
had been erected in place of the one burned. June
12, I was upon the roof of the new house and was
much interested in the movements of about a
hundred Swifts which were in the vicinity. Al-
most continuously a few of them would fly about
the chimneys giving them a critical examination,
then favoring me with an equally close inspec-
tion, fly away. These peculiar movements were
continued for about one-half hour, when the en-
tire flock passed out of sight. Returning again in
two hours they repeated their previous actions.

In the town of Woodstock is a woolen mill
which has been idle for several years. Connected
with the mill is an immense chimney in which
countless numbers of Swifts find a home during
their sojourn here, and rear their young. Good
judges say there are thousands of them. This
number does not seem to me an exaggeration, for
T have seen them when they, literally, poured out,
and again poured in, tairly making a cloud about
the top of the chimney. It was a most interest-
ing sight.

By the last week in August, the Swifts, and
different species of Swallows, have departed for
the South.

72 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 5

THE
ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

OOLOGIST..

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NATUR AL AELES TORN

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

BIRDS,

THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES

AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE,
FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,

PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Editor’s Notes.
Since our last issue, a very marked change
has come over our local birdlife. The un-
seasonable warmth of the third week of
April, has gone very far to neutralize the
ungenial weather which preceded it. Our
early bird visitors are here in full force and
activity, and nesting is proceeding with
energy. Our reports from various quarters
are beginning to show that the bird season
has really opened. All concerned—birds,
vegetation and observers—seem anxious to
make up for the delayed Springtime by un-
usually hard work.

The Council of the American Ornitholo-
gists’ Union has secured from Congress a
grant of $5,000, for the purpose of carry-
ing out their plans for more efficient obser-
vations on bird migration. This grant will
enable the committee to carry out the work
of the present year, and assist them in pre-
senting to the public the results of their
last year's work. The report of the com-
mittee on classification of N. A. birds has
been presented to the council.

We recur to the alleged occurrence of
Red-winged Blackbird var. yubernator in
South Carolina, (O. and O., X, p. 40), to
say that the specimen, kindly sent us by

Mr. Hoxie, has been submitted to several
competent authorities, who have come to
the conclusion that the identification can-
not be sustained.

Mr. Fred. Corey (Santa Paula, Cal.,)
sends us a set of three eggs of the Cactus
Wren, the identification of which, he says,
is undoubted. Instead of being ‘ white,
uniformly.and minutely dotted with salmon
color,” (Coues,) they are sprinkled and
blotched, thickly at the larger end, with
brown and lilac. The three eggs are
almost identical in size and marking. :

Kansas Birds—Fall Migration.

BY PROF. D. E. LANTZ, MANHATTAN, KANSAS.

Observations in the field during the months of
September, October and November of the past
two years, convince me that many of our birds do
not follow the same route in migrating southward
that they do in going north in Springtime. It
will be conceded by all western observers that
fewer transient species are seen in the Fall than
in the Spring. This can only be explained on
the theory that they go by other routes, or that
the movement is by night and made in silence.
Among the abuudant Spring migrants which have
not been seen in the return migration at this
point, are the following: Olive-backed Thrush,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Black and White Creeper,
Tennessee Warbler, Golden-crown Thrush, Grass
Finch, Clay-colored Sparrow, Bobolink, Traill’s
Flycatcher, and many of the Sandpipers. On the
other hand, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Orange-
crowned Warbler, Leconte’s Bunting, and a few
others are abundant in the Fall, and not found,
or rare, in the Spring migration.

The southward movement begins with our resi-
dent species early in August. The Vireos, except
Bell's; the Wood Thrush, the Scarlet Tanager,
nearly all our Warblers, are gone by August 15th.
One of the earliest to depart is our abundant
Baltimore Oriole. From Augnst 5th to August
23d, not an individual of this species was seen ;
but, during a cold rain on the latter date, its fa-
miliar notes were heard from the dense foliage of
a tall Maple. These came from an adult male,
which was also seen on the following day.

About September Ist, they became rather com-
mon once more, but did not tarry long. September
12th, an adult male was seen, and a last migrant
on September 20th. I regard all the Orioles seen

a

May, 1885.]
after August 23d, as transient migrants from the
north.

The Purple Martins gather in Manhattan in
immense flocks during August. The local resi-
dents, young and old, are numerous, but their
numbers are largely augmented by daily arrivals
from the north. Toward the end of the month
they become most numerous. Thousands of them
oecupy a grove of young Maples on the Court
House Square, as a “roost,” after the manner of
Grackles. In the evenings, they alight upon
some of the trees in such numbers that the limbs
cannot support them, and large numbers are com-
pelled to find less crowded perches near the bor-
der of the grove. About September Ist, the
adults leave; but large numbers of the young
birds remain for a few days longer. They crowd
upon the roofs of churches and other large build-
ings in town, for several days before taking their
final flight. The last of this species was seen
September 9th.

Another bird which migrates in large flocks is
the Western Meadow Lark. <A few of these re-
main with us during our coldest weather; but
far the greater number pass southward in large
flocks, singing as they go. They fly low, and the
flight is not sustained for any great distance. In
the Spring they return in the same manner. The
song in the Fall is as musical and strong as in the
Spring, but fewer individuals join in the singing.
September 12th was the height of their south-
ward movement last season.

From September 20th to the 28th, a daily sue-
cession of Night Hawks, numbering from two to
twenty, was to be seen flying southward in circles,
feeding as they went. They were observed most-
ly in the mornings and evening

The Brown Thrush leaves us for
during the last week of August;
from the north were seen as late
22.1. None of the species were
August 28th and September 12th.

the south
but transients
as September
seen between

October in Kansas is a sort of lengthened In-
dian Summer, which often extends late into No-
vember. The days, warm and dry, are in sharp
contrast with the cool nights. The fields gradu-
ally take on a brown color, relieved here and
there by the brilliant scarlet of the Sumac leaves.
The woods, on account of the dry, hot days, usu-
ally lack the bright colors of eastern forests; but
if there have been rains followed by frosts, the
rambler in the woods finds no lack of brillianey.
Such was the character of last October. The
Virginia Creeper, (Ampelopsis quinquefolia,) cling-
ing to many a tree rivalled the Rock Maples of
the east in gold and crimson hues. The Waahoo

lor DJ
to

(Huonymus atropurpureus,) with its erimson
fruit, and the bright Sumac leaves contributed to
the general effect.

The naturalist who visits field or woods at this
season is surprised to find how few the birds are.
Nearly all the Summer sojourners have departed.
Many of the Winter visitors have not yet arrived.
The southward movement seems to be temporari-
ly checked; and the resident birds are silent and
have resorted to hidden nooks. Under these cir-
cumstances, one feels hardly repaid for devoting
much time to observation.

A short walk on a bright morning in early Oc-
tober brought me to the outskirts of a thicket
where I seldom fail to find birds plentiful. The
thicket consists chicfly of Dogwoods, (Cornus
paniculata.) with Sumac bushes and Wild Grape
vines. A half hour’s search here revealed nothing
more than a trio of Mourning Doves. But in the
open field beyond, [ found in a clump of small
Elms, a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets and an
Orange-crowned Warbler, while a flock of Ducks
in the distance showed that migration was really
in progress. ‘

The following days turned warmer, and Ducks,
Bronzed Grackles, Cowbirds, Red-shafted Flick-
ers, and Yellow-rump Warblers became plentiful.
About the middle of the month the migrants
came in greater numbers. White-crowned Spar-
rows, Lincoln’s Finch, White-throated Sparrows,
Song Sparrows, Black and Oregon Snowbirds
became plentiful by the 18th. The first Wild
Geese came on the 16th. On the 21st, the Arctic
Towhees and Fox-colored Sparrows were here in
large numbers. Migrating Robins appeared in
flocks on the 28d. On the 30th of October the
Tree Sparrow and Harris’ Finch were present in
The Fox Sparrow, Field Spar-
row, Song Sparrow, and Lincoln's Finch re-
mained abundant, but the White-crowned Spar-
rows had all departed and the Intermediate
White-crowned Sparrow had taken their places.
This form seems more common here than the
eastern, and yet if was unknown to our fwd
previous to 1854.

large numbers.

Among our October birds, one not seen by the
writer in any other month of the year, seems
worthy of notice. Itis Leconte’s Sparrow. This
bird was fora long time supposed to be rare in
our State; but it certainly is reasonably common
in this vicinity. 1 have never seen it in Spring
migration, nor have I actually taken it previous
to last season; but its habits are such that Iam
confident that I have frequently seen it in Octo-
ber. It frequents rough fields near the river,
where old grass is abundant.

[Vol. 10-No. 5

BY J. M. W.

In Noank, in this county, is a stuffed Eider
Duck, shot at Groton Long Point, in the Winter
of 1884. :

A tame crow died in this city lately which de-
serves an obituary of a word for its linguistic
power. When called home from a neighbor's
yard, it would say “I won’t!” When told not
to run away, it would answer, “I will!” More
distinctly than most Parrots and Cockatoos, I
have heard it repeat twelve or thirteen words,
though its vocabulary was said to be much larger.

In a late Atlantic, John Burrough says he finds
no mention by bird-writers of the Downy Woud-
pecker’s habit of drilling a Winter home. In the
“O. and O.” Vol. 8, p. 85 and elsewhere, refer-
ence is made to this habit. It has come constant-
ly under my obseivation since 1875, and as I
write House Sparrows are breeding in two holes
in Maples, on Franklin and LaFayette streets,
which I saw Downies drilling last October—the
chips falling on the heads of people passing on the
city sidewalks.

Some very queer plans for thinning the ranks
of the House Sparrow army of invasion were
presented to the committee of the A. O. U,, the
most Quioxtic being recommended by a clergy-
man, to-wit: the use of fire-engines! Now in
Winter when the Sparrows get logether in great
companies, if park-keepers and policemen were
allowed to use double-barreled guns on the close
packs, litle apprehension need be had over their
increase. Failing this or state outlawry, destroy
all eggs and young on your own premises. Do
not let your bird-boxes remain out all Winter to
Shelter the pests, but put them up only when
White-bellied Swallows, Wrens and Martins
appear, so that welcome migrants will not find
P. domesticus already in possession.

Florida Bird Life.

BY E. M. HASBROUCK, PALATKA, FLA,

PART Ly.

Some time since, I noticed in the columns of

this paper, a request to all those who could give
accounts of the habits of the Ground Dove,
(Chamepelia passerina), to do so. So I will com-
mence with this bird. It is very numerous here,
and is to be met with in most of the clearings,
groves, gardens, &c., and is even found in the
roadways and sidewalks of the suburbs of the
town. They are quite tame, and when walking
on the ground, will frequently allow a person to
approach within a few feet before flying, but

when in a tree, they are very hard and difficult
of approach. Of all the places to which they
resort, I think that the garden is the most fa-
vored. Here they may be found at almost any
hour of the day, busily picking up the seeds that
fall from the various plants. They keep in com-
panies of from five toa dozen, sometimes more,
and when on the ground, and approached grad-
ually, they often huddle together, and utter a
queer little chippering of alarm much like a
Quail. Should they be approached still closer,
they spring into the air, and with rapid strokes,
make their way to the nearest tree, or clump of
bushes, or else to some remote part of the garden.
Their flight is accompanied by a loud flapping of
the wings, when suddenly flushed, and although
they appeur to fly heavily, they really fly very
lightly and rapidly. They are such pretty, quaint
little things, that I have misgivings about shoot-
ing them, and always feel guilty after doing so.
It is seldom that a prettier sight is seen than that
of a company of a dozen or so of these little
birds walking along in search of food. They are
gregarious, and it is seldom that a single bird is
found far from the rest of the flock. In running
along the ground, they carry their tails one mo-
ment straight out behind, and the next it will be
raised at an angle of 80° like a wren’s. They
are just commencing to mate, and I hope to be
able to secure some of their eggs before long.
The Florida Darter, (Plotus anhinga), is quite
common here on the river and small streams.
They are an ungainly, awkward bird, and yet to
my mind among the few birds that combine
grace, beauty, and ugliness. They may frequent-
ly be found perched in the branches of the trees
along the water courses, or sitting on some stump
or log in the water. By approaching slowly and
carefully, it is possible to get within a few rods
of them, and a good shot may be obtained. But
if shot at, and wounded, give up all hopes of get-
ting him, for with a splash, he falls into the
water, no matter how high up he may be, and
sinks to the bottom like a stone, and if you remain
quiet for five or ten minutes, you will see his
head and neck appear at a considerable distance
from where he fell, pushing his way through the
lily pads and “ Bunnets” towards some retreat.
When frightened from their perch, they generally
rise high in the air, and fly some distance up the
stream, and in a straight line as a rule, although
Ihave seen them flying around im circles like a
Hawk. Strange as it will probably sound to
those unacquainted with the bird, their flight is
performed much after the fashion of Hawks; a
few quick, sharp strokes of the wings, then sail-
ing a short distance, while their long. neck,

QE eee

May, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 75

(which one would think would be folded into a
reef like a Heron’s) is carried straight out in front
like a Duck’s. They seem to have a particular
place or branch on a particular tree on which
they like to perch, and although their feet are full
webbed, yet they alight with perfect ease. Here
on this limb they may be found at various times
of the day sunning themselves, by keeping the
wings expanded, and occasionally beating them.
This, I believe, is done to dry their plumage, as
my experience with them has been that they are
not a water-proof plumaged bird, for on shooting
them, and fishing them out of the water within
one minute, 1 have found their plumage soaking
wet, and it has taken «wl night and part of the
following day to dry it out. As may be seen by
their bill, they are a fish eating bird.
my birds I found four large fish, averaging six
inches in length by thiee in breadth (lying flat).
They were of the species known as Breem here,
and are common in all the waters.

The Florida or Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma flori-
dan) as it is called here, is quite common in the
scrub land, but is of such retiring habits, that 1
have not succeeded in observing it very closely.
They are sometimes found in companies of two
or three, and do not seem to associate with the
common Blue Jay. They have a hoarse croak-
ing noise that they repeat at intervals. Their
food, as near as | can find out, consists of seeds,
insects and berries.

The next bird of which I shall make mention
is the Limpkin, (Avamus pictus.) This is also a
strictly local bird (as regards the U.§.), as were
the last two, and is found in many of the streams
and water courses, and in the marshes. They
have a loud, wild scream, in consequence of which
they are called in some localities ‘ Crying bird.”
If flushed without thoroughly frightening them,
they alight on the nearest projecting dead branch,
or stump, and in doing so, it appears very hard
for them to get their balance, as they flap their
wings, lean over, and make considerable fuss
about it. In dissecting their stomachs, I expected
to find the food usual to wading birds, but was
considerably surprised to find them full of large
snails, of which the birds had taken pains to re-
move the shell before swallowing. Their meat
is considered a great delicacy here by the colored
population, and large numbers of them are shot
and converted into * Gumbo-soup.” I have never
tried any myself, but from its appearance should
think them to be very good eating.

The Great White Egret, (Ardea egretta), is also
here in large numbers, but they are exceedingly
difficult of approach, and to one who contem-
plates coming down with the idea that he is

In one of

going to havea good time shooting White Her-
ons, (as they are called here), let me say
that he will probably fail. And to illustrate let
me give an account of a hunt for them I took a
short time ago. After a long and somewhat diffi-
cult search, I at last discovered one. Now that
Heron was not standing on a log by the side of a
creek waiting to be shot. He was out in the
center of a large prairie where there was no op-
portunity of getting within gunshot. He was
fully.a half mile away, and to all appearance he
would stay there. Now I have the conceit to
consider myself a pretty good sneak (for bird
hunting) and I set to work to crawl up to him.
There was not aspear of grass on the whole plain
to hide behind, or anything else for that matter,
but finally I did succeed in getting a single tuft
between him and myself, and then began what
would have appeared to a Jooker on, the attempt
of an elephant to approach a flea behind a needle.
Bear in mind I was crawling on hands and knees,
inch by inch, in black mud, varying from three
inches to a foot in depth. That Heron was fully
a half mile away when I started, and after two
hours’ hard work I had actually got within two
gunshots of him, and was just beginning to think
how nice that skin would look in my cabinet,
when away he went for parts unknown. I was
scarcely disappointed, not expecting to get him in
the first place, but I intend visiting a place where
large numbers of these birds roost every night,

and then hope to get at least one good specimen.
Se

My Experience with Screech Owls.

BY C. W. R., WASHINGTON, D. C.

In May, 1883, I found a Screech Owl's nest in
a hollow limb, about thirty-five feet from the
ground. It contained four young, about a week
old, which I carried home to raise as pets. The
young were covered with white down, and, when
found, were lying on a bed of decayed chips.
About the nest were pieces of mouse skin, the
feathers of a Towhee, and some gray pellets.

The Owls were placed in a small box on a bed
of sawdust, and were fed on raw meat. They
soon grew large enough to hop on the top of the
box, where they would sit and blink, and stare,
by the hour. It soon became necessary to re-
move them to better quarters, so a large cage was
built in the shed, where they devoted themselves
to hopping from one perch to another, all day
long, for the first few days. One day one of the
Owls found his way through the bars of the cage,
and flew to the floor. An old hen with chickens
came in presently, and recognizing him as an en-
emy, went for him and killed the poor Owl in a

76

_ ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 5

minute. They had now acquired a soft gray
coat of feathers. The remaining three were
placed on a limb of a tree one morning for exer-
cise, and the smaller and weaker one of them,
who had not yet learned to fly, fell from the limb
and hurt himself. He was wrapped in a strip of
cloth and put in a box alone, and when seen half
an hour later, he had swallowed about two inches
of the rag he was wrapped in, and seemed bent
on swallowing the rest. 1t was cut off, for he
would not, or could not, let go. After taking
this medicine he pined away and—was as well as
ever in a few days, and better, for he began to
pick up, and was soon as strong as the rest.

It was now July, and I noticed a few red feath-
ers pushing their way through the gray ones, and
it was not long before they were clad in the red
or mottled plumage. The Owls suffered a great
deal from the hot weather, and were panting all
day long, so I got a tin pan full of water and set
it in the shed, then set the Owls on the edge, and
they went in and enjoyed themselves. They al-
Ways wet themselves completely through, and
were unable to fly for some time after. After a
bath they would go to a sunny spot and sit there,
with their
closed.
would sit in the sun with their wings extended
for some time.

They also took sand and sun baths, and

One morning an Owl was missing, and the fol-

lowing day another, and nothing was heard of

them afterwards. The remaining one was re-
moved with his cage to a shady place in the open
air, but he preferred the shed in the day time.
When allowed the freedora of the shed at night
he did not molest the chickens, nor did he get in
their way himself, but if a lighted candle was
taken in there after dark, he would putit out with
his wings. He would pounce on live mice and
birds that were brought to him, always being
sure to get his claws about the throat of his vic-
tims. I generally found him in a certain corner
behind some boxes, in-the day time, where he
would remain undisturbed until evening. He

liked grass-hoppers, especially the large ones, of

When
placed before him alive, he would stand erect and
gaze at the hopper for some time, then he would
go prancing around it, stamping his feet, seem-

which I used to get him a large number.

ingly to get a favorable position to pounce
from, and suddenly come down on it with botb
feet, as if it was something that would require all
the strength he could muster. He always tore
off the legs of the hoppers, and the wing and
tail feathers of birds.

One day he was found in his favorite corner
looking rather worn out, and the cause was ex-

wings spread and their eyes half

plained next day by his throwing up a pellet in
which was a nail one und three-fourths inches long.
He was never in a hurry unless after something,
or something was after him. He paused after
everything he ate, and every swallow he took
while drinking. Whenever he saw a cat or dog,
he would mike off in the opposite direction in
short time. He did not seem to be troubled at
all by the light, and would look at Buzzards and
Chimney Swifts, following their flights with his
eyes. It was amusing to see him pounce on red
ants. He would watch one and wait until it got
some distance away, then run after and pounce
on it, after his manner of pouncing on grass-
hoppers. He seldom got the ant, but a clawful
of dirt instead. He would nibble at the dirt and
then drop it to see where the ant had gone, then
after it again. He went through the queerest
notions when looking at anything; would bob
his head first to one side and then the other, then
draw it forward and backward, while all the time
the pupil of his eye would grow large, then small.
I kept him through the Winter, and the follow-
ing Spring he dis.ppeared.

Notes on the Birds of Manitoba.
BY ROBERT MILLER CHRISTY,

(The Zoologist, April, 1885.)

During the last two years I have several times
had occasion to visit that newly-opened but much-
talked-of region known as Manitoba; and as on
vach visit I devoted as much time as I was able
to spare from other branches of Natural History,
to the study of the Ornithology of that country,
—a subject to which very little attention has
hitherto been directed,—I now propose to offer a
few remarks upon it. It must, however, be
clearly understood that my observations are put
forward strictly as notes. Many, even of the
comm nest birds, are not so much as referred to
herein, simply because they did not happen to
come specially under my notice. Most of the
following notes were made near the town of Car-
berry, 105 miles west of Winnipeg, during the
months of August, September, and October, 1883.
IT cannot too fully acknowledge the assistance
given by my friend Mr. E. E. T. Seton, of Toron-
to, who for several years past has resided in
Manitoba, and has done much towards investiga-
ting its avi-fauna. The nomenclature used is
that employed in the new edition of Dr. Coues’
“ Key to North American Birds.”

The popular idea of Manitoba as an icy and
inhospitable country is not altogether wrong, as
far as the Winter is concerned; but of the Sum-
mer season it is wholly incorrect. While the lat-

May, 1885.]

ter lasts, bird-life in the greatest variety every-
where abounds. Meadow Larks, ‘“ Quailics,’
Prairie Chickens, Bay-wings, and a hundred
other kinds breed on the open prairies ; Hawks,
King-birds, and Nightjars swarm in the “ bluffs”
and woods; wild-fowl in the “sleughs.”* Early
Spring and late Autumn see a vast army of mi-
grants on the move; whilst, even in Winter,
Hawk Owls, Snowy Owls, Shore Larks, Snow
Bunting, Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks, several
Woodpeckers, ‘“ Chickadees,” Grouse, Shrikes,
&c., enliven the somewhat dreary scene.

It will be well to say something of the haunts
of the birds spoken of in the following, para-
graphs.
what is known as the “ Big Plain,” which is
merely a rather unusually large stretch of unbro-
ken prairie. South ot the town, and extending
almost to the Assiniboine River, lies an extensive
range of desolate sand-hills, which are seldom
invaded by the foot of man, and are likely long
to remain in their primitive condition ; they con-
sist merely of wind-tormed dunes, with hollows
between, which are filled with water, and form
the home of many a rare bird and mammal. The
sand of which the hills are formed is so pure
that it can only support a very scanty covering
of grass; and it is to this circumstance that we
are indebted for the fact that the sand-hills, un-
like the prairies, support a fairly abundant growth
of trees, such as Spruce, Poplar, and Oak. Were
the grass sufliciently long and dense to “carry
fire,’ the trees would be quickly killed and
burned to logs. Mr. Seton has just succeeded,
after a long and exciting hunt, in killing a Moose
in one of the woods on the sand-hills. Through
the centre of the range of sand-hills runs Pine
Creek, a sluggish stream clogged with water-lilies,
and fringed with willows and bulrushes. For
several miles on either side of the creek extends
a huge swamp, covered thickly with trees of
Spruce and Tamarac, where the Indian pitcher-
plant, Sarracenia purpurea, grows by the acre,
and all things combine to make a true naturalists’
paradise. In Winter, when everything is frozen
hard, this swamp may be crossed with ease; but
so wet and impenetrable is it in Summer, that I
have little hesitation in claiming that no one
except Mr. Seton and myself have ever crossed
it at that time of year. Of the prairies not
much need be said; they are flat, covered with a
fine growth of grass, and interspersed with bluffs,
which are gradually disappearing before the
hungry fire. If prairie-fires had been by some

*On the Manitoban prairies any isolated cluster of trees
or a copse is knownas a “ bluff”; a “sleugh” is the invari-
able name for a wet, marshy spot or 2 shallow pond.

Carberry stands at the south end of

_ AND OOLOGIST. (i

means arrested fifty years since, Manitoba would
to-day have been a densely-wooded, instead of a
prairie, country. The fire, too, annually destroys
the young trees that spring up. In the moister
parts, where lakes and ponds arrest the progress
of the fires, extensive woods of poplar are found,
in which many woodland birds are able to find a
home, even though Manitoba is essentially a
prairie country. Of the excessive fertility of the
prairie soil there is no question.

The American Robin, (Turdus migratorius,) is
a common bird among the trees on the sand-hills
and in the bluffs, where it also breeds.

An almost equally common species in similar
siluations, and in the willow-clumps on the prai-
ries, is the Cat-bird, (Mimus carolinensis.) It is ¢
bird not easily overlooked, for on entering any
dense copse one is almost certain to have several
peering through the foliage and incessantly utter-
ing their loud, harsh, and extremely cat-like mew,
especially if the nest be near at hand. It ap-
proaches very close, and is easy to shoot. I
found it breeding in a fringe of willows beside
the creek which intersects the dry, treeless prai-
rie round Moose Jaw, 398 miles west of Winnipeg.

The Long-tailed Chickadee, (Parus atrieapillus
septentrionalis,) is the only Tit I remember ob-
serving, and I believe it does not breed in Mani-
toba. I shot the first specimen on September
14th; two days later a pair entered a room in
which I was sitting, and I captured them. The
‘““chickadee-dee” of this species is unmistakable.

Sitta carolinensis was not an abundant species,
but I brought home one specimen.

One one ecccasion I was told that a Wren,
(Troglodytes aedon,) had built its nest in the pock-
et of a coat hung on the door of a ferryman’s
house on the Souris River.

The Shore Lark, (Hremophila alpestris,) is a
common species, breeding on the prairie through-
out Manitoba, probably raising more than one
brood in the course of the year.

The eggs and nest of the Connecticut Warbler,
(Oporornis agilis,) taken by Mr. Seton in the exten-
sive tamarac swamp south of Carberry, are now
in the Smithsonian Institution. They are, I be-
lieve, the first that have been taken.

The Swallow-tribe seems to be usually scarce
in Manitoba; but farther west, as far as the Sas-
katchewan, one species is abundant, and breeds
round all the water-tanks and under many of the
bridges along the railway. As three years ago

. this region, through which the line now runs, was

practically uninhabited, and the Swallows conse-
quently could hardly have then found suitable
nesting-places, it seems probable that the range
of the species has been considerably extended in

78 ORNITHOLOGIST

that time—an instance, doubtless, of the rapidity
with which some species follow man as he ex-
tends the area of civilization.

At least one species of Shrike is common and
breeds, building its nest largely of the stalks of a
species of Gnaphalium in the branches of the low,
scrubby oaks that cover the sand-hills.

The Goldfinch, (Astragalinus tristis,) is fairly
common on the edges of the bluffs.

The little Biywing, (Poxcetes gramineus), is one
of the most familiar of prairie birds, and nightly
sings a subdued kind of vesper-song as the sun
goes down. Its most notable peculiarity, how-
ever, is its habit of flitting along a trail or path-
way in front of an advancing wagon or person,
alighting every few yards. As it is but compara-
tively recently that there have been any human
trails over the prairies, it seems probable that this
proceeding is a relic of a habit acquired by the
bird of flitting before the buffaloes along the
paths made by those animals.

About the second week in September the Snow-
birds or Juncos, (Junco hyemalis,) became abund-
ant, and remained so for at least a month.

The Bobolink, (Dolichonyx oryzivorus,) is of:

course common. I saw birds in both the black
and buff plumage together near Carberry on
August 30th.

The Red-winged Blackbird, (Ageleus pheniceus)
is very abundant, and breeds in the rushes round
most of the lakes; collecting into flocks later.

The gorgeous Baltimore Oriole, (Icterus galbula,
is far from rare, and its hanging nest is often to
be found in the Poplar trees on the sand-hills.

No bird is more characteristic of the prairies
than the Meadow Lark, (Sturnella neglecta.) It
is very common in Summer, and breeds abun-
dantly. Its clear, musical whistle (almost, if
not quite, equal to the song of the Nightingale) is
uttered by the bird either when upon the wing,
the ground, or a tree, and may be heard fora
great distance. Towards the end of August,
though the birds had not left, they had largely
ceased whistling; but the arrival of a few warm
days, about the 10th of September, set them off
again fora time. When I left, about the middle
of October, there were still a few small family-
parties about, though the great majority had gone
south. In the previous year (1882) Mr. Seton
says the main body left about the 17th of Octo-
ber. It is decidedly a shy bird, even in a country
where most birds are notably less wary than in
England; and, common as the bird is, it is no
easy matter to obtain a specimen just when one

yvants. As Mr. Seton remarked to me, it bears
truly heraldic markings on its breast—or, a chev-

[Vol. 10-No. 5

ron sable. Late in Juty,I shot a young specimen
with a large, festering sore upon its breast, doubt-
less caused by its having accidentally flown
against a spike on one of the numerous “ barb-
wire” fences on which this bird frequently perches.
Not long after, I shot a Purple Grackle with an
old wound on its head, which was probably occa-
sioned by the same means. I have often thought
what a capital thing it would be to introduce the
Meadow Lark into England. So far as the plum-
age and song are concerned, it would take rank
among our brightestecolored and most admired
songsters; while its hardy nature would allow of
its remaining with us the whole year round, as
indeed it often does in Ontario and other districts
farther south than Manitoba. Perfectly harmless
and accustomed to grassy countries, it would
quickly become naturalized sin our meadows,
where it would find an abundance of insect food,
and would doubtless soon increase sufficiently in
numbers to serve, if need be, as a game and food
bird, as it largely does in the United States. No
other songster that I ever heard equals this bird
in the sweetness and mellowness of its notes.

Two specimens of Grackle, the Purple, (Qwiés-
calus purpureus,) and the Rusty, (Scolecophagus
ferrugineus,) are excessively abundant, and often
collect into enormous flocks after the breeding-
season. Under the name of ‘ Blackbirds” they
share in common the curses of the settlers, on
account of the great damage they do in the har-
vest-field. They are both very noisy birds.

I did not meet with Brewer's Blackbird, (Scole-
cophagus cyanocephalus,) in Manitoba, but shot a
specimen—probably a young male—at Maple
Creek, 597 miles west of Winnipeg, on July 10th,

1884.
(To be Continued.)

Brief Notes.

Notes FRoM TEMPLETON, PENNSYLVANIA.—Onr position
is peculiarly favorable for observation, being close beside
the Allegheny River, which, being the first river west of the
Allegheny Mountains flowing south, is a favorite path of
the migratory birds. Ten miles east or west of the river not
half the birds can be seen that are common upon every
bush and tree on the hillsides immediately facing the river.
From our no’e book for 1881, we take the following: First
Robin, February 11th. On the 21st, saw a pair of Broad-
winged Hawks mating; first Bluebird, 23d; Crow, 28th;
March 5th, Wild Ducks seen, kind unknown; 12th, Wild

Geese ; 16th, Crow Blackbird; Meadow Lark; 17th, House -

Pewee; 18th, Carolina Dove; 2ist, Song Sparrow. Then
followed rough weather until April, when on the 15th we
note Towhee Bunting; 23d, Brovy,.n Thrasher; 24th, Water
Thrush; 25th, Wood Robin, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Cat-
bird and Bank Swallow; 26th, Baltimore Oriole, Kingbird ;
30th, Scarlet Tanager, Yellow-throated Vireo and Common
Yellow Warbler; May 5th, White-eyed Vireo; Sth, Indigo
Bird, female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks ; 13th, Cuckoo.

May, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 79

The dates of arrivals vary considerable from the above
during a number of years. This is noticed as much in the
nesting of the birds here as in their first appearance. We
took two sets of Broad-winged Hawks (Buteo pennsylvani-
cus,) on May 3d, two years, while the last three years al-
ways found complete sets early in April. The Cuckoos for
the last three years have appeared regularly on May 20th,
never sooner nor later, and from their great numbers we
are inclined to think they all arrive at once—by night.

From notes for 1883 we find the Golden-crowned Thrush
arrived May 34, Wood Pewee and Bobolink the 5th, White-
crowned Sparrow and Whip-poor-will 8th, Humming Bird
Sth, Red-eyed Vireo on the 10th, and Cuckoos the 20th,
finishing up the course with the Yellow-breasted Chat on
the 24th.—Geo. Enty.

Nores FROM MakLezoro’, Onr0.—Marlboro, Ohio, is in
41° N. L., and 3° 10’ W. of Washington, and is nearly on
the water shed separating the water flowing into the Ohio
river and that into Lake Erie.

-This Winter has been unnsually severe, many Quail
having frozen or starved to death, and also delaying the
Spring migration of the birds.

Heard a single Robin on March 4th. Saw or heard no
more till the 11th, when I saw six inatree. Saw Bluebirds
on the 6th also. Killdeer on the 15th. These had good
reason to repent of their hastiness, for on March 17th the
mercury dropped to 20° below zero, and at this writing it
is still cold. On the 14th it was quite warm and Spring
like, thawing rapidly and a strong southwest wind which
brought a good shower of rainin the evening, but in the
morning everything was frozen solid. I have the following
from a reliable person near here :

On the morning of the 15th he saw a large flock of Geese
coming from the south; they were flying low when first ob-
served. Watching them he saw them rise to such a height
as to be almost out of sight. There they remained station-
ary for several minutes all the time keeping up a lond
squawking as if in consultation. Presently they wheeled
around and flew toward the south. They probably rose to
such a height as to see over a vast amount of territory, and
seeing no open water concluded to return south.

On the 16th, I saw a flock of twelve flying south; they
were scarcely higher than the Apple tree tops.—L. M. B.,
March 20th.

Lewis’ WooprEcKER IN TExAs.—Noting in March “0.
and O.” p. 35, that this species had been added to the avi-
fauna of Texas in 1834, has cansed me to call attention to
the following article, which [I sent to ‘Science News,” on
March 26th, 1879:

““LEWIS’ WOODPECKER IN MIDDLE TEXAS.”

That this species (Asyndesimus torquatus,) occurs as far
east in Texas as 98° long., I have not a doubt but as I
have neither taken nor seen the species, it may be well to
detail the testimony.

Three parties were contemplating a trip some 300 miles
southwest of our town, and wishing to get some specimens
of Texan and Yellow-faced Woodpeckers, I arranged with
them to send me some birds by mail. Upon their return
they inquired about the Black Woodpecker they had sent
from Brown county, as to what it was. As the birds had
miscarried, I was in the dark. They described the bird as
size C. aurifrons, very black, with whitish ring around
neck, deep red on belly, and the plumage of the under parts
very “coarse.” Not thinking at the time what it could be,
I questioned two of them very closely and at different
times, and the characters described were exactly alike. The
peculiar bristly feathers of the belly in this species would
identify it beyond doubt, if no other description was given.

That the bird is very rare here is probable from the fact

that only two were seen in eight weeks’ travelling and
camping over the country. The latter was in Wise county,
adjoining this (Cooke) county.” rf

It should have been stated that the bird was taken in the
Winter prior to the date of my article. The last named lo-
cality extends the range of the bird 3° further east than
San Angelo, Tex.—G. H. Ragsdale, G vinesville, Tex.

Tue Barn Owx.—In a paper read before the Hamilton
(Canada,) Association, Mr. T. MclIlwraith, speaking of the
Barn Owl, Strix flammea, says: ‘In Scotland, where the
species is common, it is still regarded with aversion, and its
visits are looked upon as a forerunner of disaster to the
family. Its ery at night is described as most appalling, and
often referred to in this way in the songs and poetry of the
country. Thus one of Burns’ lotharios when seeking 241-
mission to the chamber of his lady love, in describing his
uncomfortable position outside, mentions among other
causes, that ‘the cry 0’ hoolets make me eerie.’ I have lis-
tened attentively to the cry of this and other Owls, but have
never recognized anything so terrifying about them. Not
very longago I heard the serenade of the Great-horned
Owl, down near Stony Creek, under the mountain. It was
loud and harsh, and struck me at the time as resembling
more than anything e'se the neighing of a young colt. Such
sounds, when heard unexpectedly in a lonely place, at
night, are not calculated to inspire courage in a breast
already depressed with superstitious fear, yet the effect
produced must, to a great extent, depend upon the train of
thought passing through the mind at the time, and though
many a stalwart Scot has quailed at the cry of the ‘Hoolet,’
yet it is a matter of history that the sons of that romantic
land when roused to enthusiasm by similar sounds extorted
from the national instrument, have performed deeds of per-
sonal valor which will live in song and story as long as
poets and h'storians seek such themes.”

Notes From Raveren, N. C. Rep Crosspiut, (Loria
americana,). Wehave shot four of these birds this Winter,
two of them on March 11th, on which occasion they were in
company with another which we did not get. The second
pair were killed on March 23d, snow being on the ground at
the time. In both cases the two killed were male and
female, and in the second case the ovaries of the female
were much enlarged.

ReED-BELLIED NuTuHarcu, (Sittt canadensis,). We pro-
cured another specimen of this bird, a female on March 30th.

Oaxk-woops Sparrow, (Peucceea estivalis illinoensis,)
On April Ist I shot a specimen of this bird. I started it up
whilst walking along the edge of a meadow, between which
and the creek was a belt of small trees and bushes; it set-
tled in a small Water Oak, was observed to be unlike any
Sparrow I had seen, and was accordingly killed. Its general
color was chestnut above, much marked with ashy and
somewhat streaked with black in the interscapulary region,
below buffy, a dusky line on each side of chin, an obscure
superciliary stripe but no traces of a median one on the
head. Feet and legs pale, tail much graduated. L. 5%,
W. 2%, T. 24s. Edge and bend of wing yellow, but none
on head.

AMERICAN HousE WREN, (Troglodytes aedon,). Shot a
specimen of this bird on April 11th, the first I have met
with in this locality.

LARGE-BILLED WATER THRUSH, (Siurus motacilla,). We
procured a specimen of this bird on April 9th, and saw one
a few days previously. The specimen procured drew at-
tention by its song, being a male. It was very shy, and it
was some time before we could get near enough to shoot it.
This bird is quite rare here, the Small-billed species being
common in Spring, Fall and some in Summer, but this is
only occasional.

80 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol 10--No. 5

can

BLUE-HEADED VirEO, (Lanivireo solitarius,). Shot a
specimen of this bird on April 2d,in some mixed woods;
this year it is the second Vireo to arrive, the White eyed
being the earliest, as it came on April 1st.

YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, (Dendraca dominica,).
Procured two specimens of this bird on April 1st, and one
on April 2d. They were quite silent, uttering no song only
some faint call notes, unlike the Black-throated Green
Warbler, (Dendraca virens,) which I procured on April 1st.
‘The latter was in full song, and thus attracted my attention,
which proyed fatal to it. Besides the above, Black and
White Creepers, Blue-gray Gnateatcher and Maryland Yel-
low-throat all arrived on April 1st, which bears ont Prof.
Cooke’s observation that the night before the maximum of
4 warm wave brings most of the migrants. ‘lhe night of
April Ist was the night of maximum heat, but the birds
must have come before then, as they were here on April 1st.
—H. H. and C. 8, Brimley.

THE TURKEY Buzzarp, (Cathartes aura). ‘This is a
very common bird in southwestern Louisiana. It is a per-
manent resident, but its nest is but sparingly found. Last
year while surveying a line through the woods, near Ver-
million River, we found a nest, if that may be called a nest,
“which nest was none.” A large Red Oak had fallen, and
become hollow, and one side gone—rotted awuy on the un-
der side. The nest was on the ground under the shelter of
this old tree, which made a dry place. ‘lhere were four
young in the nest, about the size of a Bob White, ora
little less. ‘Ihey were white as cotton, and showed little or
no fear. There was a loud odor pervading the place, and
the ground was bare of all vegetation for some distance
around, which seemed to have been killed by the strong
excrement and offal of the birds. I did not observe any
old birds about in the trees. ‘Ihe nest was in a very lonely
place, and one seldom visited by man. ‘Lhere is something
strange in the power the Turkey Buzzard possesses (in
common with some other birds,) of soaring. 1 have
watched them often soaring for an hour, perhaps, without
the movement of a wing, and without any apparent descent
toward the earth. ‘lhey can eyen rise a little distance with-
out moving the wings, but when they wish to rise much
they flop the wing. 1 have observed them when soaring
very low, and “quite near me. heir wings, tail and body
are set atan angle like a kite; and they go right against
the wind fora short distance. No explanation, I believe
of this phenomenon has ever been offered, although the
facts are admitted, I think. What mysterious power en-
ables them to apparently set the law of gravity at defiance?
Is there some wiknown force in motion which they bring
into action? Who cau answer? The Turkey Buzzard, for
the spread of its wing, is an exceedingly light bird. Can it
be possible that the temperature of its body is such as to
generate a sufficient amount of heat under its broad spread-
ing pinions to sustain it in the air, on the principle of the
hot air balloon? Can it create an ascending column of hot
air under itself, sufticient to support its light body? Who
will solye this problem ?—W. W. Edwards, Abbeville, La.

NOTES FROM SHELTER ISLAND, N. Y. The past Winter
has been unusualiy severe, and the Spring thus far, cold
and backward. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the
weather, the Meadow Larks have remained all Winter, and
the cheerful twittering of the Goldtinches has been heard in
the severest weather. The Ducks were nearly all driven to
other localities by the bays being frozen completely over,
afew Long-tails and Golden-eyes remaining in the tide-
holes, the former shy, but the latter affording fair shooting
over the decoys. Crows have been abundant, and I have
noticed that when they were seen, passing southward in
flocks, we almost invariably had a storm from the direction

they were leaving. Can their moyements be utilized as a
warning of approaching storms? <A few Buflleheads have
been reported by gunners, and a fine male Mallard was
brought me to be mounted, which was shot near Long
Beach. The first migrant seen was a Red-winged Black-
bird on March 5th. Crow Blackbirds came the Tth, and
Robins the 11th. I shot a Fish Crow on the 1ith, which
was a female, and very tame. It flew by me so close I easily
brought her down with a charge of No. 9 shot, Following
are the dimensions: Length, 16.84; extent, 33; wing, 11.30;
tail, 6 40; bill, (culmen) 1.80; Tarsus, 1.82; longest toe and
claw, 2.03 inches. Kingfishers arrived the 27th, Field Spar.
rows and Cow Buntings the 28th. The Wild Geese took
advantage of a fair wind and passed over in hundreds on
the 3ist. Saw the first Fox Sparrow April 3d, and heard
the Woodcocks for the first time, although I had kept a
sharp lookout for them for weeks. White-bellied Swallows
came the 6th, and the Meadow Larks, Robins, Blackbirds,
Savannah Sparrows and Field Sparrows became more
abundant. The Fish Hawks were about a week behind
time, on the 27th of March. In regard to the remarks,
“Experience with Screech Owls,” I wish to say that I put
three of them ina cage over night, and the next morning IT
found the weakest of the three killed and more than half
eaten by his companions.—W. W. Worth ington.

RED CRossBILL IN ILLINOIS. On April 4th, ’85, I re-
ceived a Red Crossbill (female) which was seen to drop
dead from a tree. On the sth, I received another female,
and on the 10th a male in fair plummage, which were shot
from a heap of squashes, on the seeds of which they were
feeding. I have since heard of two more that were found
dead.—J. E. Dickinson.

CORRESPONDENCE.

To REMOVE SKUNK ScENT. ABSORBENT.—In the last
number of ‘O. and 0.” is an inquiry for something to re-
move Skunk scent. I have found wrapping an Owl—or
other object—in green Hemlock boughs to be very effective,
T have only used this remedy in the Winter, upon freshly
killed birds, but have no doubt skins could be treated in the
same manner with benefit. Changing the boughs occasion-
ally is an advantage.

The past Winter a very fine specimen of the G reat Horned
Owl was brought to me, which was strongly scented with
black-and-white. After keeping it in Hemlock for ten days,
I mounted it, and in due time returned it to its owner, who
placed it in a close, unoccupied room. He recently informed
me that sometimes upon first entering the room he could
detect a little scent, but usually nothing.

For an absorbent, try fine dry sawdust—the finer the
better—agitating the feathers the same as with other ab-
sorbents. It is the best thing I have ever used for that pur-
pose.—C. O. Tracy, Taftsville, Vt.

ILu1nors Birp Laws.—Some time ago I remember read-
ing an inquiry in the “O. and O.” concerning the killing of
birds. In reply, I will say that the laws of this State are
very strict in regard both to the killing of birds and the de-
struction of their nests and eggs. A few years ago the
Legislature took action on the laws, exempting Taxider-
mists and persons making collections for scientific pur-
poses. This is a very wise provision, and one that should
exist in every State in the Union.—Horace A. Kline, Polo,
Illinois.

RECEIVED.—H. G. Smith, Jr. Prentiss Baldwin.

TO SEVERAL CORRESPONDENTS.

“Write on one side of the paper only. Never roll your

manuscript, always fold it.”

ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

OOLOGIST.

$1.50 per

Single Copy

FRANK B. WEBSTER, caranenan
Annum. Established, March, 1875. 15 Cents.
VOL. X. PAWTUCKET, R. I., nd po meee. No. 6

Mississippi Valley Migration.

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.

Last month we treated of migration during a
week in March, when the first wave was passing
over the Upper Mississippi Valley. This month
we take up a week in May, just before the close
of migration for the Spring. We have chosen
the seven days from May 4th to May 10th, 1884.
This includes two warm waves and an interim of
indeterminate nature. Of course, we find the
birds migrating under very different conditions,
and as a result a very different set of birds. We
look in vain for notes on Ducks, Geese, Robins,
&e., and in their stead we have the brilliantly
colored Orioles, Grosbeaks, Indigos and Tana-
gers. In the place of the frost and cold of
March, there is a Summer temperature, frostless
nights, and swarms of insects ready to hand for
the Warblers, Vireos and Flycatchers. But the
laws of atmospheric movements remain the same,
and the effect of these movements on the birds is
the same in kind, but slightly different in degree.
A north wind still retards their movements, but
it comes with no icy breath to chill their blood,
and when the fancy takes them, they move easily
against its no longer dreaded force.

Our record begins at 11 p. m., May 3d, and we
find an area of low pressure in northwestern
Dakota and Manitoba, being very low, 29.38
inches at Qu’Appelle. Most of the Mississippi
Valley was included between 29.7 inches and 30.0
inches, the latter being the reading all along our
eastern border. This low area produced souther-
ly winds over most of our district; there being
nothing but 8.8.E. and §.W. winds in the region
north of St. Louis. The temperature was high,
58° to 61°, along the Mississippi and the lower
Missouri to St. Paul and Omaha, falling to 55° at

. §St. Vincent and Bismarck, and falling rapidly
around the lakes to 42° at Marquette. South of
Milwaukee and Omaha it was cloudy, north of
there clear. During the night the low area
moves south to a little below Bismarck, the S.

wind still blowing over the Mississippi Valley
with increased cloudiness in the northern part.
By 3 p. m., May 4th, West Los Aminas, Col., is
the center of the low area and there is a decided
fall in pressure over all the United States east of
the Rocky Mountains, causing the 5. wind to
blow still harder, with clouds and local rains in
the Upper Mississippi Valley. Such was the
preparation for the bird wave of the night of
May 4th, for after 3 p. m., the low area turned
northeastward and passed directly across our
upper district, being central at Yankton at 11 p.
m., with a pressure of 29.64 inches. It will be
seen then that all migration during the nights of
May 3d and 4th, was on a falling barometer, on
the night of the 4th with cloudiness, and on both
nights with warm southerly winds.

In our study of migration in May we must
deal almost entirely with the 11 p. m., observa-
tions of the weather, for toward the latter end of
migration the movement is for the most part by

night. It is true that a few species like the
Warblers, for instance, move a little during the

day time, passing slowly from tree to tree, but
only short distances are made in these journey-
ings, leaving the bulk of the movement to be
performed at night.

During the night of May 3d, we find but a few
movements, and more than half of these are
around St. Paul and northward, where the influ-
ence of the low area in Manitoba was already be-
ginning to be felt. The full advance was post-
poned until the next night, which was one of
great movement over most, if not all the country
from St. Louis to Manitoba. The districts which
furnished but nine records for the night of May
3d, on the next night show nearly seventy. The
wave seems to have been most pronounced in
Towa, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and
at St. Louis, with a heavy wave at Manitoba, and
another in northern Texas, but it is not unlikely
that this seeming volume is somewhat due to the
greater number of observers in these parts. It
might be truly said of the records of this wave,
that in each district their number is about pro-

Copyright, 1885, by Frank B. WEBSTER and EaTon CLIFF.

82 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 6

portional to the number and excellence of the
observers. It also seems probable that to the
northeastward the limit of the wave was at Madi-
son, Wis., thence up the Mississippi to St. Paul.
There is a striking similarity in the species which
are reported from the stations between St. Paul
and St. Louis, with this difference that while the
northern stations report the first males, St. Louis
reports first females and bulk. Nearly one-half
of all the records is made up of notes on the Bal-
timore and Orchard Orioles, Rose-breasted Gros-
beak, Indigo Bunting, Bobolink, Catbird, and
Red-headed Woodpecker. No less than twelve
records are sent of the Baltimore Orioles from six
different States. We would look in vain, how-
ever, for these species in the notes from Manitoba.
There we have a great bird wave, it is true, but
the species are totally different, being those like
Yellow-rumped Warbler and the White-crowned
Sparrow, which passed through the central dis-
trict some weeks before. As in the case of the
great wave which we studied in March, there are
about half as many notes reported May 6th, on
the day after the wave has passed, but the notes
come from the same places as the day previous,
and are “‘ones” and “‘twos,” indicating that they
are species which arrived the day before but were
not noted. The only exception to this is in north-
eastern Wisconsin, where the notes would indi-
cate a large local wave, but though it is now too
late for verification, it would seem more likely
that the observer was unable to be in the field on
May 5th and did not see the arrivals until the
next day.

Now comes a north wind period. The low
area has passed east of our district and is followed
by colder and at the same time cloudier weather.
During May 7th and 8th there is not a record out
of the whole eighty with a 8. 8. E. or 8.W. wind.
But the birds do not stop; there seems to have
been a regular though not rapid advance, there
being on the night of May 6th, thirty-six records,
every one with N. or N.W. wind and cloudy sky.
Were it for a single night only, we might be in-
clined to call it a mistake of the observers, but
the whole eighty records for the two nights can-
not be wrong, and we are compelled to believe
that during the latter part of migration, there is
no night so unfavorable, but that more or less
migration takes place.

On the night previous to May 9th, we find the
least migration of the seven nights we are study-
ing. A low area had developed two days before
in Manitoba, passed across Lake Superior and be-
came central at Lake Huron, May 8th, at 11 p.
m. It had produced a great rise in temperature,

5° to 11°, in the Upper Mississippi Valley, so
much so as to make this section actually warmer
than the middle portion. LaCrosse 70°, St. Louis
65°, Omaha 69°, Little Rock 66°, Bismarck 55°,
Ft. Elliott 53°, but the area passed so far north,
that the south wind it caused was of too short
duration to start migration. The notes given are
those from places where the southerly winds
were felt, principally in northwestern Illinois,
with the exception of a batch of records from
central Iowa, where a northwest wind prevailed.
The whole of our district was clear, and the
average barometer about 30.0 inches.

In western Nebraska and eastern Colorado, it
is found that the barometer, though high, is fall-
ing and during the day time of May 9th it falls
rapidly. At Yankton, during the sixteen hours
previous to 11 p. m., May 9th, the pressure falls
.84 inches to 29.74 inches. Thus the low area
developed right in our district, and its influence
was speedily felt, bringing on southerly winds,
and sending northward almost the last great wave
of the Spring migration. The temperature did
not vary much from that of the night before, ex-
cept to rise a little in the immediate vicinity of
the low area and to fall at La Crosse and north-
eastward; sky mostly clear; wind variable, the
low area not having yet had time to fully affect
the winds, but every one of the records comes
from places where the winds were southerly, and
consequently from the cloudy places; so that,
although the larger part of the Upper Mississippi
is clear, the cloudy records form 78 per cent. of
the whole number. Another thing is noticeable,
that notwithstanding the sky was cloudy yet the
dew point was many degrees below the tempera-
ture, showing that the air was very dry. While
the average of the difference between the temper-

‘ature and dew point of the records of May 5th,

is only four degrees, with a range from 0° to 8°,
that is the air was almost fully saturated with
moisture; the records of May 10th show an aver-
age difference of fifteen degrees, with a range
from 11° to 38°. Thus we see that the humidity
of the atmosphere has little or no effect on migra-
tion, and we can leave that out of future records.

This wave of the night of May 9th, like the
one five days before, is an extended one. Along
the western shores of Lake Michigan, where the
weather has been cold and disagreeable for the
four days previous, it is most strongly felt.
Then there is little or nothing until we cross the
Mississippi. Here from Keokuk to Moorhead, the
night has been a time of great activity, even ex-
tending * southwest to southern Nebraska and
Kansas. No notes are sent from southern Da-
kota, and it is probable that almost no migration

June, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 83

took place in that territory, as certainly it did not
in Manitoba. Nor is the movement of special
importance south of Keokuk. The influence of
the low area has not yet extended south of there,
and it is not until the next night that a full bird
wave occurs at St. Louis. Here then we have
an excellent example of a bird wave and a warm
wave both working from the north, southward.

In order to compare the conditions under
which the birds were migrating in March and
May, we will recapitulate in the same manner as
last month.

The temperature at which the migration was
made, is as follows: At 46°, 29 records of firsts;
at 52°, 11 records; 55°, 116, 59°, 66, 63°, 70; 67°,
9. Thus instead of 37° to 41° as the favorite
temperatures as was found in March, we have 55°
to 68° as the favorite temperature for nearly the
last wave. Indeed 63° is about the average tem-
perature at which the real rear guard, the
Cuckoos, Whippoorwills, &c., usually move.

In cloudy weather we find 184 records, and in
clear weather 113, or 62 per cent. cloudy to 38
per cent. clear, as against 60 and 40 in March.
The records with relation to the wind stand, with
N. 64 records; N.E. 0; E. 6; S.E. 47; 8S. 49:
S.W. 42; W. 23; N.W. 33; or for N. N.E. and
N.W. 97; with 138 for 8. 5.E. and 8. W.

The average barometer for 298 records was
29.88 inches against 30.00 inches in March.

In studying the conditions under which each
species migrates, great dissimilarity was found.
For instance the greatest wind velocity at which
any Kingbird was recorded as migrating was
20 miles an hour, and the average velocity 9.8,
while the highest velocity for the Redstart was 7
miles and the average only 3.1 miles an hour.
The average temperature at which the Brown
Thrush migrated was 54°, and the Orchard Oriole
62°. However, this part of the work, we have
studied very little as yet, and will leave its full
exposition until another time.

The Birds of the Vicinity of Troy,
New York.

Mr. Austin F. Park, of Troy, recently delivered
an interesting lecture under this title before the
Troy Scientific Association. He exhibited a col-
lection of about 230 specimens, representing 175
species of Jocal birds. The lecturer gave a char-
acteristic description of each bird family, and in-
terested his audience with many important de-
tails. The songs of the thrushes peculiarly re-
sembling the human style of expression and the
beauty and intense activity of the insectivorous

warblers were dwelt upon. The bad side of the
English Sparrows being so often a subject of com-
ment by citizens, Mr. Park defended the birds by
showing their excellent capacity as scavengers,
and that the nuisance of their lodgment in vines,
trees and window blinds can be avoided by rout-
ing them out once or twice in the night time,
when they will leave their lodging place and seek
other and more peaceful lodgings. This clearing-
out process can be effected by the use of poles or
fireworks or a stream of water directed from the
hydrants. Their war upon insects is unremitting
for a large part of the year, and when driven
from town they seek the suburbs, and assist the
farmer to destroy his grasshoppers, and some-
times, but only after the grasshoppers are gone,
to dispose of his surplus grain.

Mr. Park showed a specimen of the Barred Owl,
which was shot in Harrison Place a few years
ago, which had in its stomach the foot and leg of
a Sereech-owl. A series of six Sparrow Hawks
was exhibited, ranging from the white downy
nestling to the adult. He also showed the Gos-
hawks, Chicken Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks,
of which the females are greatly the largest, and
which live mainly on other birds. The
White Gulls Mr. Park denominated the “ white
winged angels of the Arctic seas,’ which are
rarely found here even in Arctic weather. The
“Kumlien’s Gull” is a species lately discov-
ered. It breeds in Cumberland Gulf, in the re-
gion of Greenland. The one shown by the lec-
turer is the first recorded specimen found in this
State. It is white, with a pearly blue back, and
beautifully shaped. The speaker observed, con-
cerning the intelligence of birds as indicated by
the quantity of brains, that the amount of brains
in proportion to the weight of the body is vastly
greater in the active birds, as the Thrushes,
Warblers and Sparrows, than in the Ducks and
Geese, and that some birds have a larger brain in
proportion to the weight of the body than is pos-
sessed by the average man. These facts indicate
a higher degree of intuitive intelligence in the
higher and more active grades of birds. The
cerebrum of a Song Sparrow’s brain has a greater
weight, in proportion to its body, than the whole
brain of the average man in proportion to his to-
tal weight. The birds made a beautiful and
striking appearance. They constitute only a
part of the very large collection of Mr. Park,
which he is in hopes may some day be a nucleus
for a public museum in this branch of natural
history. The address was replete with interest,
and was very instructive and entertaining to all
who were so fortunate as to be present.

84 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 6

Winter Birds at Manhattan, Kan.

BY PROF. D. E. LANTZ.

The following birds have been observed by the
writer at this station during the months of De-
cember, January or February. The numbers are
those of the Smithsonian catalogue.

7. Merula migratoria, (Linn.) Sw. and Rich.

‘American Robin. Occurs regularly in large num-
bers along our streams; remains during the cold-
est weather feeding upon hackberries, wild grapes,
and the fruit of the moonseed (Menispermum cada-
dense) and bittersweet (Celastrus scandens.) Some
of these Robins remain until late in April, long
after those which are Summer resident have be-
gun nesting.

22. Stalia stalis (Linn.) Haldem. Bluebird. A
permanent resident, wintering in small flocks in
sheltered places along our streams. On warm,
cloudy days they invariably come about the gar-
dens and lawns twittering as in early Spring.

36. Lophophanes bicolor (Linn.) Bp. Tufted
Titmouse. LKesident, common. Sings early in
February.

41. Parus atricapillus (Linn.)
Chickadee. Resident ; abundant.

41a. P. atricapillus septentrionalis (Harris.) A1-
len. Long-tailed Chickadee. Resident; not com-
mon. Intermediate forms between this and the
last are frequently found.

51. Sitta carolinensis (Linn.) White-bellied Nut-
hatch. Resident, common.

a5. Certhia familiaris rufa (Batr.) Ridgw.
American Brown Creeper. Winter sojourner ;
common. Have seen flocks of as many as twenty-
five at one time, though they usually occur singly
or in pairs.

60. Thryothorus ludovicianus (Gm.) Bp. Great
Carolina Wren. Resident; becoming less com-
mon with the destruction of the old timber along
our streams. Its song is first heard in the latter
part of February.

65. <Anorthura troglodytes hyemalis (Vieill.)
Coues. Winter Wren. Winter sojourner; rare.
None seen during the past season.

95. Dendraca coronata (Linn.) Gray. Yellow-
rump Warbler. Abundant in migration. Some
winters quite common. Saw them every day dur-
ing December and January of last Winter; but
they disappeared during February.

148. Lanius borealis, (Vieill.) Great Northern
Shrike, Winter sojourner, not uncommon.

150. Ampelis garrulus (Linn.) Northern Wax-
wing. Winter visitant, rare. This bird was in-
cluded in Prof. Snow’s earlier catalogue on the
authority of a specimen in the Smithsonian In-

Black-capped

stitution said to have been taken at Fort Riley by
Dr. Hammond. In November, 1875, Prof. Wheeler
took a specimen at Ottawa, Kansas. On Dec. 6,
1879, I had the good fortune of finding a large
flock from which I secured three good specimens.

151. Ampelis cedrorum (Vieill.) Cedar Wax-
wing. Occurs irregularly at all seasons. Have
seen flocks in December.

179. giothus linaria (Linn.) Cab. Common
Redpoll. Rare Winter visitor. One specimen se-
cured by Dr. Blachly in January, 1881.

181. Astragalinus tristis (Linn.) Cab. American
Goldfinch. Resident; most abundant in Winter.

185. Chrysomitris pinus (Wilson.) Bp. Pine
Goldfinch. Of irregular occurrence. Common in
Winter of 1882-3, becoming abundant in March
and April. Remained until May. Did not see
another specimen until March 18, 1885, when
they appeared in large numbers. They are abun-
dant at this writing, May 16.

187. Centrophanes lapponicus, Linn.) Cab. Lap-
land Longspur. Winter sojourner. Abundant in
coldest weather.

189. Controphanes ornatus (Towns.) Cab. Chest-
nut-collared Longspur. Of rare occurrence in
Winter; abundant in migration.

205. Zonotrichia querula (Nutt.) Gamb. Harris's
Sparrow. Winter sojourner; abundant, except in
coldest weather, Remain until late in May.

210. Spizella montana (Forst.) Ridgw. Tree
Sparrow. Winter sojourner; most abundant of
our Winter birds.

217. Junco hyemalis (Linn.) Sel. Black Snow-
bird. Abundant Winter sojourner,

218. Junco oregonus (Towns.) Sel. Oregon Snow-
bird. Common Winter sojourner; more familiar
in its habits than the preceding, frequenting gar-
dens and dooryards in town.

281. Melospiza fasciata (Gmel.) Scott. Song
Sparrow. Winter resident; abundant.

235. Passerella iliaca (Merrem.) Sw. Fox-colored
Sparrow. Migratory,common. Have seen it in
December and in February.

237. Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linn.) Vieill.
Ground Robin. Summer resident; common. A
few remain until late in December.

238. Pipilo maculatus arcticus, (Swains.) Coues.
Northern Towhee. Abundant migrant. A few
hardy males usually winter in this vicinity. Have
never seen them in midwinter except singly.
They are found in the deepest thickets. /

242. Cardinalis virgintanus (Briss.) Bp. Cardi
nal Grosbeak. Resident ; abundant at all seasons.
Sings in January and February in fine weather.

261. Ageleus pheniceus (Linn.) Vieill. Red-
winged Blackbird. Summer resident; abundant.
Two males seen January 31, 1884.

June, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 85

264. Sturnella neglecta. Aud. Western Meadow
Lark. Resident; common. A few individuals
are seen throughout every Winter.

273. Scolecophagus ferrugineus (Gmel.) Sw.
Rusty Blackbird. Usually common in December.

278). Quiscalus purpureus e@neus (Ridgw.)
Bronzed Grackle. Summer resident. A flock of
four seen February 138, 1884.

280. Corvus corax carnivorus (Batr.) Ridgw.
American Raven. Rare Winter visitant.

283. Corvus frugivorus. (Bartr.) Common Crow.
Resident; abundant.

289. Cyanocitta cristata (Linn.) Strickl. Blue
Jay. Resident; abundant. A few remain in
Winter.

300. Eremophila alpestris (Forster.) Boie. Horned
Lark. Abundant in Winter. The identity of
these larks is a subject which presents many diffi-
culties. The gradations between this form and
that of the form Jewcolema are so various that it
is not fully determined to which our birds should
be assigned. A few breed in this locality.

360. Picus villosus (Linn.) Hairy Woodpecker.
Resident ; common.

361. Picus pubescens (Linn.) Downy Wood-
pecker. Resident; common.

372. Centurus earolinus (Linn.) Bp. Red-bellied
Woodpecker. Common resident.

375. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.) Sw.
Red-headed Woodpecker. Summer resident. One
seen in December.

378. Colaptes auratus (Linn.) Sw.
shafted Flicker. Common resident.

378a. C. auratus hybridus (Baird.) Ridgw. ‘‘ Hy-
brid” Flicker. Winter sojourner. Not common.

378). C. auratus mexicanus (Sw.) Ridgw. Red-
shafted Woodpecker. Winter sojourner ; common.

382. Ceryle aleyon (Linn.) Boie. Belted King-
fisher. Summer resident. Occasionally winters
in this vicinity.

394. Aluco flammeus americanus (Aud.) Ridgw.
Barn Owl. Resident, extremely rare.

395. Asio americanus (Steph.) Sharpe.
eared Owl. Resident; common.

396. Asio accipitrinus (Pall.) Newton. Short-
eared Owl. Resident; but I have never met with
itin Summer. In the Winter it seems more com-
mon than the preceding.

397. Striv nebulosa (Forst,) Barred Owl.
dent ; common.

401. Nyctale acadica (Gmel.) Bp. Saw-whet
Owl. Not uncommon in Winter.

402. Scops asio (Linn.) Bp. Little Screech Owl.
Resident ; common.

405, Bubo virginianus (Gmel.) Bp. Gt. Horned

Yellow-

Long-

Resi-

Owl. Resident; common. Nests early in Feb-
ruary.

406. Nyctea scandiaca (Linn.) Newton. Snowy
Owl. Rare, several have been seen in this vicin-
ity in Winter.

412a. Hierofaleo gyrfalco islandus (Gin.) Ridgw.
Iceland Gyrfalecon. Accidental, a specimen cap-
tured here Dec. 1, 1880, by a hunter. The bird is
in the collection of Dr. Blackly of this place.

420. Tinnunculus sparverius (Linn.) Vieill.
Sparrow Hawk. Resident; common, but not
often met with in January and February.

430. Circus hudsonius (Linn.) Vieill.
Hawk. Rather common resident.

431. Accipiter cooperi Bp. Cooper's Hawk. Com-
mon resident:

433. Astur atricapillus (Wils.) Bp. American
Goshawk. Rare Winter visitor.

436. Buteo borealis (Gmel.) Vieill. Red-tailed
Hawk. Common resident. Have seen them re-
pairing nests in February.

442. Buteo swainsonti Bp. Swainson’s Hawk.
Resident ; not uncommon.

447. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis (Geml.)
Ridgw. Rough-legged Hawk. Common in Winter.

449. Aquila chrysaetus canadensis (Linn.) Ridgw.
Golden Eagle. Rare; occurs in Winter.

451. Haliwetus leucocephalus (Linn.) Savig. Bald
Eagle. Seen frequently in Winter.

454. Cathartes aura (Linn) Ilig. Turkey Buz-
zard. Summer resident. Sometimes remains in
Winter.

460. Zenaidura carolinensis (Linn.) Bp. Mourn-

Marsh

ing Dove. Sometimes remains until latter part
of December.

477. Oupidonia cupido (Linn.) Baird. Prairie
Hen. Resident; common.

480. Ortyx virginiana (Linn.) Bp. Virginia
Quail. Resident; abundant.

594. Bernicla canadensis (Linn.) Boie, Canada

Goose. Common in Winter until the streams are
closed by ice.

601. Anas boscas (Linn.) Mallard. Abundant
along some of the creeks in open water.

612. Wettion carolinensis (Gmel.) Baird. Green-
winged Teal. Sometimes seen in Winter.

618. Athyia americana (Eyt.) Bp. Redhead.
Seen in December when the river was nearly
closed by ice.

Many of these species are exceedingly abund-
ant in Winter. This is specially true of some of
the Sparrows, the Robin, the Shore-lark and the
Lapland Long-spur.

[Vol. 10-No. 6

86 ORNITHOLOGIST

A Catalogue of the Birds of Kala-
mazoo County, Michigan.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.—PART VY,

73. [150.] Ampelis garrulus. Linn. Northern
or Bohemian Waxwing. A very rare Winter
visitant. I have never met with it.

74. [151.] Ampelis cedrorum. (Vieill.)Baird. Ce-
dar Bird, Carolina Waxwing. A very irregular spe-
cies in its migrations. Many claim that this
species does not migrate, but years of observa-
tion have convinced us that the Cherry-bird, as it
is more commonly called here, does migrate
several times a year as a rule. Some of the mi-
grations are limited, and occur within one county
or even township, as at the time when the birds
leave the orchards or villages and sojourn for a
time in the deep woods. Again the birds migrate
to the south, and are not seen during an entire
Winter. The Cherry-birds were not seen by me
since last October up to the present date, April
16, 1885, excepting one appearance of a small
flock on January 23d. Some seasons the birds
are exceedingly abundant throughout almost the
entire year, and again few are seen.

The birds are very common some Winters and
may be seen almost continually from December
1st to April. After appearing in Jarge flocks dur-
ing January and February, and even into March,
they will disappear for some time frequently, and
will not be observed again until the nesting sea-
son, which occurs in June and frequently lasts
until August.

7. [166.] Pinicola enucleator (Linn.) Vieill.
Pine Grosbeak. Has only appeared here two
Winters in my experience. One Winter was ex-
ceedingly cold, the other milder. Abundant
while here, and always gregarious. We may
term it a very irregular straggler from the north.

76. [168.] Carpodacus purpureus (Gm.) Baird.
Purple Finch. Not rare in Spring and Fall. It
has a beautiful song which is frequently uttered
during April. Seen again in September and
October. Not known to Summer here.

77. [172.] Lovia curvirostra americana (Wils).
Coues. American -Crossbill : Red Crossbill.
Quite common some seasons, again rare or not
seen at all for several years. Arrives generally
in late December or January. Occasionally seen
in November, During the last Winter the birds
were first seen in January. They became quite
common in February, and have been observed al-
most every day in the city in large or small flocks
up to the present time, May 10th, 1885. An un-
suspecting bird and interesting in its peculiarities,
Where and when these birds nest is an interesting

problem. In their usual haunts in the northern
woods they undoubtedly have a regular season of
the year for breeding, but when far south of their
chosen nesting localities, it seems to me that the
time must be changed. If the birds build their
nests and rear their young in January, as some
attest, the absence or small size of the testes of
those specimens taken here in April, would in-
dicate that the species either nested with us in the
early part of the year, or that the migrated to the
southern part of our State after the breeding sea-
son. If, however, the crossbill nests after leaving
us for the north, then it must nest late in Summer
I think, for the sexual organs of all specimens I
have examined in May in several years, in no way
indicated a change incident to the functions which 4
are performed by birds generally at this season,

78. [173.] Lovia leucoptera (Gmelin.) White-
winged Crossbill. This bird is so little known in
the county that information concerning it is
meager. It may be termed a very rare straggler,
Mr. Chapin was the first to observe the white-
wing here ; a small flock in Winter,

79. [179]. Agiothus linaria (Linn.) Caban.
Common Redpoll; Lesser Redpoll. A com-
mon irregular Winter visitant. Occasionally ap-
pears in early November and in these instances a
cold Winter is generally looked for, but such is
not always the consequence. Usually appear in
December and remain until April 1st. Some-
times remain until April 15th. Always gregar-
ious when here. Frequently pass by us further
south,

80. [1790]. Algiothus linaria holbolli (Brehm.)
Ridgw. Greater Redpoll. Taken once in the
Winter of 1878 by F. H. Chapin. <A rare strag-
gler occasionally taken in flocks of the last named.

81. [181.] Astragalinus tristis (Linn.) Caban.
Goldfinch ; Thistlebird ; Yellow-bird. A com-
mon resident from April to December. A resi-
dent some seasons, but not usually I think. Have
frequently watched in vain for them during the
Winter months. Breeds abundantly from June
20th to Sept. 1st.

82. [185.] Chrysomitris pinus (Wils.) Bonap.
Pine Linnet or Finch. A straggler and occasion-
al Winter resident, Usually a transient from the
north, appearing in October and late April.

83. [186.] Plectrophanes nivalis (Linn.) Meyer.
Snow Bunting. A visitant from the north. Not
seen every Winter however. Usually appears in
November and passes by us for more southern
quarters, Occasionally remains all Winter.
Gregarious, sometimes seen in flocks of several
hundreds. Passes north in March and April,

84. [187.] Centrophanes lapponicus (Linn.)

—

June, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 87

Caban. Lapland Longspur. A rather uncertain
transient. Not known to remain during Winter.
Seen usually in Spring and Autumn thus far.
Appears in company with the last named species.

85. [1980.] Passerculus sandwichensis savanna
(Wils.) Ridgw. Savannah Sparrow. First taken
in this country in 1873 or 74. Now common
both Spring and Autumn some seasons. Not a
regular migrant. Appears in May and again in
Sept. Not known to Summer here.

86. [197.] Powcetes gramineus (Gm.) Baird.
Grass Finch; Bay-winged Bunting. One of the
most common representatives of the family. Ar-
rives in late March or early April as a rule, and
remains with us seven or eight months. Breeds
abundantly.

87. [198.] Coturniculus passernus Bp. Yel-
low-winged Sparrow. One of the species which
has only within the past decade made its summer
home in our country. As civilization advances
and more of the country is cleared, we may ex-
pect to see this Sparrow in greater abundance.
At present it is not common. I have only met
with a few individuals in upland pasture lots. A
summer resident.

88. [201a.] Ammodromus caudacutus nelsoni
Allen. Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Finch. Two speci-
mens were taken by Mr. Wm. Ely, Oct. 5, 1878,
and are the only recorded captures in the country.
A rare straggler.

89. [204.] Chondestes grammica (Say.) Bp. Lark
Finch. Only once taken in the country, by Mr.
Syke, April 27,’79. Not rare to the west of us
but not often found East of our western bound-

ary.

90. [206.] Zonotrichia leucophrys (Forst.)
Swains. White-crowned Sparrow. Not a rare
migrant. Arrive in the latter part of April, oc-

casionally as early as the 15th. Remains with us
frequently till May 20. Never known to breed.
Found again in Sept. and Oct.

91. [209.] Zonotrichia albicollis (gm.) Bp. White-
throated Sparrow. A common transient. Reaches
us about the middle of April and becomes com-
mon by the 25th. Remains with us a month or
more. Seen again in October on its southern
journey. A pleasing singer.

92. [210.] Spizella montana (Forst.) Ridgw.
Tree Sparrow. A common resident from Octo-
ber to April some seasons. A transient from the
north usually. Never observed in Summer.

93. [211.] Spizella domestica (Bartr.) Coues.
Chipping Sparrow. A common species from
April to October. Occassionally arrives by
March 20, and remains until November. Breeds
abundantly.

94, [214.] Spizella pusilla (Wils.) Bp. Field

Sparrow. Occasionally arrives by April 1. Gen-
erally common by the 15th. Breeds abundantly,
Leaves us usually in late October.

95. [217.] Junco hyemalis (Linn.) Scl. Black
Snowbird. Common Spring and Autumn. Seen
throughout the Winter some seasons, but usually
a transient from the north. Most abundant in
March and October. Not known to nest with us.

96. [231.] Melospiza fasciata (Geml,) Scott.
Song Sparrow. Our most common representa-
tive of the family. Arrives usually March 10, to
15; occasionally seen by Feb, 22, in early seasons,
and I have no doubt it remains throughout the
Winter in open seasons as I have found it in
December. Still I have never met with the birds
at times to prove that they remained through-
out the year. Those stragglers that one occasion-
ally meets out of season may be either migrating
north or south, and not by any means located.
Nests abundantly, rearing two and perhaps three
broods.

97. [283.] Melospiza palustris (Wils.) Baird.
Swamp Sparrow. Not a rare resident during the
Summer. Arrives generally the second week in
April. Have never yet satisfactorily identified a
nest.

98. [284.] Melospiza lincotni (Aud.) Baird. Lin-
coln’s Finch. A rare straggler. At least a rare
migrant or perhaps merely a transient. Taken
first, May 16, 1875, also taken Sept. 28, and Oct.
9, 1879.

99. [235.] Passerella tliaea (Merrem.) Sw Fox-
colored Sparrow. Arrives by the second week in
March in early seasons. Usually seen first about
March 25th. Common by April 10th. Remains
with us until May 10th or even later. Again
seen in October and remain until November snows
appear, and are often found with the Hermit
Thresher when there is six inches of snow on the
ground.

100. [2387.] Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linn.)
Vieill. Chewink ; Towhee. A common species
from April to October. Arrives in the first week
of March frequently. Breeds abundantly from
May ist. to June 30th. Nests occasionally taken
in August. Departs in October and November.

101. [244.] Zamelodia ludoviciana (Linn.) Coues.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Arrives from May 1st
to 6th. Breeds abundantly. Departs in late
September usually.

102. [248.] Passerina cyanea (Linn.) Gray.
Indigo Bunting. Arrives some seasons as early
as May 2d, but such a date is decidedly unusual.
Sometimes do not reach us until the 17th. Gen-
erally about the 12th. Remains until last Sep-
tember usually. Nests plentifully.

88 ORNITHOLOGIST [Vol. 10-No. 6

Aes, _| think some such method as the one under
ORNITHO LOGIST consideration, might be valuable.

ey, We are pleased to record the appoint-

bi ment of Mr. J. A. Allen, of Cambridge,

OOLOGIST. Mass., the editor of the “Auk,” to the posi-

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF
NATURAL HISTORY,
ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

BIRDS,

THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE.

FRANK B. WEBSTER,

PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Publisher,

Editor’s Notes.

The British Museum will now contain a
collection of American Birds scarcely second
to that of our own Smithsonian Institute.
It is announced that Messrs. Salvin and
Godman have given their magnificent col-
lection of Neotropical birds, consisting of
about 23,000 specimens, to the British
nation. Almost at the same time the
museum authorities acquired the Sclater
collection of about 9,000 more.

In addition to these very considerable
additions to the avian possessions of the
museum, Mr. A. O. Hume’s collection of
Indian birds, containing, it is said, some
60,000 specimens, is about to be trans-
ferred to the British Museum. It is at
present at Simla, India.

We have received from Mr. E. L. Brown,
of Durand, Wis., a specimen bird em-
balmed by his new process. The appear-
ance of the bird is natural and there is no
sign whatever, so far, of decay. While we
do not think this process, or any similar
one, will entirely supersede the present
method, it is worthy of attention as useful
under certain circumstances. For Reptiles,
also for arresting decay where circum-
stances delay the ordinary process, we

tion of Curator of Mammals and Birds in
the Museum of Natural History, Central
Park, New York.

The Late Dr. Alfred E. Brehm.

The announcement of the death of Dr.
Brehm, now some six months since, caused
much regret to the friends whom he made
during his visit to the United States in
1880, and was felt as a Joss by a wider
circle to whom his name was well known
as a naturalist of present eminence and
still greater promise. His father, Chris-
tian L. Brehm, was an ornithologist of
distinction, and his son early imbibed a
taste and an aptitude for similar researches.
He was fortunate in his surroundings, and
at the early age of eighteen (in 1847) was
selected by Baron J. W. von Muller as his
ornithological assistant in his African tray-
els. This journey lasted five years, dur-
ing which they explored Egypt, Nubia and
Eastern Soudan, a district the resort of
many birds which migrate from Europe
for the Winter, as well as the permanent
abode of varieties not met with elsewhere.
His later travels included Spain (1856);
Norway and Lapland (1860); Abyssinia
(1862-3); Western Siberia (1876); Spain
again (1879); and North America (1880).
During this last journey he was attacked
by a violent fever.

He leaves as memorials of a life spent
in zoological research, several works of
importance, amongst them his “Thierleben”
(animal life) in ten volumes, which
is specially noted as showing his “sympa-
thetic comprehension of animals as living
beings.”

In the death of Dr. Brehm the ornithol-
ogical world has lost one whom it can ill
spare, and whose place will not readily be
filled.

June, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 89

Hawking.

BY J. M. W., NORWICH, CONN.

In these degenerate days the falconer does not
go afield to fly his belled and hooded peregrine,
but with a pair of trusty climbing-irons he him-
self mounts into the air, and base-born Buteo or
true Falcon are alike to him in his quest. Though
not counting it an advance on the kingly diver-
sion, yet the modern hawker takes a keen pleasure
in spurring his way up the straight bole of a
chestnut, with borealis screaming overhead and a
fresh clutch of eggs for his quarry. You who
have tried this royal sport of an April morning,
will go again another year, and the present writer
ean then be pardoned for recording his experience
in old fields in successive years.

It has been shown that a late season does not
delay the early breeding Raptores. This year
Great-horned Owls laid their first egg Feb. 22;
my earliest set of Barred Owl was taken March
26, and first Red-shouldered Hawk, April 9. May
10, took six sets of Cooper, and May 17, three sets
of Marsh Hawks. So, though the arrival and
breeding of Warblers and other small migrants
was delayed from seven to ten days, yet the nest-
ing of Owls and Hawks is on the average dates
of former records.

Ihave taken three sets each from one Barred
Owl and one Cooper’s Hawk this year, and three
sets from one Marsh Hawk last year. B. borealis
does not so often lay two sets as /ineatus, and with
our Bubo the limit is usually two sets. 1885 bids
fair to be a time for big sets, as I have taken four
sets of Red-shouldered Hawks of four eggs each,
one set of six Coopers, and have climbed to three
Crow’s nests holding clutches of six. In early
April, I left some homely incubated sets of Red-
tails to hatch, but am inclined to think this was a
mistaken mercy, for when the lusty young
clamor for food, the farmers are liable to follow
the over bold purveyors to the nest and shoot
both young and old birds. There are in my pos-
session a number of old bullets, buckshot and
leaden slugs which I have dug out from the base
of limbs forming the crotch of a tree which has
been the cradle for generations of Hawks. This
murderous brush-house artifice is another depar-
ture from the falconry of old.

All my Harrier sets were plain and had the
anomaly peculiar to this species and Cuckoos of
fresh and incubated eggs in the same clutch.
Two pairs of Jineatus lived in last year’s Cooper's
nests, and other nests of last season were laid
under tribute for dozens of eggs. One set of
Cooper’s with shell twice the usual thickness, in

addition to markings, presented long calcareous
ridges similar in nature to the pimples common
on eggs of the Barred Owl. There appears to be
no local race of Sparrow Hawks around Norwich,
but we may have more than our share of Barred
Owls, for I know the nesting places of seven
pairs. March 26, April 18, and May 9, were the
dates for the three sets from one Barred Owl this
year. I have explored Lantern Hill, in Ledyard,
and Mt. Misery, in Voluntown, and heavy tracts
of isolated timber, but find no trace or tradition of
Duck Hawks ever breeding in this region. The
Osprey’s immense summer homes are still com-
mon along shore and in several swamps here-
abouts more than a dozen miles from the Sound.

Of the thirty well feathered Hawk’s nests re-
corded this year, many were in low crotches and
re-touched Crow’s nests, still the average height of
the nests of B. borealis last April, by actual meas-
urement, was fifty-one feet. The customary sea-
son’s take of one hundred eggs was easily reached,
with the smaller Accipiter to hear from, and in
this connection it is interesting to note why the
bulk of the early-breeding Hawks have compara-
tive immunity from the farmers. The Buteos be-
gin housekeeping just as the chopper takes his ax
and sled out of the woods; and the ploughing and
planting with their train of duties come on so fast
that our rural friend can spare but an occasional
Sunday morning for his amateur Falconry.

th gees

Swainson’s Warbler in North
Carolina.

BY H. H. B., NEW BERNE, N. C.

Since reading Mr. William Brewster’s exhaust-
ive article on (Helmintherus swainsoni) in “ The
Auk” for January, I have, during my collecting
rambles in the swamps around here this Spring,
been anxiously searching for sufficient evidences
to add this rare and interesting bird to the fauna
of North Carolina.

On April 18, I was collecting along the line of
the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, about
a mile northwest from here, the aspect of the
country being a succession of cultivated fields in-
terspersed with strips and patches of swamp, the
growth being chiefly gum, maple and myrtle
(evergreen), with patches of reeds and briars about
the edges of the swamps. These thickets are fa-
vorite resorts of the Maryland Yellowthroat,
White Eyed Vireo, Hooded Warbler, Summer
Yellowbird, and several other Warblers. I was
standing on a slight rise in a small patch of
swamp, and had killed a pair of Maryland Yel-
throats without changing my position, when a

90

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10--No: 6

bird that I took to be one of the small Thrushes
alighted on the lateral branch of a maple sapling,
seven or eight yards from me, and partially hid-
den by intervening growth. I at once shot it, and
on picking it up was overjoyed to find myself in
possession of the first Swainson’s Warbler I had
ever seen, and, as far as I am aware, the first that
has ever been obtained north of Charleston, 8. C.
The specimen was somewhat mutilated, the tip of
lower mandible being shot away, the right tar-
sus broken about the middle and the neck rather
badly shot. However, the long sought for prize
was obtained, and, although not a first class speci-
men, it was still quite sufficiently good to admit
of absolute identification. I have perseveringly
hunted the locality since then, but have, as yet,
been unable to secure or even get a sight of other
specimens. As before stated, the specimen pro-
cured perched on a small branch and was shot at
once, giving it no opportunity for indulging in
song. The notes of this bird are therefore still
strange to me, although I have kept my ears con-
stantly on the alert to detect the, to me, unknown
song of UZ, Swainson).

Description and dimensions are as follows :

Helmintherus Swainsoni, # , New Berne, N. C.,
April 13, ’85. L 5.55, W 2.80, E 8.70, T 2.05,
Tar. .75, Tel. .70. Crown and nape reddish brown,
shading into olive, very slightly tinged with
brown on back, wing and upper tail coverts with
more reddish brown than the back, under parts
dusky lemon, crissum white, sides dull olive,
sides of breast dull ashy olive, superciliary stripe
dirty white, legs and feet flesh colored.

Now that one specimen has been procured, I
have great hopes of adding more before the Sum-
mer has gone, as I imagine this locality to be fa-
vorable for the nesting of this bird.

Cassin’s Purple Finch.

(Carpodacus cassini.)

BY H. G. SMITH, JR., DENVER, COLORADO.

This Spring the writer first made the acquain-
tance of Cassin’s Purple Finch. It was on the
morning of Feb. 26th—a bright, warm day for
the time of the year that I took my gun and
started for the woods. I had scarcely entered
them when the loud clear song of the House
Finch, (Carpodacus frontalis), came to me from
the air above, and looking around I saw three in-
dividuals about to alight in the top of a cotton-
wood not far off. Thinking they were worth
trying for, I approached and succeeded in bring-
ing two of them down, On picking them up I
was surprised at their large size, and it immedi-

ately occured to me that I held in my hand no
less a bird than the female of Cassin’s Purple
Finch.

Placing them carefully in my game-bag, I
again started on and soon had the satisfaction of
bringing down a male, which from what I had
read of the species—cleared away all doubt in
my mind as to their identity. Securing my bird,
LT again started, and while crossing a field grown
up with weeds, I discovered several more females
in company with Tree Sparrows, and on further
notice discovered a beautiful male.

Moving cautiously along to get within range,
what was my surprise when at least twenty indi-
viduals of the species flew up from among the
tall weeds and alighted in a box-elder not fifty
feet from me. I stood motionless, observing the
various movements of my new acquaintances
with the feeling every ornithologist has when he
sees before him a species he never saw alive be-
fore. My Finches soon rose into the air and left
the field with loud cries of alarm. Looking
around I discovered the destroyer of my beauti-
ful picture in the shape of the Great-northern
Shrike or Butcher Bird, who came sailing in upon
them, bringing consternation with him.

Later in the day, I saw a flock of one hundred
or more which alighted amongst the weeds which
were from six to eight feet high. I obtained
eight specimens, and it is needless to say I felt
more lenient towards the Shrike on going home
that night.

On March 3d, I made another visit to the same
place and found the Finches in flocks of hun-
dreds. In the early morning, flocks kept com-
ing down from a great height and settling upon
the sun-flower stalks, feeding on the seeds.

I had no opportunity of visiting the place
again until March 25th, when I found the major-
ity had departed. I however saw a number of
flocks of fifty or more, but on April 4th none
were seen at all.

te geet

HAwkKs IN GREENFELD, Mass.—On the 13th of
April I saw a Rough-legged Hawk in the posses-
sion of a boy, which I bought and set up for the
Society here. It is, I believe, in the light plum-
age. The earliest Hawk’s eggs collected here this
Spring were on the 19th of April, Red-shouldered,
three in number and with very pretty chocolate
blotches. On the 28th of April, six members of
the Natural History Society went to Mt. Sugar-
loaf, and made a successful trip, getting a set of
four beautifully colored eggs. The nest was in
the same place as the last we secured the eggs
from last season.—S. W. Comstock.

June, 1885.]

Notes on the Birds of Manitoba.

BY ROBERT MILLER CHRISTY.

(The Zoologist, April, 1885.)

Continued from page 78.

Before the beginning of September the Crow,
(Corvus frugivorus,) did not seem to be particularly
common; but after that it became more noticea-
ble. Large flocks frequently flew over, their
loud hoarse croak being audible for long distances
over the prairie. On September 7th a specimen
was brought in having a curious malformation of
the bill, which was evidently due to a gun-shot,
as the right humerus had also been broken. The
upper mandible was bent a good deal to the left,
as well as having the tip strongly turned down-
wards. A notch had been worn in the side of
the lower mandible where the upper one crossed
it, but the former was normal in all other respects.
As the bird was only wounded slightly in the
wing, we kept him alive in order to learn how,
with such an awkward instrument for a bill, he
contrived to take his meals; for the fine condi-
tion he was in clearly showed that he had some
means of so doing; and in a few hours he was
tame enough to show us how. We placed some
pieces of bread upon the floor, which, being hard
and flat, probably puzzled the bird more than if
it had been soft or uneven; but, by standing di-
rectly over them and putting down his head till
it was almost between his legs and the crown
nearly on the floor, he contrived to get the piece
of bread between his mandibles.

The Whiskey Jack, (Perisoreus canadensis,)
probably breeds in the dense tamarac swamp
south of Carberry, as a young specimen was
shot there by Mr. Seton in August.

The Blue Jay, (Cyanocitta cristata,) is common,
but appears to be migratory,—partially at least,—
leaving in Winter, though resident farther south.

The well-known King-bird or Tyrant Fly-
catcher, (Tyrannus carolinensis,) is abundant in
Manitoba. A more fearless, inquisitive, pugna-
cious, and warlike bird it is difficult to imagine.
Often when I have shot a bird as a specimen, up
has flown a King-bird with a manner which gave
him the appearance of saying—‘ Now, what’s go-
ing on here?” Tv see a King-bird dash at and at-
tack a huge Harrier, for no other purpose whatso-
ever than to have a fight, is a thing of common oc-
currence, and the Harrier always tries to avoid and
escape from his assailant. The King-bird breeds
in the low scrubby oak trees which cover the
sand-hills, building, like the Shrike, a nest consist-
ing largely of the stalks of a species of @napha-

AND OOLOGIST.

91

lium. After the young are able to fly they often
live round the settlers’ houses on the open prairie,
but about the end of August they all leave.

Among the trees on the sand-hills and in the
bluffs the Night Hawk, (Chordeiles popetue,) is
abundant, and makes itself very conspicuous
towards evening by its loud scream, by booming,
and by displaying during flight the unmistakable
white patch on each wing. Not unfrequently it
may be seen on the wing at mid-day; and it al-
ways makes an appearance long before sunset,
sailing about at a great height and screaming fre-
quently. After flying awhile over the head of
any intruder, it suddenly spreads its wings and,
giving a wide swoop downwards, emits a loud
booming noise, which has gained for it in some
parts of America the name of “ Bull Bat.” That
this noise is made over one’s head in order to
threaten, or intimidate seems tome pretty certain,
but I have also, I believe, heard it emitted at a
distance, without any such object. It breeds
commonly among the trees on the sand-hills. One
day early in August we found a nest, or rather
two young ones—for nest there was none—about
three days old, with the egg-shells lying near
Though so young, one of the nestlings, which we
afterwards proved by dissection to be a male, was
very pugnacious, and snapped his bill menacingly
when touched; the other was perfectly quiet, so
we concluded, though we could not prove it, that
it belonged to “the gentler sex.” While we were
at the nest the old birds were, as usual, very so-
licitous for the safety of their young, settling on
trees, fallen logs, the ground, and fluttering round
to draw off our attention. The number of old
birds began to get very much less by the end of
August, but a few were nevertheless seen until
well on into September—one as late as the 11th.
After the migration commenced they were not un-
frequently seen in the evenings flying over in
large straggling parties, circling about as they
proceeded. These parties usually travelled south-
west, I believe, though this is not the direction
usually chosen by the other birds of the district
when moving south.

The Whip-poor-Will, (Antrostomus vociferus,)
differs from its near relative, the Night Hawk, in
several particulars. It seldom leaves the woods
and comes out onto the open prairie; and, even
among the trees, it is seldom or never seen sailing
about high overhead during daylight. It isalso a
much shyer bird; and, although its highly re-
markable far-sounding voice may often be heard,
it needs great caution to get within a sufficien tly
short distance to see the performer. About the
end of August all the Whip-poor-Wills seemed to
have departed, and I was therefore considerably

92

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 6

surprised to hear the unmistakable voice of one in
the woods near Carberry on the evening of Sep-
tember 11th. This bird also is very solicitous for
its young. Going one evening into the woods to
fetch home an easel Mr. Seton had left when
sketching, we were almost mobbed by a pair,
which kept on for some time, tumbling about
among the bushes and settling on the charred logs
of trees felled by the fire. We must have been
very close to the nest; but it was too dark to find
it, though we felt the ground all round.

Several species of Woodpecker are common in
Manitoba, notably the Golden-winged, (Colaptes
auratus,) which breeds frequently in holes in the
trunks of Poplar trees in the bluffs.

The Red-headed Woodpecker, (Melanerpes ery-
throcephalus,) also breeds but is much less
common.

The Short-eared Owl, (Asio accipitrinus,) seemed
to be decidedly uncommon. On the evening of
August 20th, 1883, just as it was getting dusk, I
fired at one sailing overhead, I thought I had
missed him, but it was just light enough for us to
think we saw him alight in an open spotin a
neighboring field, so we decided to go and look on
the morrow; however, the following day was
so windy and wet that we did not go till the
afternoon of the day after, when we were sur-
prised to see the bird rise, apparently unhurt. It
fell to Mr. Seton’s gun, and after a careful exami-
nation we could not find that it had received any
previous injury, except a slight graze on one
wing; yet it had been foolish enough to sit moping
in one spot for over forty hours with nothing to
eat except one large dragon-fly and a great brown
cricket, as we afterwards found by dissection.

The Marsh Harrier, (Circus cyaneus hudsontus,)
is a very common bird throughout Manitoba, and
may often be seen sailing over the prairies, the
sleughs, or the wheat-fields. One morning latein
August I remember counting a dozen round one
house. It must breed there, but Mr. Seton has
never discovered a nest. Nearly all the individ-
uals I saw were in the brown plumage; only three
or four wore the adult bluish ash-colored dress,
but Mr. Seton says that adult specimens are much
more often seen at the time of the Spring migra-
tion. This bird often comes and inspects the
settlers’ chickens, but seldom carries off any ex-
cept very young ones—gophers, mice, and grass-
hoppers being its usual prey. It is exceedingly
easy to shoot, and one or two dead ones may often
be seen lying around a farmers house. The
Harrier became a much scarcer bird as September
wore on.

The Turkey Buzzard, (Cathartes aura,) is prob- |

ably now a less common bird than when the

Buffalo was an inhabitant of the prairies, but is
still not unfrequently seen, especially if there bea
dead horse or other animal in the neighborhood.
Its powers of flight are magnificent.

On the evening of September 4th a flock of six-
teen noisy Wild Geese flew with a swift flight
over Carberry to the southward. They formed
the vanguard of the great army of migratory birds
which, going northward in the Spring to breed in
myriads on the shores of the Arctic Sea, returns
south again in the Autumn with its numbers in-
creased by the yearling birds.

After the date mentioned, the migration among
wildfowl and raptorial birds became much more
marked. Goshawks, (Astwr atricapillus,) though
formerly unseen, became fairly common.

The Peregrine, (Falco peregrinus,) hitherto
scarce, was now the reverse, though still not very
numerous. On the 11th one perched on a fence
close to the house; I was just on the point of
firing at him with a rifle, when he rose; then,
after sailing once over the chickens, he hovered
over them for nearly half a minute as cleverly as
any Kestrel could have done—indeed, so station-
ary in the air was the bird that I essayed a shot,
but the bullet missed.

About this time, too, Buzzards became much
more numerous. On the 14th an old male speci-
men of Swainson’s Buzzard, (Buteo swatnsoni,) in
very ragged plumage, was brought to me.

The migration among raptorial birds at this
period was made still more obvious by the de-
crease, as already mentioned, of the Harriers, and
by the sudden increase in the numbers of the
beautiful little American Kestrel, or as it is always
called, the “Sparrow Hawk,” (Falco sparverius.)
Although I had during the Summer found this in
fair abundance in the woods and among the trees
growing on the sand-hills (where it breeds in the
deserted holes of the Golden-winged Wood-
pecker), it became far more abundant round Car-
berry on September 7th, and on that day alone I
saw more than during the whole of the rest of the
time I was in the country. All day long they
were around the house, sitting tamely on fence-
posts and buildings, and often chattering like
their European brothers. At one spot about a
mile from the town, where there was a cluster of
trees, I found what I can scarcely call by any
other name than a flock of them, as from twenty-
five to thirty remained there the whole day. For
several days after the 7th they were fairly numer-
ous, but all disappeared about the middle of the
month. The few that were shot had been feeding
on grasshoppers only, and on one occasion: I
watched through a telescope a bird that was
catching grasshoppers among some potatoes.

June, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 93

A most comical affair happened one day in con-
nection with three Goshawks. A friend of mine
had shot a Harrier, and left it near his house.
Some time after, as some chickens were feeding on
the maggots in the body, three Goshawks ap-
peared on the scene and quickly swooped at the
birds, to all appearance carrying one off to a
neighboring field. Mr. Seton, who followed to
avenge the death of this supposed hen, soon shot
two of the Goshawks, when he found that, in-
stead of carrying off a hen, they had possessed
themselves by mistake of the putrid and dried-up
body of the Harrier.

Numerous as were many of the larger Hawks
at this time, I was told that they were far more so
at the time of the Spring migration northwards;
so it appears probable that for some reason they
follow different routes upon the two journeys, as
is often observed in England. The same remark
probably applies to the Whooping Crane, (Gus
americand,) for, although in the Autumn I did not
see one, it is said to be common in Spring-time.

The American Bittern, (Botawrus mugitans,) is
pretty common in the moister parts of the country,
—near the Red River, for instance,—where I have
often seen it disturbed by the passing train.

On August 30th a friend shot a young specimen
of the Passenger Pigeon, (Hetopistes migratorius,)
as it sat upon a tree near Carberry, but this was
the only specimen seen during my visit.

No small portion of the Manitoban settlers’ diet
is formed of the flesh of the Sharp-tailed Grouse,
(Pediacetes phasianellus,) always known as the
“Prairie Chicken.” To this bird, which is resi-
dent in Manitoba throughout the year, Mr. Seton
has devoted much attention, and has elucidated
many interesting points in its natural history.
The nest is usually formed in long grass, generally
near trees, In it the hen deposits fourteen to six-
teen eggs, which, curiously enough, are rather
smaller, as Mr. Seton points out, than those of the
“Quaily” (Bartram’s Sandpiper), a bird just one-
eighth of its weight. The pairing is carried on
in a very absurd fashion, parties of from one or
two to twenty assembling in the early morning on
some small hillock, and there dancing in a manner
which is most ludicrous to behold. About the mid-
dle of August, or earlier, a row of stiff bristles com-
mences to grow on each side of the toes of both
old and young. These are fully grown by Octo-
ber, and. henceforth the birds are provided with
snow-shoes for use during the Winter. In Spring
these bristles entirely drop off. The birds spend
the Summer out on the open prairie, and while it
lasts they seldom perch on trees; but in Winter
they all adjourn to the bluffs and woods, and spend
the time there feeding on the buds of the trees,

and at night diving down into the soft snow-
drifts for warmth and shelter. Although they
bury themselves to the depth of about a foot,
many are killed by wolves and foxes, whilst
others are fatally imprisoned should a slight thaw
and subsequent frost harden the surface of the
drift. In early Spring, before the snow is gone,
they emerge again upon the prairies where the
hips of the wild prairie-rose, which are held up
above the snow, provide them with food, while
the excessively hard seeds the hips contain act as
a substitute for grit in the stomachs of the birds.
Early in May they feed, like many other prairie
animals, upon the blossoms of the abundant sand-
flower or prairie anemone, Anemone putens, var.
nuttalliana ; and later on they consume quanti-
ties of grasshoppers, together with seeds and
berries, but they never, so fur as Mr. Seton has
observed, touch grain.

The Kildeer Plover, (.#éalites vociferus,) is not
uncommon round some of the lakes.

On August 3d we shot several specimens of the
Lesser Yellow-shanks, (7otanus flavipes,) and one
of the Greater Yellow-shanks, (7. melanoleucus,)
round a lake near Carberry; they were clearly
on migration, as they were the first of their kind
seen.

On July 10th, 1884, I shot a specimen of the
Solitary Sandpiper, (Riyacophilus solitarius,) at
Maple Creek, 597 miles west of Winnepeg; it
was doubtless breeding. In the dry bed of the
creek I also caught a nestling bird, which was
probably of this species.

During the Summer no bird is more familiar on
the Manitoban prairies than the Upland Plover
or Bartram’s Sandpiper, (Bartramia longicauda,)
commonly there known as the “ Quaily,” from
its note. Surely no bird ever differed more com-
pletely from the generality of its relatives than
this! It is a Sandpiper which does not appear
to frequent marshes, which breeds habitually on
the dry open prairies, and which is frequently to
be seen perched among the branches of trees.
Its tameness is excessive. Often when driving
over the prairie I have seen it remain within
three yards of the passing vehicle without the
slightest concern. When on the wing, it offers a
shot so temptingly easy that few can resist. Its
note is a highly remarkable one, not easily for-
gotten when once heard. Dr. Coues well describes
it as a“ long-drawn, soft, mellow whistle, of a pe-
culiarly clear, resonant quality.” It breeds abun-
dantly on the open prairie, and I have several
times caught the young in down. The majority
left Manitoba towards the latter end of August,
but I was several times surprised at hearing or

o¢ ORNITHOLOGIST

seeing a belated pair until quite latei in Sentbenbiee

The Carolina Rail, (Persana carolina), is com-
mom during the summer ‘among the reeds and
rushes round the lakes, where it also breeds.

In the open and less frequented parts of the
country, like the sand-hills south of Carberry and
the prairies of the Upper Assiniboine, the Sand-
hill Crane, (@rus pratensis) breeds pretty com-
monly. They often feed in the swamps, and their
loud, coarse, rattling croak may be heard for
long distances when their solitudes are invaded.
Their speed when on foot is very considerable.
I one day drove across a moist portion of country
after a pair, which for a short time seemed inclined
to rely for safety on their legs rather than on their
wings. During September small parties of from
ten to twenty were seen almost daily passing over
southward atan immense height, and attracting
attention by their loud croaking, which gradually
died away in the distance as the birds disappeared.

During the whole of the Autumn the south-
ward migration of wild fowl was very noticeable,
Until late in September small flocks of from
twenty to thirty Wild Geese were often to be
seen flying over, generally in the shape of a well-
marked V. They generally went towards ‘the
south or south-east, which latter especially is, I
understand, the general direction of the autumnal
migration over Manitoba ; so that it seems proba-
ble that the birds in coming from the extreme
North, follow the line of great lakes extending
from the Great Bear Lake to Lake Winnipeg, af
terwards following the valley of the Red River,
crossing the narrow watershed into the valley of
the Mississippi, and wending their way along it
still further to the sonthward. During this Au-
tumnal movement the number of ducks frequent-
ing the lakes and ponds throughout Manitoba is
prodigious. I shall not soon forget the hundreds
I saw on the innumerable ponds between Rapid
City and the Oak River, whilst on an excursion
towards Fort Ellice, in the middle of October,
1883. Yet those I saw must have been as nothing
compared with the abundancelto be seen in some
other places. A friend who had several days’
shooting at Totogon, near the South end of Lake
Manitoba, about the end of September, describes
the ducks as being so numerous that only the
terms “acres” and “ millions” could adequately
express their abundance. The majority were
Mallards, (Anas descas,) but there were also Blue-
winged teal, (Querguedula discors,) Green-winged
Teal, (Q. carolinensis,) Scaups, (Pwliz marila,) and
others. The Mallard, with various Shovellers,
Scaups, Pintails, and Teal, breeds regularly in the
lakes and sleughs. When traveling towards Win-

i —— vir

_ [Vol. 10-No. 6

nipeg by the aie running northward from the
United States boundary on June 13th last (1884),
Isaw many newly-hatched broods of ducklings,
both Teal and Mallard, swimming about in the
ditch beside the track; the old birds rose and
flew off as the train approached. At least two
species of Tern breed very abundantly on the
islands in some of the larger lakes, while several
Grebes are not uncommon in the same situations,
In conclusion, I will only add that there still is
in Manitoba a large field for ornithological work.
If only a few of the many young men of good
education who have recently emigrated thither
could be persuaded to turn some of their atten-
tion to the study of its birds, many highly inter-
esting facts would certainly be brought to light.

Brief Notes.

Precuttarny Marken Eees or TRE GOLDEN
Eaeie.—I have just received a set of two Golden
Eagle’s eggs that are different from anything I
ever saw before. They were collected from a
nest that I have known of for several years past,
and though it has been robbed several times, both
of eggs and young birds, the old Eagles return
every Spring to the same nest, which is placed on
a ledge, on the side of a cliff, the only manner of
reaching, is to be lowered over the edge of the cliff
by a rope. The set just mentioned were taken in
March of this year, eggs were fresh and old bird
was on the nest when visited by my collector.
The peculiar thing in regard to eggs of this clutch
is that they are quite heavily marked with light
brown spots and some lilac shell markings. The
larger is 2.89x2.40, and shaped like the egg’ of
caracara, No, 19, pg. 11, of Brewer's Oology.
The smaller is like Red-tailed Hawk, No. 17, pg.
11, of same work, and oe: and place of mark-
ings similar to that egg, the ground being white,
however; size of this x2 S81x2.34, and markings
on smaller end. No. 1 has the markings heaviest
on the larger end, where they become confluent,
concealing the ground color, spots growing fewer
and more scattered toward the smaller and more
pointed end of the egg. A year or two ago Thad
another egg from this same nest (the birds laying
but one) which was white and without even any
lilac shell spots. It was badly broken, having
been sent to me unblown, so that I did not
measure it. The inside of the shell was a bright
green. I have another egg of same species
taken in Wyoming in 1871, which is rounder in
shape and is covered with shell spots of lilac and
very light brown, which I supposed were dirt,
until I found I could not remove them with a
brush and soap and water. This egg was in a

June, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 95

nest with a young Eagle nearly fledged; egg was
addled, size 2.84x2.34. I should like very much
to know if any one has a set of Golden Eagle’s
eggs that are similar to those deseribed.—Snowdon
Howland, Newport, R. I.

CAPTURE OF A RED-NECKED GREBE, (Podiceps

holbolli,,) X¥ Western On'rarto.—On the 11th of

February, 1885, on bank of river Thames, two
miles north of Plover Mills, county of Middlesex,
Ontario, an individual of the above species was
captured under the following circumstances. Mr.
Hartwick, a farmer, noticed near his house the
bird in question, sitting on a snow bank, and com-
pletely enveloped in ice. Although alive, its
wings were so firmly fastened by the frost that it
was compelletl to submit to be taken by hand.
Carried to the house, it was placed in water,
when it at once revived, dipping, diving and
preening its feathers in the liveliest manner. It
refused, however, to eat any of the food placed
before it, with the exception of some fir leaves
(abies) of which it parfook sparingly. Placed out-
side the house and allowed full liberty, it refused
to leave, walking deliberately, nonchalently and
in the characteristically erect position back to the
place which had proved such a pleasant retreat
from the wintry storm, At the end of its third
day in captivity the poor Grebe died, after which
event it came into the possession of my friend,
Mr. 8. R. Reynolds, who has had it mounted and
placed in his collection. It should be stated that
on the day previous a flock, estimated to comprise
ten or a dozen birds of presumably the same
species, was observed flying low in the vicinity.
They appeared much confused, dispersing and
gathering together alternately, and uttering cries
of distress. The weather was extremely cold.—
Robt. Eitiot.

Brrps Conrusep sy Crry Lieurs—I have
often read of birds becoming confused by the
lights of a city on a dark night, but never had the
good fortune to witness it before May 7th, 1885.
The night was very dark, with a drizzle occasion-
ally, but nojwind ; at 11.15 I heard a bird, when
on going out to listen, I found birds were calling
on all sides of me, apparently dazed by the glare
of the gas. In greatest numbers were the
Thrushes, Tawny and Wood; there were also
Purple Martins, Baltimore Orioles, Sparrows,
Warblers, Spotted Sandpipers and ducks. ‘Two
Thrushes became bewildered around the steeple
of a church opposite me, and only left when two
of us went over to see them.

The Sandpipers were most vociferous, though
from the number of notes heard I could not be
certain that there was more than one bird,” which

might have been describing irregular circles with
a centre near where I was standing, and repeat-
edly giving its note, both full and partial.

The Ducks were heard quite often, and from
the amount of noise made by their wings, coupled
with a knowledge of what Ducks were around
London at the time, I should say they were Little
Blue-bills. It was impossible to identify the Spar-
rows and Warblers, but I thought I could recog-
nize the sharp cheep of the White-throated Spar-
row, and as they were in the country around us
at that time, it is not impossible that this conjec-
ture is correct. I stayed outside till 12 p. m.,
when the confusion was undiminished, and lying
with the window open, the last sound I heard be-
fore going to sleep was the nocturne of the
Spotted Sandpiper. 6.30 a. m. next day found
me out looking for remains of the night’s enter-
tainment, but the only trace to be seen was a
solitary Wood Thrush in the garden. Several
persons spoke to me afterwards of the presence of
the birds above all the city that night, and it
would be interesting to know if any one near
Ontario observed the same occurrence.— W. 1.
Saunders, London, Ont.

Norrs From CanaAts, MArne.—Snowy Owl.—
A fine specimen of the Snowy Owl was killed at
the mouth of the St. Croix River last winter, but
but as the possessor attached no value to the bird,
it was destroyed,

Pine Linnet, (Chrysomitris pinus). During the
sarly Spring months of last year this little bird
was very plentiful with us, every tree seemed full
of them, and they rivaled our most abundant
birds, such as the sprightly little Snowbird, in
numbers. This year they are ‘conspicuous by
their absence.’

The raptorial birds are exceedingly well repre-
sented here this season both in species and indi-
viduals. The Hawks are very bold and numer-
ous, fearlessly coming into the outskirts of the
city in search of their prey. In the last of the
Winter quite a number of Saw-whet Owls were
found dead, in most cases within or near some
barn or other building, where they evidently
killed themselves by flying against the walls, as in
one instance the Owl was seen in the act of strik-
ing. In other cases the Owls were found in some
open field, or where there was but few trees. All
the birds I examined fairly swarmed with para-
sites. Is if not possible that these parasites, com-
bined with the scarcity of food during the past
severe Winter, so enfeebled the birds that a very
slight blow while flying about would kill them or
that in some cases they literally starved to death ?
A few Richardson’s Owls were taken.—Louis M.
Todd.

96 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 6

Wnuat ts THE Best GUN FOR COLLECTORS.—
In your April number of the “O. and O.” I notice
in the article headed “Hints to Collectors,” this
sentence, “Do not buy a cane gun or one with a
skeleton stock, they are a delusion and a snare.”
In regard to the former I have nothing to say
but as the article referred to was penned by
Johnnie and not by John, I infer that he is not
too old to learn.

I have a Stevens’ 38-bore shot gun with skele-
ton stock, with which I have taken a Broad-
winged Hawk, two Grebes, a Kingfisher, besides
numerous Jack-snipe and other smaller birds, and
could not be tempted to carry a full stock gun
while collecting. And in regard to Johnnie’s
$25 outfit, mine would not exceed $15, and I use
it in preference to a $55, 16 guage double breech-
loader which I have.—Z. V. Clemens, Ansonia, Ct.

ALLIGATORS.— We have during the past week
obtained two Alligators within six miles of here,
one 9 ft. 3 in. in length and the other 8 ft. 2 in.
Until we procured one last Fall of 10 ft. 6 in.,
they were considered almost unknown around
here. We hear of other large ones about. Is
not this about their northern limit, and can any
of your readers give instances of their being ob-
tained further north than this ?—Clarke & Morgan,
New Berne, N. C.

Ee SS

New York and Science.

An interesting address was recently delivered by Dr, C.
H. Merriam at the dinner given by the Linnean Society to
Mr. J. A. Allen on the occasion of his coming to New York
to assume the curatorship of birds and mammals at the Cen-
tral Park Museum. Inthe course of his remarks, Dr. Mer-
riam alluded to scientific work in New York early in its
history, and to the fact that naturalists and scholars who
have labored here failed to receive that support from the
people which is so essential to permanent progress. Con-
tinuing he said: ‘‘ That this cannot be attributed to lack of
ability, enthusiasm and earnestness on the part of the work-
ers themselves is clear from their character and writings.
Of the founders and early members of the Philosophical
Society, and of the Lyceum of Natural History, but one
naturalist remains, the veteran ornithologist, Mr. George N.
Lawrence, who has spent a fruitful lifetime within the pre-
cincts of this city. His name and labors are known and
honored all over Europe, and yet but a few of our citizens
are aware of the extent and importance of his writings.
He has outlived his comrades, and for many years has
toiled alone, away from the stimulus and support of sym-
pathetic associates, It is impossible to disguise the fact that
these men—men whose untiring labors have left a lasting
impress upon the science of the nineteenth century—have
been unappreciated by their fellow-citizens. The city and
the times were not yet ready. The first great effort to convert
New York into a center of learning and culture failed.
The Philosophical Society has long since passed out of ex-
istence, and the old Lyceum of Natural History has been
transformed into the present Academy, which is devoted
chiefly to the physical sciences. Leaving out of considera-
tion the more or less constant progress that has been made
in the physical sciences, literature and the fine arts, and

confining ourselves to the branches of knowledge common-
ly spoken of under the somewhat indefinite heading,
‘Natural History,’ it may be said that the first period of
activity reached its maximum development about fifty years
ago, when the Lyceum was in its most flourishing condi-
tion, and that the second period of activity began with the
organization of Linnean Society in March, 1878. Between
the two was an interval of general inactivity, broken only
by the labors of Torrey, Lawrence, Prime, Sanderson, Smith
and that distinguished explorer and naturalist, Professor
John 8. Newberry, now one of the most eminent of living
geologists and paleontologists, who for the past nineteen
years has honored our city by his presence. For some time
Professor Whitfield has been at work upon the fossil inver-
tebrates in the American Musenm of Natural History of
this city, and has published several valuable bulletins con-
taining the results of his labors. This museum has long
been in possession of mammals and birds of value. To
guard these from injury, and also (let it to be hoped) to pro-
mote original work, its trustees have finally secured the
services of one of the foremost of American naturalists.
Foreign naturalists have hailed this movement with expres-
sions of unfeigned joy, and we can but regard it with the
utmost satisfaction. We congratulate ourselves both upon
the accession of so distinguished a person as Mr. Allen, and
upon the significance of the fact of his appointment. The
citizens of New York, surfeited with the cultivation of
purely commercial interests, have come at length to look
for something which will adorn their city with more lasting
monuments—which will enable it to take rank with the
other great cities of the world in promoting the advance-
ment and diffusion of knowledge by the encouragement of
natural science. The more thoughtful of them are slowly
but surely arriving at the conviction that no true progress
in higher civilzation can be made until science, literature
and the arts receive the hearty support of the people and of
the commonwealth.—VYorest and Stream,

CORRESPONDENCE.

PEcuLtIAR Eags or Scors TRicHopPsis. On the 11th inst.
I took a nest of Scops trichopsis, containing five eggs. In
size and shape they are identical with several other clutches
of the S. trichopsis now in my possession, but instead of
being white in color they resemble the eggs of the Falco
sparverius, being blotched all over with dark brown spots,
especially towards the larger end around which the spots
and blotches run in great profusion. Now tell me, please,
could the eggs so marked be the result of a cross between
the two birds above named? I am not mistaken in the eggs
being those of the S. trichopsis, inasmuch as I took a fe-
male Scops off of the nest. I also, the same day, took
several nests of the /. spaverius from the same vicinity and
both those of the Scops and Sparverius were taken out of
Woodpecker’s holes in the (Sahuara) Giant Cactus, which
fact led me to think that perhaps the eggs in question may
have been the result of a cross between the two.—Herbert
Brown, Tucson, Ariz., April 22, 1885.

{Perhaps some of our readers may be in possession of
facts which would throw light on this matter.—Ep,]

LarGe SET oF BARN OwL’s Eaeas. P. E. Kent, Poway,
Cal., writes us, ‘‘ While ona collecting tour on April ist, I
found a fine set of Barn Owl’s eggs, (Aluco flammeus amer-
icanus ) The nest was placed in a Sycamore tree about
twenty-five feet high, where a large limb had been blown
out, and having rotted had formed a hollow one foot deep
and two feet in diameter. The eggs were eleven in number
and were in all stages of incubation, from perfectly fresh
to those that were well advanced, but by carefulness in
blowing, I succeeded in getting them in prime condition.
Would like to askif any one has a larger set?”

5

(ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

OOLOGIST

$1.50 per

FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuB.LisuEr. Single Copy
Annum. Established, March, 1875. 15 Cents.
oe X. Pa Lees Ree ley Wins, 1885): No. 7

On the Sane ee Ghanees OF Bee
age in Birds.

BY ALFRED CRAWHALL CHAPMAN.

No doubt naturalists have frequently observed
the great dissimilarity in the seasonal plumages
of many species of birds. This is strikingly no-
ticeable in the case of the Golden Plover. On
the Northumberland moors the Golden Plover
may be said to breed commonly. Small parties
of them may be seen frequenting the lower
grounds all through the Winter. About the be-
ginning of February the change from the white
breast of Winter to the black of Summer com-
mences, and gradually increases until the bird
has attained its full Summer dress. When on
the wing these dark-breasted birds appear to be
much blacker than they really are. Having shot
what appears to be a very black-breasted bird,
one finds that many of the white feathers of
Winter are still visible, giving the bird a check-
ered appearance.

What appears most strange is that these birds
never reach what is considered the typically adult
Summer plumage of the Golden Plover. It mat-
ters not at what period of the breeding season,
this undeveloped plumage is always conspicuous.
Now, I would ask, what is the natural cause of
this ?

Even in Shetland the Summer
Golden Plover is much darker, ¢.¢
oped than in Northumberland ; but if we visit
Lapland or Siberia, we find there the Golden
Plover in what we consider their typically adult
Summer dress. If they had to endure greater
cold or stress of weather at their northern breed-
ing-stations, one could perhaps account for the
more adult form of plumage by a greater thick-
ness of feathers; but such is not the case. In-
deed, I venture to say that the Northumberland
birds have, if anything, the greater cold to en-
dure. Perhaps it is that the birds which frequent
our moors in Winter are not the birds which re-
main to breed with us; possibly all these birds

the
, more devel-

dress of

Copyright, 1885, by FRANK B.

migrate northwards to Lapland and Siberia, their
places being taken by another and different set of
birds, which have spent their Winter in more
southerly latitudes, and which make our counties
the northern limit for their Spring migration.
This is a theory difficult to solve. It may be that
the reverse is the case, and that the birds which
Winter also remain to breed with us, and that
there is a great migration from the Mediterranean
direct to the morasses and tundras of Siberia.

I think, perhaps, this is most likely to be the
case, as many specimens of birds which seldom
breed south of the Arctic circle are regularly ob-
tained in their adult Summer plumage in the very
south of Europe, about the middle of May.

My brother, Mr. Abel Chapman, shot Curlew
Sandpipers, (Zringa subarquata), in their rich ru-
fous plumage, as well as Grey Plovers, (Charadrius
helvetica), in adult Summer dress, on the Guade-
lete, near Jerez, in Southern Spain, on May 8th,
and these birds would have about 3000 miles to
travel northwards before they could find a suita-
ble breeding-ground ; although perbaps it is not
necessary to mention here that the Curlew Sand-
piper is, I helieve, the only British bird whose
The rapidity

nest has never yet been discovered
with which birds execute their Spring and Au-
tumn migrations must be something marvellous,
for I have shot Bartailed Godwits on the coast of
Northumberland returning from breeding as ear-
ly as August 11th, while by the 2oth most of the
northern breeding species, such as Greenshanks,

Reeves, Sanderlings, Knots, Turnstones, &c., can
be obtained.
On comparing skins of the Brambling, (47i-

gilla montifringilla), shot in the Dovre Fjeld in
Norway, with those obtained at a similar season
in East Finmark, I notice the same relative differ-
ence in their stages of mature plumage as I have
remarked in the case of the Golden Plover. The
Finmark birds have the head, neck, and upper
part of the back, of a rich glossy black, like our
common Rook, whilst the Dovre Fjeld birds have
the ends of the feathers edged with buff, show-

"WEBSTER and EaToN CLIFF.

98

[Vol. 10-No. 7

ORNITHOLOGIST

ing the undeveloped change from their Winter
plumage. This would seem to indicate that the
further north a bird goes to breed, the more per-
fect must the condition of the bird become, each
feather seeming to obtain greater vitality than in
the more southerly species, and, as a consequence
of this, the gradual change of color is extended
further down each feather, till the whole of the
feather, with the exception of that portion which
wears off, becomes black. Probably the change
from Spring to Summer and from Summer to
Autumn plumage is effected both by means of
change of color in the feather itself, and by
moult, according to the physical condition of the
bird at the time.

It seems probable that the theory which holds
good with regard to the changes of plumage in
the true Falcons applies also to the case of the
common Buzzard, (Buteo vulgaris), and perhaps
the following notes on the plumage of the latter
species may be of interest :

During the months of May and June, 1878, my
brother and I obtained many beautiful specimens
of both old and young Common Buzzards in the
large woods near Hesse-Cassell, in Central Ger-
many. They seemed to be very common there,
probably because they were quite unmolested.

On May 11th we found a nest containing
two down-clad young, which were pure white,
and one egg hatching ; both the old birds were a
uniform dark-brown, the male being much the
smaller of the two.

On May 26th we found two nests, each con-
taining two eggs; in the one case nearly hatch-
ing, in the other quite fresh. We trapped the
old birds, and found them in similar plumage to
those already described.

On June 8th found a nest containing two half-
grown young. Their breasts were a spotless
cream-color, their backs mottled not unlike an
untledged Lesser Black-backed Gull. We reared
these two young ones; by the beginning of July
they had moulted their nest plumage ; the breasts
and under parts coming mottled brown, but di-
vided by broad pale yellow stripes running longi-
tudinally down the back. The tails were already
a fine russet color, barred with brown. We kept
these two birds till the Autumn of the year after
they were hatched, and at this time they still
maintained the plumage of the first moult un-
changed.

Their irides, however, which had been
a pale transparent blue, were now gradually
turning yellow. This change in the color of the
irides seems to be; in some cases, contemporane-
ous with the change of color in the plumage of
the bird’s head, and is especially conspicuous in
the case of the Marsh Harrier, (Circus eruginosus)

and Red Kite, (Milows tetinus). In both of the
latter the irides change with the head, being
nearly black when the head is very dark-colored
(as in the young Marsh Harrier,) hazel when the
head is brown, and pale yellow, approaching to
white, when the head becomes white, as in the
old birds.

With regard to the plumage of the parent birds
of the two young ones which we reared, nothing
could exceed the beauty of the male. With the
exception of a fawn-colored bar across the breast,
the dark primaries and secondaries, a few bold
blotches of brown on the back, and a golden-col-
ored tail barred with brown, his whole plumage
was nearly pure white. The female had a cream-
colored breast and under parts, a handsome
brown and white checkered back, the head
brown, and the tail as in the male.

Though I have secn a good many nests of
both the Rough-legged and Common Buzzard, I
never saw the former nesting in a tree, or the lat-
ter otherwise than in a tree, usually rather high
up. All the nests of the rough-legged species
which I have seen have been on fell-crags, nor
does the plumage of this species seem to exhibit
nearly so great a variation as in Buteo vulgaris.

The irides in B. lagopus darken in color with
the age of the bird, the adults having a hazel iris,
those of the immature birds being yellow. This
is certainly a striking anomaly, and shows how
difficult it is to establish, even from observation,
any reliable code for Nature’s rules.—T'he Zoologist.

Observations on Faunal Changes in
Franklin Co., Ind.

BY A. W. BUTLER.

CLASS: BIRDS.

Thryomanes bewicki, (Aud.), Baird—Bewick’s
Wren.—In 1856 Dr. Haymond had seen none of
this species; between this time and 1869 he iden-
tified a few specimens. From that time to 1877
no specimens were recorded. In April of the
latter year E. R. Quick identified four examples
of this Wren. From that time to 1881 a few
specimens were occasionally seen ; since the latter
date, however, each year has shown an increased
number of specimens. At this time I consider it
to bea Summer resident and not uncommon.

Dendraca cerulea, (Wils.), Baird.—Czrulean
Warbler—Formerly unknown from this locality.
A few years since it was considered a rare bird
here ; now, excepting the Redstart, it is the most
common of the tree inhabiting Warblers.

Petrochelidon lunifrons, (Say), Lawr.—Cliff
Swallow, Eave Swallow.— These Swallows first

July, 1885.)

f AND OOLOGIST. 99

built their nests in this county in 1849. Previous
to that time they were occasionally seen as mi-
grants” (Haymond). They are now very com-
mon in certain localities. They sometimes occu-
py an out-building for years as a nesting place and
then leave for a new site, perhaps never to return.
But few colonies are found along the river valleys ;
they appear to seek the upland.

_ Chondestes grammica, (Say), Bp.—Lark Finch.
—This species was not recognized in this part of
the State by any early investigators. It was first
recognized in this county about 1877, and has ap-
peared regularly every year since in increasing
numbers. It isnow not uncommon as a Summer
resident.

Passer domesticus, (Linn.), Leach.—European
House Sparrow.—A common and unwelcome
alien, known everywhere as “English Sparrow.”
They first appeared in Franklin county in 1878.
Since that time they have increased in numbers
until they are now the most common representa-
tive of their family.

Spiza americana, (Gm.), Bp.—Black-throated
Bunting —Not recognized from this county until
a few years since. Dr. Haymond had not seen it
in 1869. Now its rattling note may be heard from
almost every field of our upland farms.

Molothrus ater, (Bodd.), Gray —Cowbird.—This
species was, forty years ago, of rare occurrence in
this region. It has steadily increased in numbers
until it is now a common Summer resident.

Corvus corax carnivorus, (Bart.), Ridg—Raven.
—None have been seen since 1868. They were
formerly quite common in this county.

Campephilus principals, (Linn.), Gray.—lvory-
billed Woodpecker.—‘ These birds were found in
the swampy woodland in the eastern part of this
county about sixty years ago” (Ilaymond).

Hylotomus pileatus, (Linn.), Baird.—Pileated
Woodpecker.—A common resident at the time of
the settlement of this county. This bird was
known to the old settlers as “ Woodcock” and
“Black Woodcock.” None have been seen here
since 1845, but they are still found in the newly
settled portions of the State.

Conurus carolinensis, (Linn.), Kuabl.—Carolina
Parakeet.—These birds were not uncommon at
the early settlement of this county. Most of the
old inhabitants know them by this name, and can
sive interesting accounts of their habits. The last
Parakeets were seen here in 1828.

Strix nebulosa, Forst.—Barred Ow].—This Owl
was formerly quite numerous in the Whitewater
Valley. Of late years, they have been but rarely
seen. In 1877 I obtained two specimens which
are the last I have known in the county.

Catharista atrata, (Wils.), Less.—Black Vulture.
—First identified in 1877; since which time it has
been seen every Winter. It is apparently becom-
ing more common.

Ectopistes migratoria, (Linn.), Sw.—Passenger
or Wild Pigeon.—Within the last twenty years
Wild Pigeons have been very common, but since
1875 few have been seen. Our old citizens tell of
immense flocks, and wonderful “pigeon roosts”
in this county. In January and February, 1894,
there was a pigeon roost about two miles north of
Brookville. I can scarcely credit accounts told
me of their numbers at this time, yet the narrators
are perfectly reliable and Iam compelled to be-
lieve them. These birds are rapidly disappearing
and ina few years will, I doubt not, be a thing of
the past.

Meleagris gallopavo americana, (Batr.), Coues.—
Wild Turkey.—Turkeys were as common here
formerly, perhaps, as in any part of the Ohio
Valley. They have gradually disappeared and I
suppose there are none now to be found in the
county. The last one was seen in this vicinily
about six years ago. They are still occasionally
killed in the adjoining county, Ripley.

Ortyx virginiana, (Linn,), Bp.—Bob-White ;
American Quail—Formerly very numerous.
They were found in considerable quantities up to
the Winter of 1878-9. weather of
that year destroyed many covies; since that time
they have not increased much, if any, in numbers,
—Bulletin No. 1 of Brookville Soc. of Nat. list.

The severe

Peculiar Eggs.
BY C. H. WILDER, WAYLAND, N. Y.

I notice in the June numbera note on a peculiar
A few notes on
the subject may be of interest. Fora fuller dis-
cussion, those who have files of the Oologist, the
O. and O,, and the Young Oologist, may refer to
the following places, whence I have drawn this:
Oon., Vol. 4, p. 11, Travesty Extraordinary.
“ 17, A Nondescript Egg.
“ 95, That Nondescript Egg.

Orn. & Oot., Vol. 6, p. 28, White Eggs of the
Eastern Bluebird.

Also to the following notes on Spotted Eggs of
the Common Robin :

Orn. & Oot.. Vol. 6, p. 79.

fe “ 9, p. 76 and 109.

Yo. Oou., Vol. 1, p. 131, 144 and 147.

Dr: T. M. Brewer wrote: “* * * any egg,
always excepting a Woodpecker’s, is liable to be
marked (stained) by minute effusions of colored
lymph of the parent in its exclusion.” And again
he wrote: “To what extent this liability of eggs,

set of eggs of Scops trichopsis.

“ «“

“ “

100

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 7

usually immaculate, to be stained by the over-ex-
cited ovi-ducts of the parent may exist is purely
conjectural.”

Dr. James §. Bailey cited an instance of hybri-
dity between a Dominique Cock and a Guinea
Hen. The eggs were not different from those of pure
Guinea-fowl parentage; they hatched, but the
time of incubation and the coloration of the
chicks were affected. One of the latter came to
maturity and was substantial evidence of the un-
natural fecundation. I quote from Dr Bailey:
“Tt is a well-known fact that members of the Finch
family cross, as the Goldfinch and Canary, but it
is positively known that the color of the eggs is
not changed from that peculiar to the parent bird
which lays them.” According to Dr. Brewer,
“Audubon claimed to have taken spotted eggs of
the Three-toed Woodpecker.”

My conclusions are: 1. Natural hybrids are
rare, most cases being traceable to domestication.

2. Hybridization is known not to change the
characteristics of eggs.

3. Abnormities are known to arise from natur-
al causes, and I should regard the eggs mentioned
by your correspondent as merely a freak of na-
ture, explainable by Dr, Brewer's hypothesis.

[As bearing on this question of Hybridization,
we insert the following from Hardwicke’s
“Science-Gossip” (No. 246, page 149). Referring
to the Royston or Hooded Crow, (Corvus corniz).
“Mr. Henry Seebohm, a great authority on orni-
thological questions, and well versed in the habits
of migratory birds, makes out a strong case
against the Royston Crow for its dispsition to in-
terbreed with the Carrion Crow and other mem-
bers of the family. The opinion of so accurate
an observer is of course entitled to the highest re-
spect, and yet it is not a little singular that the
present representatives of the Hooded Crow, as
they are caught in the neighborhood of Royston
Heath, are as distinctly specific as any of their
predecessors, with the same distinct light grey
markings as of old, and no perceptible traces of
hybridization. Indeed, I am informed by Mr.
Norman, a naturalist, whose business of taxider-
my, and that of his father before him, has for a
period of sixty years enjoyed a more than local
repute, that although many specimens of the local
and general rar@ aves have passed through their
hands, yet during the whole of that period only
one specimen of the Hooded Crow has ever come
under their notice showing traces of hybridization.
With this there was the uncertain element of its
being a young bird; but on being submitted to Mr.
Gold, of London, it was pronounced by him to be
a hybrid, and the result of interbreeding between
the Royston and Carrion Crows, This specimen

is now in the collection of Lord Braybrooke at
Audley End. With but this solitary piece of evi-
dence in so long a period, my informant naturally
asks, “Where do the hybrids go, if there is such
an interbreeding?” The point is one that I must
leave to those more competent to deal with. It
is not likely, however, that such an accurate and
patient observer as Mr. Seebohm would counte-
nance such a theory without the fullest justifica-
tion; but if the Carrion Crow is generally as rare
as it is now becoming in the home counties, his
local namesake, if he persist in his ways, will have
to seek an alliance with the more numerous rook
family. But common fairness compels me to ad-
mit that, at least, as he is seen in his Winter
quarters, Corvus cornix may fairly claim that his
family escutcheon is comparatively untarnished,
and that he can boast the same bold markings and
motley plumage as of old.”—Eb.]

A Florida Heronry.

On the 6th inst., I left Orlando in company
with Mr. J. L. Mott, to visit his place on Lake
Gentry, in Brevard county, Fla. The inducement
held out by Mr. Mott was that he would show me
the largest bird rookery in the State, which
promise I am happy to state was to my own satis-
faction completely verified. The rookery men-
tioned coversan entire eighty acre tract of ground,
of which Mr. Mott is the sole owner and possessor.
This tract has from time immemorial been the
nesting place of countless myriads of water fowl,
and the immense amount of bird guano deposited
there is almost incalculable. I made an examina-
tion of the deposit in many places throughout the
rookery, and do not feel that it would be exagger-
ating in the least to state that one million barrels
would not contain the guano that has been de-
posited, and still remains, on the eighty acre tract.
In fact, so large has been the deposit that the
natural outlet of Lake Gentry, which flows
through the rookery, has been choked by it to
that extent that the water in the lake has been
raised from two to three feet above its natural
level. In regard to the statement made that this
was the largest bird rookery in the State, I will
state for the benefit of any unbeliever (if such
there be), that I have followed the practice of
hunting Florida birds for their plumage, during
the proper season, for the past fourteen years, and
during that period have visited almost every
rookery of any note in the State, often being gone
from home for months at a time, and have never
before seen a bird rookery extending over more
than three or four acres. I was at the rookery
during the greater portion of three days ; went all
over it, impelled by a proverbial Yankee curiosity,

July, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

101

to ascertain the different kinds of birds nesting
there. I found there nine kinds of Heron, namely :
Wurdemann Heron, Snowy Heron, Night Heron,
Golden-crowned Heron, Louisiana Heron, Blue
Heron, Green Heron, Small White Heron and
Egret. Of the Ibis I found but two species, the
Large Wood Ibis (sometimes called the Horse
Gannett) and the Small White Ibis, which is also
called the White Curlew, of which latter species
of Ibis mentioned, the rookery is largely com-
posed. I also found there the Cormorant, Water
Turkey, Rosy Spoonbill and the Great Bittern ;
in all fifteen varieties of water fowl, not including
a vast number of Buzzards, Crows, &c. Some
idea of the rookery may be obtained by one who
is not prepared to visit it in person, by a state-
ment of what came under my own observation
while there. I counted on one small maple tree
thirty-three nests while standing on the ground,
but upon climbing the same tree I found over
eighty nests, each one containing from three to
five eggs about the size of hens’ eggs. Upon
another tree, a black gum, I counted one hundred
and eighteen nests. As Mr. Mott had assured me
that there were no less than one million birds in
the rookery, I had the curiosity to make an esti-
mate for myself. Allowing one nest to every two
square feet of surface (which all who have seen it
think is a low estimate), the number of nests on
the eighty acres would be 1,742,400. Counting
two birds to each nest, the number of birds would
be 3,484,800. Now estimating that each pair of
birds only succeed in rearing two young, it would
give the enormous amount of 6,969,600 birds at
the close of the nesting season—almost seven mil-
lion. But perhaps you will say that such a state-
ment is incredible. .Very well then. I have only
to say, go and see for yourself, as I did; Mr. Mott
will show you around willingly. But I would
advise you to take your vinaigrette along with
you, for the stench of the rookery is actually
abominable. With the wind direct from the
rookery, the smell is discernible for nearly a mile.
Although shooting in the rookery is strictly pro-
hibited, yet through the courtesy of Mr, Mott I
was allowed to obtain a few choice specimens.—
EB. A, Richards in Orange Co., (Fla.) Reporter.

The Nest and Eggs of the Blue Yel-
low-backed Warbler.

(Parula americana.)

BY 8S. ALBERT SHAW, HAMPTON, N. HT.

I noted the first arrival of this species on May
13th, but on the 21st and 22d they were more nu-
merous than I had ever observed them to be be-
fore, On the 25th, after a tramp over a piece of

swampy woodland, consisting of Oaks, Maples
and Black Birches, I had paused to rest for a few
minutes, meanwhile watching various Warblers
flitting about among the treetops. After a while
my attention was attracted by a small bird which
returned several times to the same spot on a limb
of a Black Birch three feet from the trunk and
thirty-five from the ground. While watching it,
the bird flew down to a bush not ten feet from me,
then to the foot of a Birch, procured a piece of
lichen and returned to the limb, as I had seen it
do before.

I was highly pleased to recognize the bird as
the Blue Yellow-backed Warbler. I visited the
place on June 6th, and found the nest completed
and containing two eggs. Three days later there
were five eggs, and I secured them with the nest.
The latter was formed beneath a nearly horizon-
tal branch, one inch in diameter, by bending
down on each side some long sprays froma bunch
of lichens growing on the upper side of the limb,
and weaving the ends together underneath, filling
in with finer pieces of the same material together
with a few pieces of dried grass, apparently form-
ing a loose and flimsy structure; but on touching
it one is surprised at its strength and firmness.
Its outside dimensions are as follows: Length,
31g inches; width, 214 inches; depth, 2 inches.
Each end is left open, the one for entrance being
much more rounded and finished than the other.
Each egg had exactly the same measure, viz: .50x
.65 ofan inch. They are white, thickly sprinkled
with dark lilac about the larger end.

Among the Migrants at Hamilton,
Ontario.

BY K. C. MCILWRAITH.

Two years ago when looking around for out
door exercise with an object, I turned my attention
to collecting birds and making up the skins. I
need scarcely say that this has suited my purpose
admirably, besides affording a great deal of en-
joyment. As many of your readers may be simi-
larly situated to myself I have thought it might
interest them to hear the result of one or two
short collecting trips which I have recently made
with considerable success.

Being at school, Saturday is my only available
day, and the second and third Saturdays in May
are looked forward to with more interest than any
others of the year. This year there was a slight
increase in the number of the early species about
the 10th of May, but from that date until the
21st, the weather was bright and cool and bird
life remarkably still. On the 22d it rained
slightly all day and kept on during thenight. On

[Vol. 10-No. 7

the morning of Saturday, the 23d, the rain had
ceased but everything was enveloped in thick fog.
I liked the look of the morning very much, and
leaving the city at about 6 a. m., drove six miles
to a well known point, where I tied up the horse
and soon had plenty to do. From the numbers
of small birds which swarmed everywhere it was
evident that a “wave” had been passing over, but
had been delayed by the fog and now the only
difficulty was to select the most desirable species.
I tried to do this as I best could, but after all
brought down some common ones by mistake. I
stayed till 11 o'clock, and then returned with the
following “ bag”:

1 Carolina Rail, 1 Scarlet Tanager, 1 Oven
Bird, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Wood Pewee, 1 Yellow-
bellied Flycatcher, 1 Swamp Sparrow, 2 Redstarts,
1 Alice’s Thrush, 2 Lineoln’s Sparrows, 3 Black-
burnian Warblers, 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 3
Spotted Canadian Warblers, 1 Yellow-rump
Warbler, 1 Black-and-yellow Warbler, 1 Nash-
ville Warbler, 2 Bay-breasted Warblers, 2 Green
Black-capped Warblers, 5 Mourning Warblers, 2
Connecticut Warblers. The above were collected
by two guns between 7 and 11 o'clock.

In the afternoon another of our party visited
the same locality and returned at 7 p.m. with 1
Whip-poor-Will, 1 Titlark, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 1
Short-billed Water Thrush, 4 Spotted Canadian
Warblers, 1 Hooded Warbler, 5 Bay-breasted
Warblers, 1 Black-throated Green Warbler, 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler, 1 Black-and- Yellow
Warbler, 2 Mourning Warblers, 1 Connecticut
Warbler, 2 Green Black-capped Warblers.

Sunday the weather was still foggy, and on
Monday, the 25th, it began to clear away. This
day being Queen’s Birthday, and a holiday, I was
again at liberty, and with my former companion
reached the same point at 7 a. m. and returned at
noon with the following birds: 2 Blue Jays, 3
Black-billed Cuckoos, 2 Carolina Doves, 1 Marsh
Wren, 1 Indigo Bird, 2 Lincoln’s Sparrows, 2
Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, 1 Warbling Vireo, 4
Mourning Warblers, 2 Black-throated Blue War-
bler, 1 Black-and-yellow Warbler, 2 Blue Yellow-
backed Warblers, 1 Blackburnian Warbler, 2
Green Black-capped Warblers, 2 Black-poll War-
blers, 1 Maryland Yellow-throat, 1 Spotted Can-
adian Flycatching Warbler, 1 Redstart.

Tuesday, the 26th, was bright and clear, the
same locality was visited again by one of our
party, but except a few Black-polls which were
loitering about, all the migratory birds were gone,
to be seen no more for a time. We have usually
got one or two Mourning Warblers at this point
each year but never so many as this time. The
Lincoln's Sparrow, Hooded Warbler and Connecti-
cut Warbler are all first records for the locality.

102 ORNITHOLOGIST

Notes on the Zoology of Manitoba.

BY THE LATE T. B. WOOD.

(Communicated by T. Hl. NEtson to The Zoologist.)

[The following notes are extracted from the
letters of my late friend Mr. T. B. Wood, of
Middleton, near Manchester, who went out to
Manitoba in the Spring of 1882, and who lived
for some time at Brandon, in the North West, the
then terminus of the C. P. Railway. Mr. Wood
was an enthusiastic naturalist, and, unfortunately,
fell a victim in the cause of his favorite pursuit.
One day, towards the end of Otober, 1883, having
shot a rare Duck (a Buffel-head, I believe) on a
slough, he incautiously waded into the water up
to his waist to retrieve the bird, thereby contract-
ing a severe cold and inflammation, which result-
ed in his death in a very short time.

As may be seen from his notes, the neighbor-
hood of Brandon abounds in animal life, espec-
ially at the periods of the vernal and Autumnal
migrations.

Mr. Wood was busily engaged in forming a
collection of skins of the birds and other animals
which are found in the North West, and it was
his intention to have prepared a list of Manitoban
Birds for publication in ‘The Zoologist, when
his career was prematurely cut short, in the man-
ner mentioned, at the early age of twenty-six.

The period over which his observations ex-
tended was from the end of May, 1882, to Octo-
ber, 1883, the first letter after his arrival at Bran-
don being dated May 31st, 1882, in which, after
detailing his first experiences of Canadian life,
and describing the town of Brandon, he proceeds
in manner following.—T. H..N.]

On the journey from Minneapolis to Winnipeg,
and thence to Brandon, we saw great numbers of
Ducks, Herons, Bitterns, Goatsuckers, Plovers,
Buzzards, Hawks, Prairie Chickens, Geese, and
other birds which I did not recognize ; as also a
great many Foxes and Squirrels. The land all
around here is as flat as a pancake, with a few
scrubby trees occasionally, and here and there
swamps on which you will always see Ducks and
a Bittern or two. The day after my arriyal I saw
a herd of Bisons.

June 15th.—Early this month, B. and I drove
out to Jeoman city and thence south across the
prairie; we camped out about ten miles from
Brandon and resumed our journey next day, un-
til we were about eighteen miles in a southerly
direction from Brandon. It is about the finest
country you could imagine in the wildest flights
of fancy; Ducks getting up under your feet at
every yard; Hawks, Goatsuckers, Prairie Chick-

July, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

103

ens, and small birds in all directions; and, what
do you think? the Black Tern breeding in hun-
dreds; over a space of six miles I saw them in
countless numbers. The Ducks were principally
Blue-winged Teal, Pintails, Shovellers, and a
black-looking Duck which I could not identify.
IT shot a Teal and a splendid Shoveller drake for
the pot. I can fancy I hear you exclaiming
against the barbarism of eating such a bird; but I
am getting daily accustomed to birds which are
considered rare in England, and regard them
now from a more utilitarian point of view. I
also saw a splendid pair of [Wilson’s] Phalarope
swimming on a pool only a few yards away ; one
of them kept rising and flying round, and I could
distinguish the beautiful red and black neck
quite plainly. We camped for the second night
on the prairie, and the mosquitoes were very
troublesome to my companion, but fortunately,
they did not attack me; and we returned to
Brandon next day.

July 2d.—Ahbout the end of June we paid an-
other short visit to the swamp and brought home
a few more Shovellers. I have a Goatsucker sit-
ting on two eggs just in front of my tent; and
there are any number of Prairie Chickens’ nests
all around, most of them now containing young
ones. Brandon looks lovely at night with fire-
flies flashing about like diamonds all over the
prairie. I killed a Badger, a Goatsucker, and a
Pintail, near here yesterday.

July 19th.—Early this month I was staying
with a friend twelve miles away, at Badger Hill,
close to the Assiniboine River, and surrounded
by immense forests of Oak, Pine, and Tamarac.
The first evening of my arrival my friend and I
sallied forth in search of game. I spied some-
thing moving along in the grass, and immediately
firing at it with my rifle, had the satisfaction of
seeing the beast roll over. Ona nearer approach,
however, we were unpleasantly apprised of the
nature of the animal, for the odor which greeted
our’ nostrils proclaimed the everlasting Skunk.
Needless to say, we beat a hasty retreat. Next
day we were busy cutting down trees, fencing
and digging; now and then rushing with the gun
after some 7a7a avis passing near. I shot half-a-
dozen large Hawks and Owls, and skinned two ;
one, I think, the Hawk Owl, (Surnia funerea), and
the other, one of the Harriers, (Circus swainsoni),
almost the color of a common Gull. I also got
a beautiful little Hawk, about the size of a Mer-
lin, with blue wings and back like a Kestrel, blue
and red head and red feet, apparently 7Tinnunecu-
lus sparverius ; and a fine Grey Shrike, exactly
like our English species. I could shoot any
number of birds if I liked, but only secure spec-

imens when I have time to skin them, except in
the case of Hawks, which I slay on most ocea-
sions when opportunity offers. All I have got so
far I have skinned, though I have to do that part
of the collecting when the day’s work is over.
When at Badger Hill we got up at 5a. m. every
morning, made up the fire, and then strolled
down tothe river with the gun and looked at our
fishing lines; then back to cook what we had
caught for breakfast. We got some immense fish
at times. After breakfast we had a drive over
the prairie or a row down the river. One day
we were driving out, when suddenly we were
saluted by the well-known cry of the Curlew
(bringing back recollections of the Tees Mouth
and Mostyn to my mind). There they were in
couples; one foolishly passed over us, and I fired
at it from the carriage; down it came, and then
another bit the dust. They were very like our
English Curlew, but buff-colored on the breast
and under the wings, and the same tinge runs all
over the body. I guess it was the Esquimaux
Curlew.* We plucked and ate them; but I will
get specimens to preserve. Prairie Chickens are
getting strong on the wing, and in another fort-
night I shall be after them. The other night I
scared a Wolf outside my tent, but did not get a
shot at it.

August 5th. I have been staying at Badger
Hill a good deal lately, and I have done a little
shooting. One day early in the month two guns
bagged twenty-two Ducks and two Grebes. The
Ducks are difficult to retrieve, and we lose quite
one-half of what we shoot in the reeds. I shot
two Yellowshanks, (Zotanus flavipes,) and could
have killed many more, but don’t waste cartridges
on such small game. On the way out here I got
a fine Buzzard ; its crop was full of grasshoppers
and mosquitoes. The sail down the Assiniboine
is very grand: woods on both sides resound with
the songs of myriads of birds of different kinds.
I only fired two shots down the river and se-
cured two beautiful Kingfishers, (Ceryle aleyon).
They are a little larger than our Green Wood-
pecker, and about the same shape. I saw some
Sandpipers very like our common Sandpiper,
{doubtless the Spotted Sandpiper, 7. maculartus.]
Birds are beginning to flock, and in a few weeks
the migration south will commence.

* [As nothing is said as to size, length of bill, wing, or
tarsus, it is impossible to identify the species with certain-
ty; but if ‘very like our English Curlew,” it was most
probably Numenius longirostris ; for Numenius hudsonicus
would have reminded the shooter of our Whimbre!, while
the Esquimaux Curlew is so much smaller than either of
these that it would have at once attracted attention on that

account.—ED.] ;
(To be continued.)

~ 104

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 7

THE
ORNITH OL OGKen

—AND—

OVOLUGISE:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NAT U RAG ees eRe.

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF
BIRDS.
THEIR NESTS. AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES

AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE,

FRANK B.

PAWTUCKET, R. I.

WEBSTER, Publisher,

Editor’s Notes.

Our readers will miss this month our
usual contributions from Prof. W. W.
Cooke and Dr. Morris Gibbs. We hope to
insert a continuation of their notes in our
August number.

“Tast Summer,” say the London Graph-
ic, “a Swallow made its nest in a house at
Ronneburg in the duchy of Saxe Altenburg,
and became very friendly with the family.
Just before the Autumn migration the
owner of the house tied a waterproof label
under the Swallow's wing, writing in Ger
man on the paper that he would like to
know where the bird wintered. This Sum-
mer the bird has returned to its German
nest, bringing back a similar label inscribed
in German, ‘In Florence, at C—'s house,
and I bear many salutations.’ ”

In our January number we asked our
readers in the different States to send us
information as to the ‘‘course to beadopted
to obtain a permit to collect eggs and skins
of birds” In response we have received
from yarious States printed copies of the
regulations regarding Game Puotection,
but our information upon the special point
of interest to many of our readers remains
about as meagre as before. The point

upon which information is desired is how
exemption from these regulations may be
obtained by bona fide ornithologists.

The season of 1885 seems to have been
an unusually favorable one for the breed-
ing of the English Sparrow—judging from
our own observations as well as accounts
from various sources We have been in-
clined to take the side of the bird against
his enemies and traducers, but find our-
selves coming to look upon him as a nuis-
ance. While unwilling to lose sight of his
usefulness as an insect destroyer, we would
much like to have him a little “less nu-
merous.”

Notes on the Water Birds of Em-
poria, Kansas.

BY V. L. KELLOGG,

The larger part of our water birds is, of course,
only here during the migration in the Spring ard
Fall, but we have a few Summer residents. In
this paper I will speak of the Ducks, only, from
among our water birds. Col. Goss in his cata-
logue of the Birds of Kansas mentions twenty-one
species that are found in the State, of which
twenty have been seen here. The one not yet
noted is the Red-breasted Merganser, (Mergus ser-
rator,) catalogued by Col. Goss as migratory, rare.

The Wood Duck, (Adv sponsu,) is the only
Duck commonly breeding here through this year.
I have taken several sets of eggs of the Blue-
winged Teal, (Querquedula discors.) During mi-
gration in the Spring this Duck is here in greater
numbers than any other. Other common mi-
grants are the Mallard, (Anas boscas,) (may breed
here, having been seen quite late in the season ;)
Gadwall, (Chaulelasmus streperus); Pintail, (Dafila
acuta); Widgeon, (Mareca americana); Shoveller,
(Spatula elypeata); Green-winged Teal, (Wettion
carolinensis); Lesser Scaup, (Fulix affinis); Ruddy,
(Hrismatura rubida); Buflehead, (Clangula al-
beola); and Redhead, (#thyia americana).

The Canvas-back, (dthyia vallisneria,) and
Ring-bill (Flix collaris,) may be classified as not
uncommon, while the Greater Scaup, (Hulix
marila,) American Golden-eye, (Clangula glaucium
americana,) Dusky Duck, (Anas obsewra,) and
Cinnamon Teal, (Querquedula cyanoptera,) have
all been found here, but are rare. Especially is
this so of the Cinnamon Teal, there having been,
as far as I know, but three reports of its having

— > ?

July, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

105

been taken in the State, one in Gone county, once
at Wallace (?), both being in the extreme western
portion of the State, and once here. During the
Winter, if open water can be found, the Buff
breasted, (Mergus merganser americanus,) and
Hooded Mergansers, (Lophodytes cucullatus,) may
be seen.

During the Spring migration Ducks are much
more plentiful and stay with us much longer than
in the Fall. In point of arrival the Pintails,
Green-wing Teal, Mallards and Redheads are the
earliest, first appearing about March 1st, the Blue-
wing Teal and Shoveller being generally the last,
arriving about the 1st of April and staying until
the middle of Juue. There not being much water
here causes what there is during the Spring to be
well supplied with birds, and an insignificant little
puddle may be a famous spot for hunting. In
the Fall the Ducks hurry swiftly by, compara-
tively few stopping. Here the favorite duck for
eating is the Mallard, being large, and of mild
flavor, but people who think that a Duck is a
Duck, one being as good as another, naturally be-
come disgusted with Ducks when they try to eat
such things as Mergansers, “Sheol” Divers and
the like. I have seen people at a meat market buy
Ruddy Ducks in preference to nice little Green-
wing Teal because they (the Ruddys) seemed, on
account of their shape, so much fatter and
plumper.

A Birds’-Nesting Ramble in Lapland.

BY ALFRED CRAWHALL CHAPMAN. (The Ibis.)

The ornithology of the extreme northwest of
Europe has not been treated of for some years in
The Ibis, so perhaps the following account of a
trip to East Finmark during the Spring of 1884,
may be of interest. The district visited was the
valley of the Tana, one of the great rivers which
drain the area lying between the North Cape and
the Gulf of Bothnia. The Tana and the Muonio-
Tornea rivers have their source in the same dis-
trict, the former flowing northwards into the
Tana Fiord, a little to the east of the North Cape:
while the Muonio-Tornea, flowing in a southerly
direction past Muonioniska, the scene of the late
Mr. Wolley’s memorable achievements, empties
itself into the Gulf of Bothnia.

In crossing the North Sea, on May 21st, when
two hundred miles from land, a Whinchat came
on board the steamer and sought shelter near a

yarm steam-pipe; the unfortunate little bird must
have been much fatigued, for shortly afterwards
it fell dead from its perch. On the 22d, during a
short walk in the suburbs of Bergen, I was

pleased to see Pied Flycatchers, the males in fine
black and white plumage. Between the 23d and
26th of May, when going up the fiords, the usual
common seafowl were to be seen; but twice I
observed Brown Eiders, with very pale-colored
heads, which I took to be female King Eiders.
On the 27th we arrived at Bodo, in Nordland,
(lat. 67° N.); and after obtaining permission from
the magistrate there to shoot specimens, we made
our way across what was formerly a marsh, be-
hind the village, but which is now drained. I
suppose it would be here that the Messrs. God-
man found the Great Snipe breeding (Jdis, 1861,
p. 87); now nothing but an cccasional Golden
Plover and numerous Wheatears floated over
the dry tussocks of moss. The first birds that
attracted attention were a pair of Northern Marsh
Tits (Parus borealis) actively searching the lower
stems of the birches for food. They appeared to
be much lighter in color on the underparts than
our Marsh Tits, and the long fluffy plumage of a
slate-blue tinge is wonderfully adapted to resist
the rigors of a northern Winter. Magpies were
very common, and I noticed them breeding in
low bushes in the streets of Bodo. Presently we
got among a colony of Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris),
their nests, which we found in great numbers,
being mostly placed in small Bireh trees, from
three to ten feet from the ground. I remember
looking down on a Fieldfare’s back, as she sat
on her eggs, and remarking how ill- fitted the cir-
cular nest was to the outline of the bird’s body,
for I could see right into the bottom of the nest
on each side of her closed wings, although the
eggs were not visible. The trees being small and
stunted, the nests were necessarily placed close to
the main stem; they were constructed of dry
white grass externally, then about an inch and a
half of wet earth, and an inside lining, about an
inch thick, of dry white grass. The internal
diameter was invariably four inches, and I found
afterwards that those of the Redwing (Turdus
iliacus) were as invariably three and one-half
inches. The old birds occasionally hovered in
the air with jerky flight, after the manner of a
Pipit, uttering a peculiar cry, which could
scarcely be called a song; but I think this is con-
fined to the breeding season; they also kept up a
continual cackling, similar to the familiar note
we hear in Winter. While selecting some of the
finest clutches of eggs, we presently saw a nest of
sticks in the top of a Birch tree, and on approach-
ing, a male Merlin (Fuleo wsalon) dashed off it.
Soon the female Merlin appeared, mobbed by a
screeching crowd of Fieldfares, and I easily se-
cured both these little Falcons. The nest ap-

106

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 7

peared to be newly built, of thick Birch branches
loosely put together, and lined with a little moss,
dead leaves, and a few feathers, but deeper in
the centre than the nests of the Sparrow Hawk
or Kestrel; it contained three very dark-colored
eggs. It struck meas peculiar that these active
and powerful little Falcons should be quietly
nesting in the very midst of a colony of Field-
fares; for there must have been at least a score of
the nests of the latter within a short stone’s throw
of the Merlin’s tree. A single Rough-legged
Buzzard was seen to-day; on the low grounds
Reed Buntings and Willow Wrens were very
common, and a single Chiffchaff was seen and
heard singing lustily, as well as a single Hedge
Sparrow. Blackcocks were “crooing” loudly in
the still evening, and occasionally we flushed a
Willow Grouse, which seemed to be already in
Summer dress; its bold dec-bee on rising exactly
resembles the cry of our British bird. Bramblings
were numerous in the Birch forests, their mono-
tonous drone, like the word eree-ce, being con-
tinually audible; it struck me as resembling the
note of the Greenfinch, but distinctly louder and
shriller. I often saw them floating about in the
woods with quivering wings, somewhat remind-
ing me of the Wood Warbler: but they were
rather wild, and it was some time before I pro-
cured one. Ring Ouzels were common in the
steep heather-clad gorges, and I saw one pair of
Mealy Redpoles sitting together on a dead twig
projecting from some snow, their gray breast-
feathers fluffed out, and looking very disconso-
late. Where the ground was wet, Redshanks
and Snipes kept getting up, and I took an egg
from the oviduct of a Yellow Hammer which I
got here. On the 28th we took a boat, as I had
heard that a pair of White-tailed Eagles bred an-
nually on a rocky island off Bodo. We did not
find them at home, however, so having landed
we amused ourselves by watching a pair of
tavens (Corvus corax) which had a nest in the
face of the crag, containing several young birds
nearly ready to fly. The youngsters frequently
hopped on to the side of the nest, and flapping
their wings, received their first lessons in the art
of flying. Directly they saw us they would drop
back into the nest, whilst the old birds kept fly-
ing round, occasionally uttering a deep guttural
“croak.”

While watching the Ravens, a Kestrel (Fulco
tunnuneulus) flew into the crag and began to
make signs of disapproval at our intrusion here.
ITe seemed to have come to the crag for the pur-
pose of feeding, and on being fired at dropped a
half-eaten Redwing. Here I observed a pair of
Redstarts, and a pair of Common Scoters were

busy diving in an enclosed bay of the sea. Next
day we found the nest of a Hooded Crow (Cor-
ous cornix), containing three newly hatched
young and two eggs; amongst the wool which
lined the nest was a fairly large sheet of a Bodo
newspaper. We also observed a pair of Com-
mon Sandpipers on a small piece of water rather
high up on the hills.

The Loffoden Islands had a fine but wintry
appearance as we steamed past them on the 30th
of May, for from the summit of their jagged
peaks down to the water's edge was one white
expanse of snow. At Harstadhavn, where we
waited several hours, I observed flocks of Com-
mon Gulls (Larus canus) feeding on the patches
of cultivated land. Fieldfares’ nests were also
numerous, but here none of them had eggs yet,
though a Hooded Crow had a nest full of half-
grown young. Magpies were common. On the
31st I observed Arctic Terns for the first time.
The nights now were as light as day, but there
did not seem to be the least sign of Summer.
Tromso was reached in the evening, and there,
according to arrangements made before leaving
England, I met and engaged a Norwegian ser-
vant, afterwards referred to as Trinus, to accom-
pany me on my journey to Lapland.

June 1st—3d. The hills north of Tromso were
clothed in snow to the water's level, and we were
greeted by cold north winds and occasional snow
storms. Nevertheless, at Verholt, in Laxe Fi-
ord, in spite of the cliffs being covered with
snow, Common Gulls already had eggs in num-
bers. On the 4th of June we landed at Stange-
nees, in the Tana Fiord, at 3 a. m., and a dull
and dreary look-out it was—great steep cliffs and
rounded hills, with pure white snow down to the
sea level. Where could we expect to find birds
breeding in such a country? A pair of Merling
were hawking about the shore, chasing and
alarming the small birds (Wheatears, White Wag-
tails, and Titlarks); Cormorants, or Shags,
Eiders, and Mergansers seemed plentiful, and
seals were numerous. We got a boat to take us
from Stangences, at the head of the Tana Fiord, to
a little island called Gulholmen, at the mouth of
the Tana river; but instead of being able to go
straight up the country, as I had intended, I
found that the ice in the river had not yet broken
up, and about two miles above Gulholmen a

q

white line of fast ice extended right across the —

stream, beyond which it was impossible to go.
The river banks and the fells above them were
many feet deep in snow; the Birch forests were
without sign of leaf, and the fell-lakes were all
solid ice. Sledging on the frozen river was not

July, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

considered safe, as Summer was too near; the
use of ‘“‘skiddor” was impractible on account of
the soft state of the snow; and the only means of
getting about was to struggle on foot, sometimes
sinking up to the arms in snow. The natives do
not move about at this season of the year, but
either remain indoors or make short journeys in
their canoe-like boats on the open water at the
mouth of the river.

In rowing up to Gulholmen we had seen several
flocks of Duck sitting in the open water and on
the ice floes in the river. We accordingly gota
boat and went after them. They seemed to
swim very high in the water, with their tails well
up, and kept uttering a melancholy sort of note,
not unlike the mewing of a cat. On our approach
they rose, and a string of ten flying around us, I
managed to drop five, which proved to be Long-
tailed Ducks (arelda glaciulis), already in Sum-
mer plumage. Having landed to explore the
snow-clad hills, we made our way up a consider-
able fell, and were idly throwing stones over a
precipice, when a Rough-legged Buzzard (buteo
lagopus) slipped away from nearly beneath us.
On looking over the crag we could easily see the
large nest below us, containing three eggs, lying
on dry white grass. The old birds kept sailing
around, uttering a loud weird cry, but they
would not come near; so I hid myself and sent
Trinus away to attract the bird’s attention. It
was a long but pleasant wait. The evening was
very still, the air frosty, clear, and refreshing,
and on that dreary fell not a sound was to be
heard, save the occasional merry chirrup of the
male Wheatear. I made a note at the time, how
very much the initial notes of the Wheatear re-
semble those of the Merlin, and several times the
small Chat’s clear voice was mistaken for that
of his most deadly enemy. Suddenly aroused by
the rapid ‘‘swish” of wings close over my head, I
raised my eyes, and could just see the tips of the
tail feathers of the female Buzzard as she sat on
the side of her nest; several loud shouts had to
be given before she realized the position, and
when she flew I secured her. Her general
plumage was a deep rich brown, the inside of the
mouth fiesh color, the irides hazel. As it was
impossible to reach the eggs without a rope, we
made our way back through the snow; and I
well remember my first impressions of the lovely
song of the Blue-throated Warbler (Cyanecula
suecica). Wearing the gush of melody from
amongst some scrub appearing above the snow
surface, and approaching quietly, we presently
detected the rich blue throat of this handsome
Warbler against the white snow. I certainly

think the song of this Warbler exceeds anything
I ever heard; at times it is soft and mellow as
that of a Willow Wren, suddenly striking up to
the angry hissing notes of the Sedge Warbler,
and occasionally finishing with the most astonish-
ing metallic sound, a regular “twang, twang,”
not unlike the tinkling of a bell—whether in
mimicry or natural song is difficult to define. I
noted that the Blue-throat, as well as the Willow
Wren, were in full song at midnight here. How
strange it is that such an insignificant little bird
as the Willow Wren should have such an exten-
sive breeding range, nesting alike in the south of
Spain and on the North Cape! When we re-
turned to our boat to-night great pieces of ice
were slowly floating down the river from the
frozen reaches above.

June 5th. Returned to the Rough-legged Buz-
zard’s nest, taking with us some thirty yards of
rope; but I failed to secure the male Buzzard,
although he was sitting on the eggs when we got
to the place. By a little manipulation we man-
aged to reach the nest, which consisted of a mass
of dead sticks about two feet thick, with a layer
of solid ice about six inches thick immediately
under the new grass lining on which the three
eges were lying. The nest was full of ‘‘pellets,”
consisting of blue fur and small bones, either of
some field mouse or the lemming, and was, I
think, the accumulation of years. Returning
home that night, I secured the male Blue-throat;
singing in the same place as I had seen him yes-
terday. A Hooded Crow’s nest contained four
small young to-day. Long-tailed Ducks kept
continually flying up and down the river, and I
saw two large Geese go up the river at night.

June 6th. Dull and cold, like Winter. Oppo-
site Gulholmen, on the other side of the river, is
a level expanse of snow, from two to four feet
deep, the stunted Birch trees rearing their bare
heads above it all, so that when walking through
the snow it is necessary to push one’s way
through the tops of the Birch forest. In a few
places, however, the snow had melted, leaving
water holes, at the bottom of which grass could
be seen growing; and in these open places many
birds were seeking food, amongst which I recog-
nized Temminck’s Stints (Zringa temminck,) flying
about, with wings erect above their backs, utter-
ing a continuous ‘‘trilling” note, and then sud-
denly diving down into the scrub. They were
very tame, chasing each other about and mani-
festing signs of the approaching breeding season,
Next a pair of Lapland Buntings (Plectrophanes
lapponica) rose from a water hole, the male utter-
ing a clear flute-like song as he perched on the

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 7

summit of a Birch tree. Then a pair of Wood
Sandpipers (Zotanus glareola), with a splendid
loud call note, flew up, one of them deliberately
lighting on the summit of a slender bough and
steadying itself with outstretched wings, the other
seeking shelter in the scrub. Both these birds
and Temminck’s Stint have yellow ochre colored
legs and feet. Blue-throats, Titlarks, Willow
Wrens and Wheatears were also numerous. A
thousand feet above us, in a line of lofty crags,
two pairs of Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus)
and one pair of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) were
circling round, their fine wild cries echoing
through the crags; but when, after a laborious
climb, we reached the summit of this precipice,
they only soared higher, and we could see no
signs of a nest. While sitting here a Raven, also
evidently nesting in the crag, flew past us, his
throat distended with the food he was carrying
for his young. I disturbed a couple of moun-
tain hares here; they were just beginning to get
the grey fur of Summer. Large herds of rein-
deer were also seeking their scanty living of
lichens on the highest fell-tops; these were the
tame animals belonging to the Laps, but already
turned out for the Summer. Here they are al-
lowed to roam at large until the Autumn, and
such is their instinctive dread of the pestilent
mosquito, that they seldom depart from the
highest and coldest parts of the fells. When
skinning birds to-night I found that both the
Temminck’s Stints and the Lapland Buntings
had very small embryo eggs in their ovaries.

June 7th. On our return to the crag opposite
Gulholmen, the Ospreys were there, but only one
pair of Peregrines. When sitting on the crag
top the female Osprey appeared carrying a long
twisted stick in her talons, her long thighs dang-
ling below her. It was evident that she hada
nest, and presently we found it, placed on the
summit of a detached pinnacle of rock projecting
from the main crag. It was utterly inaccessible,
either from above or beloav; but we could see it
contained no eggs, although it was lined out with
green moss, I afterwards shot the female Os-
prey, and found that she had very small eggs in
her ovary; the legs and feet as well as the cere
were a pale pea-green color. On the 8th of June
I observed the only Chaffinch (Fringilla caleds)
that I saw whilst in Finmark.

June 9th. Much snow fell to-day, with a bitter-
ly cold wind. On the sandflats at the junction of the
Tana with its fiord were about a hundred Geese,
sifting on the bare sand amongst some stranded ice
floes. Adjoining the sandflats, and between them
and the snow fjelds, was first a narrow space of

rather long grass, with frequent pools of snow
water, and then about half a mile of semi-inun-
dated Birch scrub. It was in the grassy parts
that I first became acquainted with the Red-
throated Pipits (Anthus cervinus). They seemed
retiring in their habits, running rapidly along the
ground, like a mouse, keeping the body very low
and horizontal. They were difficult to see in this
position, and if one approached nearer to them, a
pair would spring up into the air with a shrill
pipe, and allow themselves to be carried by the
wind perhaps a hundred yards to leeward, when
they would, with jerky flight, beat up again, to
re-alight on their favorite spot. Though I pro-
cured several, I could not detect any sexual
difference in the cream-coloring on the throat.

While sheltering underneath a sand bank from
a pitiless snow storm, a Raven came past us, his
throat distended with food. Then a Rough-
legged Buzzard with very light-colored plumage
alighted on a rock near at hand and sat quietly
pluming himself. Presently an Osprey, with
buoyant flight, loomed through the snow flakes,
and checking his speed, hovered for an instant;
then, with headlong swoop, he dashed into the
waters of the fiord, reappearing with a fish dang-
ling from his talons. After shaking himself, he
flew past us, and, on being fired at, dropped the
fish; dissatisfied, he swooped at it when falling,
but did not succeed in overtaking it. The fish
proved to be a sole, 9'¢ inches long and 6 inches
wide, with but one claw mark in the body, and
lived for many hours afterwards. While trying
to ascend the side ofa fjeld we distinctly made out
several Geese feeding on some shallow water, and
approaching nearer, I could easily see they were
one or other of the two White-fronted species.
Whilst watching them a male Merganser swam
quite near to me, and having caught a small fish,
was chased and bullied by a Herring Gull till he
was compelled to take flight. This seemed to
disturb the Geese, for they ceased feeding, and
with outstretched necks peered around suspicious-
ly. When I fired at them a pair of Redshanks
rose close to me, and walking home that night I
secured one of a pair of Ring Plovers by the
riverside.

June 10th. Heavy snow storms greeted us to-
day. Isaw the first Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail
(Motacilla einereocapilla) this morning, which had
seemingly just arrived here. In the Birch forests,
though deep in snow, we found four nests of the
Mealy Redpole, all in course of construction; the
old birds were absurdly tame. The nests were
very pretty, lined with the white woolly material
of the Willow scrub. The monotonous, though
lively carol of the Redwing, which we never hear

A

July, 1885.] ©

in England, was very noticeable this morning;
and to-day I found the first nest, with five fresh
egos, placed about three feet from the ground in
an angle formed by the stem and the fallen super-
structure of a Birch tree. The nest was com-
posed entirely of very fine dry white grass, with
a layer of damp moss on the foundation. There
were no sticks about it, and it was very neat and
compact. I both saw and heard a single Tree
Pipit (Anthus arboreus) singing to-day, but I un-
fortunately missed it. In the afternoon we again
ascended the fjelds, where we observed Tem-
minck’s Stints gyrating in parties of three or four
high up in the air. At 6.30 p. m., we crossed the
river to Gulholmen. All then looked quiet and
as usual, but at 7.30 the whole of the ice in the
upper reaches of the Tana river had broken up
and was coming down in tens of thousands of
tons at the rate of about four miles per hour.
This is the first indication that the natives have
of the long looked for change from Winter to
Summer, though for days past wherever one
went the roaring of waters could be heard, indica-
tive of the rapid melting of the snow in the high
grounds. It is this natural water supply that is
the primary cause of the breaking up of the ice;
so severe is the Winter in these latitudes that the
river becomes frozen to the very bottom, and it
requires the accumulated force of the melted
snow water, getting under the ice, to lift the mass
bodily up, and once afloat, it is rapidly propelled
seawards. The movement to-night took place
gradually and steadily, nor was there so much of
that rush and confusion which one might expect
_to see, where such a mighty change was taking
place. It seemed, however, to create a feeling of
excitement, not only in us, but in the birds; for
the Geese on the opposite shores of the river, the

Long-tailed Ducks, Divers, and other birds

seemed to make more clamoring than usual, as if

joyous at the signs of approaching Summer. A
single Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus)
went up the river to-night, and we observed a
solitary Swallow hawKing round the house at
Gulholmen, evidently just arrived.

June 11th. Mostof the ice had gone out while
we slept, and this morning we had fine warm
Summer weather. On the fells to-day we ob-
served pairs of Snow Buntings (Plectrophanes
nivalis) flitting merrily about; they were not yet
breeding, for in the ovaries of some which I ex-
amined the eggs were but slightly developed.
The feathers around their bills were always
stained purple with the juice of the “krokebeer,”
a fell-berry on which they feed. I often noticed
in the hollow bare trunks of the decayed Birch

_ AND OOLOGIST.

109

trees large accumulations of red berries from
which Redpoles and Bramblings frequently flew
up as one approached; and it seems as if these
berries form a Winter store for some creatures
which reside there, probably squirrels, though we
never saw any. The Mealy Redpole is known to
Winter here, but the Brambling migrates south.
To-night the midnight sun was up in his fullest
majesty, but no heat seemed to reach the earth,
the air being clear and frosty.

June 12th. At 9.30 a. m., we left Gulholmen
and, with a Lap at one end of our boat and a
Qvane at the other, we “poled” incessantly up
the now open river until we reached Pulmak, at
3.30 a. m., onthe following morning. I was sur-
prised at the absence of bird life, although there
were extensive mud banks and shoals, apparently
well adapted for the Waders. We landed at
several likely looking spots on the way, at one of
which a pair of Wood Sandpipers clearly had a
nest. Common Sandpipers, Ring Plovers, Tem-
minck’s Stints, and Long-tailed Ducks were all
the birds we observed. About six miles north of
Pulmak, and about midnight, I flushed a strange
looking pair of birds from an “ene” (juniper)
bush. As they went away I mistook them for
Green Woodpeckers. I shot one of them as it
elided away with undulating flight, and my sur-
prise was great to pick up a Pine Grosbeak
(Pinicola enucleator). Just then Trinus cried out
that he had found a nest, and on my coming up,
there was the pretty wickerwork nest with two
eggs of the Pine Grosbeak. On looking about
we soon saw the other bird sitting callously quite
close to us, and she completed the series. The
occurrence of this species north of the Arctic
circle had not previously, according to Professor
Collett (Orn. North. Norway, p. 22), been satis-
factorily established. The plumage of the Pine
Grosbeak appears to have always been an unset-
tled problem so I will merely state that both
birds, male and female, were of the greyish-green
type, the male having rather more of the orange
color than the female. It is clear that, although
the scarlet dress is considered by some to be the
adult plumage, this does not necessarily imply
that an immature bird cannot breed; for if such
were the case here was a clear instance of two
immature Pine Grosbeaks having a nest and eggs.
The birds were roosting within twenty yards of
their nest, and when skinning the female I took a
third egg from her oviduct. I afterwards found
near Pulmak a male in full scarlet plumage paired
and nesting with an ash-grey female, and a third
nest was occupied by two greyish-green birds.
The nest of the Pine Grosbeak decidedly re-
sembles that of the Bullfinch, being constructed

110

ORNITHOLOGIS

externally of an extremely light network of thin
Birch twigs firmly interlaced into each other.
This substructure is overlaid by a lining of fine
stiff grass, distinctly visible through the network
of sticks from below. On pulling the lining to
pieces an odd horselair could be detected. The
nest was placed in asmall Birch tree, about six
feet from the ground, and very.open. I was
rather surprised to find the Pine Grosbeak breed-
ing here, as I thought it was confined to the Pine
districts. But I found several pairs of this bird
breeding around Pulmak, where is not a sign of
anything save stunted Birch and Willow, and
from their crops I took birch-catkins. We had
considerable difficulty in effecting a landing at
Pulmak, as, owing to a bend in the river, the
ice had become congested and piled up in great
heaps, at least ten feet high, along the shore.

June 13th. Pulmak, which is situate a little
north of the 70th degree of latitude, consists of
some half dozen Lap settlements and one fairly
comfortable inn. It is situated in a bend of the
Tana, which is here perhaps 400 yards wide.
Around are low fells, seldom rising to any great
height, thickly carpeted with reindeer moss and
clad with Birch forest up to a certain level; in
many cases the hills are so low that the Birch
reaches and crowns their summits. Close to the
door of our dwelling a pair of Wigeon (Mareca
penelope) rose this morning and I secured the
drake, still in full Winter plumage. Further on
a pair of Rough-legged Buzzards had a nest, and
were “wailing” from the crag. The nest, placed,
as usual, on a ledge, and lined with dry grass,
contained one egg completely congealed; and
much of the color washed out. I had to warm it
in water before it would blow, although other-
wise it was quite fresh. I got to-day the first
Brambling’s nest, a beautiful structure, with one
very small egg. A Fieldfare’s nest had six eggs,
and two Titlark’s nests had six and four eggs,
fresh. Cuckoos seemed pretty numerous.

I shot
some Golden Plovers to eat, and was struck with
their splendid adult plumage, such as can seldom
be obtained at any season of the year in Nor-
thumberland. I also that the male
Bramblings obtained, in breeding dress, on the
Dovre Fjeld in Norway, are not nearly so typical-
ly adult as those which we obtained in East Fin-
mark.

To-day a Lap boy brought me a lovely nest
with seven eggs, badly incubated, of the Great
Grey Shrike (Lanius major?); and here I may
observe that, although I afterwards obtained two
more nests and eggs of tnis species, I was never
fortunate enough to get the bird. In all cases
the nests were found by the Laps and brought to

observe

[Vol. 10--No. 7

e
me; and although I invariably returned to the
nesting place immediately with the Lap, I only
once caught a glimpse of the bird, and then I did
not manage to secure her. This nest was placed
in a Birch tree, about ten feet from the ground,
and was made of white grass, profusely lined
with the white feathers of the Willow Grouse,
with a few binding twigs of birch.

June 14th. A White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
had its nest under the turf of the roof of our
dwelling, and contained six fresh eggs; the nest
was lined with greyish-white reindeer hair. Two
nests of the Redwing contained five and six eggs;
one of them was on the ground in a bank, entire-
ly concealed by an overhanging juniper bush,
and the eggs were much incubated. Although
the fell lakes were still completely frozen, Arctic
Terns (Sterna macrura) were hovering over some
of them, and on two small islands which we
reached by walking across the ice we found two
nests, each with two eggs. A singular instance
of protective coloration occurred here: two of
these eggs were of the most extraordinary color,
resembling very rich Merlin’s eggs, the other two
were of the ordinary green type. The ruddy
ones were laid on a rich red carpet of moss, the
green ones on green reindeer moss. The yolk
and albumen of these eggs was quite congealed
with the cold. On the edge of one of these
frozen lakes a Redshank’s nest contained two
Coming home we found a Mealy Redpole’s
nest with five eggs, profusely lined with feathers
of “ryper,” a bird which, by the way, we had not
seen or heard since our arrival at Pulmak.

June 15th. Winter seemed to return, for it
snowed continuously all day. In a walk along
the bank of the Pulmakelf, a tributary of the
Tana, we observed a single male Goosander busy
fishing, also a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes
(Phalaropus hyperboreus), very tame, and actively
feeding in a quiet backwash of the river. They
swim very high in the water, with a jerky mo-
tion, nodding their heads like a Waterhen, and
are surprisingly quick and agile in their move-
ments. One of them landed and sat, like a tiny
Duck, preening his feathers on the bank. They
seemed in mature plumage, the yellow stripes
down the sides of the back being very conspicu-
ous. A pair of Wood Sandpipers were very
tame, and allowed us to come very close to them
as they were feeding, wading breast high, in a
little pool of melted snow water.

(To be continued.)
es

Have just taken a fine American Crossbill
(Lowia eurvirostra americanda,) from a flock of six
or seven. Pretty late in the season for this bird.
—C. H. Wilder, Wayland, N. ¥., June 6, 1885.

2S
eggs.

F

July, 1885.]

ia Gil

AND OOLOGIST.

Brief Notes.

Sone oF THE WHITE-RUMPED Surimke.—Last
Spring, during the mating season, a male White-
rumped Shrike was accustomed to perch on a
giant Soapweed near my door and sing in a
very spirited manner. The song was entirely
new to me, and quite different from the harsh cry,
which I had often heard them utter while search-
ing for food, or perched upon some lone Soap-
weed stalk on the prairie. As nearly as I can de-
scribe the song from notes taken while listening to
the bird, it consisted of the following sounds, each
note being repeated a number of times then fol-
lowed by the next in the series, and so on: Pe-dee, pe-
dee, pe-dee, cre-e-e-cep, cre-e-c-eep, cre-c-e-eep; Uchee-
Uchee, tchee-t chee; sometimes ending with a long
trill 7-7-7 ree—t-r7' ree, and at others with
a hoarse chatter, sounding very like chut-it-up,
chut-it-wp, when he would dart away to the neigh-
boring hillside, soon returning to renew his song.
This continued for several days, when I presume
he succeeded in securing a mate for he disap-
peared and I heard his song no more.—Churtles H.
Marsh, Silver City, New Mexico, June 20, 1885.

Owts. I notice considerable comment in the
O. and O. on the rarity and abundance of Owls,
this past Winter. In Ontario County, in the
vicinity of Canandaigua, one or two Snowy Owls
are usually noticed every Winter. One was shot
in December, 1884, and a second was seen in
January, 1885; both near Canandaigua. Screech
Owls have been quite common, and one in the
red plumage was reported as seen, but not taken.
One was brought me in the Fall of 1884, which,
while referable to the gray phase rather than the
red, yet was considerably tinged with reddish.

Diligent and careful inquiry has failed to reveal
the presence of any Acadian Owls. I know of
no Ontario County specimens, though Rathbun
mentions it as arare bird in central New York.
(List p. 27.)

No specimens of the Short-eared have come to
my notice. One was taken in January, 1884.
All the above data are for Ontario County, N. Y.
—C. H. Wilder, Wayland, N. Y.

ON DESCRIBING THE CoLoRs OF Birps. Some
years ago I had much difficulty in coming to a
correct understanding of the terms used in de-
scribing the colors of birds. Writers used differ-
ent names for the same colors and there was no
systematic order in the parts described. Ornith-
ologists should, I think, agree on this, and I sug-
gest, first, the upper parts; second, the under
parts ; third, special markings of the head ; fourth,
special markings of wings and tail; fifth, bill and

feet; sixth, comparisons and differences of tints
on various parts. I adopted this plan in a work
which was in the publishers’ bands at the time of
the Boston fire, and which will probably never
see more light than it did then.— Walter Hove.

OOLOGICAL SUGGESTIONS—METRICES. Capaci-
ty is an important datum, easily ascertained by
immersing the egg in a glass cylinder (an Argand
lamp chimney will do,) and with a narrow slip
of paper fastened to the outside and neatly gradu-
ated. By using the metric system uch wseless com-
putationis saved. Weight of egg also, though not
so important, may be highly instructive. Here
again the metrices will be found of great advant-
age. I hope I may live to see them adopted in
this country. Where their advantages are so
manifest as they certainly are to all naturalists, it
is strange to me that they have not yet come into
use. For myself I still cry peccavi every time I
put down a measurement in inches and six-
teenths.— Walter Hovie.

ALBINO Woopcnuck. To-day we sent an
Albino Woodchuck to New York to have set up.
This pure white animal with pink eyes has been
seen about the farm, where it came from, for five
or six years. It isa female and will be set up in
a natural manner by an expert taxidermist.—
S. W. Comstock, Sect. Ornithology, Greenfield, Mass.

Rare and Curious Birds’ Nests.

BY PROF. THOMAS G.

From time immemorial, it has been the current popular
belief that birds of the same species never varied their
style of architecture, but constructed the same form of
nest, and out of the same materials, as their remotest pro-
genitors did, instinct being the principle by which they
were guided. This opinion, though long since exploded by
science, is still, I am sorry to say, entertained by those who
should know better. An examination of nests from differ-
ent and widely separated localities affords evidence sufli-
cient to convince the most skeptical of persons of its erro-
neousness. The most marked differences will be noticeable
in the composing materials, as these will be found to vary
with the environment, and in a wider degree in the nests of
some, than in those of other, species. Even the configura-
tion, which is less prone to change, is often influenced by
the circumstances of position and latitude.

Among the Thrushes, the Robin is the most addicted to
variation, and this is not wholly confined to the constitu-
ents of his usually mud-plastered domicile, but is frequent-
ly to be observed in the arrangement thereof, and in the
contour and position as well. In Southern New Jersey,
where low marshy woods abound on the outskirts of towns
and villages, Robins buiid nests which contrast more mark-
edly with what we are accustomed to see in more northern
localities. The great masses of a grayish-green fibrous
lichen, which hang from tree and shrub in those sylvan
marshes, are freely utilized by them, and its very nature to
mat, when pressed together, precludes the necessity of
using mud.

In the Summer of 1877 my attention was directed toa

GENTRY,

11

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 7

nest of this species which was built upon a railroad em-
bankment. The ground had an inclination of forty-five
degrees. To one not conversant with the facts, such a po-
sition for a structure of the kind these birds are known to
make, would appear impossible. Difficult as the task must
seem to be, when viewed from a human standpoint of
judging of the builders’ capabilities, it was nevertheless ac-
complished, and in this wise: A semi-circular wall of mud,
some three inches in height, was, after much labor, erected,
and within the cavity thus formed was placed a coarse,
substantial and bulky fabric.

Few birds are less regardful of position than the Wren.
In June, 1882, near the town of Thornbury, Pa., a pair of
Wrens selected the space in a stationary block over a sheave
in a derrick, as a site for a home, and therein deposited
their favorite sticks and feathers. A similar structure had
occupied the same spot the previous year, and a brood of
young ones raised. These nests, in the elements of compo-
sition, differed not fromthe typicalform. It is theirstrange
and anomalous situation, rather than anything else, that
excites our interest and astonishment. The materials of
the nest were so dexterously arranged as not to interfere
with the revolution of the wheel. The entrance to the nest
was on the side facing the rope that moyed the pulley. The
opposite side could have been used for this purpose, and
doubtless with less danger to life or limb, but a preference
seems to have been shown for the other. Why this was so
remained an unsolved problem for some time; but when
each bird was seen to alight upon the rope at the top of the
derrick and ride down to the nest, the reason became appa-
rent. Never did Linnet enjoy the rocking twig with half
the zest that these eccentric creatures did their ride adown
the rope. A hundred times a day, when the necessity
arose, they treated themselves to the same pleasure, the
rope moving at the rate of thirty-five feet in a second of
time. Six days out of seven, from morning until night,
they had the benefit of this mode of conveyance, and noth-
ing occurred to disturb their peace and harmony. In due
time a family of happy, rollicking children was raised, and
the nest in the derrick deserted.

Before me is a curious nest of the Swamp Blackbird.
This is a rather bulky affair for the species, and was found
built in the top of a cluster of cat-tails. It is firmly made
of broad grasses, and securely fastened to the stems of the
reeds, some eight in number, by the same kind of material
that enters into its composition.

Icterus spurius, of the sub-family of Orioles, constructs
a truly characteristic nest, pouch-shaped m form, and either
pensile or built upon a branch. Soft and flexible grasses,
neatly and compactly woven together, constitute its outer
fabric, while within there may exist wool, either vegetal or
animal, or a lining of fine grasses mixed with horse-hairs.
The handsomest nest I have ever seen was found by Richard
Christ, in the vicinity of Nazareth, Pa., in the season of 1883.
It is of the usual size, being five inches in height, and three
in external diameter, but different from the typical form in
the materials of composition. Instead of the leayes of
grasses, which one naturally expects to see in such struc-
tures, this was exclusively built of the stems and heads of
a species of gramineous plant remarkable for its golden
brightness in a state of dryness.

A more remarkable nest of this Oriole was found built
upon a few small branches of a Maple, at an elevation of
nearly thirty feet from the ground. It is a double affair,
composed of long, flexible grasses, and securely fastened
to its support. The larger nest is inversely sub-conical,
while the smaller, which is joined to the other by ribbons
of grass, is somewhat similarly shaped, but less compact in
structure. A circular opening, one inch in diameter, is a

noticeable feature of the latter. That this additional struc-
ture served some purpose cannot be questioned. I am in-
clined to think that it was constructed with the view of ac-
commodating either parent while the other was sitting. The
aperture alluded to served, doubtless, for the head of the
non-sitting bird, who, from this position, looking away
from the main building, could, like a sentry upon an out-
post, detect with comparative ease and readiness the ap-
proach of enemies.

But nothing can exceed in beauty and cosiness the nest
of a female Baltimore Oriole in my possession. It was
built under peculiar circumstances, the author being a pris-
oner, having been taken from the parental home when
quite a fledgeling. A male companion was captured at or
about the same time. These birds are the property of Dr.
Detwiler, of Easton, Pa., and are a source of pleasure to
this elderly gentleman in his leisure moments. Though be-
coming quite tame under the careful and kindly manage-
ment of their keeper, the female manifesting greater famil-
iarity than her associate, it never occurred to the Doctor
that either would become so accustomed to the situation as
to evince a desire to build. When alone, he always allowed
them the freedom of his studio, in or out of season. One
lovely June morning in 1883, the ouside world being full of
joy and hfe and sunshine, he threw open the door of their
cage, and settled himself for reading. Hardly had he read
a dozen lines when he felt something pulling at his hair; on
looking up he descried the offender flying towards a dis-
tant part of the room with something in her bill that resem-
bled a hair. When the Doctor had resumed his reading,
she stole cautiously forward, seized another hair, and was
off in a twinkling. Permitting these liberties for a while,
and noticing that bits of strings were, when placed in posi-
tions to be seen, as much the objects of interest as the
hairs of his head, he was not slow in divining the motive
which led to this strange and unexpected proceeding. Con-
vinced by actions as significant as words themselves could
be, he at once entered into the idea of his little feathered
friend, and began to look about for a room where she might
carry out her plan for the future, free from human interfer-
ence. Ina short time a place was found in the attic, which
he fitted up, furnishing it with a large branch for a perch,
and with the necessary materials, in the shape of new
white strings, for nest building. The female now entered
into her voluntarily imposed task with the most determined
zeal and alacrity, and at the end of a week had constructed
a domicile which her wild, untamed prototypes of the fields
and the roadsides would strive in vain to excel.

In Eastern Pennsylvania, rare, curious nests of the Aca-
dian Flycatcher are often found. Such a one was discoy-
ered by the writer in June, 1882. It was placed upon the
forked branch of a small red Oak. The dried blossoms of
the Hickory, the sole materials of the ordinary structure
in this latitude, were wanting.—The Musewin.

CORRESPONDENCE.

CoLLEcTOR’s Guns. E. F., will find some observations
on this subject in our April and June numbers.

To Kirn Wounpep Birps. (C., Milwaukee, Wis.)
“Squeeze the bird tightly across the chest, under the wings,
thumb on one side, middle finger on the other, fore finger
pressed in the hollow at the root of the neck, between the
forks of the merrythought. Press firmly, hard enongh to
fix the chest immovably and compress the lungs, but not to
break in the ribs. The bird will make vigorous but inef-
fectnal efforts to breathe, when the muscles will contract
spasmodically and you can tell by its limp feel and motion-
lessness that 1t is dead.”

RNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

_OOLOGIST,

$1.50 per FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuBLISHER. Single Copy
Annum, Established, March, 1875. 15 Cents.
VOL. X. PAWTUCKET, R. I., AUGUST, 1885. No. 8
Mississippi Valley Migration. 28b 41.42 Ill. Fernwood. Geo. B. Holmes.

38a 4234 Wis. Clinton.

38b 42.34 “ Clinton.
39a 42.39 ** Janesville.
«Stoughton.
«Stoughton.
“Ft. Atkinson.

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.

In this number will be found the names of the
new stations and observers this year in the Miss-
issippi Valley. It will be noticed that the new MENIalauieees
stations are lettered to indicate their geographical “Milwaukee.
relation to the stations of last year. All old | 4% 43.81“ Portage City.
stations retain the same numbers as before. The Se EN eee Bar:

i x A ‘A EB 52b 44.30 ‘* Green Bay.

list comprises eighty new stations and eighty con- sed 44.36 “ Durand.

tinued from last year, but of these eighty new 53e 44.45 “ River Falls.
ones, several are merely changes of address of baf 4458 “ Robert’s Station.
last year’s observers, so that the real numbers are | 539 4.09 “New OE

4 53h 45.35 Luck.

about ninety of last year’s and seventy new ob- 53: 46.50 “* Bayfield.
servers. 55a (29.34 La. Houma.

ss fe aan
Among these new men are many most excel- | 5% 3 RE OHESTE
59a 37.08 Mo. Reeds.

lent ornithologists whom we are most glad to 60a 38.14 “ Butler.
welcome to our ranks. A great effort was made 66b 40.20 Ta. Keokuk.
to fill up the parts of our district which last year 6ce 40.43 ‘* Denmark.
. . . (} & j
lacked observers, but with a few exceptions it | 7 49.0 Lehane et
1 i hI TI ae = : * 1 74a 41.36 ‘* Des Moines.
proved impossible. ne reason is very simple; iba 4138 “ Towa City.
there are no persons there who are sufficiently ac- 75b 41.838 ‘* Towa City.
quainted with birds to report their movements. 78a 41.44 “ Grinnell.
There are whole counties in the Southern States Lopate eeecunnell-e
] tl fon Terns, cies Gl aanann ( Sila 42.18 ‘* La Porte City.
and on the wes ern plains, that do not contain a Bib 4918 “ La Porte City.
single ornithologist. 82a 42.28 “ Sioux City.
The bulk of this Spring’s reports have now | S42 42.59 “ State Centre.
ived 1 . 7 85a 43.08 ‘* Emmetsburg.
been received and they contain an immense 86a 43.26 “ Spirit Lake.
amount of valuable material on the subject of 87a 43.58 Minn. Albert Lea.
migration. Their volume is about the same as 89a 4401 “ Rochester.
last year’s, but the notes will on the average be | %% 4426 WOO We
1 = oy TMT REOrthinlt Gage ie 9a 4432 “ Red Wing.
much more accurate and trustworthy. is evi- 91b 44.32 “ Red Wing,
dent that all the observers have profited by last 9c 44.32 “ Red Wing.

year's experience. 93a 44.55 ‘ Excelsior.
93b 44.55 “ Excelsior.
98c 44.57 “ St. Paul.

List of New Stations and Observers

94a 45, «« Minneapolis.

for the Year 1885. 94b 45, ‘¢ Minneapolis.

— 94c 45. *¢ Minneapolis.

No, Lat. STATE. City. NAME. 94d 45. “Minneapolis.

10a 37.43 Ill. Shawneetown. Cc. J. Lemen. 94e 45, “© Minneapolis.
10b 37.48 “ Shawneetown. Geo. Reorden. 98a 4532 “ St. Clond.
14a 39.12 ‘ Hillsborough. E. J. Edwards. 99a 46.56 “ Moorhead.

1éa 39.34 “ Paris. John A. Balmer. 100a 47.04 ‘* White Earth.

22a 40.41 ‘* Peoria. W. 8S. Cobleigh. 102a 29.27 Tex. San* Antonio.

2Sa 41.36 ‘* Tampico. Burton Brown. 1026 29.27 * San Antonio.

C, Crotsenburg.
A. B. Wilcox.

H. L. Skanlem.
Z. L. Welman.
W. W. Gilman.
F. H. Webb.

W. B. Hull.

Chas. A. Keeler.
T. P. Camp.

J. A. Shoemaker.
R. R. Byram.

E. L. Brown.

O. G. Libby.

F. M. Style.

W. S. Libby.

J. P. Peterson.
A, I. Sherman.
E. C. Wurzlow.
G. Kohn.

S. A. Ball.
Harvey Clark.

M. Meigs.

Col. G. B. Brackett.
John Inghram.

J. B. Green.

H. L. Bond.

W. M. Clute.

L. Jones.

Prof. H. W. Parker.
Harry Peck.
Norton Peck.
Alex. Scougal.

H. S. Williams.
Rey. C. E. Cline.
A. A. Mosher.
Pres. R. B. Abbott.
W. D. Hurlbut.

). A. Wise.

G. Graham.

H. Willard.

L. Hancock.

L. D. Perkins.

F. Diamond.

H. W. Slack.
U.S. Grant.

Prof. C. L. Herrick.
Franklin Benner.
Mrs. L. F. Tinsley.
F. L. Washburn.
H. P. Bennett.
W. W. Cooke.
Mrs. C. A. Cooke.
Bro. M. Newall.
Prof. G. Jernny.

&

Copyright, 1885, by Frank B. WEBSTER and EATON CLIFF.

114

ORNITHOLOGIST

29.27 Tex. San Antonio. H. P. Atwater.

102e

108a 30.20 ** Fedor. Rey. G. Birkman.
106b 32.44 ‘ Ft. Worth. N. P. Ball.

106e 33.34 “ Bonham. Il. F. Peters.
112a 38.21 Kans. Emporia. V. L. Kellogg.
112b 38.21 ‘* Emporia. B. L, Bennett.
1138b 38.34 “ Richmond. Wm. S. Smith.
l15a 39.03 “ Topeka. J. F. Williams.
119a 40.48 Neb. York. N. A. Sherman.
123a@ 43.50 Dak. Grand View. A. M. Blanchard.
125a 44.21 “ Huron. Geo, Wilder.

127a 45.55 ** Valley City. H. H. Parkhouse.
127b 47.01 “* Steele. Thos. Russell.
13la 47.58 ‘ Minto. Fred Twamley.
131b 48.04 ‘“ Johnstown. Will Dean.

13le 48.50 “ Ft. Totten. W. C. Bennett.
135 Man. Dalton. Miss Lottie Yeomans.
137 ** Shell River. E. Calcutt.

138 ‘“* Ossowo. Frank Wagner.

Numbers of last year’s observers (as given in
O. and O., vol. 9, p. 51) who are also observers
this year:

1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 14, 15, 19, 21, 23, 25, 28, 29a, 30,
32, 33, 34, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 48a, 49, 50,
538, 58a, 53), 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62a, 64, 65, 66,
66a, 67a, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 84a,
86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 97, 98, 101, 104, 107, 1132,
116, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 128, 129, 130, 132,
134, 135.

Observers who are no longer in the towns from
which their addresses were published last year :

10, 22, 56, 48, 49, 51, 53¢, 60, 78, 76, 87, 95, 102,
109, 111, C, 181.

A Ramble in Bristol County, Mass.

BY EF. W. A.

It was my pleasure to spend a short time in the
collecting field in latter May and early June with
a genial friend, Mr. F. H. C., a keen and accurate
observer, and one whose knowledge of Bird Life
was seemingly inexhaustible. We confined our
trip to Bristol County, which we traversed from
east to west, new fields were visited, fresh
grounds hunted over, and numerous new phases
in Bird Life were brought before us.

May 30th a new colony of Bank Swallows
were found holding possession of a sand bank
which bordered a small creek, over which
the Swallows were flying hither and thither,
now skimming over the meadow, which lay
near at hand, or mounting high in the air
in pursuit of insects. Their conspicuous lit-
tle holes bored two feet from the top of
the slightly overhanging bank were not com-
pleted, nor were they this season, for on passing
that way June 6th, we found that ruthless hands
had done their work, some boys having torn out
their holes, causing the swallows to desert their

[Vol. 10-No. 8

already newly formed settlement and to seck new
homes. The Bank Swallow, though formerly
common in Bristol County, are fast decreasing in
numbers, only one breeding place now known of
a few pairs, to three colonies in ’81. Fresh sets
of four and five eggs were taken June 5, ’83, and
June 6, ’84; none this year. The Oriole and
Least Flycatcher were found nesting in the same
old Buttonwood by the rustic bridge as last sea-
son, and a nest was found of the Summer Yellow
Bird containing two eggs in the same clump of
wild Rosebushes that a nest containing five eggs
was taken May 30, ’85. The rare Summer resi-
dent, the Great-crested Flycatcher, was first seen
May 30th, with its erectile crown and its whistling
note of tu-whit, tu-whit, which it uttered at in-
tervals while in plain view. This noisy bird was
seen or heard at intervals in several different lo-
calities during the first week of June. They
were found frequenting either light timbered
groves near open land or old orchards, which are
occasionally met with in the midst of woods in
Massachusetts. We started early on our tramp
June 1st, which led us out through Raynham and
the surrounding suburbs. The Warbling Vireo,
which is plentiful here this season, was heard —
singing in the tops of the Elms which lined both
sides of the road. Several nests of the Least Fly-
catcher were noted, but with incomplete sets.
Hardly had we left the busy haunts of man before
the scolding Wood Thrush was heard from a
grove of mixed growth, while opposite in an or-
chard the notes of the Black Poll was heard.
We soon left the traveled road and entered the
woods, coming after a short walk to a mossy or-
chard, where we took a nest containing four eggs
of the Blue Yellow-backed Warbler from the
same moss covered tree that a set of a similar
number was taken last year. While taking notes
our attention was drawn by the chattering of a
Maryland Yellow-throat near at hand, and think-
ing she must have a nest, we hunted through the
few low bushes in the vicinity and discovered the
nest placed on the tussock of grass, and nearly
concealed by the overhanging leaves. A notica-
ble feature of this nest was the twining in of the
long hanging moss which she had taken from the
trees. This nest contained a set of five eggs June
9th, which were fresh. Here the White-eyed
Vireo was heard singing, and as we came out to
the road the Scarlet Tanager was seen, his bright
colored plumage conspicuous against the back-
ground of green leaves. A hole in a Birch stump
was next inspected, when out flew the inmate, a
Black-capped Chickadee. Upon opening the hole
a set of eight eggs were disclosed to view, par-
tially incubated ; nest composed of the usual ma

August, 1885.]

AND O

terials. Farther along my friend’s sharp eye
caught sight of another hole in alow Birch stump
near the road, which upon being rapped, out
flew the Chickadee from her nest, which con-
tained eight fresh eggs. Another orchard visited
where for years past sets of the Blue Yellow-back
had-been collected, but now all was still, save the
Wood Pewee and the Great-erested Flycatcher.
Continuing along on our journey, we pass through
beautiful groves, shady and cool, and soon come
out near a barn, under which anest of the Phabe
Bird containing four eggs, was found built upon
the one of the previous season, making the nest
nine inches in height. While passing along a
swamp road bordered on either side by light open
woods, interspersed with a serub growth, a
Chewink was flushed from her nest, placed on the
ground partially concealed from sight by the
overhanging grass, which contained four fresh
eggs. Baltimore Orioles were found breeding
very common, no less than eight nests found dur-
ing to-days walk. A nest of the Least Flycatcher
found June 2d, contained three eges, one of which
was nearly assmall as a Humming Bird’s. While
walking along the pike which leads out through
western Bristol County, another nest of the Black-
capped Chickadee was found in a Birch stump,
which contained seven eggs, incubation com-
menced. While at lunch a set of seven Flickers
were taken from an Ash tree, another set of cight
were taken in a grove of mixed growth, from a
dead pine stump. These differed in incubation, it
being the second set, a first one of the same num-
ber having been taken May 18th. Summer Yel-
low Bird, Cat Birds and Brown Thrushes were
found breeding plentifully. Another nest of the
Maryland Yellow-throat was found while walk-
ing along the bank of the Palmer River, which
contained five eggs. Two nests of the White-
bellied Swallow were noted, one in an Apple tree
and the other in my friend’s barn, which con-
tained six and five eggs respectively, the latter
being a second set of the same number as the first,
which was taken May 22d. June 3d we arose at
2 o’clock, and after partaking of a hearty break-
fast prepared for a trip to a colony of Cliff Swal-
lows under a distant barn. After packing our
knapsacks we donned our hunting coats and
started ad modum “Johnnie” across the fields.
After a walk of a few miles we came to the barn,
and started the Swallows from their bottle-shaped
nests, which were placed in rows, securely
fastened along the beams. These were very brittle
and lined with hay and feathers. <A bird was ex-
amined and the chestnut patch on the forehead
found very noticeable. Several sets were taken,
as that is the only colony that I have met with in

OLOGIST.

Bristol County, and which I had the opportunity
of visiting through the kindness of my friend. In
an orchard opposite and a short way from the
road my friend noticed a natural hole in the trunk
of a medium sized Apple tree about sixteen
inches deep on the bottom ; noticed feathers and
castings which led him to believe it was a used
nest of the Screech Owl. Here a male and female
Great-crested Flycatcher were conspicuous, and
were evidently secking a nesting site. We left
them to perform their labor, and continued on
our journey, which now led us through a long
wood road bordered on either side by groves of
Chestnut and Beech, where the chip chur of the
Scarlet Tanager was frequently heard above the
less noisy birds. We are gradually ascending
rising ground and at last emerge upon the crest of
a hill, from which a beautiful view is to be had.
Here a Birch stump near the road attracted our
attention, which was found to hold a nest of the
Black-capped Chickadee containing seven fresh
eggs. NKenewing our walk we came to a large
mossy orchard in the midst of mixed woods. In
this orchard, which was composed of old Apple
trees, from which the long Spanish moss (Usnea)
hung in profusion, were found a pair of Great-
crested Flycatchers, which were heard some time
before we reached the place, their peculiar sharp
cry, which shows their pugnacious, irritable dis-
position, could be plainly heard above all other
birds in the neighborhood, and could not fail to
draw the attention of one interested in the study
of birds. That we were regarded as intruders on
their territory was evident from the manner in
which they received us, flying from tree to tree
or hovering overhead as we ate our lunch, scold-
ing with erectile crown and ruffled feathers. That
they had either chosen their nesting place or were
about to do so was apparent from their hostile
appearance. My friend had the good luck to find
the nest June 17th. It was placed in a hole in
the trunk of an Apple tree, cavity lined with rab-
bit’s hair, feathers, chaff, and a few bits of snake
skin, upon which the set of four eggs were laid.
The parent bird did not flush until he peered into
the hole; incubation commenced. Ilere it was in
this large mossy orchard that the Blue Yellow-
backed Warbler was found and studied to ad-
vantage. We calculated that no less than twenty
pairs were in the vicinity, as a number of the
birds were constantly heard singing in the or-
chard and a cedar growth near, from which the
Usnea also hung plentifully. Their nests varied
in size and shane; some were deep and nearly
concealed in the thick hanging moss, while others
were shallow and globular and were much smaller
in external appearance. They were generally

[Vol. 10-No. 8

116

ORNITHOLOGIST

placed near the end of a limb or branch; the
average height from the ground was about fifteen
feet though cases have come under our observation
of their nesting within three feet. Of seven nests
found June 3d four contained sets of four each,
while but one was found holding five, the others
were incomplete sets. June 4th anest was found
fifteen feet from the ground containg four eggs,
which were advanced in incubation, while June
6th a fresh set of the same number were obtained
in a different locality. There are several mossy
orchards and lone trees where these handsome
Warblers breed in Bristol County, but none that
can compare either in size or richness with the
one in question. Two exceptional cases were
noted this season in regard to the nesting habits
of this Warbler; the first occurred June 3d as we
were walking along a wood road bordered on the
one side by an Oak grove and on the other by a
young growth of scrub. My friend’s quick eye
espied a tiny smoothly woven nest of this bird in
an Oak sappling about fifteen feet from the gound
and close to the trunk, which contained two fresh
eggs. There was no moss whatever on the tree
with the exception of the cup shaped nest. This
confirmed the belief which I had previously had
that they bred apart from the trees or tree which
contained the long flowing moss, but in eight
years collecting this is the first case that has come
under my observation. The second one was still
more remarkable, for the bird forsook her usual re-
tirement altogether and placed her nest not far from
a house on the dead limb of an Elm tree, about
twenty feet above the well traveled road, and
four feet from the trunk. The dead limb was well
covered with lichens and wood mosses, which en-
tered largely into the composition of the nest.
The lower part of the nest was all that contained
any of the Usnea, a little being woven in with fine
but dry stiff grass and horsehair. The opening
was nearly concealed by the stiff wood moss,
which was twice as thick at the top of the nest.
This very curious nest contained but one fresh
ege Juue 6th. In the afternoon of June 3d we
rode out through Seekonk and viewed the nesting
place of the Barred Owl, from which three sets
have been taken this season, one of which adorns
my cabinet, given to me by my friend. The nest
or rather hole was in a Walnut tree; the open-
ing was about two feet high and six inches wide
at the widest place, the bottom of the cavity was
nearly level with the opening, only a few bits of
dead wood keeping the eggs from rolling out.
While taking a sketch of the tree our attention was
called away by the anxiety displayed by a Golden-
crowned Thrush, which led us to believe there
was a nest in the vicinity. We conjectured rightly
for in a few moments it lay before us, containing

four fresh eggs; the nest was arched over in the
usual manner and composed of leaves, straw and
cedar bark strips and lined with a few horsehairs.
A few other nests were discovered while riding
along, and a Downy Woodpecker visited which
had been previously discovered ; it contained four
eggs, incubation commenced. A nest of the same
species was visited June 1st, from which the
young had flown, which is but one case which
goes to show the variance in the breeding time of
birds, even of the same family. Following the
bank of Palmer’s River for a short distance we
found Redstarts breeding plentifully; one nest
placed in the triple crotch of a Swamp Maple
about five and a half feet from the ground con-
taining four fresh eggs, around which the female
was hovering in company with her conspicuous,
handsome mate, who evinced great anxiety for
the safety of her domicile. Another nest of the
Black-capped Titmouse was found June 4th, con-
taining six eggs, from which the occupant flew on
our rapping the old Chestnut stub. On emerging
from the woods we entered a ploughed field,
where in an Apple tree we discovered a Redstart
at work on her nest, which she was shaping,
placed about twenty feet from the ground. While
crossing an adjoining pasture, the ground covered
with low tangled briars and trailing vines, a
Maryland Yellow-throat was flushed by my friend
from a nest containing five beautiful, fresh eggs.
Coming out on to a well traveled road and walk-
ing along its side, we flushed an Oven Bird from
her nest within three feet of the road, with the
back of the nest towards it; it contained five eggs
which were partially incubated. Entering the
fields once more a Field Sparrow was flushed and
my friend discovered the nest, which was placed
near the ground in dry grass weed stalks, com-
posed of grass, small twigs and lined with finer
grass. This is the first one I have ever met with in
Bristol County, they being local in their habits in
this vicinity. June 6th the commoner varieties
and early breeders were found well along in house-
keeping, most of the nests found containing par-
tially incubated eggs, though the late breeders
had hardly commenced, especially the Vireos and
Woodpewees. Another nest of the Blue Yellow-
back was found containg four fresh eggs, placed
in an Apple tree in a Pine grove, where I had
taken sets several years before. My friend visited
the large orchard again June 17th and 20th, and
found that the Warblers had newly built nests
and completed sets, of which he obtained seven
sets more, each containing four fresh eggs. Many
of the commoner varieties have been rare this sea-
son while those that ranked tolerably common or
rare have in several cases been plentiful.

August, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

1%

Our Three Herons.
BY E. C. W.

As the result of a visit to a Heronry in June,
1884, my brothers and I became the possessors of
three Little Blue Herons. They were but partly
fledged when we deprived their parents of them,
and took them under our care and _ protection.
We fed them freely on raw beef, of which they
were very fond, They grew rapidly, and were
soon fledged in snowy white plumage through-
out, except the black primaries.

As they progressed towards adolescence, each
one began developing characteristics and a dispo-
sition; so that they were early distinguishable by
their mien and behavior.

I introduce them successively, as to their vigor,
as Unus, Duo, and Tres. They were all three
more or less pugnacious; but my favorite, Unus,
like invincible John L. Sullivan, held the cham-
pionship. His irascible temper caused his brother
Herons to hold aloof from him. Duo was rash
enough one night to attempt to share the part of
the roost that Unus occupied, and, as a conse-
quence, Duo withdrew from the combat that en-
sued with his crest deplumed. He did not limit
his disputes to his brother Herons alone, but had
frequent contests with the pigeons and chickens
that were denizens of the same yard, and was
always victorious. With feathers erected, wings
partly open, head raised to its utmost, and his
amber-yellow eyes expressive of fierce anger, he
advanced to the combat and met the attacks of
his adversary by bringing his long bill vehement-
ly down on him, causing the feathers to fly—and
his adversary likewise. He allowed no children
to approach him, and would boldly attack them.

Unus was very fond of me. Whenever he saw
me approaching, he would hasten to my side,
uttering incessantly, meanwhile, ‘‘keedle-keedle-
keedle.” During my absence from home for a
few weeks, he anxiously looked for my return.
He daily searched for me in my accustomed
places, and not finding me, mounted to a roof
and expectantly watched for my coming. It was
during this time that he one day had a scuffle
with Tres, resulting in their losing their balance
and falling into a cistern of water. Unus saved
himself by using Tres as a raft, thereby drown-
ing the latter. On my arrival home Unus was
overjoyed to see me, and expressed his delight by
caressing my shoes with his bill.

In September and October the two remaining
Herons would daily station themselves on the
roof of an old house. This was for the purpose
of watching the Night Herons pass by every

morning and evening. The grating cry of these
birds as they winged their way overhead, were
answered by our Herons on the house-top. Al-
though interested in the flight of the Night
Herons, they never attempted to leave us.

I found Unus dead one day last January, on
the edge of the bayou near which we live. The
air was chill, and while standing on a plank that
extends a little over the water from the bank, he
probably fell in and before he could reach terra
firma was Gvercome by cold and drowned.

Only one of the three Herons now remains to
us. When hungry he stalks down to the bayou,
catches and makes a meal of some of the inhabit-
ants of the grassy shallows. He wades cautious-
ly lest he alarm the prey. Espying a minnow or
crayfish among the grasses he stretches his long
neck out at an obtuse angle, then launches his
bill at the object of his aim, scizes and devours
it. He is, also, an adept at catching flies, as were
also the other two Herons. If not fishing he sta-
tions himself sentinellike on a shed that com-
mands a view of the bayou, and any commotion
in the water below will call forth loud admonito-
ry squawks from hin.

The change of his plumage began last Decem-
ber, and he has now nearly all of his slate-blue
feathers, only a few light ones remaining, which
are fast becoming blue, and a few weeks hence
will find him clothed in the complete dress of the
adult of his species.

2
Spring Shore Bird Migration at Cape
Cod, 1885.

BY J. C. CAHOON,

Monomoy island at which the following notcs
were taken, is a sandy island situated about south-
west from the bend or elbow of the southeast
part of Cape Cod, at which is located the town
of Chatham. The island is eight miles long, and
one-half mile wide at its greatest extent. Ils
greatest altitude from the level of the water is
about thirty feet. The island is covered with a
coarse grass, moss, ivy, and beach plum bushes.
In several low wet places there are small swamps.
The island was originally connected with the
mainland, but is now separated by a pass. At
the north end of the eastern part of the island,
is another smaller island, which is separated from
the main island at high tide, but is connected by
dry flats at low. On the small island are three
houses owned by three branting clubs, Boston,
Providence and Manchester. To the north and
west are flats, which extend for miles and miles.
These flats are covered with several feet of water

118

[Vol. 10-No. 8

ORNITHOLOGIST

at high tide, but are almost dry at low. These
flats have been from time immemorial, a great
resort for shore birds in their Spring and Fall mi-
grations. Of late years gunning has greatly de-
creased about here, and where a few years ago
many flocks of large birds landed, not more than
one out of a dozen touches to-day. Breech-load-
ing guns, market gunners and city sportsmen are
fast exterminating these birds.

I arrived at the island May 7. Found Red and

Buffshouldered Blackbirds abundant. They
commenced to lay about the first of June. Song

and Savannah Sparrows abundant. They com-
menced to lay about the last of May. About a
dozen pair of White-bellied Swallows were seen.
Commenced to lay about May 30. Build in boxes
put up by the fishermen. Spotted Sandpipers
common; commenced to’ lay about the 8d of
June. Meadow Larks common; commenced to
lay about May 15. Piping Plover common;
commenced to lay June 1st. Saw large flocks of
American Sheldrake out in the bay. Last one
seen June 9. Brant common ; last one seen May
17. Loon abundant; last one seen about June
13. Started one Black Duck from a small salt
hole on meadow. Saw three Greater-Yellow-
legs, which became common the next day, May
8th; last one seen June 6. American Herring
Gull abundant; last one seen June 24. Four
Black-bellied Plover, three 9 and one ¢, put in
an appearance May 8. The same four were seen
again May 9; became common May 15 and abun-
dant May 27; last seen June 10. Two Semi-
plamated Plover were seen May 11; became
common the 21st and abundant May 21. Did
not see any after May 26. Three Semiplamated
Sandpipers arrived May 12, and the birds be-
came abundant May 16; last seen June 24. Four
Arctic Terns arrived May 13 and were reinforced
May 19 by a large number. They remained near
the flats until about the 15th of June, when they
began to diminish. A few Sanderlings arrived
May 13 and were seen in small numbers until
June 27. Roseate Terns arrived in small num-
bers May 19 and remained until about the 15th of
June. Common Terns arrived in large numbers
May 18, and many remained through May and
June. <A few breed on the island.

Collected a ¢ Pintail Duck in company with a
? May 13. Least Sandpipers arrived in full
foree May 13 and were abundant on the salt
meadows until about June 1. Three Least Terns
arrived on the afternoon of May 15; became
abundant May 19; first young seen June 13.

May 17, I saw several Bonaparte Gulls on a
sand bar. Did not see any after May 29. A

bunch of about two dozen Red-breasted Snipe
arrived May 20. Saw but one afterward, May
22. Saw a bunch of Turnstone May 20; next

seen May 25; last seen June 24. Saw an adult

¢ Blackburnian Warbler feeding in the grass on
a sand hill near salt meadow. May 20, also shot
a ¢ Black-poll Warbler in a low bush thes me
day. May 28, saw quite a number of Jaegers.
One marbled Godwit shot. Found about six
Sharp-tailed Finches on salt meadows near a
small salt pond. Found them quite abundant
May 28. First nest found June 12. About
twenty or thirty pair breeding. May 29 collected
a Red-backed Sandpiper out of a flock of San-
derlings. Two Hudsonian Curlew arrived June
3 and one stopped until June 25. June 8, saw a
Hudsonian Curlew.

A Catalogue of the Birds of Kala-
mazoo County, Mich.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.—PART VI.

103. [254.] Spiza americana (Gm.) Bonap.
Black-throated Bunting. Not observed here un-
til about 1875. Has become common only within
the last seven years. One of the birds evidently
which follows in the wake of civilization, and is
more common around fields and pastures where
there are few trees. The birds are only found
here on prairies or near their edges, and prefer
clover fields as their haunts. Not having sufti-
cient data, it will not be proper to offer remarks
on artivals, nesting habits, &c., for the present as
I have known the species for only six years.
Breeds abundantly.

104. Passer
Common resident.

domesticus. English Sparrow.

Breeds extravagantly.

105. [257.] Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Linn.)
Swains. Bobolink. Arrives the first of May

usually, sometimes by April 26th. Breeds abund-
antly. In late July the birds change their plum-
age and assume a sombre dress, remaining among
buckwheat fields until late August, when they
leave, presumably for the rice fields of the south.
Well-known species of pleasing song.
106. [258.] Molothrus ater (Bodd.)
Cowbird: Cowbunting. A common species six
months of the year. Appears usually in early
April, always by the 15th of the month, and oc-
casionally the last of March. The main body of
birds leave us for the south in early October, but
many remain until November 15th, and stragglers
are seen even later. This immoral pest, the ter-
ror of small birds, is well known. It is looked
upon by many as polygamous in its propensities,
but to my mind might with equal propriety be

Gray.

August, 1885.] AND

OOLOGIST. 119

* called polyandrous. There are certainly many
more males seen than females, and the commonly
observed practice of several males perched to-
gether alone is not evidence of polygamous pro-
pensities. I think we may class them with a still
more socially detested sect and compare them
with the Oneida Community, where common
rights of all are the distinguishing features.

107. [261.] Aygeleus phaniceus(Linn.) Vieill.
Red-winged Blackbird. Occasionally observed
in February—once on the 8th of the month.
Usually observed in early March. Remains until
November. It is always gregarious, appearing
in flocks in Spring and associating in large num-
bers during the breeding season. In early July
the small flocks begin to form composed of the
young of the year and those birds which are
through with the nesting duties. By August 15th
immense flocks are found and continue to in-
crease until the birds leave us for the south.
More eggs can be taken of this bird than of any
species of my acquaintance during the season for
nesting. I feel confident that I can collect one
hundred eggs a day for several days during the
height of the nesting season.

108. [268.] Stwrnella magna (Linn.) Swains.
Meadow Lark. A common Summer resident,
known and appreciated by all. Abundant from
March 20th to October 20th. Observed as early
as February 20th. Occasionally recorded in the
dead of Winter. Usually depart in November,

however.

109. [270.] Jeterus spurius (Linn.) Bp.
Orchard Oriole. <A beautiful singer and quite
abundant from May 10th to August 30th. Ar-

rives from May 1st to 13th. Rarely seen late in
Summer because of its retiring nature and silence.
A great musician during May and June while
nesting, and scarcely rivalled by any bird of my
acquaintance in song.

110. [271.] Jeterus galbula (Linn.) Coues.
Baltimore Oriole. <A brilliant plumed, gay-
singing species. Abundant from May 10th to
July 10th. Scarce after the nesting season and
rarely seen or heard excepting in early morning.
Arrives about May 1st as a rule, occasionally as
early as April 26th. Sometimes not till May 9th.
Breeds abundantly.

111. [273.] Scolecophagus ferrugineus (Gm.)
Swains. Rusty Blackbird. Abundant as a mi-

grant only. Observed by March 9th one season,
—usually arrives about March 25th. Abundant
by April Ist as a rule. All have disappeared
generally by April 28th. Sometimes stragglers
may be seen in May. They appear again in Oc-
tober and often remain as late as November 10th,

and stragglers may seen in late November.
Sometimes found in straggling flocks by them-
selves, but more often in company with other
members of the family.

112. [278,] Quiscalus purpureus (Bartr.)
Licht. Purple Grackle. An abundant Summer
resident, and with us seven months of the year.
Like the other members of the family it often ar-
rives before the snow is off the ground, and I
have met with males, which precede the females
nearly a week, when the mercury was ten de-
grees below zero. Their appearance occurs as
early as February 28th some seasons, but usually
they may be looked for about March 15th.
Breed abundantly, in new sections in holes in
stubs and dead trees, in orchards and groves and
shade trees in regularly constructed nests. De-
part usually about October 15th to 20th, but
many remain well into November.

113. [280.] Corvus corax carnivorus (Bartr.)
Ridg. American Raven. Once abundant, but

now very rare and only occasionally seen in un-
settled districts where heavy swamps are found.

114. [282.] Corvus frugivorus Bartr. Com-
mon Crow. An abundant species eight months
of the year. Found throughout the year some-
times; a condition which does not appear to de-
pend entirely on the mildness of the season.
Generally appears in late February and departs
in early November, but stragglers are seen as
late as December 20th. Breeds abundantly.
Formerly very rare indeed, and only common
within the last ten years. More abundant each
Spring.

115. [289.] Cyanoettta cristata (Linn.) Strickl.
Blue Jay. An abundant resident. Not so com-
mon in severe weather, however.

116. [800.] Hremophila alpestris (Forst.) Boie.
Shore Lark; Horned Lark. An abundant resi-
dent, but not common in severe Winters. Nests
early, often ere the snow has all disappeared.
Took aset of four eggs April 15th, 1869, when
the weather was quite rigorous. The nest was
compactly built of wool and very warm, and was
situated in a valley and protected from the winds.
A second brood is undoubtedly raised, as nests
are often found in May and even June.

117. [804.] Tyrannus carolinensis (Linn.)
Temm. Kingbird; Bee Martin. An abundant
resident during May, June, July, August and
September. Arrives generally about April 28th,
sometimes by the 23rd, of the month, and again
not till May 6th. Nests with us in great num-

bers. Departs from September 15th to October
10th. Stragglers may be observed sitting on old

fences even later, but the first cold snap generally
causes them to leave for more congenial quarters.

120 ORNITHOLOGIST [ Vol. 10-No. 8
4UsSUE, the practice of medicine which he followed —
for nearly forty years. He came to Mich-
OR NITHOLTOGGISE igan when it was a wilderness, and located
—AND—

OOLOGIST.

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NoAT UR Agks SEU SAVORY
ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF
BIRDS,

THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,

PAWTUCKET, R. I.

In our September number we shall give
the first of a series of articles on Practical
Taxidermy, by Mr. F. B. Webster. We
confidently expect these papers will be of
permanent value to our readers. They
will form an important feature of our num-
bers for the rest of the year.

The “Ibis” for July gives some inter-
esting facts in regard to the British Orni-
thologists’ Union. The total membership
is 174, being an increase of twenty-four
since the last anniversary meeting. The
finances were reported to be in a satisfac-
tory condition.

—————

Obituary.

DR. H. A. ATKINS, LOCKE, MICH.

It is with sincere regret that we find
ourselves called upon to record the death
of one of our most valued co-laborers. To
those who have been readers of the O. and
O. for some years, the name of Dr. Atkins
is known as that of a sincere lover of
nature and a man of acute observation.

Born August 20th, 1821, in Erie County,
N. Y., Dr. Atkins moved to Locke, Ing
ham Co., Mich. in 1842, where he began

among the Indians and early settlers when
the country was an almost unbroken
forest. Here in the midst of a country
the flora and fauna of which offered many
points for observation and research, he
lived a quiet life, ever learning more of the
objects of his interest. For twenty-nine
years, he carefully recorded day by day the
arrivals, presence and abundance of a large
series of birds, and his accuracy and
painstaking effort have rarely, if ever, been
equalled. His notes, a few of which were
inserted from time to time in our pages,
were always the result of his own obser-
vations. We valued them especially for
the care, so plainly shown, with which
each stated fact was personally endorsed.
For the last few years his health failed him,
his letters to us accompanying some short
notes show with what increasing toil he
pursued the investigations which were his
delight. Dr. Atkins had long planned the
issue in book form of his many notes on
the Ornithology of Michigan, and hoped
next year to be able to do it. He did not
live to see this accomplished, but we ven-
ture to hope that nevertheless some means
may be found of bringing his ornithologi-
cal investigations before the world. Our
last letter from him is dated March 26th
of this year. He said the Winter had been
very severe, and he had been ill—hardly
able to sit up—but hoped to improve with
the Spring. This was the last we heard
of him, until we received notice of his
death which took place May 19th, in the
64th year of his age.

We had no opportunity of personal ac-
quaintance with Dr. Atkins, but his letters
to us from time to time revealed a kindly
heart, full of interest in our success, and
zeal for the objects we had in common.

[ We are indebted to a valued Michigan
contributor for many of the facts required
for this sketch. ]

August, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

121

Notes on the Zoology of Manitoba.

BY THE LATE T. B. WOOD.

(Communicated by T. H. NEtson to The Zoologist )

Concluded from page 103.

August 11th.—Last week I got five Shovellers,
two Black Terns, and an unknown Duck; also
paid another visit to the Terns’ colony. The
Black Tern is first seen in great numbers about the
20th or 2ist of June, and is then in full Summer
dress, with black breast, head and throat, and
dark-grey back. The greatest numbers were
found fifteen miles southwest of Brandon, round
some large swamps, one of which is about a mile
long and half a mile broad. The birds there are
as “thick” and noisy as those we saw at the Farne
Isles; hundreds were flying over every small
pond or slough, had several pairs hovering about,
and the air was filled with their cries. I paid a
second visit to this place in July, and again on
August 6th, when I found great numbers still
there, and shot two specimens; they were chang-
ing plumage and losing the black on the head
and breast. The feet of this Tern are only par-
tially webbed. I never noticed them taking
food as other Terns do, but the swamps are full
of long grass and reeds, choking up the place, so
that even if the birds are feeding 1t is impossible
to observe what they are taking. Ducks, Cur-
lews, Cranes, and other birds are now constantly
passing over, showing that the migratory season
has commenced.

August 18th.—About the middle of the month
I drove out about fifteen miles southwest, and
had a good time amongst the wild fowl]; my bag
was made up of seven Blue-winged Teal, one
Green-winged Teal, four Shovellers, two Pintails,
one Mallard, one nondescript, two Bitterns, four
Yellowshanks, one Coot, one large Hawk, one
Grebe, two Black Terns, and a Grey Shrike.
One of the Terns was in full plumage, with coal
black head and breast, back and tail grey, under
tail-coverts and thighs white. We got a Duck in
a rather curious manner. I saw a Falcon sud-
denly drop into a bed of reeds, so walked up until
I got within afew yards of the spot, when he
rose and I knocked him over; he had struck a
Shoveller, which I picked up, more frightened
than hurt. I could have killed any number of
Sandpipers, Yellowshanks, and Snipe, but as
cartridges are precious here, I am obliged to be
rather careful of my ammunition.

September 1st—Late in August I was out at
Badger Hill for two days, and had fair sport with
the Ducks and Prairie Chickens, getting eighteen
brace of the latter. I also shot two large Hawks,

a Woodpecker, a Grackle, and a Thrush. One
day we drove within thirty yards of two Deer,
but did not get a shot; on the same day we saw
a two-year old Bear. The heat is still very
oppressive, nearly as bad as it has been all
through the Summer ; for the last fortnight it has
been 114° in the shade. I saw the first flight of
Geese this week (end of August) going south.
September 25th.—In the middle of this month
I was again at Badger Hill, and added to my col-
lection two Peregrines, a Bittern, several small
Hawks, and three kinds of Woodpeckers, and
saw many other birds too numerous to mention.
Bitterns were very common, and are capital eat-
ing. We had a few days’ fishing, and caught
some good sized pike, ten pounds to twelve
pounds in weight. The weather has changed
considerably, and Winter is fast coming on; the
nights are bitterly cold, with hard frosts. Large
flocks of Shore Larks are flying about Brandon,
and small birds something like a Black Redstart.
Of the two Peregrines I shot, one was when I
was out looking for my ponies: I was watching
a flock of Sandpipers when the Falcon made a
dash at one of them; the Sandpiper at once ran
into a pool close by and ducked under; of course
the Peregrine missed his aim, but I did not miss
mine. The other Peregrine 1 caught asleep on a
tree! I got within 100 yards of a magnificent
Eagle one day, but had not my rifle near; on the
same day I drove close to a Prairie Wolf, which
calmly looked at me and then galloped off.
October 8th_—There has not been much shoot-
ing during the early part of October. I generally
have a drive along the river, which swarms with
Ducks. I have secured an American Wigeon,
and fired at an Eagle on the 4th, but lost it.
November 4th.—Ducks are beginning to leave
us now, and are going south, but there is. still
pretty good shooting. I got a Short-eared Owl
one morning on going out before breakfast ; there
was evidently a migration of these birds going on,
for they rose at every few yards from out of the
long grass, just as they do on the sand hills at
Redcar. The country is now covered with snow,
but the days are very delightful, and more enjoy-
able than during the heat of Summer with mos-
quito plagues. I hear Moose are to be had down
at the Souris, so am going there soon. Snow
Buntings mingle with the Shore Larks in the
streets, and are as tame as our English Sparrows.
November 16th.—The weather is still very cold,
and the thermometer registers 20° below zero. I
saw a very fine Ermine to-day. Foxes and
Wolves are increasing in numbers and boldness.
We get an animal like a Mountain Hare here,
which turns white in Winter (Lepus americanus).

122

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 8

December 25th.—About the end of this month
there was a fearful snow storm, and the snow
now lies thick on the ground; the cold is still
intense, 20° below. My bag of eatable birds this
season has been about 300, and includes 129
Ducks, 119 Prairie Chickens, and 14 Bitterns.

January 24, 1883.—It is heavy work shooting
in the snow, but I managed about the middle of
the month to bag a brace of Ruffed Grouse; they
sit in the bushes, and you may almost knock
them over with a stick. I also secured a Tanager
(Pyranga rubra), very like the American Gros-
beak; the bill is black, head, breast and back

crimson: wings black and white, and tail black,

size about equal to a Hawfinch. There was a
pair of them, and I secured the male. On the
same day I gota large Shrike and some very good
Snow Buntings.

February 22nd.—About the beginning of the
month I shot another Tanager, and a third
towards the middle of the month. About the
10th I was going out with the gun, when I saw
large bird coming straight over me, about sixty
yards high. I gave it a charge of No. 2 and
down it came. Imagine my delight, when I
picked up a splendid male Snowy Owl, pure white,
except for three black marks on the wings. The
Weather is not quite so severe now,—10° below
zero, and I have ventured out Wolf shooting, but
have not been successful hitherto. One day I
saw a few Tits and Redpolls.

March 5th.—At the beginning of this month I
shot another Snowy Owl, a female, in speckled
plumage. It has snowed heavily for some days,
and the Wolves are very daring. I have secured
a few and am tanning the skins for mats.

March 11th.—Towards the middle of the month
the weather became milder. We shall all be glad
when the snow disappears and the grass becomes
visible again.

April 25th.—The Spring migration commenced
this year almost a fortnight earlier than usual.
Ducks put in an appearance on April 13th, and
by the 15th large flocks of both Ducks and Geese
passed over. The Spring Duck shooting is
preferable to that in the Fall; the birds are in so
much finer plumage, and the weather, too is more
bearable. I append a few dates of Spring obser-
vations, which will give a slight idea of what we
see here: March 20th, Shore Larks appear; snow
still covering prairie and sleighing good. April
10th, saw two Crows and a Marsh Harrier; snow
melting fast, trail very bad. 12th, two Ducks
going W.; trails broken up, sleighing over. 13th‘
a Mallard shot. 14th, large numbers of Marsh
Harriers from 9 a. m., till 1 p. m., a continuous
flight going W.; also a few Yellowshanks and

Crows. 15th, Marsh Harriers going W. 16th,
large flocks of Ducks and Geese going W., also
Marsh Harriers sailing over the sloughs, and a
few small birds appearing ; small Hawks passing;
snow almost gone. 17th, Ducks going W.; Marsh
Harriers sailing about; shot at a Yellowshank ;
Jarge flights of Summer visitors appearing. 18th,
a snow storm; shot two Mallards, saw a Yellow-
shank; tried to stalk a Goose on the ice on the
river, but failed; saw a Short-cared Owl. 19th,
shot a Mallard; saw Pintails, and a friend shot a
Marsh Harrier. 20th, saw Robins and Black
Grackles (Scolecophagus ferrugineus) in large
flocks, also a few Pintails and one flock of Green-
winged Teal; a Goose shot; a friend shot a male
Scaup and a Green-winged Teal. 21st, I shot
three Mallards and a Green-winged Teal; a
friend shot a snipe; saw a Peregrine and several
Snipe. 22nd, saw two Sand-hill Cranes going N.
28rd, ice on the river breaking up. 24th, a friend
shot a male Pintail; river almost clear. 25th,
Anemone in flower; grass showing green.

May 9th—About the end of April I saw a
Woodpecker, and shot a fine Buftle-headed Drake
—a grand specimen. On the 28th I observed a
Ring Plover (yialitis semipalmatus). On the
29th shot a Pochard; saw numbers of Snipe,
Sand-hill Cranes, Martins, and a Short-eared Owl,
also a Butterfly like a Camberwell Beauty. Early
in May I got specimens of Meadow Larks (Stwr-
nella magna), Red-winged Starlings, and Bunt-
ings; and on the 8th saw eight Lesser Yellow-
shanks (Zotanus flavipes). By the first week of
May most of the Ducks had arrived, but the large
flights of Blue-winged Teal had not yet appeared.
Thus far the Ducks noticed this Spring are Mal-
lard, Pintail, Shoveller, Scaup, Pochard, Buffel-
head, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal,
Wood Duck, Butter Duck, (Buffel-head), Ameri-
can Wigeon (called “Summer Duck” by the In-
dians), and a Duck very like a Scaup, which I
am not able to identify. [Probably the American
Seaup, Puligula affinis—Ev.) Two friends of
mine were away shooting in the second week of
May, and brought home (amongst other birds)
three Sclavonian Grebes, an Esquimaux Curlew
(? footnote, p. 103), and a Canvas-back Duck.

May 25th.—The close time begins on May 15th
for all kinds of wild fowl, so I had a last day be-
fore the season ended ; my bag was thirty-seven
head, including four Plover, a Buzzard, Bittern,
and two species of Grebe, ten Eared and Sclavon-
ian Grebes. Since then I got a Golden Plover in
full Summer plumage, and a Ring Dotterel exactly
like our Tees-mouth friend ; when I picked it up
I could almost imagine myself at Redcar again.
[Doubtless Agialitis semipalmatus.—Ep.] A

August, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

123

great many Gulls passed over here about the
middle of May, and I also heard that the Black
Terns had arrived at their breeding quarters.
The Blue-winged Teal is now in great force; in
fact, most of the Summer birds have arrived.
The weather now (end of May) is very hot, and
the mosquitoes are beginning to be troublesome.
Last evening I saw a Goatsucker and heard the
Whip-poor-will.

June 4th.—Early in June I had a ramble out to
the Brandon Hills, eight miles south of here. I
discovered a lake, about a mile long by about
half-a-mile broad, full of Ducks; it is right
amongst the hills, which are clothed with woods
on two sides of the lake. I was looking for the
Wood Duck, but not seeing any on the lake did
not disturb the fowl there. In wandering through
the woods I spied a mighty nest of large twigs in
a tree on the edge of the lake. On my approach
a bird flapped off, and I promptly shot it, when I
found it to be a fine Red-tailed Buzzard; I
I shot also a Yellow-headed Grackle (?).

June 20th.—In the middle of June I was out at
Plum Creek, thirty miles southwest, where 1
added a few birds to the collection. Amongst
others I got three Phalaropes, a few Black Terns
(of which there were large numbers), and a very
good Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa foeda, which I
found breeding there. I also found numbers of
Ducks’ nests, the eggs all incubated, except two
Blue-winged Teal’s. A Black-headed Gull was
following the plough just as they do in Northum-
berland. In the first week of July I noticed a flock
of these Gulls flying round, screaming and com-
ing quite close to where I was standing. They
appear to be very like our English Black-headed
Gull, but I did not manage to get a specimen for
identification ; they breed on some large lakes or
sloughs round Portage. I shot a couple Dunlins
in Brandon one day, and so have added this
species to my collection. The eggs of many birds
which are considered rare in England are easily
obtainable here, vz., Marsh Harrier, Shore Lark,
Buzzard, Ducks of various species, Black Tern,
Bar-tailed (Barbled) Gotwit, Bartram’s Sandpiper,
Yellowshanks, and many others. I shot a Kill-
deer Plover (Wyialitis vociferus) about the second
week in July, and took the eggs.

August 5th—The close time for Ducks and
Prairie Chickens has been extended to September
1st, but I went out on the Ist of August, and shot
a few Killdeer and Upland Plover (Bartram’s
Sandpiper). I also shot three Sandpipers from a
flock of about a dozen ; they are very like a Dun-
lin, but the breast shows no signs of any black
feathers, and I have shot similar specimens in
June; they are also smaller than the Dunlin.

[They may have been Bonaparte’s, or Baird’s
Sandpiper.—Eb. |

August 25th.—H. had a day’s shooting about
the middle of the month, and bagged seventy
head, including fifty-two Ducks. I have reared
a tame Bittern, a flne handsome full-grown
bird now; he seems very fond of frogs, small
birds and insects; it takes me nearly all my
time to supply him with food. On the 20th I
heard that a Gyr Falcon had been observed ; at
the same time a friend of mine caught two young
Canada Geese down by the river. You have no
idea whata place this is for birds. I am often
lying outside the tent, smoking, when perhaps a
pair of Marsh Harriers will come sailing past;
then a big Buzzard will perch about fifty yards
away and remain motionless for hours, in spite of
my firing my catapult at him; then a flight of
Ducks passes over, or perhaps a few Sand-hill
Cranes, or Geese, Passenger Pigeons, &c. This is
an ordinary occurrence, and if I take the trouble
to get my gun and walk down toa slough a quar-
ter of a mile away, I am sure to flush Sandpipers,
Plovers, Snipe, Yellowshanks, and other waders,
a few Ducks, or perhaps a couple of Water Rails
ora Bittern, and see the Musk Rats swimming
and diving in all directions.

September 16th—Three guns had good sport
early in this month; they got 600 head in five
days, mostly Duck, Snipe, and Prairie Chickens.
Amongst the dead I found another species of
Phalarope, smaller than those I got previously ;
it is in Autumn plumage. [Probably the Red-
necked Phalarope.—Ep.] There were also several
species of small waders, but I was too late to save
them. Prairie Chickens are scarce this season,
owing no doubt to the settlers shooting them
during the close time. Amongst the birds I have
got lately are Scaup, Grebes, Kingfishers, Blue
Jay, Velvet Scoter, and Peregrine. Hawks are
particularly abundant this Autumn, especially
Marsh Harriers, but I rarely take the trouble to
shoot at one now. _

October 12th.—Winter is coming on fast, and
the wild fowl are leaving us for the south. I
have shot eighty Ducks in three days during
the early part of this month. Snipe are still
plentiful, but will soon be leaving. I have seen
several Mergansers and Buftel-heads, and secured
one of the former for the collection. The other
day I saw a Pelican (Pelecanus trachyrhynchus)
exposed for sale ina shop; if was shot in South
Manitoba, and measured cight feet from tip to
tip of the wings. I have added to my store a
Little Crake, which I shot out of a reed-bed early
this month ; it is the first of the kind I have ever
seen here.

124

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10--No. 8

A Birds’-Nesting Ramble in Lapland.

BY ALFRED CRAWHALL CHAPMAN. (Zhe Ibis.)

Continued from page 110.

June 16th. Coming down the Pulmakelf last
night, I observed a thick-bodied Duck flying, its
wings rustling in the air. I inquired of the Laps
if any Ducks bred in trees about here, and a boy
assured me they did, and that he knew of holes
where he had seen their nests in previous years.
I told him where I had seen this Duck, and this
morning he returned, having found the nest
and six eggs of the Goldeneye (Clangula glau.
cion). When we arrived at the place, I wondered
where the nest could possibly be, so thin and
small were all the trees; however, in an old
stump about three feet high, with a hole in the
side of it large enough for a Duck’s body to enter,
and about eighteen inches down, was a mass of
dusky white down, with the six bluish-green
eggs. No bird was about, and the eggs were
cold, but quite fresh. The stump was at the top
of a very steep bank, perhaps 150 feet from the
river, but certainly not more than 40 feet per-
pendicularly above the water. When wandering
in the Birch forests, we observed a Great Spotted
Woodpecker (Picus major), and shortly after
Trinus saw a Pine Grosbeak. I secured both,
and then we commenced to look for the nests,
which we were lucky in finding close together.
It was merely a question of looking for a thick
enough tree to find the Woodpecker’s nest. The
first thick-stemmed tree contained the nest, and I
caught the hen bird on it; she had just hatched
her four eggs, so I released her. The Grosbeak’s
nest, similar to the one already described, con-
tained four eggs. Presently the male Grosbeak
came up, a handsome scarlet-plumaged bird. I
never heard these birds utter the slightest note;
they. seemed to seek safety by sitting perfectly
motionless on an open branch, and allowed easy
approach. The hen was a greyish-green bird.

A very pretty Willow Grouse, in adult Summer
plumage, which I shot to-day in Russian Finland,
had an egg ready for laying in her oviduct. A
Siberian Titmouse (Parws cinctus), flying out of
an old Woodpecker’s hole, made me sure of a
nest and eggs, and I secured her instantly, but
was disappointed to find nothing but dry chips
and no eggs at the bottom. The bird was a round
fluffy ball of hairy feathers, with a rather long
blue tail, and was the only example I saw of this
species. Titlarks were very abundant, and the
nests were everywhere to be found now. A large
flock of Common Scoters rose as we came down
the Pulmakelf to-night. To-day was dull, but

not cold, and in the evening we had sunshine,
which afterwards proved to be the beginning of
that continual radiance which characterizes the
three months’ Summer season in these latitudes,

June 17th. A Qvane girl brought in the dark-
colored down and eight eggs of what she termed
“Kriksa,” 2. e. Teal (Querquedula crecea), which
she had taken that morning at the edge of a large
lake a little way from Pulmak. She also brought
me a peculiar open-topped nest, made of thin,
stiff, black roots, lined with dead leaves, and con-
taining six eggs of the Water Ouzel: doubtless
Cinclus melanogaster, The nest was different
from any of those of C. aquaticus I have found
in England.

Later in the day, after a long and fruitless
search, as Trinus and I were resting on the edge
of a half-frozen lough far out on the fell, a pair
of Wood Sandpipers came from somewhere and
began to feed along the edge of the lough; and
whilst watching them a Long-tailed Skua came
past us with very rapid flight. I must have been
indulging in a quiet ‘‘siesta,” when Trinus
touched my coat and pointed to the lough, on
which, almost within gunshot, two large heavy-
looking Ducks were swimming, their necks
craned up, suspiciously watching us. They had
just alighted, and although we were fully ex-
posed to view, they did not seem to understand
what we were, so motionless did we lie. Pres-
ently the lighter colored of the two began diving,
the other swimming restlessly backwards and for-
wards along the edge of the ice. Immediately I
moved, the cat-ice cracked under my feet, and
the drake took a long flight; but coming high
over my head, I killed him, and the duck, rising
at the shot, shared a similar fate. They proved
to be an adult pair of Velvet Scoters (Qdemia
Jusca). These birds were evidently seeking a
nesting place when I found them; but so arctic
was the state of the fells and their lakes at this
date, that I do not think either the Velvet Scoter
or the Long-tailed Skua had eggs when I left the
country in the beginning of July.

A pair of Whimbrels (Numenius phwopus)
showed great anxiety long before we reached their
real breeding place; and although they used every
endeavor to allure us away, I was most fortunate
in walking right upon the nest and four eggs,
slightly incubated, in a hole scratched in the
reindeer moss. Many pike were disporting them-
selves in some shallow lakes far out on the fells
to-day, often jumping right out of the water. I
shot one to see what it was, and it proved to be
about two pounds weight. We wondered greatly
how these fish had ever got there, and what they
did in the long Winter! Coming home that night

‘

August, 1885.] AND

OOLOGIST. 125

I flushed a brace of Wigeon off the small piece
of water near our house, where I had killed the
mature drake before; the unfortunate duck lost
her husband again, and I found he was half
moulted to Summer plumage.

June 18th. We found our first nest of the
Blue-throated Warbler (Cyanecula suecica) to-day,
with seven fresh eggs. It was placed on a dry
bank of moss, much concealed, and was con-
structed entirely of fine dry grass, with a thick
foundation of moss. The female, which was
very tame, had a white throat, with a little blue
at the edges and a touch of red and blue on the
breast. All the male Bluethroats which I saw
had the red spot on the throat. A Brambling’s
nest contained seven fresh eggs to-day: and a
Raven which I shot was in full moult in all the
wing feathers, except the quills, which had been
renewed, and the feathers on the neck and head,
which were also new.

Coming along the edge of the Tana I found a
nest and four eggs of the Shore Lark (Otocorys
alpestris). The nest was within ten yards of the
river side, placed in a hole scratched in the sandy
ground near the bank. It was close in to Pul-
mak, and I must have passed the place dozens of
times before, but even now I did not see the bird.
Two Laps, Trinus, and I were standing wonder-
ing where the owner of the nest could be, when
we suddenly caught sight of her, squatting on the
ground at our very feet, her head turned towards
us and _ her little black horns distinctly visible.
The nest was made exclusively of dry white
broad-bladed grasses. The eggs were of a yellow-
ish color, not unlike those of our Yellow Wagtail.
It is strange that this bird should nest in such
very different localities, for I afterwards found
them, evidently breeding, on the bare fell-tops
overgrown with stunted lichens and mosses, and
strewn with boulders and patches of snow, A
Lap brought me in to-night five eggs of what he
called the ‘‘Hanga,” 7 e. Long-tailed Duck
(Hurelda glacialis). The nest was placed on the
river bank just opposite Pulmak, and as there
was no down, I concluded she could not have
laid her full complement off eggs. Reed Bunt-
ings seemed common by the side of some fell
lakes which we visited to-day. Although we
now had fine Summer weather, there was nota
sign of greenness in a single tree or plant as yet,
and many deep ridges of snow looked as if they
were never going to melt. A single Swallow ar-
rived at Pulmak in the evening.

June 19th. House Martins (Chelidon urbica)
arrived and sought the eaves of our dwelling
for a breeding place. After breakfast I shot the

female Wigeon as she rose from her nest close to
the house; the one egg was laid on the dead
leaves under a Willow bush, with scarcely a sign
of a nest. This was the Duck whose two hus-
bands I had already secured, and now she fell
herself! She had a pretty brindled head, grey
and black, the wing and tail coverts mottled
white all over, the flanks were brown.

June 20th. A little Lap boy brought me this
morning, in a tin tray, the nest, cut out of the
ground, containing three eggs, of the Dotterel
(Hudromias morinellus), the first indication I had
of this bird’s presence near Pulmak. To-day
Trinus and I packed up our tent and hired two
Lap boys to “pole” us up the Pulmakelf as far as
Pulmak Vand, a lake some seven miles long and
two miles wide, about eight miles from Pulmak
and about forty miles north of the great Lake
Enare. We had intended pitching our tent near
a Russian Finn’s hut at the south end of the lake,
but we were rather amazed to find, on emerging
from the high banks of the Pulmak river, that
the whole surface of the lake was still frozen, and
that the mountains on the Russian side were deep
in snow. We accordingly pitched our tent in the
Birch forest near the frozen lake, and when the
two Laps had roasted us some salmon steaks with
the aid of a birch fire, they returned to Pulmak,
and we were left alone in the solitudes of the
forest. Close to our home was the boundary line
between Norwegian Lapland and Russian Fin-
land; this line is kept distinct through the Birch
forests by means of cutting down all the trees for
a width of several yards, and over the bare fells
by large cairns of stones set on the tops of con-
spicuous fell summits.

When strolling along a pathway in the forest
in the afternoon, we met the Russian Finn’s
daughter, who had just flushed a Willow Grouse
(Lagopus albus) from its nest and eleven richly
colored eggs, laid on the dead Birch leaves at the
foot of an old stump. I bought these from her ;
but she thought they were worth at least a krone
for eating. Coming back to our tent that night I
disturbed a Blue-throated Warbler from her nest
under a Juniper bush, containing five fresh eggs.
As we lay in the tent we made notes of the noc-
turnal bird-songs. About 11 p. m. the woods re-
sounded with the hoarse cackle of the Willow
Grouse. I learnt that they were in the habit of
flying down to the forest streams to drink at this
hour, and certainly from 11 o’clock till midnight
they were very restless and noisy. For about
half an hour at midnight, though the sun shone
brilliantly in a yellow sky, all was hushed, and
the first bird to break the silence was the Red-

[Vol. 10-No. 8

ORNITHOLOGIST

wing, followed immediately by the Brambling,
and then the smaller Warblers joined the chorus.
It is strange how short a time they scem to allow
themselves for rest. In the morning, the Russian
Finn, having heard from his daughter that some
eccentric individuals were camping out in the
woods by the lake, came and informed me that
he had seen the prints of seven bears in the snow
two days before, and wanted us to go after them;
but the distance was great, and the chance small,
so we declined.

June ist. On the fells to-day Golden Plovers
and Whimbrels were numerous. I took a nest
of the former with four fresh eggs, and shot one
of the latter as he perched on the topmost branch
of a Birch tree. When lunching we heard a
peculiar chzt-ciit note in some scrub near us, and
on going to see what it was, a Common Snipe
(Gallinago calestis) rose, the only example of this
species I observed in Finmark, or Finland, for
we were now on Russian territory. <A pair of
Long-tailed Skuas seemed to be wandering over
the fells in search of a place to breed, and I
secured a splendid specimen as he came, like an
arrow, right at me. The inside of its mouth was
pale pink, the irides hazel, the tarsus was a pale
blue, and the feet dusky black. We got our
third nest of the Bluethroat to-day, with six eggs.

June 22nd. Two important observations were
made to-day: first, there is a slight tinge of green
in the Bireh forests, which, up to now, have been
as bare and barren as Winter; and, secondly, the
appearance of mosquitoes in force. From this
date life became hardly tolerable on account of
this plague. I found this morning by the lake-
side a nest and six eggs of the Reed Bunting, and
shortly afterwards I flushed a Phalarope (Phala-
ropus hyperboreus) from her tiny nest in the grass,
close to the water’s edge. The legs and feet of
this bird are greenish. A pair of Wood Sand-
pipers evidently had a nest here, but they com-
pletely deluded us. This bird has a habit of go-
ing high up in the air and gyrating for hours in
wide circles, at times shooting up another fifty or
sixty feet with a delightful wild ery,

Coming down the Pulmakelf, on our return to
Pulmak, we found two nests of Temminck’s
Stints, one containing two eggs, the other three.
The latter was placed close to a Lap’s log hut,
and immediately behind a dunghill adjoining the
house, a few paces from the edge of the Tana.
The old birds were very solicitous, sailing around
with their wings set over their backs, like a but-
terfly, often alighting on a tree, rail, or stone, or
sometimes on the ridge of the Lap hut adjoining,
uttering the while a continual pretty trilling note.

I frequently observed this tiny Wader in the act
of nest making, scratching a hole with its little
feet, then quickly sitting down and turning its
little body round to form the required depression.
Then the bird jumps up, and looking at the em-
bryo nest, pushes a dead birch leaf with her
slender beak into the tiny hole. I measured the
diameter of one nest containing four eggs, and it
did not amount to 214 inches over all. The eggs

are placed small ends together, and, owing to the-

depth of the nest, are caused to stand nearly on
end, thus taking up very little space ; indeed, if
they lay on their sides, the small body of this
Wader could not cover them. Frequently, when
at the nest, the Stints would run round and
round, almost coming within arm’s reach; but
their quickness of flight when surprised or fright-
ened is astonishing. They seemed to have a
special liking for the dry sandy banks of the Pul-
makelf close to its junction with the Tana. Here
the sloping sand was sparsely overgrown with
dwarf Willows, and amongst the roots of the
Willows a coarse grass was growing, strewn with
dead Birch leaves, and this the Stints seemed to
prefer to any other place, although I found them
breeding several hundred yards from water.

June 18rd. A pair of Ring Plovers (gialitis
Jnatieula), by their excessive anxiety and solici-
tude, betrayed their nest and four eggs within a
stone’s throw of our dwelling. I had heard them
nearly all night long uttering their fine hollow
cry, as they flew up and down the river. I got
my last Pine Grosbeak’s nest to-day, with two
eggs. A Great Grey Shrike’s nest, built close to
the place where we had obtained a nest and seven
hard-set eggs on the 14th of June, now contained
six fine fresh eggs, evidently a second laying.
This nest was constructed almost ‘entirely of
white “ryper’-feathers, and was very warm and
compact. It was placed in a Birch tree standing
alone in an open glade in the forest. The white
feathers of the Willow Grouse exactly resembled
in color the silvery bark of the Birch tree on
which it was built. We also obtained to-day a
Brambling’s nest with seven eggs, a Bluethroat’s
with seven eggs, and a Golden Plover’s with four
eggs, and I shot a Grey-headed Wagtail in gor-
geous plumage. The heat was great to-day: the
Birch forests are turning green, and the mosqui-
toes are a living plague.

June 24th. On our way to some distant fells
to look for Dotterel, we found a Ring Plover’s
nest with two eggs and two Mealy Redpole’s
nests, the first with five eggs, the second with
newly hatched young. The latter have a very
extended period of incubation, and probably have

August, 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. 12

two broods in the season. Their nests are very
pretty, consisting in this case of small twigs out-
side, then the soft downy wool of the willow-
eatkin, and then the snow-white lining of “ryper’-
feathers. When the pale-blue eggs, with their
purple spots, are laid in this, it is impossible to
conceive a prettier sight. After a long climb we
eventually reached the summit of a truly charac-
teristic Lapland fjeld; nothing buta great rolling
waste of reindeer-moss, thickly strewn with grey
boulders and stones and occasional patches of
snow. It seemed to be a real paradise for the
wild and solitary Dotterel. On looking over a
ridge, we saw a grey-looking bird get up and
quickly disappear behind a knoll. On going to
the place, there lay the “triple clutch” character-
istic of the Dotterel, laid in a slight hole scratched
in the reindeer-moss, without any lining. Leay-
ing Trinus at the nest, I went after the bird,
which kept running in front of me, and eventual-
ly rose, uttering a deep croak-croak, which I

never heard afterwards. After a considerable

chase I procured her, and returned to the nest. -

The eggs were hard sat. During the course of
to-day I saw many Dotterel. Once, when lying
resting, I heard a low pipe, and on looking
round saw the fine chestnut breast and white
eye-streak of a Dotterel, which was sitting on a
stone close tous. We did not move, and pres-
ently two others came running up. Golden
Plovers swarmed, and the notes of the two could
be well compared ; that of the Dotterel is similar
to, but not nearly so loud as, that of the Golden
Plover. Once I watched a Dotterel running
about, till at length it sat down, and I felt sure it
was on the nest. Approaching quietly, I got
within six feet of her, when I perceived that the
bird had gone to roost; her eyes were shut and
she was fast asleep: it was a very pretty sight.
On looking at my watch I found it was midnight.

Seated on the top of a high fell, some twelve
iniles from Pulmak, the view was superb. Far
as the eye could reach this wild country presented
a continuous series of rolling hills, clad with
Birch to a certain level, the intervening morasses
being studded with numerous lakes and water-
courses, and in the hazy distance great snow-
mountains reared up into the yellow midnight
sky. The sun shone brilliantly, and, with the
exception of the occasional low pipe of the
Plover and Dotterel, or the lively chirrup of the
Snow Bunting, all was silent. Frequently, dur-
ing the course of the day, we observed small
parties of six or eight Dotterel running about
together; but they were wild and unapproach-
able, and I felt inclined to think that they could

not be breeding. Some of the Dotterels which
we examined were far blacker on the crown of
the head than others; some had a grey crown,
but, with this exception, I could note no differ-
ence in the plumage of the sexes; the legs and
feet are yellow ; the irides hazel. As we tramped
home we remarked that the Birch leaves were
now nearly full out; only three days ago nota
sign of a leaf was visible !

June 25th. Temminck’s Stints were just be-
ginning to lay now, and to-day we got two nests
with four fresh eggs cach. I suceeeded also in
getting a nest and four very fine eggs of the
Rough-legged Buzzard, considerably larger than
any I had got before, and quite fresh. A Lap
boy brought me a clutch of four fresh Whimbrel’s
eges; they had a fine olive-green ground, with
few other markings, entirely confined to the
larger end. Rather contrary to our anticipations,
a heavy thunderstorm, with vivid flashes of light-
ning and deluges of rain, overtook us to-day.
The rain had « most invigorating effect on the
Birch forests, and in the afternoon, when an
almost tropical sun began to shine, the previously
imperfect exfoliation of the buds was completely

developed.
(To be concluded next month.)

Brief Notes.

A New Brrp ror Trexas.—In the O. and O.
for January, 1885, p. 5, Mr. Charles H. Marsh
describes a new species of Field Sparrow,
(Spizella wortheni,) from New Mexico. Mr. Ridg-
way has formally described the same, holding it
to be a valid species.

Among the birds collected by Mr. Wm. Lloyd,
at San Angela, Texas, is one which Mr. Ridgway
pronounces to belong to this new species. So
Worthen’s Sparrow may be added to the list of
Texas birds.— W. W. Cooke.

Curtous Nestrne Piace.—It was recently
found necessary to repair the chimney of the Os-
born Mill, at Fall River, Mass., which is 125 feet
high. In removing the casting and loose bricks
Mr. Crow, the contractor, found a Sparrow’s nest,
(Passer domestica,) which contained one egg.—
Jos. M. Wade, Boston, Mass.

Mr. Geo. H. Ragsdale, Gainsville, Texas, sends
us a double nest, about which he writes as fol-
lows: “The two nests sent last week in the bunch
of mistletoe I take to be those of the Orchard
Oriole and Lark Finch, the latter built in and on
the former, probably after the Orioles had vacated.
The nests were placed in a Black Jack tree thirty
feet high.”’—Random Notes.

128

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 8

Winter Birds of Raleigh, N. C.

Birds observed at Raleigh, N. C., by H. H. and C.S. Brim-

=

a

ac

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21
22

24

25

26

27

29
30
31

32

33 Cardinal, (Cardinalis virginianus).

ley in the months of December, January and February,
18S1—1885.

Hermit Thrush, (Hylocichla unalasee pallasi), common
all Winter. This bird does not arrive here till the Wood
Thrushes have all gone south, and always leave us in
the Spring, a few days before they arrive.

Robin, (Merula migratoria). Occasional in Winter.
Generally gets plentiful towards the end of February.

Mockingbird, (Mimus polyglottus.) Fairly common.
Much more abundant in Summer. Most of those that
stay the Winter are young birds.

Brown Thrasher, (Harporhynchus rufus.) Generally a
few seen in February.

Bluebird, (Sialia sialis); common.

Gold-crowned Kinglet, (Regulus satrapa) and
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, (Regulus calendula,) are both
quite common during the Winter.
Tufted Tit, (Lophophanes bicolor).

Found almost entirely in woods.

Carolina Tit, (Parus carolinensis). Common everywhere.

White-bellled Nuthatch, (Sitta carolinensis). Fairly
common; generally seen singly.

Brown-headed Nuthatch, (Sitta pusilla.) Our common-
est Nuthatch atall seasons. Generally several together.

Red-bellied Nuthatch, (Sitta canadensis). Only seen in
February, ’85, on the 28th, and seen three times after-
wards in March, two specimens being procured.

Brown Creeper, (Certhia familiaris rufa). Quite com-
mon during the Winter months,

Carolina Wren, (Thryothorus lwlovicianus.) Fairly com-
mon everywhere.

Winter Wren, (Anorthura troglodytes hyemalis).
mon on wooded creeks. F

Pine-creeping Warbler, (Dendraca pinus). Quite com-
mon.

Yellow-rump Warbler, (Dendraca coronata).
fairly common in Winter.

Redpoll Warbler, (Dendraca palmarum).
another seen on Dec. 15, 1884.

White-rumped Shrike, (Lanius ludovicianus excubitor-
ides.) Common from September to end of December ;
very rare after that.

Cedarbird, (Ampelis cedrorum). Exceedingly irregular
in its distribution at all times of the year, generally
some seen in Winter.

Purple Finch, (Carpodacus purpureus).

Pine Finch, (Chrysomitris pinus).
Jannary Ist till end of April, 1885.
Never seen before this year.

Grass Finch, (Powcetes gramineus). Common in fields.

White-throated Sparrow, (Zonotrichia albicollis.) Com-
mon all Winter; some stay till the middle of May.

English Sparrow, (Passer domesticus.) Common in the
town of Raleigh, and gradually spreading into the
country.

and 28 Chipping Sparrow, (Spizella socialis,) and Field
Sparrow, (Spizella pusilla.) The bulk of both these
species leave here in the Winter, but a few remain.
Swamp Sparrow, (Melospiza palustris.) Common.

Song Sparrow, (Melospiza fasciata). Common.
Snowbird, (Junco hyemalis.) Very common.

Fox Sparrow, (Passerella iliaca. Common; more es-
pecially in woods.

Fairly common.

Com-

Generally

One shot and

Accidental.
Quite common from
Last seen May 9th.

Common in thick-
ets,

34 Towhee, (Pipilo erythrophthalmus).
seen in February. ;

35 Cowbird, Little Blackbird, (Molothrus ater.) Fairly
common; mates and females generally go in separate
flocks.

36 Redwing Blackbird, (Ageleus phaniceus.) Occasional
in Winter; generally plentiful towards end of February.

37 Field Lark, (Sturnella magna). Common all Winter.

38 Rusty Blackbird, (Scolecophagus ferrugineus.) One shot
December 10, 1884.

39 Crow-blackbird, (Quiscalus purpwreus).
23, 1884.

40 Blue Jay, (Cyanocitta cristata). Fairly common.

41 Crow, (Corvus frugivorus). Common,

42 Shore Lark, (Eremophila alpestris). One flock was ob-
served near Raleigh, in January, 1885,

43 Pewee, (Sayornis fuscus). Common.

44 Kingfisher, (Ceryle aleyon). Occasional in Winter.

45 Big Sapsucker, (Picus villosus.) Rare at all times.

46 Little Sapsucker, (Picus pubescens), Common.

47 Red-bellied Woodpecker, (Centwrus carolinus).
rare,

48 Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, (Sphyrapicus varius.) Fair-
ly common in Winter.

49 Pileated Woodpecker, (Hylotomus pileatus).
rare, but most frequently seen in Winter.

50 Red-headed Woodpecker, (Melanerpes erythrocephalus).
Accidental in Winter.

51 Yellow-hammer, (Colaptes auratus).
our Woodpeckers in Winter.

52 Screech Owl, (Scops asio). Fairly common.

53 Barred Owl, (Strix nebulosa). Fairly common.

54 Great Horned Owl, (Bubo virginianus). Rather rare.

55 Sparrow Hawk, (Tinnunculus sparverius). Fairly com-
mon.

56 Marsh Hawk, (Circus hudsonius). Common.

57 Sharp-shinned Hawk, (Accipiter fuscus.) Rather rare,

58 Red-tailed Hawk, (Buteo borealis). Not common.

59 Red-shouldered Hawk, (Buteo lineatus). Fairly common.

60 Turkey Buzzard, (Cathartes aura). Common.

61 Carrion Crow, (Catharista atrata). Common at times;
more irregular in its distribution than the preceding.

62 Wild Pigeon, (Ectopistes migratoria). Accidental; seen
once or twice only.

63 Dove (Zenedura carolinensis). Common.

64 Wild Turkey, (Meleagris gallopavo americana). Occa-
sional.

65 Killdeer, (Oxyechus vociferus). Fairly common.

66 Woodcock, (Philohela minor). Not very common.
Sometimes fairly common towards the end of Decem-
ber.

67 Snipe, (Gallinago wilsoni).
cember and January.

68 Great Blue Heron, (Ardea herodias). Accidental.

69 Coot, (Fulica americana). Taken once on Dec. Ist, 1882.

70 Mallard, (Anas boscas). Fairly common.

71 Green-winged Teal, (Querquedula carolinensis). Fairly
common in the latter part of February.

72 Partridge or Quail, (Ortyx virginiana).

Generally a few

One shot Dec.

Rather

Rather

Commonest of all

Generally a few seen in De-

Common.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Mr. Jenness Richardson desires us to call attention to the
fact that the Solitary Sandpiper Egg (misprinted Eggs) ad-
yertised by him in our July number, is the single one found
by him in 1878, and mentioned in Baird, Brewer and Ridg-
way’s ** Water Birds of North America,” Vol. I.

Received. H, R. Taylor; H. F. Kramp; E. Carleton
Thurber.

RNIT

HOLOGIST

—AND—

OOLOGIST.

$1.50 per
Annum,

FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuB.isHER.
Established, March, 1875.

Single Copy
15 Cents.

PAWTUCKET, R. I., SEPTEMBER, 1885.

VOI. X.

Mississippi Valley Migration.

SPRING OF 1883.

W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.

BY PROF. W.

A large part of the notes contributed by the ob-
servers during the Spring migration of 1883 has
never been published; and it seems best that some
of them, at least the notes on the more common
species, should be put on permanent record, that
they may be compared with the rapidly accumu-
lating material of the following years. During
1883 there were published in the O. and O. Vol.
VIII. the notes contributed on the Robin, Ducks,
Geese, Blackbirds, Purple Martin, Brown Tbrush,
Junco, all of the thirty-five species of Warblers,
Olive-backed Thrush, Catbird, Ruby-crowned
and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creeper,
House Wren, Red-eyed Vireo, White-bellied
Swallow, Scarlet Tanager and the Harris’, White-
crowned, White-throated and Tree Sparrows. It
is now proposed to give some more of the notes,
but in a different manner from that in which they
were presented in 1883. Then I undertook to
scrutinize the notes and eliminate those which did
not seem correct; now I shall give them just as
they were sent in by the observers, merely ar-
ranging them in the latitude of the stations.
When a uote has seemed to be certainly a mistake,
I have put an interrogation point after it and for
all notes in brackets I am responsible, but as to
the correctness of the other notes I cannot certify,
with the exception of course of those from Jeffer-
son, Wis. The full list of the observers for 1883
was printed in the ‘‘ Specimen Issue” for January
1884, a copy of which probably is in the hands of
the readers of the O. and O., but for the benefit
of the few who may not have it, a list of the sta-
tions furnishing the following notes is here given,
with the latitude and name of the observer.

Waxahachie, Tex., latitude 32-23, Dr. S. W. Florer.

Canton, Miss., 32-43, T. 8S. Ward.

Oxford, Miss., 34-15, Prof. R. B. Fulton.

Duck River, Tenn., about 35-45, J. B. Cathey.

Fayetteville, Ark., 36-02, Prof. F. L. Harvey.

Anna, Ill., 37-30, C. W. Butler.

No. 9:
St. Louis, Mo., 38—40, O. Widmann.
Manhattan, Kans., 39-12, Prof. D. E. Lantz and Dr. C. P

Blachly.

Glasgow, Mo., 39-14, Prof. T. B. Smith.

Jacksonville, Il., 39-43, J. E. Hofman.

Liter, Ill., 39-40, Dr. S. Griffin.

Ellsworth, Ill., D. Arrowsmith.

Griggsville, Ill., 39-43, T. W. Parker.

Osceola, Ill., 41-10, Dr. E. O. Boardman.

Grand View, Ia., 41-15, W. A. Lester.

Des Moines, Ia., 41-36, U. S. Grant.

Coralville. Ia., 41-40, Mrs. V. 8. Williams.

Polo, Ill., 41-58, H. A. Kline.

Racine, Wis., 42-45, Dr. P. R. Hoy.

Jefferson, Wis., 43., W. W. Cooke.

Waukon, Ia., 43-15, E. M. Hancock.

Mitchell, Ia., 43-19, J. W. Lindley.

Hastings, Minn., 44-45, Rev. G. B. Pratt.

Pine Bend, Minn., 44-47, R. Linton.

Elk River, Minn., 45-25, V. Bailey.

Argusville, Dak., 46-55, S. M. Edwards.

Woop Turusn, (Mylocichla
Louis, Mo. The first seen was on April 19,
when two were found at old stands singing a few
strains, when it began to rain. April 22, two
were in full song. April 29, they were still quiet
and scaree. May 1, they are exercising every
morning now, and by the 16th had become con-
spicuous and diligent songsters. Manhattan,
Kans,, First, May 1; Liter, Ill. First April 5;
Grand View, Ia., First, April 28, three seen;
Jefferson, Wis., First one was seen on May 10,
and by the 12th there had been a decided increase
and many were heard and six or eight seen; the
bulk of the birds has not yet arrived. May 17,
marked the height of the migration, and by the
21st, they had settled down to Summer numbers.
Mitchell, la., First, May 9; Hastings, Minn,
First, May 6, three singing.

mustelind,) St

Buvesir, (Sialia sialis,) Duck River, Tenn.,
resident, an average of sixty-three per mile on
March 5; Anna, Ill. Winter resident, is some-
times absent for a week or so but is likely to be
met with any week during the Winter and in far
greater numbers than in the Summer months.
When the ground is soft, large numbers of them
may be found in meadows, picking around the
roots of grass as if searching for hidden insects;

Copyright, 1885, by FRANK B. WEBSTER and EATON CLIFF.

150

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 9

occasionally eat Sumac berries. By April 16, all
migrants have passed on, St. Louis, Mo. In
January these were first seen, but only single
birds; no flocks. February 13. Birds are mating,
and up to the 24th were a great many arrivals;
about half the birds seem to be back, being in
pairs or pairing. March 4. The Bluebirds were
the chief birds of the past week. They were
seen and heard everywhere; the males doing
most of the warbling; the females most of the
fighting. I caught two females in my hands
which had come down to the ground in combat.
Manhattan, Kans. Winter resident, unusually
abundant. On December 30th, about 125 were
seen; then never more than twenty-five until

March 12th, when seventy-five were seen. March
25th, they were abundant in pairs. April 7th,
only twelve seen in a five mile tramp. Glasgow,

Mo. First, February 7th. Jacksonville, Il.
First, February 28th, and for next three days
were very plenty, but April 4th they almost dis-
appeared; some were then pairing and others in
pairs. They came back again April 8th and 9th,
when some of them began investigating the boxes
Ihave in my yard. Liter, Ill. First, February
17th, both male and female; bulk March Ist.
Ellsworth, Hl. First, February 28th. Griggs-
ville, Ill. First, with song, February 21st; on
February 28th are more numerous and show signs
of pairing. Osceola, Ill. First, February 28th.
On April Ist, only six seen in four miles. April
15th, building. Grand View, Ia. First, March
Ist, mating on March 13th. Des Moines, Ia.
First, March 1st. Coralville, Ia. First, March
Ist, a single male, but singing merrily. March
14th, half a dozen pairs seen; one took possession
of bird house and went to housekeeping in earn-
est. Racine, Wis. First, March 15th. Jeffer-
son, Wis. On March 11th, four were seen for
the first time; slowly increased from that date on.
Some were paired when they arrived, the rest
mated as soon as they came. March 17th. They
began to be quite common, but the cold put a
stop to all migration until the 23d, after which
they have been quite numerous. April 9th.
They are now to be seen and heard everywhere
in pairs, there being no flocks at all. I have not
seen more than four birds together any time this
Spring. Waukon, Ia. First, March 20th. Very
few during the first week in April. Mitchell,
Ta. First, March 12th, with snow two feet on a
level. Bulk came March 25th, when five pairs
were seen. Hastings, Minn, First, March 14th.
Pine Bend, Minn. First, April 1st. Elk River,
Minn. A pair came back April 5th, and are
singing on an old nest.

PurPLeE Fincu, (Carpodacus purpureus). Wax-

ahachie, Tex. Last one, April 10th [7]. Can-
ton, Miss. Seen April 26th [7 Fayetteville,
Ark. First seen March 20th. Anna, Ill. Saw
two April 16th. St. Louis, Mo. From January
24th to February 14th, very numerous. Febru-
ary 24th. Have been very scarce, only two seen.
March 2d. Two at an old stand, (one in brown)
singing. March 11th. Almost all gone, but on
the 15th there were several new arrivals in three
places. On March 16th, I found them in small
parties in five places, and all singing beautifully,
something like the Warbiing Vireo, and on the
17th they were still numerous and in song. April
3d to 7th, the height of the season, but on the 8th
the bulk departed. April 17th. Still present,
but silent, on high trees and in plain dress. On
April 18th, I saw four small parties in song, and
the last one was seen on April 25th. Jackson-
ville, Ill. One in plain plumage was seen Feb-
ruary 15th. Liter, Ill. First, both male and
female, February 10th. On April 8th, one male
and four females. Jefferson, Wis. On April 1st,
first saw one male in fine plumage. Singing, but
not in full melody. On April 4th I saw the first
flock—three males and two females. April 11th.
Saw two males and one female; no more until
April 28th, when five males and two females were
seen. May 2d. A flock of twenty was met; two
males in the height of their wedding attire; six
or eight much duller, and the rest with no ‘‘pur-
ple.” May 6th. Bulk departed and last one
seen. Hastings, Minn. First, April 11th. There
are many around this season, in flocks of twenty
or more. Elk River, Minn. First, April 12th, a
large flock feeding on Poplar buds.

CHirrrne Sparrow, (Spizella domestica). An-
na, Ill. Resident; have noticed perhaps twenty
during the Winter. April 11th, numerous; April
22d, two nests, each with three eggs. St. Louis,
Mo. First seen on April 4th. Bulk of the spe-
cies here on April 9th, and by the 15th they had
commenced building. Manhattan, Kans. First,
March 31st. Two or three seen April 14th ina
five mile walk. April 29th. Are here in full
Summer numbers. Liter, Ill. First, April 3d.
Griggsville, Ill. First, April 17th. Coralville,
Ta. First, April 21st. Polo, Ill. First, [7] May
6th, and on May 10th abundant. Racine, Wis.
First, April 10th. Jefferson, Wis. On April
11th, first saw six males. April 12th a few more
came. Transients left about April 16th, but an-
other wave came on May 3d, which made them
again numerous. Waukon, la. First, April 9th.
Hastings, Minn. First, April 17th.

Fox Sparrow, ( Passerella tliaca). Waxahachie,
Tex. Last seen April 24th [?]. Canton, Miss.
Seen April 26th [?]. Anna, Ill. Winter visitant;

Sept. 1885.]

131

AND OOLOGIST. ~

saw from one to ten per day. St. Louis, Mo.
First saw two on February 20th, and on March
11th a few additional individuals. March 14th.
Found three at one place and several at another,
all singing. On April 3d was the height of the
season. April 5th the bulk departed and the last
one was seen April 7th. Manhattan, Kans. First,
April ist. On April 7th, one seen. Liter, Ill.
First seen February 10th, both male and female;
during the cold snap in March were quite numer-
ous. Osceola, Il. Came April 5th and stayed
about a week. Grand View, Ia. First, April
6th; last, April 13th. Jefferson, Wis. First saw
twenty-four individuals at two places on April
4th, at which time possibly the bulk of the species
was here. Last seen on April 11th. Waukon,
Ta. First, April 8th, two seen. Elk River, Minn.
First, April 12th, and very numerous.

TowHEE Buntine, (Pipilo erythrophthalmus).
Fayetteville, Ark. Usually a transient, but isa
Winter visitant in mild Winters. It remained
here as late as January of this Winter. Anna,
Ill. Resident; common throughout the year.
Saw from five to twenty almost every day that I
was in a suitable locality. St. Louis,Mo. Three
birds seen on December 30th, and they stayed
through January and February, both male and
female. On March 14th calls were heard in three
places, and on March 16th saw only four males.
The bulk of the species were here on April 5th,
and the height of the season was from April 9th
to 15th, and longer. On April 15th they com-
menced building. Manhattan, Kans. Abundant
during Fall migration, and were seen at intervals
during December, January and February, even
in very cold weather. March 13th, common.
March 25th, males abundant, but few females.
March 31st, twelve males in a five mile walk.
April 7th, twenty seen over same ground. April
14th, heard many. April 29th, in full numbers.
Glasgow, Mo. Two seen March 24th. Jackson-
ville, Ill. First, April 7th. Griggsville, Ill.
First, [?] May 2d. Osceola, Ill. First, April 8th.
Grand View, Ia. First, [?] April 28th. Des
Moines, Ia. First, April 3d. Coralville, Ia.
First, April 14th. Polo, ll. First, April 3d.
Jefferson, Wis. First saw three males on April
21st, and on the 25th several males were heard.
By May 3d, not more than twenty seen so far this
Spring, and no females. May 10th a few males
arrived, and by the 12th it was almost at the
height of the season. May 17th: Bulk of the
females arrived, and the height of the species.
On May 19th, the height was past, and they are
now building. Waukon, Ia. First, April 14th.

Mitchell, Ia. First, April 13th. Pine Bend,

Minn. First, [?] May 20th. Elk River, Minn.
First, April 27th.

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, (Zamelodia ludo-
viciana). Canton, Miss. Came last Fall on No-
vember 5th, and on its return journey is still here,
April 26th. St. Louis, Mo. On April 22d, first
saw two males in song at old stands. The bulk
of the species was here from April 25th to 29th,
on the last of which dates they were the most
conspicuous and noisy birds The females have
arrived, and old males are back in full numbers.
Manhattan, Kans. First seen May 12th, being
the first that I have ever known of at this place.
Jacksonville, Ill. First, April 25th. Grand View,
Ta. First, May 5th. Coralville, la. First, May
8th. Jefferson, Wis. First seen May 6th, four,
all males May 7th, about one-tenth are here,
and on May 8th they were somewhat more nu-

merous. May 10th. Females arrived, but only a
few. May 12th. About the height of the season

for males, and the 17th was the height for females.
May 19th. About in full numbers and most of
them mated. Waukon, Ia. First, May 138th,
three seen. Mitchell, Ia. First, May 2d. By
May 10th no females had been seen. Hastings,
Minn. First, May 5th. Pine Bend, Minn. First,
May 13th. Elk River, Minn. May 3d was the
first seen. [Notice what a very irregular record
this is. The birds seem to have advanced along
the Mississippi River faster than they did on
either side. }

Inpico Buntine, (Passerina cyanea). Anna,
Ill. First one, April 12th. St. Louis, Mo. First

saw a flock of about eight mates on April 21st.
This species and the Black-throated Bunting
were together in company with White-crowns,
feeding on ploughed ground, alongside a hedge
which borders a pond. May Ist. Are scarce,
but have met with singing males once or twice
each day. May 2d. Bulk of the species; first
females, and many males in song. May 3d, wan-
dering troops. Manhattan, Kans. First, May
5th. Griggsville, Ill. First, May 24th. Grand
View, Ia. First, May 19th. Jefferson, Wis.
First saw one male on May 17th, and again on
the 19th several were seen, but no females. May
29th, First female. Hastings, Minn. First, May

24th. Pine Bend, Minn. First, May 18th. Elk
River, Minn. First, May 19th.
Meapow Lark, (Stwrnella magna). Fayette-

ville, Ark. Common ail Winter in the prairies ;
most of them left during the first ten days of
March. By March 2ist very few were left.
Anna, Ill. Resident; met them in flocks of from
ten to a hundred all Winter. St. Louis, Mo.
First seen on March 3d, when they were quite
numerous and noisy in Illinois, opposite the city,

132

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 9

but only once met with on this side of the river.
By March 11th they were slowly taking up old
stands, and on the 14th their song was heard on
all sides; unusually numerous this year. Man-
hattan, Kans. First, February 10th. A few seen
off and on until the first week in Apri]. On April
14th, abundant. Glasgow, Mo. First, March
2d. Jacksonville, Ill. First, March 1st. Liter,
Ill. The 20th of January, with a temperature of
fifteen degrees below zero, both male and female
were seen. The bulk of males and females ar-
rived February 16th, in full song. Ellsworth,
Ill. First, February 28th. Griggsville, Ill. First,

March 12th, three seen. Osceola, Ill. First,
March 19th. Grand View, Ia. First, March
17th. Coralville, Ia. First, March 18th. Polo,
Ill. First, March 27th. Racine, Wis. First,

March 15th. Jefferson, Wis. On March 23d,
first saw fifteen to twenty single males; no fe-
males until April 1st, and no flocks at any time.
All that were here on April 9th were mated.
Waukon, Ia. First, April 4th, again on April 6th,
four seen. Mitchell, Ia. First seen were two

males on March 20th. Hastings, Minn. First,
April 6th, four seen. Pine Bend, Minn. Mating

on April 21st. Elk River, Minn. The first seen
this year was a single female on April 5th.
ORCHARD ORIOLE, (Jeterus spurius). Anna, Ill.
First, April 20th; one scen. St. Louis, Mo. On
April 18th, first saw one male, which was very
dark, and on the 19th another one, singing. April
2ist. First male of last year, and on the 22d there
was a slight increase. April 29th it became quite
prominent; the first female and a few males of
last year have arrived, but the species is not yet at
its height. May 3d. Bulk of the species and in

wandering troops. Manhattan, Kans. First,
April 21st. Liter, Ill. First, May 2d. Griggs-

ville, Ill.
First, May 5th.
Mitchell, Ia.

First, May 16th. Grand View, Ia.
Polo, Ill. First, May 9th.
First, May 8th ; by May 10th no fe-

males had yet been seen, Elk River, Minn.
First, May 18th.
BALTIMORE ORIOLE, (Leterus galbula). Oxford,

Miss.
18th; one heard.

First, April15th. Anna, Ill. First, April
St. Louis, Mo. On April 19th,
first saw two, which were shy and almost silent.
April 20th, two more, and on the 22d a slight in-
crease. April 29th, bulk of the species, and they
are now the most conspicuous and noisy birds.
The females have arrived and the old males are
back in full numbers. Manhattan, Kans. First,
April 18th. Glasgow, Mo. April 23d, was the first
seen. Jacksonville, Ill. One seen April 27th;
nesting on May 7th. Liter, Ill. First, May 2d.
Grand View, Ia. First, May 5th. Des Moines,

Ta. First, May 4th. Coralville, Ia. First, May
2d. Polo, Ill; First, May 8th. Racine, Wis.
First May 6th. Jefferson, Wis. First seen on
May 6th, and the next day about one tenth were
here. May 8th, somewhat more common. On
the 10th the females arrived, but only a few, and
the 12th was the height of the season for males,
but not yet bulk of the females. May 19th, the
height of the season is past, but yet no signs of
building. Waukon, Ia. First, May 7th. Pine
Bend, Minn. First, May 13th. Elk River, Minn.
First, May 14th; first female, May 19th.

PURPLE GRACKELE, (Quiscalus purpureus @neus).
Fayetteville, Ark. In large flocks on March 30th
and 81st. Anna, Ill. Resident in flocks varying
from fifty to a thousand; arrived from the south
February 20th to 28th, and on April 8th are still
passing through in flocks. St. Louis, Mo. Saw
four on January 18th, and two more on the 29th,
On March 14th, the first of the Summer sojourn-
ers came; a very few were among the other
Blackbirds in the lowlands on the Illinois side of
the river. March 16th. First seen in Missouri.
On April 15th they were mating, but still going
to the common roosting place. April 22d. At
this date they were carrying building material.
Manhattan, Kans. First, March 27th. About
two hundred were seen April 7th, in a five mile
walk, and the same April 14th. By the 29th
they were in full numbers. Jacksonville, Ill.
First, March ist, twenty in one flock. April 9th,
numerous. Osceola, Ill. First, February 27th ;
a hundred on March 1st. Grand View, Ia. Some
wintered contrary to their usual custom. [The
Winter before some stayed in Southern Minne-
sota]. Coralville, Ia. On May 5th, a nest with
one egg. Polo, Ill. First, April 8th. Racine,
Wis. First, March 25th. Jefferson, Wis. First
saw one on March 25th. March 3lst. Seen
several times this Spring, ten birds in all. In
afternoon of April 4th I saw the first flock, num-
bering eleven, and later another flock migrating.
On April 9th they began building in my yard.
April 2ist. Two small flocks were seen, not yet
mated. Waukon, Ia. First, April 6th ; one seen.
Hastings, Minn. First, April 1st. Elk River,
Minn. First, April 12th; one seen. Argusville,
Dak. First, April 6th; none seen from then un-
til Aprii 29th.

Kinesmp, (Zyrannus carolinensis). Waxa-
hachie, Tex. April 25th, not yetcome. Canton,
Miss. Seen December 1, 1882; first for this Spring
March 10th, probably resident. Anna, Ill. First,
April 17th; two seen. St. Louis, Mo. First saw
a silent one on April 18th—a beautiful bird—and
on April 20th a second one was seen. April 29th.
Begins to be conspicuous, and by May Ist it was

Sept. 1885.]

135

AND OOLOGIST.

increasing slowly. Manhattan, Kan. First, April
22d; by the 28th in full numbers. Liter, Ill.
First, April 28th. Griggsville, Ill. First, April
24th. Osceola, Ill, First, April 10th. Grand
View, Ia. First, April 26th. Des Moines, Ia.
First, May 5th. Coralville, Ia. First May 4th.
Jefferson, Wis. On May 6th first saw only one
and on the 7th three more, but silent. May 10th.
Bulk of the species and almost the height of the
season—a great increase. May 12th. Height of
the season. By the 19th the height had passed.
Waukon, Ia. First, May 16. Mitchell, Ia. First
April 28th. (?) Hastings, Minn. First, May 7th;
oneseen. Argusville, Dak. First, May 25th.
= eee

The Oregon Snowbird.

(Junco oregonus.)

BY A. W. ANTHONY.

In northwestern Oregon one of our most com-
mon birds, Winter and Summer, is the Oregon
Junco. In Winter little clattering flocks are
about the door-yard at all hours of the day, and
in Spring and early Summer the males may be
seen perched on fence post or house-top chant-
ing their simple song until one almost tires of it.
Although the bird is nearly or quite as common
with us in the Winter as at the breeding season,
it is nevertheless migratory to a greater or less
extent throughout its range in this region, our
Summer birds leaving only as the Winter resi-
dents arrive, so that the change is hardly notice-
able. The same individuals return to the same
locality to breed, I think, as an Albino was noted
for two consecutive seasons from exactly the
same place. The second season the bird was
shot and upon inquiry I found that the farmers
had seen the bird for at least two years before it
came under my notice. They also told me that
it had always nested in the same place—a dry
bank covered by a few low bushes. A great va-
riety of places are chosen in the location of the
nest—the favorite place being under some low
overhanging bush, and is invariably built in a
hollow with the top of the nest just flush with
the surface of the ground. I have occasionally
found nests in holes dug among the roots of
bushes or small trees. Whether these holes were
dug by the birds themselves I can not say—they
were usually about four inches deep—dug hori-
zontally or with but a slight incline. Two par-
allel roots were generally taken for the doorway,
and just behind them in a spacious cavity the
nest was built. The opening was about one and
three-quarters or two inches in diameter. Nests
found in such locations do not seem to differ in

material or form from those sunk in the ground.
A good many nests were found under piles of
cord wood, three being found under one pile. A
few were found in a railroad cut built on a shelf
in the steep bank and sereened by a thick curtain
of vines, and one was found built in the vines
themselves, one side only just touching the bank.
They raise three and sometimes four broods dur-
ing the season, the first nest being built about the
last of March or the first week in April. The
composition of the nests taken by the writer
varied but very little if any—dry grass rather
loosely put together with a lining of cow hair.
The eggs are usually four—rarely five—white,
sprinkled with fine reddish and brown spots chiefly
on the larger end. The marking varies greatly,
in some being almost entirely absent, and in
others so thick as to almost hide the ground color.
Size about 0.80x0.60. Nests of this Junco are
often destroyed by snakes, which are very plen-
tifulin some parts of Oregon. Several times I
have returned for a nest found a few hours pre-
viously, and found a very contented looking
snake coiled up in the remains of the empty
nest, and a pair of very angry Juncos hopping
about in the bushes overhead and venting their
rage in short, angry, snapping notes.

A Catalogue of the Birds of Kalama-
zoo County, Mich.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS,—PART VIT.

118. [3812.] Myiarchus crinitus (Linn.) Cab.
Great-crested Flycatcher. A common Summer
resident. Peculiar in its family as the only rep-
resentative which builds its nest in excavations
and natural hollows in trees and stubs. Arrives
about May ist, sometimes later, and rarely as
early as April 23d. Cannot say when it leaves us.

119. [815.] Sayornis fuseus (Gmel.) Baird.
Pheebe Bird; Pewee. Anagreeable, cheerful bird.
The first to arrive of the family. Reaches us the
first warm spell in March, as early as the 16th one
season. Nests abundantly in barns, sheds, in
hollow trees in woods and on the under side of
the roots of overturned trees in wild places far
from the habitations of man, a peculiarity now,
which was once undoubtedly a regular habit with
birds of early times before the county was settled.
Depart for the South in October, remaining until
November in pleasant Autumns.

120. [318.] Contopus borealis (Swain.) Baird.
Olive-sided Flycather. Have only once observed
this species in the county, which occurred
May 22, 1885. Although not rare to the north

[Vol. 10-No. 9

134

of us in Summer they are rare here owing to the
line of migration passing to one side of us.

121. [820.] Contopus virens (Linn.) Cabanis.
Wood Pewee. A common species from May 20th
to Sept. 15th. Arrive usually about May 10th or
12th. My earliest record is May 6th, while it does
not appear until the middle of the month some
seasons. A very common species, well known
from its pleasing habits and sad but sweet notes,
truly more of a song than the notes of some of
the Oscines.

122. [822.] Hmpidonax flaviventris Baird. Yel-
low-bellied Flycatcher. Only recorded in the
county by Mr. F. H. Chapin. A scarce migrant.

123. [824.] Hmpidonax ucadicus (Gmel.) Brd.
Acadian Flycatcher. An abundant Summer resi-
dent. Arrives late like the Wood Pewee. A bird
little known to the common stroller of the woods.
Nests in the deep solitudes of the heavy timbered
forests. Rarely seen after August 1st.

124. [825a.] Hmpidonax pusillus Trailli (Aud.)
Traill’s Flycatcher. A species which is more
abundant than is generally supposed, but from its
retiring habits little known. I have never taken
the eggs although perhaps a dozen sets have been
secured during the last twenty years. The
species prefers low sections of country, where
small streams meander through Willow and Alder
copses. Reaches us about the middle of May.
Know but little of its habits and cannot say when
it leaves us.

125. [826.] Empidonax minimus Baird. Least
Flycatcher. An abundant Summer resident. Fre-
quents edges of dense woods and light groves
generally. More often prefers the borders of
Beech and Maple woods, but also quite common
in some patches of White-oak woods. Arrives
from April 25th to May 5th. Leaves us Sep-
tember.

126. [3835.] Trochilus colubris Linn. Ruby-
throated Hummingbird. An abundant species
from May 15th to September 10th. Generally ar-
rives about May 10th; occasionally by the 6th.
Never appears in April in my experience. Re-
mains as late as October 1st some seasons, but
usually all have departed by Sept.25th. A pleas-
ing gem known to all and ever admired. Quite
tame and unsuspecting, and I have frequently
caught specimens in my insect net. The nests
are very rarely found, and almost always by
merest accident.

127. [851.] Chetura pelusgica (Linn.) Baird.
Chimney Swift. An abundant species five months
of the year. Uusually arrives about April 25th ;
occasionally as early as the 16th of the month, and
sometimes not until May 3d. Depart in late

ORNITHOLOGIST

September or early October, but occasionally a
few specimens may be seen wheeling about late in
October, after quite severe weather. This bird
offers a strong point in the voluntary adoption of
certain species of quarters differing from those
formerly occupied. I doubt if there is a species
with us which is more thoroughly inclined to
build its nest in favorable situations afforded by
the habitations of man. This species and the
Barn Swallow are the best representatives of that
class of birds which have modified themselves to
the surroundings afforded by civilization. The
Swift is gregarious in its tastes, although often
building in isolated pairs, and is one of our most
interesting and peculiar birds.

128. [354.] Caprimulgusvociferus Wils. Whip-
poor-will, An abundant species during May,
June, July, August and September. Arrives from
April 20th to May ist. Usually appears about
April 28th. The last do not leave us until Octo-
ber 10th, or later. Have frequently heard them
singing as late as September 20th. Nests abun-
dantly in woods, usually selecting dry sections.

129. [857.] Chordeiles popetue (Vieill.) Bd.
Nighthawk. Arrives early in May. Departs in
October. Nests abundantly in sparsely wooded
lands and stony pasture lots. The Nighthawk,
Whip-poor-will and Swift are our most beneficial
species and should be protected rigorously.

130. [360.] Pieus villosus Linn. Hairy Wood-
pecker. An abundant resident nine months of
the year. <A few remvin during Winter, but not
so common then as the Downy. Generally nests
to the north of us, but a few build here.

131. [861.] Péicus pubescens Linn. Downy
Woodpecker. An abundant species six months
each year. Not abundant during Winter except-
ing in open seasons. Common from September Ist
to January 1st and from March 1st to May 1st.
Not often found nesting here, but a few remain in
May, June and July.

132. [869.]
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. Arrives from March
29th to April 12th, and remains until May 20th
before passing north to breed. Does not nest
with us. Rarely in the Fall.

133. [871.] Hylotomus pileatus (Linn.) Baird.
Pileated Woodpecker. Logcock. A rare tran-
sient. Passes through irregularly Spring and
Fall. Sometimes taken in Winter. Never Sum-
mers. Formerly quite common, if we are to be-
lieve the settlers’ stories of times fifty years ago.

134. [872.] Centurus carolinus (Linn.) Bp.
Red-bellied Woodpecker. Not a rare species
Spring and Fall. Generally a migrant, although
often found in Winter in severe seasons. Found

Sphyrapicus varius (Linn.) Baird. —

ene eet Mit nii

Sept. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

135

breeding once. May be taken any month of the
year in deep woods some seasons. A beautiful
and vivacious species. Shy and difficult to kill.

135. [875.] Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.)
Sw. Red-headed Woodpecker. A resident in
extremely open seasons, but usually only seen
from April 15th to October 20th. Nests abun-
dantly in certain sections, but not nearly so com-
mon as formerly.

136. [878] Colaptes auratus (Linn.) Sw. Yel-
low-shafted Flicker. An abundant species nine
months of the year. It has been reported every
month of the twelve, but is rarein Winter. Often
arrives by Feb. 20th, however. Nests in abundance.

137. [882.] Ceryle aleyon (Linn.) Boie. Belted
Kingfisher. A well known bird, nesting abun-
dantly. Common from March 15th to Oct. 10th.
Often seen in midwinter when streams are open.
Arrives generally about March 10th. Not rarely
seen in early December.

138. [887.] Coecyzus americanus (Linn.) Bp.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Although not considered
rare in many parts of the State, this species is
never common here, and has only been captured
a few times in the county. I have never taken it.

139. [888.] Coceyzus erythrophthalmus (Wils.)
Baird. Black-billed Cuckoo. A common species
about four months of the year. Arrives about
May 15th, rarely earlier. Departs in late Septem-
ber. Nests abundantly.

140. [895.] Asto americanus (Steph.) Sharpe.
American Long-eared Owl. I think this species
may be considered aresident, but am not positive.
It isnot rare in certain sections during Spring
and Summer. Nests have been taken in the
county. Six fresh eggs were taken as early as
April 27th by Mr. Chambers. <A nest containing
five young was also secured May 22d. The young
were ready to flutter from the nest, but an effort
to raise them failed, all dying after a few days.

141. [896.] Aséo accipitrinus (Pall.) Newton.
Short-eared Owl. A rare species generally. Only
taken a few times. Sometimes found in woods,
more often on prairies.

142. [897.] Strix nebulosa Forst. Barred Owl.
A common species in sections. No record of egg
capture, but they certainly nest here. A resident
undoubtedly. Have kept specimens alive until
quite tame. Live entirely on meat.

148. [401.] Nyctale acadica Gmel. Brd. Saw-
whet Owl. A rare species. Only one capture to
my knowledge. More abundant to the north.

144. [402.] Scops asio (Linn.) Bp. Little
Screech Owl. Not arare bird in certain quarters.
Have twice taken it, and know of other captures.
Mr. Chambers secured a nest containing five fresh

eggs in early May, 1878. The nest was in a hol-
low eighteen inches deep, in a dead stub.

145. [405.] Bubo virginianus(Gm.) Bp. Great
Horned Owl. Our most abundant resident among
the Raptores. Nests in hollow trees and in old
nests of the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered
Hawks. Messrs. Syke and Chapin, who have
found a great many nests, have taken eggs as
early as Feb, 12th, but the most eggs are taken in
early March. The young fly in April. A pair of
Owls frequently become attached to a piece of
woods and build in one situation for several suc-
cessive seasons. Two eggs is the usual number,
sometimes three, and rarely only one. The nests
are discovered by thumping on the trunks of the
trees, when if occupied, the bird will leave the
hollow or old Hawk’s nest.

146. [406.] Nyctea scandica (Linn.) Newt.
Snowy Owl. A rare and irregular Winter visit-
ant. This species, unlike nearly all the others
of the family, is never very fierce when confined
and I have frequently stroked the head and back
of a newly captured specimen, which would not
have been possible in the case of the last named
or any of the larger Owls of my acquaintance.

147. [420.] Tinnuneulus sparverius (Linn.)
Vieill. Sparrow Hawk. Abundant during mi-
grations, Spring and Fall. Usually appears about
March 15th. Again appears in September and
October. A few remain to breed The nest is
placed in a hollow stub or dead limb, and is very
difficult to secure. The eggs are rarely taken.

148. [425.] Pandion hatiaetus carolinensis
(Gm.) Ridgw. American Osprey. Fish Hawk.
Only once captured to my knowledge in the
county. A fine specimen was brought me April
13, 1885, which was shot within the city limits.

149. [430.] Circus hudsonius (Linn.) Vieill.
Marsh Hawk. Arrives usually from March 10th
to 20th. Sometimes a little earlier in advanced
seasons. Few pass north of us, the marshes in
our neighborhood offering inducements to the
birds, of which they avail themselves in numbers.
The last to leave us do not take their departure
until early November. Breeds abundantly in
sections covered by bushes and small trees, rank
grass and marshy tracts.

150. [431.] Accipiter coopert Bonap. Cooper's
Hawk. An abundant Spring, Summer and Fall
species. It is quite probable that a few birds oc-

casionally straggle into our county in Winter, or
perhaps remain during the season. Once saw a
specimen in January. Usually appears, however,
about March 10th, but often by the first of the
month. Departs generally in late October. Nests
usually in White-oak Trees, but also occupies
Black-oak, Beech and Maple.

156 ORNITHOLOGIST

[ Vol. 10-No. 9

THE
GRNITHGLOGIisst

—AND—

OOLOGIST.

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NATURAL HBEISTORY,;

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

BIRDS,
THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE.
FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,
PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Editor’s Notes.

We recently called attention (O. and O.,
X, p. 72) to the fact that the American Or-
nithologists’ Union had secured a grant
from Congress for the establishment of a
branch of Economic Ornithology under the
division of Entomology of the Department
of Agriculture. Of this branch, Dr. Merriam
has been appointed Ornithological Agent.

A cireular issued by Dr. Merriam says,
“The scope of the investigation will cover
the entire field of the inter-relation of birds
and agriculture, particularly from the en-
tomological stand-point. The inquiry will
relate primarily to the food habits of birds,
but will include also the collection of data
bearing on the migration and geographical
distribution of North American species.
Par eee The co-operation of farmers is
solicited, and those having knowledge of
food-habits which are beneficial or detri-
mental to agricultural or horticultural in-
terests are requested to communicate the
same to Dr. Merriam.

The assistance of persons willing to aid
in the collection of birds’ stomachs is par-
ticularly desired.

Information is also wanted concerning
the presence and habits of the so-called
“English Sparrow” (Passer domesticus) in
the Southern States and in the region west
of the Mississippi.”

The question, considered in its Economic
Relation to Agriculture, is thus concisely
stated: ‘The wholesale slaughter of small
birds has been known to be followed by
serious increase of noxious insects. Un
the other hand, invasions of insects which
threatened to devastate large tracts of
country have been cut nearly short by the
timely services of some of our native birds.”

A circular containing a series of ques-
tions has also been issued designed to sys
temize the proposed researches. Copies
may be obtained by addressing Dr. C. Hart
Merriam at Sing Sing, N. Y., until October
Ist: after that date at the Department,
Washington, D. C.

Obituary.

DR WM. WOOD, EAST WINDSOR HILL, CONN.

It is again our painful duty to record the
loss of one of our most valued contribu-
tors. Few names are better known in the
ornithological world than that of Dr.
Wood. <A well-known physician in the
State to which he belonged, he was more
widely known as an enthusiastic naturalist
—and especially as an ornithologist whose
opinion was widely sought and universally
respected. He was also a taxidermist of
large experience and talent. His collection
of birds and eggs both native and foreign
is one of the largest in private hands in the
country. It is said, probably with truth,
that a large proportion of them have been
prepared by his own hands.

His writings have consisted principally
of communications to local and other papers
mainly on the birds and fishes of New
England. He also contributed to some of
the earlier volumes of this Magazine, but
of late he confined himself to occasional
notes on subjects which were being dis-
cussed.

Dr. Wood died at his residence, East
Windsor Hill, Sunday evening, August 9th,
at the age of sixty-three years.

Sept. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

137

Practical Taxidermy.

BY FRANK B. WEBSTER.

It is not the purpose of the writer of these
papers on Practical! Taxidermy to address those
who have spent years in practicing the Art. He
knows that there are many points upon which
he would better take the place of a learner than
presume to teach. Perhaps also the future ex-
pert may in the not distant future look upon his
instructions with feelings not unlike his own
when he examined a specimen stuffed by a grand-
father, whose process was “ Bake slowly in an
oven until hard—then nail to a natural piece of
pine firewood.”

But there are many—a few of whom will be-'

come the experts of the future—whose aspira-
tions formed by gazing from time to time at the
specimens in the little shop of “* * * *
Taxidermist” only at present extend to preserv-
ing for their cabinets the birds they meet with in
their rambles in the fields and woods. To this
class especially these pages are addressed, in the
hope that the experience gained by eighteen
years of practical taxidermal work may not be
without its lessons, and may help to smooth over
the difficulties which are met with by the inex-
perienced in this as in other pursuits.

A question frequently asked me is, how many
birds did you stuff before you felt sure of saving
your specimen? I reply, perhaps about fifty,
and I felt at ease after the first hundred. If you
ask me when I got so that I could do them per-
fectly, I must be excused. Each attempt must be
made with the intention and purpose of exceed-
ing the previous one. If you are a close observer
you will see improvements that you could have
made, and by endeavoring to make them you
will eventually reach a goal sufficiently near
perfection to be practical.

CHAPTER I. COLLECTING.

It is by no means an unimportant part of the
profession to be a good collector. Care in select-
ing, shooting and keeping till ready to prepare, is
half of the work. It takes me far longer to col-
lect my specimens than it does to prepare them.
After eighteen years collecting, I have finally
settled down to the following outfit: A 12 gauge
breech-loader, English make, weight 714 Ibs.,
which cost me thirty-five dollars; asmall muzzle
loader, weight four pounds; common size basket
with cover; very light rubber boots with hip
pieces; light rubber coat and an under coat with
plenty of pockets, and first-class field or opera
glasses.

The breech loader is my favorite—gauge and
weight—in my opinion it is the most practical
gun for collecting; with it you can shoot far and
near—large and small. There is but one objec-
tion, in collecting out of season or where the
protective law is enforeed—it is too conspicuous.
While I deprecate wanton destruction of birds,
I do not believe that a true naturalist should be
interfered with while collecting specimens for
preservation, any more than that a law should
be passed prohibiting the sale of pork, on the
ground of cruelty to animuls.

One way to overcome the diffi-ulty (I am sup-
posed to be a dreadfully determined poacher) is
to wrap the gun (in parts) in heavy paper and
carry it this way until well on the grounds,
doing the same in returning. This at least keeps
stay-at-home-Tommy from howling on the corner
of the Main street, What did you shoot? and
similar anoyances.

An important rule is to avoid annoying any one
by shooting in their doorway, tramping down
cultivated land, and crossing grass lots just
ready to mow. If a person “goes for you” be
gentlemanly until all means to pacify him are
exhausted—if possible avoid dispute, remember-
ing that you wish to avoid a first prosecution.
Never give up a shot specimen, as it ts the proof
against you. If you are determined, the average
man will stop just short of carrying out his
threats, and at the last moment, by keeping cool
with a little tact, you can often bring him around,
and as in my own case ending by his saying that
“he don’t know as he really cares, if the birds are
to be stuffed.”

My small gun is a help in such cases, when the
neighborhood has been aroused and it is necessa-
ry to keep the gun concealed. This I carry in
parts, the same as the other, and as soon as I
shoot, if necessary, I take it to pieces—it is but
the work of a few seconds—almost before the
echo of the report dies away. I prefer paper for
my cover as it is the best screen. With these
precautions I ask for no permit, but take my
chances.

The basket I find to be very handy, and it is
easy to carry. I object to a fish basket on the
grounds of publicity—and prefer w good big deep
pocket to both. Many persons cannot go with
wet feet with impunity—and at least itis very un-
comfortable. It is impossible to collect on marsh-
es or in swamps without encountering more or
less water. Many times your bird drops just
across the little brook that must either be waded
ora long walk has to be taken. For these rea-
sons I very often wear the rubber boots and

138

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 9

many a time have found their usefulness. Late
in the season the rubber coat will be found a
good protector. On the marshes nothing equals
itasaspread. After a little practice you will
find a pair of glasses, either field or opera, of
great value. With them you can determine a
species at a distance, and save many steps. You
can also observe their actions very differently
than when disturbed by your approach. It will
be a great advantage to you to study their vari-
ous positions, which is a greater help than any
illustrated book. I would not be without them.

Loading is important. For my twelve bore I
load shells as follows:

For Ducks 4dramsof powder 1 0z. No. 4 shot.

Grouse 3 se Te
Quail 3 sc wg * & §
Plover 31 “e I * & 8
Oriole 23g « 1 “ 6 40
Warbler 13s “ ww 6 19 or dust.

The last for Warblers is for close shooting say
thirty feet, and for this I generally use shells
that have been used before (reloaded.) There is
some difference in guns. I find the above to
work well with mine, and any one trying it to
start with, can soon by experimenting determine
the variation they may require. Use only the
best quality of powder—a cheap grade is too ex-
pensive—you will lose more birds than the differ-
ence in price will amount to. Asa general thing
Iuse only two wads, one between powder and
shot and one after, and crimp all, except those
for Warblers. I do not use brass shells; it is too
much trouble to save them; prefer not to be
loaded down on the return trip. On several oc-
casions when out with others, I have been
amused at their annoyance at finding their shot
all rattled out, owing to the wads starting in
their brass shells. Perhaps in long trips where a
supply of paper shells could not be easily ob-
tained, it would be best to use the brass ones.
I use only the best wads.

My small gun. You ask why not a breech
loader? For this reason, it is a very strong bar-
rel—it is about forty-two gauge, and being a muz-
zle loader I can use a larger charge than any
cartridge used for the same size. When loaded
it holds what we used to know as four fingers.
With it I can kill as far as with my twelve bore,
but of course have to shoot close.

So much for my outfit, Take it for your guide
to start with, Simple as it is, it cost me many
dollars experimenting, buying this thing and
that, until I finally settled down to it.

I find that break of day is the best time to col-
lect our common birds. Have everything pre-
pared the night before—gun cleaned, shells load-
ed, a supply of cotton, some newspapers cut in
one-quarter and one-half sheets, also a lunch—

one that you can carry in your pocket. Take an
early start, so as to be on the grounds an hour
before sunrise. (Here let me advise that just be-
fore starting, you take a cup of coffee and eat
something, if nothing more than a cracker—you
will find by so doing you are in better trim for
your tramp. Those who are informed tell us
that it is safer. The system is better prepared to
resist any bad effects, colds, ete.)

Locate yourself if possible by a stream, near
the edge of timber land. Now listen, you hear
rustles and chirp. Soon a note. Cock Robin
breaks forth with a song, our New England
Mocker (Thrush) replies from a neighboring
scrub oak, and so it goes, and by the time Old
Glory shows himself above the line, you have it
on every side. If you have selected the right
place, you can obtain a surprising variety with-
out moving far. Bird after bird will enter and
leave the woods at the corner, and small ones
will pass and repass from the swamp by the
stream. Unless you are an expert, don’t try to
shoot on the wing, you will have plenty of
chances on those trees; move under them and
wait. There they come. That little fellow
alights. Now be careful, don’t be too quick. If
you are nervous, just lay down your gun. Sit
down and have asmoke. If not a smoker, well,
count a thousand backwards; by this time you
feel better. Many a man has lost limb and life
by getting excited. Keep cool and keep your
wits about you. That gun while carefully han-
dled is all right, but in careless hands it is fear-
ful. One slip, an accident, and your future pleas-
ure in this line is gone forever. Always bear in
mind—zever shoot in a direction to endanger any
one, either a companion or passer by, whom you
did not suppose was there. But to the bird—take
a good aim, slow at first, with a little practice
you can soon do it quickly enough. If possible
shoot him side to you, it is less liable to shoot out
the tail feathers. Now then, fire. Good! You
have him, but he flutters. Pick him up at once.
He is not quite dead. You cannot always kill
outright—would that you could—we all wish so.
Take your bird with the right hand and lay him
on his back in the palm of the left. Press the
thumb and forefinger of the right hand gently
under the wings just under where they join the
body so that you can feel the heart beat between,
now press firmly and do not relax—this causes a
collapse of the lungs and heart. Your bird will
gasp a few times and all is over. It seems cruel,
but it is the only thing to do, it quickly ends it,
and in the most painless way I know of—it is the
unpleasant part of the whole business, but there
isno way of avoiding it. Few things there are

Sept. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST. yeh!

that we enjoy but are obtained only by more or
less suffering. I make no excuse, but simply do
it. I feel for each bird that suffers by not being
killed outright. You who sit in judgment and
would dictate, weigh the matter carefully before
you condemn. Now open the bill and with fine
forceps or a probe gently force cotton into the
throat and a little into the nostrils—which will
be found just at the upper base of the bill. This
is to prevent bleeding and the stomach juice from
running out, the latter being very hard to clean.
In large birds fill the vent in the same manner.
I seldom try to stop bleeding—occasionally where
there is a large clot I wipe it off carefuily with
my knife, or cotton. IfIlam not moving about
much, a bird that bleeds freely I lay down ina
secure place. In a few minutes the blood will
stop flowing. Take from your pocket a piece of
the newspaper and make a tunnel or cornucopia,
drop your bird in it head first, and close it by
folding the open end, being careful not to bend
the tail. This is done by two folds, one to the right
and the other to the left. I sometimes pin the
tunnel half way between the two ends, which
will prevent its opening, but only for the larger
birds. You can now place the tunnel with bird
in your basket or pocket. If in the Jatter look
out and not use a pocket that you are liable to
sit on—not on account of the pin, but the bird.
You can easily carry two dozen birds. I say
two dozen, but that is a good many. I would
advise that a beginner should not shoot too many
at one time. An attempt to go too fast will in-
vite a poor result. Well, do as you like, only
stop sometime. About eight o’clock birds do
-not sing as loudly as at sunrise, and it becomes
more quiet. A few birds continue their song.
the Red-eyed Vireo being conspicuous. What be-
comes of the others? I confess I could never
quite satisfy myself. In the woods and swamps
that an hour or two since fairly rang with their
notes, all is quiet. You cannot even see the
birds. They evidently retire and you might as
well do the same, the collecting hour has passed.
Rainy weather is a poor time to collect, avoid it
if possible. You now start for home; when you
arrive take out your papers, remove the birds
from each; smooth them by gently passing
through your hands, place them on a plate or
board, in a cool place. The cellar bottom (if
there are no cats or rats), is the best. I do not
like to use an ice chest as it is apt to sweat them.
Drop all thoughts of them, clean up, sit down to
a guod square meal—one worthy of the appetite
that you have gained. “Take it easy” for a
while. After you are rested I will introduce
you to the work room.

A Birds’-Nesting Ramble in Lapland.

BY ALFRED CRAWHALL CHAPMAN. (The Ibis.)

(Concluded from page 127.)

June 26th. We made an early start this morn-
ing and reached some high fells, some ten miles
from Pulmak, before the sun’s heat had time to
strike us. Another thunderstorm greeted us here,
and when sheltering under a boulder a male Ring
Ouzel appeared before us, the only one we saw in
Finmark. I secured a pair of Dotterel here, and
then we descended into a vast expanse of bog and
morass. It appeared a charming place for birds;
but although we tramped about for many hours
in the most likely-looking spots, we never even
saw or heard any thing save an occasional Golden
Plover. Coming home, I secured a pair of Lap-
land Buntings and found several nests of Field-
fares and Mealy Redpoles with young. From a
small lake in the midst of a thick forest, six
Wood Sandpipers together dashed off with the
wildest screams. I had been attracted thither by
cries which proved to arise from a family of
young Siberian Jays (Perisoreus infaustus). They
were hopping about from branch to branch in a
sprightly manner, reminding me of the habits of
a Jackdaw or Magpie. Two which I secured
were fledglings, not a week out of the nest, and
were clothed in a soft hairy dress, the rusty-red
color on the bastard wing and tail being conspicu-
ous in all their movements. I never found a nest
of this species, though it was evident these birds
had been hatched in the immediate neighbor-
hood. We observed Mealy Redpoles, generally
single birds, affecting the highest fell-tops to-day,
and busy feeding among the boulders and rein-
deer-moss. In rowing up the Pulmakelf on the
27th, we found several Temminck’s Stints’ nests
with broken eggs, caused by the rising of the
river, and we also got one with four fresh eggs.
A male Goosander (Mergus merganser) slipping
slily away from an islet in a backwash of the
river, arrested our attention, as we had seen him
there several times before; and on landing on
this island, overgrown with Birch scrub, the
female Goosander slipped away from her nest, a
circular hole in the sandy ground, 10 inches in
diameter and 6 inches deep, thickly lined with
her dusky-colored down, containing ten cream-
colored eggs, quite fresh. The birds never came
near the nest while we were there. When look-
ing for the nest of a Greenshank which we had
disturbed, we found a Willow Warbler’s nest,
lined with the fine grey-mottled feathers from the
back of a drake Wigeon, with seven fresh eggs.

June 28th. Many Wheatears have eggs now;

140

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 9

their nests are made of the roots of the ling and
moss, and lined with reindeer-hair. I observed a
Garden Warbler (Sylvia hortensis) singing quite
near me to-day, and obtained a Wigeon’s nest,
with six fresh eggs. They were laid under a
willow bush on the banks of the Tana. House
Martins are busy nesting in the crags, and Grey-
headed Wagtails are very common. We obtained
two nests of the latter with fresh eggs to-day. A
Lap brought me a very interesting nest of the
Great Grey Shrike, constructed, as usual, of the
white feathers of the Willow Grouse; but this
was overlaid with glossy Raven's feathers, and
the lining, on which the single egg was deposited,
consisted of reindeer hair.

June 29th. While we slept the grass round
our little house had turned green, and I was as-
sured it would be two feet high in ten days’ time,
so rapid is the growth of plants and trees in the
short Arctic Summer. We took leave of Pulmak
and our kind landlord to-day, and as we turned
the bend in the river, we could not help being
struck with the wondrous change that we had
witnessed during our short stay. Our journey
down the river was rapid, and, reaching Gulhol-
men about 10 p. m., we proceeded to Vagge, the
station at the head of the Tana Fiord, where the
steamer was to pick us up. As we crossed the
fiord a White-tailed Eagle slowly flapped across
in front of us, and we were rather astonished to
see several hundred Mergansers in a flock at this
time of the year. The ‘‘gaggling” of Geese on
the flats at the mouth of the Tana gave us hopes
of finding their eggs on the next day. We then
visited the ground where I had seen the Red-
throated Pipits (Anthus cervinus) on June 9th;
their shrill pipe again arrested our attention, and
after a long search we succeeded in finding a nest
with six slightly incubated eggs. It was placed
under a Birch bush, on a moss-hag, surrounded
by water, and consisted of very stiff stalks of
grass externally, and finer white grass for a lining,
but the whole was of a distinctly rougher texture
and construction than is the nest of its congener,
the Meadow Pipit. I was very careful in the
identification of these eggs; and after finding the
nest, we watched the female, though very sly
and retiring, go on to it, when I procured her.
Their habits now were more retiring than former-
ly, and they rarely showed themselves, seeming
to prefer creeping along among the roots of the
Birch scrub, whence, when unmolested, they
uttered a pleasing little song, at times not unlike
that of a Canary. Their eggs have suffused
blotches on them, and more resemble those of the
Blackeap than those of the Meadow Pipit. Pres-
ently we flushed a Temminck’s Stint from her

nest and four eggs, placed far away from water;
and from about the last tree in Europe came the
loud cackle of a Siberian Jay, which proyed to
be a fledgling of the year.

On the bare fell-tops we found Snow Buntings
anda pair of Shore Larks; from the oviduct of
one of the latter I took an egg ready for laying.
These birds are said by Summerfelt, the Vadso
naturalist, to breed twice; and this would seem
to corroborate his statement. They must have a
considerable vertical breeding range, for though
breeding at Pulmak at the lowest possible level,
they seemed here to vie with the Snow Bunting
in the altitude of their haunts. We revisited the
Osprey’s breeding place, and were surprised to
find a new nest, from which the bird flew at our
approach, but it was empty. I believe this nest
had been built by the male bird alone, for though
we waited some time, we never saw more than
this single Osprey. We observed to-day a large
flock of Geese, some hundreds together, and at
our approach they rose wild and departed, just
as they had done on June 9th. Could these birds
be going to breed? We were much puzzled by
these flocks of Mergansers and Geese at this sea-
son of the year. The mosquitoes were beginning
to affect us seriously now: the hissing column
followed us alike on mountain top and lowland
bog; escape was impossible. In a short walk on
the fells in the evening of July 1st I shot a female
Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus); her ovary contained
fifteen undeveloped eggs. A pair of Bramblings
were evidently nesting on this fell-side, though
there was no plant growth exceeding two feet in
height. Next day, on a bent-grass island in the
fiord, we found two nests of Temminck’s Stints,
each containing four eggs, and a Mealy Redpole’s
nest had one fresh egg. On the 3d the Vadso
steamer was due at 8 p. m.; but as the boat did
not arrive till exactly twelve hours afterwards, in
strict accordance with Norwegian practice, we
passed the time in watching the seals and small
flocks of old male Goldeneyes in their mature
plumage, the white cheek spot being very con-
spicuous. On the 4th, at 8.30 a. m., the steamer
‘Orion’ arrived; we rounded the dreary-looking
cliffs of the North Cape about midday (July 5th),
and reached Hammerfest at night. On the even-
ing of July 6th we reached Tromso, and I spent
the night watching the birds on the west side of
the island. Redshanks, Oyster-catchers, and
Ring Plovers were simply swarming, and I
caught young in down of each. Great flocks of
Hiders, ducks and drakes with their young, with
one brood of Long-tailed Ducks, Black Guille-
mots, Red-throated Divers, and various Gulls
fairly covered the smooth surface of the fiord,

Sept. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

141

and their cries were deafening in the still night
air. In the woods Fieldfares, Redwings, Bramb-
lings, and Willow Grouse abounded, and I saw
many fledged young of the three former species,

In a naturalist’s shop in Tromso were many
beautiful specimens of Bar-tailed Godwits in their
rich red Summer plumage. My servant told me
he shot them regularly during the Spring migra-
tion. How strange it is that they should be so
seldom found in the breeding season! Trinus
also had Grey Phalaropes, in their red Summer
dress, which he had shot in Spitzbergen the year
before. On July 9th I visited some of the islands
lying off Bodo; but the season for eggs was now
nearly over, and, with the exception of one nest
of Richardson’s Skua, with two eggs, many of
the Arctic Tern, and one nest of the Rock Pipit
with three eggs, we got nothing. A pair of
Turnstones evidently had their young here. One
thing which struck me as peculiar in the habits
of the northern breeding birds was the large
clutches of eggs laid by such species as Bramb-
lings, Bluethroats, Willow Wrens, Fieldfares,
Redwings, Shrikes, Wheatears, &c. Nearly all
the nests contained as many as six eggs, and it
was not unusual to find seven; one nest of a Red-
start had eight eggs.

In concluding my rambling notes, I take this
opportunity of thanking Professor Collett for
giving me a copy of his excellent paper on the
“Ornithology of Northern Norway.” I have
carefully endeavored to convey exactly what I
saw, and I may add that this paper is little more
than a reproduction of what I jotted down at the
actual time of observation. This, I hope, will
give it freshness; and although there may not be
anything novel, I trust there may still be found
something interesting, and perhaps useful, to fu-
ture naturalists visiting that portion of East Fin-
mark known as Tanadalen.

Californian Oological Notes.

BY H. R. TAYLOR, ALAMEDA, CAL.

As the collecting season of ’85 has been for me
a very successful one, a few short notes and ob-
servations concerning some of our Californian
birds may prove of interest. I took my first set
on February 13th. This was a nest and two
badly incubated eggs of the Anna Humming-
bird, which were secured after no little difficulty,
as the nest was placed about thirty feet from the
ground near the end of a long, slender limb in a
Cypress tree. Since it takes this Hummingbird
about eight days to complete the building of its
nest, it must have commenced building some time
in the latter part of January.

On the 14th of March I took a set of six fresh
eggs of the American Long-eared Owl. Egys
were deposited with a few Owl’s feathers on what
had been a large rat’s nest, in a small Oak about
twelve feet above the ground. Asto americanus
is considered quite rare in this locality, though
common in many other parts of the State. In
searching for the other Owl’s nests on the same
day, I climbed up to another rat's rest, and find-
ing it much too dome-like in shape to suit an Owl, I
used my fist vigorously on the top of it, and soon
succeeded in forming a very good nest. I then
left that locality intending to return another time
and collect the rent in eggs should any venture-
some Owl take possession of my nest for a domi-
cile. Happening to be near my Owl’s nest some
ten days later, I-hit it with a rock, and off with a
great fluttering flew a Long-eared Owl, doubtless
the same bird that had supplied me with the set
of six taken March 14th. On reaching the nest
I found but one fresh egg, which I left untouched
in order to secure the full set later. When I re-
turned to get the set the nest still contained but
the one fresh egg which had been badly pecked
by some bird, possibly a Californian Jay.

During the breeding season the noisy Plain
Tits are common birds on the woody peninsular
on which Alameda is situated, building their
cosy nests of dry grass, hair and feathers in the
many sheltered holes in the Oaks. From the
fact that many of them begin to construct their
nests as early as March 7th, the selection of a
hole well sheltered from the rain, is a very nec-
essary precaution. So very secure are some of
the places selected for nests that the eggs can
often only be reached after the most vigorous
use of a sharp hatchet, or by means of a delicate
scoop attached to a long stick.

It is a rather singular fact that the Plain Tit-
mouse is a common bird in some localities, while
in other parts of the country, apparently as ele-
gible, they are seldom if ever seen. The desper-
ate manner in which these interesting birds repel
all intrusion of their nests is really remarkable,
and often proves fatal to the interests of the col-
lector of perfect sets. When the Plain Tit has
commenced the incubation of her eggs it is some-
times almost impossible to remove the bird from
the nest, and when this is finally done, the collec-
tor is fortunate indeed if one or more of the eggs
are not found to be injured by the claws of the
bird in her frantic efforts to protect her nest.

When probed with a stick the bird responds by
spasmodically fluttering her wings, and at the
same time emitting a curious hissing noise. This
1s probably done with the view of scaring off the

142

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10--No. 9

intruder. I once took a female Plain Titmouse
from her eggs with my hand, and ‘liberated her
at the mouth of the hole only to see her dart
down to the nest again. She repeated this ma-
neeuvre several times before I finally secured the
set. They raise but one brood a year.

While it may not be usual for the Californian
Quail to desert its accustomed nesting place on
the ground and lay its eggs in trees and hedges,
several such instances have come under my ob-
servation during the past two years. I secured a
set of Spurred Towhee’s Ezgs from a Cypress
hedge, about tour feet from the ground, but did
not remove the nest. Some time afterwards I
found that the nest contained several fresh Quail’s
When ten eggs had been laid the incom-
plete set was stolen by some unknown human
marauder. Besides the above I know of three
other instances where I found their eggs above
ground, either in a tree or hedge. On May 8th, I
siw a boy find a nest of the Spurred Towhee on
the ground, in which were four eggs of the Tow-
hee and two eggs of the Californian Quail.

Of large sets taken by myself this year I can
record Western: House Wren, nine; Plain Tit-
mouse, eight; and Lutescent Warbler five. Of
small set (?) I took Plain Titmouse, five, and three(?)
Spurred Towhee, two; Least Tit, five; Green-
backed Goldfinch, three; and Western Lark
Finch, three. The small sets were all taken
with incubation either commenced or advanced.

Pros
eggs.

Californian Clapper Rail.

(Rallus obsoletus.)

BY W. 0. EMERSON, HAYWARDS, CAL.

This Rail seems to be the only one of the family
whose nesting habits are known on this coast.
W. E. Bryant, of Oakland, Cal., was the first ob-
server who wrote anything of it. (See the Bulle-
tin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, April, 1880.)

I will give my experience of its breeding habits,
as observed during the last three years.

I have found the bird common at all times of
the year in the salt marshes bordering the San
Francisco Bay, which is four miles in a direct line
from Haywards, Cal. When startled from the
sloughs, they take as readily to wing asa duck,
and if closely pursued will try to hide by diving
again and again, seldom taking to the grass or
salt weed. When wounded they give thre2 or
four cackling notes every time they dive. In
walking along the slough banks at low tide
quietly, they can be seen wading through the soft
mud, probing here and there for worms and insects,
which mostly compose their food, I have also seen

them come out of the long salt grass along shore,
feeding here and there at the edge of tide drifts.
They have a long running stride, body held close
to the ground. My first nest was found June 3,
1883. It was placed on long salt grass bent down
in amass, some of the blades woven in and out of
the standing stalks to keep it in place. The nest
was bulky, rather flat and solid, within a few
inches of mud. This salt grass is found only
along the low places where the high tides have a
chance to overflow, and along the old creek ways
running through the marshes. Nest complement,
seven eggs, just on eve of hitching, This was
the only set out of five nests examined. My last
year’s trip to the marsh was late again, as my first
had proved to be. I went down on May 11th,
1884, found nine nests, but all empty, all had
hatched and gone, as shells lay about the nests.

This season I had better luck, as I got to the
breeding grounds April 18, 1885, and found I was
none too early. Five nests were examined and
two full sets of cight and nine found among the
five. Number one (as I shall call them as found)
was about 500 yards from the bay shore, placed
in long salt grass four inches from the ground.
Number two only 100 yards from the shore.

Another trip made May 4th to the other side of
the creek, where three nests of eight eggs each
were found, out of seven examined. All were
placed from four to six inches from the ground,
measuring 10x10 across the top of nest, one and a
half inside depth, three to four inches from the
ground. Nest three was placed on salt weeds in
open ground, instead of in the long salt grass
as usual.

One nest of seven glossy jet black chicks was
found, seemingly just out of the shell, one not
quite dry. All but this one would hold their long
necks out, moving them from Side to side, and
calling in a low plaintive tone pe-ce-ep, pe-ee-ep,
very much like a weak young chicken. Putting
these little fellows in my basket for further study
at home, no more attention was paid to them
until I got to my buggy, when I found two of
them missing, knowing, no doubt, the fate await-
ing them. On skinning one I noticed a small
claw sticking out from second joint of each wing,
not more than a sixteenth part of an inch long,
claw part turning down, of a light horn color
and comparing only to a little kitten’s claw; it
was found on all the chicks.

I suppose we have here one of the links going
back to the time when birds were part reptiles,
called Pteroductylus, Cuvier, in his “Osteology,”
gives the following description of this bird-like
reptile: ‘“Yousee before you an animal, which

ae

Sept. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

‘1438

in all points of bony structure, from the teeth to
the extremity of the nails, presents the well
known saurian charactertistics, and of which one
cannot doubt that its integuments and soft parts,
its scaley armor, and its organs of circulation and
reproduction were likewise analogous. But it
was at the same time an animal provided with the
means of flying ; and, when stationary, its wings
were probably folded back like those of a bird;
although, perhaps, by the claws attached to its
fingers, it might suspend itself from the branches
of trees. Its usual position when not in motion
would be on its hind feet, resting like a bird, and
with its neck set up and curved backwards, to
prevent the weight of the enormous head from de-
stroying its equilibrium. The animal was un-
doubtedly of the most extraordinary kind, and
would appear, if living, the strangest of all
creatures.”

The measurement of these little Rails are,
length 34 ins., wing 1}, leg 18, extent 3, bill 2, of
a dull bluish black at the base, and tipped with
greyish white.

The Rail no doubt commences to incubate from
laying of first egg, as sets one and two had three
of the set fresh, others just begau, some embryos
well advanced. Sets three and four, two-thirds
advanced, while the last set was far towards
hatching; embryos having down on, There is
not any variation in the ground.color of eggs, ex-
cepting sets one, two and five, one egg in each
being greyish white, the last set is more blotched
than the others. Set one has three of the eggs
with a number of lines over the larger end, the
markings are of spots and specks centering
around the larger end, a few more or less all over
the shell, color reddish brown and lavender, the
latter appearing as if beneath the shell. Sets two
and three seem to have the lavender spots and
specks predominating and more scattered over
the whole shell. The ground color is of acreamy
buff, but not so strong as a set of the Eastern
Clapper Rail before me. All are of one general
shape, one egg of set five has a slight swelling on
one side, with cracks branching out from it, as
though it might have been done when dropped
by the bird. It may have been done while the
shell was still soft in the ovary sack, egg part be-

ing too large for shell forming around it, causing
the swelling. Ege was far advanced. I give

here the measurements of the five sets, represent-
ing forty-one eggs.
Set one.—1.75x1. 20; 69x1.20; 1.66x1.18; 1.74
x1.22; 1.76x1.20; 1.77x1.22; 1.79x1.22; 1.73x1.24.
Set two.—1.65x1.25 ; i 63x1.24; 1.64x1.23; 1.63
x1.25; 1.62x1.26; 1.64x1.24; 1.61x1.25; 1.67x1.25;
1.61x1.26.

Set three.—1.77x1.24; 1.7 ed
U77x1.255 1.81x1.26; 07x25; L77x
x1.26.

Set four.—1.68x1.17;
1.738x1.21; 1.75x1.21;
1.75x1.18.

Set five —1.70x1.22; 1.77x1.25; 1.77x1.27; 1.80x

1.27; 1.82x1.25; 1.801.380; 1.78x1.24; 173x1.25.

as

CALIFORNIAN SonG SparRow.—I wish to say
to the collectors through the O. and O. that all
the eggs sent east by collectors from this coast, of
the Californian Song Sparrow, (Melospiza fasciata
samuelis), are not what they are supposed to be.
They are the variety heermanni, which are found
only in the hills and canyons back from the salt
marshes and sea coast, MM. fasciata heermanni be-
ing more common than samuelis, which I have
only found on the salt marshes breeding, and not
by any means as common as its first cousin /eer-
manni. The samuelis or Californian Song Spar-
row is a much smaller bird than the Heermann’s
Song Sparrow. All the catalogues of dealers
have the latter Sparrow’s eggs marked higher
than the marsh variety, samuelis, which is not so
common.— W. O. Emerson, Haywards, Cal.

LvTx1.28;
; 1.23 ; 1.67

1.68x1.19 ;
Ue (tlo-o Feb

1.73x1.17 ;
1.73x1.20;

Summer Birds of Raleigh, N. C.

BIRDS OBSERVED AT RALEIGH, N. C., DURING THE MONTHS
OF JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST, 1881-1885, BY
H. H. AND C. 8S. BRIMLEY.

An asterisk is attached to the names of all birds that we

are aware breed here.

1. Robin, (Merula migratoria).
Summer.

2”, Wood Thrush, (Hylocichla mustelina).
commonest wood birds.

3". Mockingbird, (Mimus carolinensis).
several broods in the year.

4", Catbird, (Mimus carolinensis). Very common indeed,
nests rather late ; first nest found in 1885 was on May
10th, and nests were not plentiful until about two
weeks late.

5*. Brown Thrasher, (Harporhynchus rufus). Fairly com-
mon (in the early part of the season at least); not
often seen in mid-summer.

6". Bluebird, (Sialia sialis). Tolerably common.

7". Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, (Polioptila ceerulea). Common ;
first nest of ’85 found on May Sth. This little bird is
generally known in this neighborhood as “Mossbird,”
from the structure of its nest.

8". Tufted Tit, (Lophophanes bicolor). Fairly common.

9*. Carolina Chickadee, (Parus carolinensis), Very com-
mon. Nest found May 5, 1855.

10". Carolina Wren, (Zhryothorus ludovicianus).
everywhere.

11". Brown-headed Nuthatch, (Sitta pusilla). Common ;
only found one nest this year, and that contained

young nearly able to fly.

12". White-bellied Nuthatch, (Sitta carolinensis). Rather
rare in Summer; I have never found the nest, but
have shot young birds only just out of the nest once
or twice.

A few only stay the
One of our

Common ; raises

Common

144

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 9

137.

14",

15".

32.

. Prairie Warbler, (Dendreca discolor).

. Summer Yellowbird, (Dendreca cestiva).
“, Maryland Yellow-throat, (Geothlypis trichas). Common

. Cedarbird, (Ampelis cedrorwm).

Black-and-white Creeper, (Mniotilta varia). Fairly
common in Summer ; have observed old birds feeding
newly fledged young, and so conclude it breeds.

Pine-creeping Warbler, (Dendr@ca pinus). Common
and breeds, but nest is not often found.

Yellow-throated Warbler, (Dendreca dominica). Fairly
common, appears to frequent Pine trees more than
any other.

Rather rare.

Found a nest in early part of June.

Rather rare.

in low bushes along branches and creeks.

Small-billed Water Thrush, (Siurus nevius). Seen
once in June, 1884; generally common in the latter
part of August.

Yellow-breasted Chat, (Icteria virens).
mon; breeds rather late.

Redstart, (Setophagd ruticilla).

Fairly com-

Fairly common.

Very irregular in its
occurrence at all times, generally common in June;
only a few appear to breed here.

Summer Redbird, (Pyranga estiva). Not uncommon.

. Red-eyed Vireo, ( Vireosylvia olivacea). Our commonest

Vireo.

White-eyed Vireo, (Vireo noveboracensis).
low thickets.

Yellow-throated Vireo, (Lanivireo flavifrons),
rare; I think it may breed.

White-rumped Shrike, (Lanius ludovicianus excubitor-
ides). Aug. 25 and 28, 1884.

Barn Swallow, (Hirundo erythrogastra). Not common.

Rough-winged Swallow, (Stelgidopteryx serripennis).
Our commonest Swallow.

Purple Martin, (Progne subis). Fairly common.

Gold Finch, (Chrysomitris tristis). Fairly common at
all times, sometimes abundant in Summer.

White-throated Sparrow, (Zonotrichia albicollis).
observed in June, 1584.

Common in

Very

Once

33” and 34". Chipping and Field Sparrows, (Spizella socialis

35".

36",

. Cardinal, (Cardinalis viginianus).

. Red-winged Blackbird, (Ageleus phaniceus).

. Great Crested Flycatcher, (Myiarchus crinitus).

and pusilla).

Indigo, (Passerina cyanea).
quite late.

Blue Grosbeak, (Guiraca ceerulea). Called “Big Indi-
go” by the natives. Nests later than even the Indigo
Finch, and always makes its nest largely of lint cotton.

Common ; begins

nesting early in May or late in April.

Both very common.

Fairly common. Nests

Fairly
common in Summer,

Crow Blackbird, (@uiscalus puryureus).
observed in June, 1884,

Orchard Oriole, (Jcterus spurius). Fairly common.

Bee Martin, (Zyrannus carolinensis). Common.

A small flock

Fairly
common ; have never observed it later than July.

43" Wood Pewee, (Contopus virens). Common more espec-
ially in Pine woods.

44, A species of Empidonazx also occurs which I have not
been able to identify.

45". Crows, (Corvus americanus). Fairly common.

46. Blue Jay, (Cyanocitta cristata). Quite rare.

47". Ruby-throated Hummer, (Trochilus colubris). Com-
mon ; nest not often found.

48*, Chimney Swift, (Cheetura pelasgica). Common.

49. Whip-poor-will, (Caprimulgus vociferus), and 50,

Chuck-wills-widow, (Antrostomus carolinensis), are
both tolerably common, but I have never found the
eggs of either.

51. Nighthawk or Bullbat, (Chordeiles popetue). Generally
very common sometime in August or the early part of

September. I think a few breed.

52. Yellow-billed Cuckoo, (Coceyzus americanus). Fairly
common, one of our latest arrivals,
53. Kingfisher, (Ceryle aleyon). Not very common,
54". Little Sapsucker, (Picws pubescens). Common.
55. Big Sapsucker, (Picus villosus). Very rare.
56. Red-bellied Woodpecker, (Centurus carolinus).
rare in Summer.
57. Pileated Woodpecker, (Hylotomus pileatus). Rare.
58". Yellowhammer, (Colaptes auratus). Rather rare in
Summer. <A few breed.
Turkey Buzzard, (Cathartes aura). Quite common, A
few breed in out of the way places in the woods.
Carrion Crow, (Catharista atrata). Common, but ir-
regular in its occurence; generally a number seen
together.
61*. Sparrow Hawk, (Vinnunculus sparverius).
common ; a few breed.
62". Red-shouldered Hawk, (Buteo lineatus). Not uncom-
mon ; breeds.
63". Screech Owl, (Scops asio). Fairly common.
64". Barred Owl, (Strix nebulosa). Fairly common.
65*. Carolina Dove, (Zeneedura carolinensis). Common.
66*. Quail, (Ortyx virginiana). Common. Has increased
in numbers the last two years.
67. Killdeer, (Oayechus vociferus). Occasional in June
and July, and generally common in August.
68". Woodcock, (Philohela minor). Rather rare.
69. Solitary Sandpiper, (Totanus solitarius).
fairly common in August.
Least Sandpiper, Z'ringa minutilla). Once scen first
week in July, 1885.
71. Red-breasted Snipe, (Macrorhamphus griseus).
shot last week in June, 1884,
72* King Rail, (Rallus elegans). Rare.
73. Little Yellow Rail, (Porzana noveboracensis).
caught alive in Summer of ’82.
74. Great Blue Heron, (Ardea herodias),

Quite

59".

60.

Fairly

Generally

70.

One

One

Not common,

5. Great White Egret, (Herodias egretta). Accidental.

6. Little Blue Heron, (Florida cerulea). Accidental.

7™. Green Heron, (Butorides virescens). Fairly common.

Breeds.

78. Wood Ibis, (Vantalus luculator). Accidental.

79. Summer Duck, (Ai&% sponsa). Not common,

80. Black Tern, (Hydrochelidon lariformis surinamensis).
Accidental in Summer.

81. Thick-billed Grebe, ( Podilymhus podiceps).
in the latter part of August.

82". English Sparrow, (Passer domesticus).
the city.

Occasional

Common in

ADDENDUM.—WINTER BIRDS OF RALEIGH, N. C.

(O. and O., August, page 128), Insert (between 22, Pine
Finch, and 24, Grass Finch,) 23. Gold Finch, (Chry-
somitris tristis). Fairly common.

CORRESPONDENCE.

We hope all our subscribers whose copies last month were
marked to show their subscriptions are unpaid, will com-
municate with us. If any mistake has been made, we de-
sire to rectify it. If any of our old subscribers do not care
to continue their support to the Magazine, we equally de-
sire to be informed of the fact.

Received.—D. D. Stone; Chas. H. Marsh; V. L. Kellogg ;
G. L. Kent.

ge

ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

$1.50 per
Annum,

OO Oi EST

FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuBLISHER.
Established, March, 1875.

Single Copy
15 Cents.

VOL. X.

Mississippi Valley Migration.

SPRING OF 1883.—Continued.

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE, MOORHEAD, MINN.

Pnase Brrp, (Sayornis fuscus,) Fayetteville,
Ark. First, March 21st,a few. Anna, Ill. Ac-
cording to Mr. Ridgway they are sometimes resi-
dent here. St. Louis, Mo. First saw a pair on
March 16th, and on the 17th two more. A nest
was found on April 9th. Manhattan, Kans.
First by Prof. Popenoe, on March 17th; first by
Prof. Lantz, April 2d. By April 29th they were
in full Summer numbers. Griggsville, Il. First
on March 6th. Des Moines, Ia. First, April 17th.
Coralville, la. First. March 31st. Nest and four
eggs, April 30th. Polo, Ill. First, April 7th.
Racine, Wis. First, April 13th. Jefferson, Wis.
On April 4th, first, saw three, and on the 9th,
about three or four to the mile. April 10th, quite
common ; on the 11th there was no increase, but
a few more on the 12th. Waukon, Ia. First,
April 6th, four seen. Mitchell, Ia. First, April
2d, one seen. Elk River, Minn. The first were
two seen on April 12th.

Rupy-roRoATED HumMine-pirp, (Z7rochilus
colubris). St. Louis, Mo. First saw one male on
May 11th, and on the 14th the first female. Dy
May 18th, they were mating. Griggsville, Il.
First, May 20th. Grand View, Ia. First, May
6th, Coralville, Ia. First, May 22d. Polo, Il.
First, May 11th; numerous on May 15th. Jeffer-
son, Wis. First saw one male on May 15th.
May 19th, three scen and two killed with number
ten shot; not a feather injured. June 1st, height
ofthe season. Hastings, Minn. First, May 24th.
Elk River, Minn. First, May 22d.

Cummney Swiet, (Chaetura pelasgicu). St. Louis,
Mo. First seen on April 8th. By the 14th they
had increased, and on the 18th the bulk of the
species was here. Manhattan, Kans. First,
April 29th. Glasgow, Mo. First, April 11th.
Jacksonville, Ill. First, April 19th, three seen.
Griggsville, Il. First, April 11th. Grand View,
Ta. First, May 6th. Des Moines, Ia. First,

PAWTUCKET, R. I., OCTOBER, 1885.

No. to.

| April, 28th. Coralville, Ia. First, May 1st. Polo,

#1. First, May 6th. Jefferson, Wis. On May
Ist, first, saw six, which came in the afternoon
and immediately took possession of my chimney.
May 4. First flocks have almost gone; only
three or four birds are circling over the city to-
day. May 9. Flock of seventeen seen, apparent-
ly migrants. In the afternoon there were many
more, it being apparently the height of the sea-
son. May 12. Migrants have about all gone.
Waukon, Ia. Six seen for the first time, May

6th. Mitchell, Ia. First, May 5th. Hastings,
Minn. First, May 2d. Elk River, Minn. First,

May 8th. First, May 29th.

W HIP-POOR-WILL, (Caprimulgus vociferus). Can-
ton, Miss. First, April 4th. Oxford, Miss. First,
April ist. St. Louis, Mo. First seen on May
23d, but probably came before. Manhattan,
Kans. First, May 28th. Grand View, Ia. First,
May 20th. Coralville, Ia. First, May 3d. Jeffer-
son, Wis. On May 19th, first saw one pair, and
none heard nor seen thereafter. Mitchell, Ia.
First, April 26th. Pine Bend, Minn. First,
April 25th. Elk River, Minn, First, May 3d.
[It is a little strange that the observers in Minneso-
ta should have seen the birds before the observers
in Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin. The speed
of this species is twenty-four miles a day ; calcu-
lated from Oxford, Miss., to Elk River, Minn,, a
distance of seven hundred and eighty-five miles, |

Argusville, Dak.

YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER, (Sphyrapicus
varius). Anna, Ill. According to Mr. Ridgway
they are a Winter resident here, but I did not see
any this Winter. St. Louis, Mo, Usually a
transient here. On December 28th, saw one in
the woods, but no more seen during the remain-
der of the Winter. The first this Spring were
four birds, with no adult male umong them, seen
on February 22d. On March 11th, still the same ;
on March 13th, a newly arrived female was seen ;
and on April 4th and 5th, an old bird in high
plumage. Liter, Ill. First, April 7th. Grand
View, Ia. First, April 8th. Racine, Wis. First,
April 6th. Jefferson, Wis. On April 4th, first

Copyright, 1885, by Frank B. WEBSTER and EATON CLIFF.

146

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 10

saw one flock of fifteen to twenty containing both
males and females; they were very active, some
mating and some already in pairs. No more
flocks were seen during the Spring, but single
ones and pairs every few days.

RED-HEADED WooppreckER, (Melanerpes ery-
throcephalus). Duck River, Tenn. Resident; an
average of two seen per mile on March 5th. An-
na, Ill. Resident; the most common of the fami-
ly, and at great enmity with the squirrel, who
often steals his$stores. St. Louis, Mo. A few
remained through the Winter; two single birds
and a pair were seen during one week about New
Year. On February 22d, they were in the same
numbers. On April 12th, many were found in
heavy timber, but not generally distributed.
May ist, evident increase during the last few
days. Manhattan, Kans. First, April 15th.
Glasgow, Mo. First, April 23d. Liter, Ill. First,
April 22d. Griggsville, Ill. First, April 6th, one
seen. Des Moines, Ia. First, May 6th. Polo,
Ill. First, April 3d; bulk came May 3d. Ra-
cine, Wis. First, May 2d. Jefferson, Wis. On
May 6th, five males came in the afternoon, and
during the following night there came about fif-
teen per cent. of fullsummer numbers. Mitchell,
Ta. First, May 6th.

YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKER, ( oluptes auratus),
Fayetteville, Ark. Resident, common. Anna,
Il]. Second most numerous species in Winter,
occurring in flocks of from ten to thirty; feeds
largely on ants and mast. St. Louis, Mo. A few
remained during the Winter. On March 14th
several were here in company with Robins and
Blackbirds. The bulk of the species was here on
April 4th, and from the 4th to the 8th was the
height of the transients. Manhattan, Kans. A
very common Winter resident; twenty seen Feb-
ruary 10th. By March 25th,common. On the
31st, thirty were seen in a five mile tramp, and on
April 7th fifty were seen in going over the same
ground. Glasgow, Mo. First were twelve, seen
March 13th. Jacksonville, Ill. Resident (in mild
Winters). April 9th, have seen a good many the
last few days. Osceola, Ill. First, March 1st.
Grand View, Ia. First, two seen April 4th.
Coralville, Ia. First, April 5th. Polo, Ill.
Resident (in very mild Winters). Jefferson, Wis.
First saw one on April 8th, and the next day
three more. On April 9th, there were a few more,
and on the 10th they were heard every few min-
ute. On April 11th, there was no increase, but
the 21st brought us a flock of seven. I have never
seen them anywhere east of the Mississippi in
such flocks as they occur in northwestern Minnes-
ota. During the Spring migration mixed flocks

of Flickers and Robins by the hundred would be
common for about ten days. They would be
found along the edges of hara wood groves, feed-
ing on the ground; patches of ground an acre or
more in extent would be fairly alive with these
two species, and then you might goa mile with-
out seeing a specimen of either. Waukon, Ia.
First, April 11th. Mitchell, Ia. First, April 2d,
two seen. Hastings, Minn. First, April 16th,
twelve seen ; there are many around this season.
Pine Bend, Minn. First, April 11th. Argus-
ville, Dak. First, April 18th. :
Bette KinGrisHer, (Ceryle aleyon). Duck
River, Tenn. Resident. Fayetteville, Ark. Seen
March 17th. Anna, Ill. Resident, common
throughout the year. St. Louis, Mo. First seen
on April 6th, and by the 14th they were nest dig-
ging. Manhattan, Kans. Seen at intervals dur-
ing December, January and February, even in
very cold weather. Glasgow, Mo. First, April

13th. Grand View, Ia. First, March 27th. Des
Moines, Ia. First, April 27th. Coralville, Ia.
First, April 4th. Polo, Il. First, April 84d.

Jefferson, Wis. First saw one April 4th, and on
the 11th two birds were seen for the third time.
Mitchell, Ia. First, April 11th. Hastings, Minn.
First one seen April 8th. Elk River, Minn.
First two seen April 9th.

Movurnina Dove, (Zenaidura carolinensis).
Duck River, Tenn. Rcsident; were numerous
April Ist. Fayetteville, Ark. Resident; though
perhaps more common in Summer; in abund-
ance March 17th. Anna, Ill. Resident; going
through in great numbers April 10th. St. Louis,
Mo. First, March 16th, one seen. April 15th,
still few. April 19th, four seen in pairs. April
20th, more conspicuous. May ist, flock of six
going north. Manhattan, Kans. Were very
abundant until the very cold weather in January,
when they disappeared. Ten were seen as late
as January 5th. Returned March 21st. Saw
many on March 25th. April 7th, twen'y in a five
mile walk. Glasgow, Mo. First, April 1st.
Jacksonville, Ill. First were three seen on April
7th. Liter, Ill. First, April 5th. Griggsville,
Ill. First, April 3d, one seen. At first this bird
was shy, and only uttered a low, plaintive note,
and was not in sight, cooing only in the early
morning ; but by April 14th, it began to appear
in roads and trees. Osceola, Ill. Partially resi-
dent in mild Winters. First seen on April 1st.
Polo, Ill. Resident. [This is true as a general
rule only of very mild Winters, but an instance
is on record, of one staying a few miles north of
Polo, during the whole of a very severe Winter. ]
Jefferson, Wis. April 18th, was the first for me,
but it had probably come some days previous.

Oct. 1885.]

May 12th, slowly increasing, almost height of sea-
son. May 19th, about as numerous as it gets
here. Waukon,Ia. First, April 29th. Mitchell,
Ia. Numerous April 29th. Hastings, Minn.
May 2d, first nest; on ground, two eggs, no nest,
only a few sticks. When visited May 28th, the
birds had hatched and gone. Elk River, Minn.
First were a pair seen April 14th. Argusville,
Dak. First, April 22d.

KILLDEER, (Owyechus vociferus). Fayetteville,
Ark. The first one was heard after dark, March
Ist. Anna, Ill. According to Mr. Ridgway, is
resident in mild Winters. St. Louis, Mo. First
were four seen March 16th; a flock was also seen
April 6th. Manhattan, Kans. First, March 1st ;
by March 10th, abundant. April 7th, only four
or five seen in a five mile walk. Liter, Ill. First,
March 2d, in flocks. Ellsworth, Dl. First, March

17th. Osceola, Ill. First, April 1st. Coralville,
Ta. First, April 4th. Polo, Ill. First, March
22th. Racine, Wis. First, March 19th. Jef
ferson, Wis. First, March 17th; only three
or four seen for the next three weeks.
Mitchell, Ia. First were three seen on

April 2d. Elk River, Minn. First, April 3d.
[Average speed twenty miles a day from Fayette-
ville, Ark., to Elk River, Minn., a distance of six
hundred and sixty miles].

Wooncock, (Philohelu minor). Fayetteville,
Ark. So far as I know personally, they are tran-
sients here, nor did I see any before March Ist,
but I suppose they had come before that date, as
I killed one last year in February. Anna, II].
Resident. Osceola, Ill. First, April 20th. Not
common here. Racine, Wis. First, April 20th.
Jefferson, Wis. First, April 7th.

Witson’s SNIPE, (Gallinago media
Fayetteville, Ark. Mostly transients, though a
few stay during warm Winters Killed fourteen
on February 27th, though I could not find any
On March Ist they were mov-
ing north in goodly numbers. Anna, Ill. Resi-
dent, but irregular. St. Louis, Mo. Arrived
March 14th, in small numbers in the bottom lands
of the Mississippi; two hunters killed eight Snipe
in six hours’ hunting. Numerous April 13th, and
continued common until after April 20th. Man-
hattan, Kans. First, April 16th; twenty-seven
on May 4th. Jacksonville, Ill. Began to fly
over March 26th; a good many April 9th. Coral-
ville, Ia. First, April 50th. Polo, Ill. First,
April 20th. Racine, Wis. First, March 10th.
Jefferson, Wis. First, April 14th. Elk River,
Minn. First, April 12th. [Average fifteen miles a
day from Fayetteville, Ark., to Elk River, Minn].

SANDHILL CRANE, (Grus canadensis). Man-
hattan. Kans. First, April 14th. Osceola, Il.

wilsont).

the week before.

AND OOLOGIST.

147

First, March 31st. Polo, Ill. First, April 10th,
Waukon, Ia. First flew over on the evening of
April 8th. Elk River, Minn. First, April 4th,
Argusville, Dak. First, April 26th.

DouBLE-CRESTED CoRMORANT,’ (Phalacrocorax
dilophus). Anna, Ill. First was April 1st, when
a flock sailed into Bluff Lake. St. Louis, Mo.
First, April 8th; two also seen on April 20th.
Manhattan, Kans. First, April 28th. Grand
View, Ia. First, March 27th. Coralville, Ta.
April 21st, fifteen passed north. Hastings, Minn.
First scen on April 18th. Elk River, Minn.
First, April 17th, quite a number seen and a pair
killed.

2

Notes from Silver City, N. M.

BY CHAS. H. MARSH.

A favorite nesting place with many birds in
this vicinity is the “buckhorn” cactus, found in
great abundance upon the prairies and near the
foothills. In some instances dwarfed in size and
of apparently small importance; in others rearing
its gnarled and twisted branches bristling with
needle-like points to a height of ten or twelve
feet and spreading in every direction from the
main stalk to a distance of twenty feet or more,
it presents an almost impenetrable thicket, for-
midable alike to man and beast. In this inviting
the Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrush,
Cactus Wren, House Finch, Canon Towhce,
Black-throated Sparrow, Cassin’s Kingbird,
Road-runner and Mourning Dove build their
nests and rear their young.

Of these the nest and eggs of the Mocking-
bird are too well known to eall for a description.
They are perhaps the most common of the birds
breeding here and their nests are not confined to
the cactus, but are found everywhere on the
hillsides in the Scrub Oaks, Mountain Mahogany,
Box Alder and similar dwarfed trees and bushes.

A near relative, the Curve-billed Thrush, seems
to confine its nesting to the Cactus, nor do I re-
member to have found its nest in any other
place. The nest is a rather bulky structure com-
posed of intertwined sticks and twigs, prefer-
ence being given to the thorny ‘‘cat’s-claw,” as if
the spines of the cactus not being in themselves
a sufficient protection, this added terror was
needful to keep intruders at a distance. The
lining is for the most part fine roots with occa-
sionally a mixture of horse-hair. The size of
the nest varies from a mass large enough “to fill
a half-bushel measure,’ to one of six or eight
iuches in diameter, and is usually placed some
five or six feet from the ground. The eggs are
from three to five, in most cases four, of a light

spot

148 ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol]. 10--No. 10

greenish-blue, thickly speckled all over with fine
brownish spots, mingled with traces of lilac.
The average size is 1.15x.75, though they vary
greatly in size and shape, even in the same set.
Nesting commences early in April, my first
set this season was taken the 8th, and continues
through May. A second set is laid in July.
April 24th, while collecting Warblers, I dis-
covered in the branches of a Scrub Oak the nest
of a Lead-colored Tit. It was composed of
weeds, fine grass leaves, wood and a few feathers
so interwoven as to form a compact, bottle-shaped
structure 71g inches in length, 114 in circumfer-
ence at the largest and 54 at the smallest part.
The opening on one side near the top, was
about one-half an inch in diameter, and was
carefully concealed from observation by an over-
hanging flap. The interior of the nest was lined
with wool. The whole structure was suspended
from a small branch some ten feet from the
ground, its bottom resting on a somewhat larger
branch, and it was still further steadied and se-
cured by the attachment on each side near the
bottom of several small twigs. The nest con-
tained three pure white eggs, measuring .55x.35.
Later in the season in other localities, I found
two nests some twenty-five feet from the ground
in Juniper trees ; both contained young birds.
April 28th, I found my first nest of the Rock
Wren for the season. It was under a flat rock
on a hillside some twenty feet from a trail over
which there was more or less passing every day.
The space between the ground and the under
side of the rock was not more than two inches at
the entrance, gradually increasing towards the
rear where the nest was situated, about a foot
from the opening. The nest was a slight struc-
ture composed of fine roots and lined with hair
and a little wool. The eggs were six in number,
of a pure white, dotted with fine reddish spots,
thickest at the large end; the small end being in
most of the eggs entirely free from them, A cu-
rious habit of the Rock Wren is that of paving
the ground around and in front of its nest, even
to some little distance from the overhanging
rock,with small pebbles and bitsof glass. Whether
this is done for the sake of ornament, or not, I
will not venture to say, but I have found ita
very good guide in looking for their nests. A
few days later I observed a Rock Wren carrying
material for a nest towards the wall of a ruined
adobe mill. By close watching I located the
nest and in due time secured it. A charred beam
in the wall had left a hole large enough for the
entrance of the Wren, the distance from the
ground being some eight feet. On removing a
portion of an adobe brick I came to a cavity in

which was the nest, containing seven eggs, the
spots more evenly distributed over the surface
than in the first mentioned sect. Here, too, was
the usual pavement of small stones, some of such
a size that it is a mystery to me how they could
ever have been carried to such a height by the
diminutive owner and builder of the residence.
This is the only instance that has come under
my observation where the Rock Wren has built
its nest elsewhere than on the ground.

Passing around to the outside of the wall, I
saw a Say’s Pewee fly from the projecting top of
a ruined window casing, and stepping back a
few feet I espied her nest. By some hard climb-
ing I reached the window and found the nest, a
neat structure of fine roots and grass, lined with
wool and feathers, and containing six pure white
eggs, measuring .75x.60; incubation pretty well
advanced. Nearly a month previous to this I
found a nest of the same species containing four
fresh eggs fastened to a slightly projecting ledge
on a high rock, which rose from one side of a
shallow pool of water, at a height of about five
feet. The Say’s Pewee also builds about the
eaves of houses. :

Jan. 1, while hunting quail in a large Cactus
patch I found a nest of the Cactus Wren, from
which the bird flew at my approach. I exam-
ined the nest quite carefully and left it. A week
later being in the same locality I thought I would
take another look at my Wren’s nest, but found it
had been destroyed. After a little search I dis-
covered another nest built in a Cactus at some
little distance. This, too, at a subsequent visit
proved to have been destroyed, and a third nest
built in a new location, and no less than five new
nests did I discover between January 1 and March,
the last nest remaining unoccupied as late as the
last of April when it too was destroyed.

April 28th, in another Cactus patch I found a
nest some seven feet from the ground, shaped
very much like a bottle, lying on one side. It
was composed of feathers of the Scaled Quail
interwoven with fine grass and was lined with
feathers of the same bird. The length was nine
inches, the greatest circumference twenty inches;
the depth of the hole eight inches, with a diame-
ter of two inches at the mouth. It contained
four eggs of a reddish color thickly covered with
spots of a darker hue, measuring 1.10x.75. Some
twenty feet distant was a Cactus containing a
second nest similar in structure to the first, but
containing no eggs. The birds were near at hand
and after I had shot one, its mate flew to the
nest from which I had removed the eggs, hurried-
ly entered it, came out and flew to the second
nest, which it also entered. I have been puzzled
to know whether the second nest was used as a

:

Oct. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

residence by the male, while the female was sit-
ting on her eggs, for it evidently belonged to the
same pair of birds, and whether the nests first
mentioned were built as residences to protect the
birds from the storms of Winter or for breeding
purposes, perhaps some one better acquainted
with the habits of this Wren can inform me.

Another very common denizen of the cactus
is the House Finch, one of our most abundant
birds. A large variety of material enters into
the composition of their nests, fine grass, leaves,
wool, string, rags, newspaper, anything in fact
that is most easily obtained, and the nests are
often very pretty and dainty structures. The
eggs are from three to five in number, of a bluish-
white, marked with blackish spots and lines,
thickest upon the largeend. I have occasionally
round in a set One egg entirely unmarked. The
House Finches are of a more sociable nature
than the majority of our birds, collecting in large
numbers in the towns and about dwellings. In
Santa Fe, where they are numbered by thousands,
their favorite nesting place is upon the beams of
the portals, or covered ways, in front of the
houses. Here they are looked upon by the fruit
growers as fully as great a nuisance as the Eng-
lish Sparrow at the East from their fondness for
the flower buds of the peach and other fruit
trees. They are very prolific, two and cen
three broods being raised in a season.

At Santa Fe, too, the Rocky Mountain Blue-
bird builds its nest about the adobe buildings and
corrals. The inner bark of the Cedar enters
largely into the composition of their homes, with
a lining of soft feathers, gathered from the cor-
ral yards. Upon this soft nesting place are laid
from four to six eggs of a beautiful light blue,
measuring .85x.695.

Entering my favorite cactus patch April 8, I
saw a pair of Road-runners leap from one of the
bushes. One, a male, fell before my gun, but the
other was too swift for me and escaped to the
neighboring mesa. On examination of the cac-
tus from which they came, I found a nest con-
taining four pure white eggs, 1.50x1.27. They
differed from any eggs that I have ever seen in
having a curious outside covering very much like
enamel. This had been scratched off in many
places, evidently by the claws of the bird com-
ing in contact with the shell. The nest was a
rather bulky structure of coarse sticks mingled
with grass and roots, lined with a few feathers of
the Road-runner. It rested upon the almost hor-
izontal branches of the cactus, some eighteen
inches from the ground. Not having the means
of carrying the nest home I left it to be taken at
some future day. About a fortnight later I fright-

ened another Road-runner from a cactus, only
a few rods from the one in which I had found my
first nest, and on investigating found a second,
also with four eggs, some three feet from the
ground. May 13, on going to secure my first
nest, I was surprised to find a Road-runner upon
it, and a curious spectacle it presented, its head
laid flat upon the edge of the nest, its bright yel-
low eyes regarding me attentively, and its long
tail elevated at an angle of some forty-five de-
grees. For a minute or two I watched the bird,
when, at a slight movement on my part, it sprang
from the nest, but as it ran across the flat dropped
at the discharge of my gun. Returning to my
nest my surprise was increased to find it contained
five fresh eggs. The bird I had shot, on dissec-
tion, proved to bea male, giving evidence that
he shares with the female in the duties of incu-
bation. It has been a question with me whether
the female in the first instance deprived of her con-
sort, had secured another mate, built and fur-
nished the second nest and when despoiled of this
had returned to the first and there laid a third and
larger set, or had a second pair, searching for a
suitable place in which to build chanced upon the
nest, ready for occupancy, and taken possession
of it. The former seems to me, taking everything
into consideration, to be the more probable solu-
tion of the case. I secured during the season
several other sets, in one case the nest being built
in an old Alder bush on a hillside.
(Conclusion neut maith )

A Catalogue of the Birds of Kalama-
zoo County, Mich.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.—PART VIII.

151. [482.] <Acedpiter fuscus (Gmel.) Bp.
Sharp-shinned Hawk. With us only a transient,
or at least never taken at a time to prove their
summering here. My latest date of capture in
Spring is April 29th, and my earliest Fall speci-
men is Sept. 15th. Never common, and so small
and unobtrusive as to be rarely taken.

152. [433.] Astur atricapillus (Wills.) Bp.
American Goshawk. <A rare species, taken once
in the county in Winter.

153. [436.] Buteo borealis (Gm.) Vieill. Red-
tailed Hawk. Arrives from Feb. 20th to March
1st, as a rule, but occasionally much earlier. In
open seasons this Hawk may be found straggling
in this neighborhood any month of Winter. We
may consider it as not yet departed for the south
when seen in December, and as an early arrival
when observed in January. Nests abundantly,
usually preferring high lands, always in woods.

150

154. [439.] Buteo lineatus (Gm.) Jard. Red-
shouldered Hawk. Called by many writers Win-
ter Falcon, but I do not consider it more hardy
than the last named species. Becomes abundant
about March 10th. Arrives as early as Feb. 15th
frequently, but usually about March 1st. Breeds
in lower woods than the Red-tailed Buzzard, and
Mr. Syke informs me that he has taken but one
set of eggs from a White-oak, although a great
many nests are found in Beech trees and other
trees in low lands. Th2 Red-shouldered breeds
later than the Red-tail.

155. [442.] Buteo swainsoni Bonap. Swain-
son’s Hawk. <A rare species, and only occasion-
ally shot.

156. [443.] Buteo pennsylvanicus (Wils.) Bp.
Broad-winged Hawk. A rare Summer resident.
Have found only one nest, May 24, 1875. Built
in the manner of the other buteos of my acquaint-
ance, Two fresh eggs. This species is but little
known here.

157. [447.] Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis
(Gm) Ridgw. American Rough-legged Hawk.
A rare migrant passing through to the north in
March and April and returning south in October
and November.

158. [451.] aliwetus leucocephalus (Linn.)
Savig. Bald Eagle; Gray Eagle. A rare strag-
gler. Usually observed in the Fall. A mature
bird passed south the past July. In no case a
regular visitor.

159. [459.] Hetopistes migratoria (Linn.) Sw.
Passenger Pigeon. Formerly passed us in my-
riads, Spring and Fall, but now scarcely seen. In
fact a flock has not been seen here for some sea-
sons. A stray pair occasionally observed in the
woods. The flocks usually appeared about March
20th, and continued for a month or more. Occa-
sionally birds were observedin February. A few
pairs always remained to breed in the White-oak
woods or Tamarack swamps inour county. Have
taken the eggs and have never found more than
one inanest. <A pair is occasionally seen now in
deep woods during the nesting season. The
Pigeons again made their appearance in early
September and became very abundant by Oct. Ist.
The masses departed for the south by November
1st, but many often remained until Dec. 1st, or
even later, in late seasons.

160. [460.] Zenaidura carolinensis (Linn.) Bp.
Mourning Dove. An abundant resident nearly
nine months of the year. Arrives generally about
March 15th, but often much earlier. Remains
until October 20th, inscme numbers. Occasion-
ally observed during all the months of Winter
when the season is not severe. Breeds from April

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 10

25th to June 15th. A sad toned singer. Well
known, and often, unfortunately, shot for the
table. A quiet, pleasing bird, fond of feeding in
the highways, where it often resorts only to
meet its doom.

161. [4702.] Meleagris gallopavo americana
(Bartr.) Coues. Wild Turkey. Once an abun-
dant resident, but now quite rare. Gunning has
so reduced their ranks that il is now an unusual
occurrance to hear of a turkey being captured
hereabouts. A magniffcent game bird, surpassed
by none.

162. [473] Bonasa umbellus (Linn.) Steph.
Ruffed Grouse. An abundant resident still. Pro-
tected by the covers which they frequent, this
species cannot be exterminated, as is likely to be
the case with the less favored Virginia Partridge.
Breeds abundantly in swampy woods as well as
in upland groves.

163. [473a.] Bonasa umbellus umbelloides
(Dougl.) Baird. Gray Ruffed Grouse. It has
been known for many years that an occasional
“so called Partridge” is of different color. Hear-
ing of this peculiarity from the hunters, I at last
secured some specimens, and found them to be of
this variety. Rare with us, but much more com-
mon to the north. Probably breeds here, but
may only straggle so far south.

164. [477.] Cupidonia eupido (Linn.) Baird.
Prairie Hen. Formerly quite abundant, but the
hunters during the last twenty years have rapidly
decimated their numbers. Have only found the
species breeding once. There are partial prairies
in this county, where the birds were formerly
common, and the calls and noises peculiar to the
species were often heard issuing from the grass
and brush.

165. [480.] Ortyx virginiana (L.) Bp. Bob-
white; American Quail. Once an abundant resi-
dent, but now quite scarce. Only rarely found
nesting in the county now. The Ruffed Grouse
has a protection in the shelter it seeks in the
woods, but the Quail and Prairie Hen must go
unless more stringent laws are made in their favor.

166. [487.] Ardea herodias Linn. Great Blue
Heron. A common species from April 10th to
October ist. Arrives as early as March 23d in
early Springs. The last do not leave us till early
December. Only seen now with us while feed-
ing around lakes and pondsand streams, the nest-
ing sites lying in other counties. These birds
often fly fifty miles to feed. The crop being full

the parent returns to its nest in the heronry, °

where the young are fed on the disgorged fish.
Have seen a young callow Heron eighteen inches
long swallow a fish over one third its length with

Oct. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

151

ease. The Great Blue Heron formerly nested in
our county in abundance, but has been driven
away by the fusilade from ambitious gunners, who
in their anxiety to bag something, shoot every-
thing. The nests are generally built in gigantic
Sycamores, and are not easy of access. One hun-
dred nests is not unusual in one heronry.

167. [489.] Herodias alba égretta (Gmel.)
Ridgw. American Evret. A rare accidental
Summer visitor. Very shy, and not often cap-
tured. A few are seen every season.

168. [490.] Garzetta candidissima (Gmel.) Bp.
Snowy Heron. A rare accidental visitor during
June, July and August. Does not breed. Ir-
regular in appearance.

169. [494.] Butorides virescens (Linn.) Bp.
Green Heron. Not a rare species. Not often
found nesting, however. Breeds in small colonies,
placing the nests on low bushes and trees. Can
not assert as to the arrival or departure of this bird.

170. [497.] Botaurus lentiginosus (Montag.)
Steph. American Bittern. A common species on
our marshes from April 15th to September 20th.
Arrives as early as April 5th some seasons, and
often remains until October 10th. A peculiar
species, known to many persons living in the
country as thunder pumper, and also as plum pud-
ding, from its peculiar notes. The nests are difti-
cult to discover. Does not build in colonies.

171. [498.] Ardetta evilis (Gmel.) Gray. Least
Bittern. Not rare at Gull Lake, where about
thirty nests have been discovered within the last
four years. The species breed in scattered colo-
nies, a few nests being found irregularly situated
over a stretch of lake edge marsh eighty rods in
length. A very interesting little bird and ex-
tremely odd in many of its habits. It appears so
stupid at times that it is caught with the hand as
it moves through the grass.

172. [509.] Strepsilus interpres (Linn.) Llig.
Turnstone. A rare, irregular migrant, captured
only a few times around the edges of the lakes.
Taken once as late as May 20th, showing it to be
a late migrant in Spring.

173. [513.] Squatarola helvetica (Linn.) Cuv.
Black-bellied Plover. A rare, irregular species
in its migrations. Only a few captures recorded.
Once taken as late as October 29th. Usually ap-
pears in small flocks on shores of lakes.

174, [514] Charadrius dominicus Mull.
American Golden Plover. A common transient
in the Autumn, but rarely if ever seen in the
vernal migrations. Often seen in large flocks.
Have secured a great number at a single shot.
Reaches us from the north in early September ;
remains till late October. Most abundant about
September 28th, as a rule.

175. [516.] Oxyechus vociferus (Linn.) Reich.
Killdeer. An abundant species from March 20th
to November 1st. Arrives asearly as Feb. 20th
open seasons, but generally about March 5th to
10th. Occasionally does not depart until late De-
cember, if the shores of the lakes are still un-
frozen. Nests abundantly in stony fields, pasture
lots and plowed lands. Eggs usually laid in late
April, often by April 10th, however.

176. [517.] Aegialites semipalmatus Bonap.
Semipalmated Plover. A common migrant. Ap-
pearing about May 10th from the South, and
often remaining in abundance until May 25th.
Again appears August 10th and becomes common
by the 20th of the month, often remaining until
September 20th or later.

177. [525.] Philohela minor (Gm.) Gray,
American Woodcock. Abundant Summer resi-
dent, but not usually so common as formerly.
Once bred in numbers in our partially open
woods on low grounds, but too much breaking of
the law, combined with poorly constructed and
too early laws have thinned them badly. Usually
appears in early March, but often in late February
in open seasons. Has been taken in all the
Winter months. Breeds from April 10th to July
10th, and I have seen young birds unable to fly
July 20th, which suggests consideration of the
present August Ist law. Depart in October
usually, buta few often remain until Nov. 15th.

178. [526a.] Gallinago media wilsoni (Temm.)
Ridgw. Wilson’s Snipe. An abundant species
two months of the year, from April 10th to May
1st, and from September 10th to October 20th.
They first appear in late February some seasons
and remain until May 20th, or even later before
passing north to breed. The first arrivals from
the north are seen as early as July 25th, and the
last to leave us are found until Nov. 20th, fre-
quently. The birds are taken throughout the
Winter in small numbers during very mild sea-
sons. A few Summer residents are found each
year, but the birds have been found breeding but
once.

179. [527.] Macrorhamphus griseus (Gmel.)
Leach. Red-breasted Snipe; Gray Snipe. I have
met this species but once. A small flock was ob-
served on May 21st and 22d, 1878, on the edge of
a small lake. The flight is peculiar and well
marked, and once seen will be remembered. But
few captures have occurred. A migrant.

180. [584.] <Actodromas maculata (Vieill.)
Coues. Pectoral Sandpiper; Grass Snipe. Have
secured specimens both Spring and Autumn. It
is nota rare species, but is decidedly irregular in
its appearance. Only transient.

ORNITHOLOGIST

a THE”
ORNITHOLOGIST

OOLOGISE

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NATURAL \HuIstoRx,

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

Bikes:

THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,
PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Editor’s Notes.

We supplement our articles on Taxider-
my bya short series on Practical Ento-
mology, for which we are indebted to
Messrs. Wright and Bates of Boston. The
first of these articles is given this month.

Among the numerous Magayines appear-
ing for the first time this year, we have
been much pleased with “Zhe Musewmn,”
which we hoped would secure a permanent
place. It is therefore with some regret
that we announce, as requested, that it has
been merged into “Zhe American An-
tiquarian,” anew department of which to
be called “The Museum,” especially de-
signed for collectors, will be in charge of
the late editor.

We notice in “Science” that what is left
of Audubon’s collection of birds has been
presented to Amherst College, Mass. Many
of the skins, of which there were about 600,
were unfit for mounting, but Professor
Ward has prepared about 100 for exhibi-
tion in the College Museum.

’

Gulls, Terns and Grebes at Emporia,
Kansas.

BY V. L. KELLOGG,

To the casual reader, Kansas would not seem
to be a very propitious place for either Gulls,
Terns or Grebes. Mark Twain, in ‘“‘Roughing
It,’ mentions a lake in California, 100 miles from

the sea-shore, where he is greatly astonished at
finding immense numbers of Gulls, and to ex-
press his astonishment, says that he would as soon
expect to find them in Kansas.

Yet at certain times of every year one may see
them here in abundance. I have observed at this
place two species of Gulls, the Ring-billed Gull
(Larus delewarensis) and Franklin’s Rosy Gull
(Larus franklint), though other kinds have been
found in the State. This Spring, on April 30th,
I saw large flocks of Franklin’s Rosy and a few
Ring-billed, and flocks of both were seen fre-
quently during the ensuing month.

I have found here two varieties of Terns, viz:
Forster’s (Sterna forsteri), and the Black Tern
(Hydrochelidon lariformis surinamensis). I have
seen but few Forster’s, but the Black Terns are
abundant. In the Spring they arrive about the
first of May and stay until the end of the month.
In the Fall they are seen quite early; in 1884, the
first one being seen on August 19th. While here
they are to be found in large numbers flying
about in flocks over the water, feeding, and con-
tinually uttering a rather harsh and shrill ery,
but not very loud, however.

Of Grebes I have taken two species here, the
American Eared (Dytes nigricolis californicus) and
the Thick-billed (Podilymbus podiceps) and a
Single Horned Grebe (Dytes auwritus) was shot
here in 1882. The Eared are not very common
and are found in the Spring, while just the oppo-
site is true of the Thick-billed, they being quite
common and found in the Fall. Again, the Eared
are seen singly and the Thick-billed are found in
flocks of from five to thirty. They are very loth
to leave the water when alarmed, preferring to
trust to their diving abilities (which, it must be
said, are of a high order,) rather than to their
power of wing. ‘There is a specimen of the Great
Northern Diver (Colymbus torquatus) in the High
School collection at this place, which was taken
near town, but it is the only specimen of its kind
ever found here to my knowledge.

aS

ALBINOs.—A perfectly pure albino Petrochelidon
lunifrons was seen to-day in possession of a tax-
idermist in this city. The bird was shot here a
day or two ago and sent to be mounted. Unfor-
tunately it was shot with coarse shot and some-
what multilated, but otherwise it is perfect, and
one can hardly hope to see a finer specimen.

An albino Red-winged Blackbird, (Ageleus
pheniceus), has also been received here. The bird
is pure white with the exception of the red
patches on the wing, which are normal, and a
very slight reddish tinge on the head.—A. W.
Anthony, Denver, Col.

Oct. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

153

Practical Taxidermy.

BY FRANK B. WEBSTER.

CHAPTER II.—WORK ROOM AND TOOLS.

The work room should be as far away as possi-
ble from the general living rooms of the house,
for three reasons: First, the necessary use of
poison. Second, on account of the unpleasant
odors which follow the dissecting of specimens.
[Those who work over them soon become so ac-
customed that they are entirely unnoticed]. And
thirdly, that the room may be locked, to keep in-
truders out, especially when no one is present to
attend to ‘“‘hands off.”

It will be impossible for the majority of ama-
teurs to have a regular workshop, and the next
best thing is a room, perhaps on the second floor,
opening into the back hall. The most simple
work bench is made by taking an ordinary stand
or small table and having a heavy top made for it
of, say two-inch pine plank. A table two feet by
four feet is convenient for ordinary work. In
addition take a piece of joist, says two by four
inches, four feet long, make an X of same stock
the two pieces being about eighteen inches,
fasten this to one end of the joist, and a cross
piece to the other. You will now have a stand
the shape of a letter T, with the bottom like the
letter X. This will be found a very useful
stand to use temporarily while mounting large
birds like Eagles, Peacocks, &c. A large case,
say seven feet high, six feet long, eighteen inches
deep, made of pine, painted white inside, made
so as to be readily taken to pieces, will serve to
holds specimens when drying and keep them
from dust, &c. A cabinet or set of drawers for
holding tools, can generally be obtained at a low
price from any retail store. Empty thread
cabinets do very well.

Iam now supposed to invite you into a room
filled out as above. We open the cabinet drawer,
in which are a number of tools, many perhaps, of
a similar appearance. I believe in good tools
and plenty of them. If I hear of anything new
I get it. There are yet to be many improvements
made, and if I can gain by them I shall do so
with as much enthusiasm as the surgeon, dentist,
and machinist. A well-known Taxidermist re-
cently remarked to me, “I can stuff birds with
nothing but wire, tow and cutters.” With due
respect to him, I remarked that I supposed he
could discard knives and forks from his table,
and many other modern conveniences. Nickel
plated tools for me, if you please. I will only

- describe the tools that I consider necessary, and

leave it to you to decide how many sizes of each
you wish.

After the following description I shall only
mention them by name in order to make the por-
tion devoted to actual work as simple as possible.

Fig. 1. Scissor-handled Stuffers. Commonly
called Stuffers ; for placing tow or other stuffing
in head and neck of all birds larger than a Blue-
bird. Also smaller ones if you desire. Length,
9 to 12 inches.

Fig. 2. Spring Stuffing Forecps.
called Spring Stuffers. Better adapted for smaller
birds; same purpose as the scissor-handled.
Length, 614 inches.

Fig. 3. Ebony-handled Scalpel, for skinning;
suitable for small work.

Fig. 4. Cartilage Knife. ‘A heavy steel scalpel,
handle and blade all one piece. Much stronger
than the ebony-handled; for heavy work. [In
using any scalpel avoid prying, as this will break
the best made instrument].

Fig. 5. Brain Spoon. For cleaning out the
brain cavity. The latest improvement at this
writing is a short curved-wire point at the end of
handle, designed to use in removing eyes; also
to use in putting in artificial eyes.

Commonly

Fig. 6. Surgeon’s Scissors. Short blade, extra
strong.

Fig. 7. Shears.

Fig. 8, Curved Scissors.

Fig. 9. Elbowed Scissors.

Fig. 10. Fine Scissors.

These all have their special use, which will be
readily found when once at work. There is one
use to which they should not be put, viz., bone
cutting, which will spoil the best scissors ever
made, not only by spoiling the edge, but by bend-
ing them at the shank so that the blades will not
shut.

Fig. 11. Hand or Pin Vise, for holding long
needle when making hole in legs of birds, for
holding wire when spreading tail, and a tempora-
ry handle, useful in many ways.

Fig. 12. Leg Drill. A steel wire sharpened,
with a wood handle, to use in making a hole in
the legs of large birds, especially in dried skins.
Annealed wire, when right for use, will be found
to bend so easily that it is almost impossible in
some cases to force it through the legs. Much
time and vexation is saved by using the drill first.
In very small birds this is not necessary.

Fig. 13. Bone Cutters, for cutting bones.
They are made in two ways, straight edge and
curved edge. The last to meet the demands of
Icthy-Taxidermists. The curved blade being
used in cleaning the fins and other small bones

154 ORNITHOLOGIST [Vol. 10-No. 10

a

Oct. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

155

found inside of skins. If you cannot afford them
use your large wire cutters.

Fig. 14. Round-nosed Plyer.

Fig. 15. Flat-nosed Plyer. For bending wire.
The sizes run from 3 to 9 inches, 5-inch being
medium and 7-inch large. The 9-inch is only re-
quired for the heaviest work.

Fig. 16. Long-nosed Plyers. I use a 4-inch
plyer of*this style to hold small birds when skin-
ning.

Fig. 17. Side Wire Cutters. Better than the
end cutters for some work. They open wider,
and with the point wire can be cut in places that
cannot be reached with the end cutters. Sizes 4,
5 and 6inch. These are only fit to use on small
wire, not larger than No. 17.

Fig. 18. Hall Double-lever Wire Cutters. Sizes
5 and 7-inch. Very strong cutters.

Fig. 19, Extra-heavy Cutters. No.
right for ordinary heavy work.

In using any cutter, cut square, do not twist
on the wire, as a broken jaw will surely follow.
I seldom break mine, but I have seen parties who
would break a pairevery day in the week. There
is no excuse for it.

Fig. 20. Probe. To carry when collecting
to force cotton into the beak and throat of birds.

Fig. 21. Screw Driver. About three sizes.
Small, medium and large, This cut illustrates a
style used by jewelers, which I prefer.

Fig. 22. Bit-brace and Bit. The bits can be
had all sizes, from 1-16 of an inch up to 1 inch.
I would advise one of each size from the smallest
up to one that will make a hole about as large as
the diameter of a common lead pencil. You can
then bore holes for all sizes of wire.

Fig. 23. Curved Needle; also straight. They
are regular surgeon’s needles. The curved one
for sewing up bird skins and the other for ani-
mals. (Mammals.)

Fig. 24. Spring Forceps. Very fine points for
smoothing feathers. Formerly feathers were
smoothed by using a knitting needle and the
thumb. But these forceps are a great improve-
ment for picking up feathers, when making up
pieces, and other things. Length, 5 inches.

Fig. 25. Spring Forceps. Same style as 24,
but with blunter points. I use them sometimes
in stuffing very small birds instead of spring
stuffers, also for putting putty in the eye holes
before putting in eyes.

Fig. 26. Long Necdles—8 to 12 inches.
used in connection with pin vise.

Fig. 27. Hook and Chain. Used by many for
hanging up body when partially skinned.

Fig. 28. Bench Vise. No work bench is com-
plete without it.

4 about

To be

Fig. 29. Anvil—on which to straighten heavy
wires.

Fig. 30. Cop. This is a fine single thread. To
use it, if possible obtain an old-fashioned shuttle.
The next best way is to make a skewer say about
eight inches long, one end the size of a pencil
and the other about one-eighth of an inch, run
this carefully through the cop, commencing at
the butt or end that has the paper cop, fasten the
large end in a small wooden base, then take a
piece of wire twelve inches long, fasten one end
in same base as cop, about two inches from it ;
now run the wire up parallel with the cop, about
two inches higher than the skewer, bend it and
make a loop in the end, having the loop directly
over the top of the skewer. Now pass the thread
up through the loop and you can unwind it from
any direction without strain on the thread. This
thread is used in winding down the feathers.

Practical Entomology.

BY WRIGHT AND BATES, 73 HANOVER-ST., BOSTON.

It is our purpose to set forth, in as plain lan-
guage as possible, the method which we have
found the easiest and most profitable. To explain
the minutiae of the business would require vol-
umes, but we will try to explain how the actual
work should be done to produce the best results.

In order to have a good collection, it is very
necessary to be a good collector, and in order to
secure this end it is necessary to have good appar-
atus to collect with. The outfit consists of :

Ist. Nets. Of these, three are necessary. A
frame can be made of a piece of brass wire, bent
in a circle, with the ends at right angles to the
hoop, and driven into the end of the handle. But
it is often convenient to have a net which can be
taken apart and carried in the pocket; such a one
can be made by fastening a nut, or core, in which
a hole with screw threads has been drilled, into a
piece of brass tube, the other end of which forms
a socket for the introduction of a handle. Then
cut a square hole through the head of a large
headed screw, just at the shoulder, and fit it to
the core. The hoop is a piece of light, flat steel
with a spring temper. When used the ends of the
hoop are passed through the square hole, the
handle screwed up and the net is complete. The
handle should be of some light wood, four or five
feet long, tapering toward the end where it fits
the frame. One net should be of fine netting
(white or green) deep enough to fold completely
over the hoop (about twenty inches), conical in
shape and bound around the top with a strip of
cotton cloth to pass the hoop through.

156

Cee tse

[Vol. 10-No. 10

A second net of cheese cloth or other tight ma-

terial, made in the same shape, is for sweeping ,

the grass and bushes for beetles and laryee. The
same frame will answer for both nets.

A third net made of coarse millinet or grass
cloth, and shaped something like a scoop, with
one flat side, will be needed for capturing aquatic
insects, larvee, &e.

2d. Killing Bottles: Many methods have
been given for killing insects after capture, some
use ether, chloroform or benzine, others advocate
pinching the thorax while in the net, but the best
method we have found is to use a wide-mouthed
bottle with a few pieces of Cyanide of Pottassium
in the bottom, and over all pour plaster of Paris
mixed with water to the consistency of thick
cream, let the bottle stand open for a few hours,
pouring off the superfluous water, then keep
tightly corked except when in actual use. Label
Poison. Bottles specially prepared for this pur-
pose can be obtained of any dealer, and it is
better to buy them than run any risk in preparing.
Two bottles wide enough to hold the largest of
the Lepidoptera, say four inches deep with a
mouth 134 inches in diameter, and a smaller one,
about the size of a morphine bottle, for the
smaller and more delicate ones. Also a wide-
mouthed bottle containing alcohol (60 per cent)
for beetles, spiders, larvee, &c. A few small vials
and pill boxes for insects which it is desirable to
keep separate from the rest by reason of their
having been found in some unexpected locality or
that are wished for special examination at leisure.

Have a small bottle of ether or chloroform with
a camel’s hair brush attached to the cork, for kill-
ing anything which is too large to put in the bottle.

3d. Collecting Box. A box about 31¢x7
inches, lined with cork will
usually be found sufficient ;
but it is well to have one
larger, say 8x4x11 inches,
with shoulder strap, which
can be taken on trips which
are likely to be long or un-
fusually renumerative. In
either case one end should
contain a compartment with independent cover
for holding prepared insects.

A pair of forceps, which can be selected from
the following styes, according to taste, and as ex-
perience teaches. We have found Nos. 1,6 and 7
to be the best in our hands. These are almost
indispensable for handling small moths, minute
beetles, spiders, bees and wasps.

and in Winter a
pupe and subter-

A trowel or strong knife,
hatchet for digging up larve,
rancous beetles, tearing off bark from dead trees,
and removing the homes of the bees, wasps, &c.,
for examination or preservation.

A small pocket magnifying glass (see cut), a few
triangular envelopes for packing
away Lepidoptera which are to be
used for exchange or are to be
transported to any distance. <A
good stock of pins of various sizes.
A small satchel, with strap for
swinging from the shoulder, for
holding various things, such as lunch, extra net,
vials, a box for larvae, with their food plant,
which are destined to be raised, &c., completes
the outfit.

The decision as to the best thing to wear on a
collecting trip should be governed mainly by the
taste of the wearer. To one who does not fear
wet feet, we would say by all means wear shoes,
but wet feet are dangerous to some and uncom-
fortable to all, so that it is well to wear heavy
leather or rubber boots wherever the ground is
likely to be wet. Also a loose sack coat furnished
with as many pockets as place can be found for.
There cannot be too many.

Now as to the actual work of collecting. There
is no time, day or night, Summer or Winter,
when the entomologist need be idle, for insects
are about at all hours in warm weather, and those
things which can be taken at night can be found
at no other time. In the Summer the woods and

Oct. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

157

fields are filled with insect life and in the Winter
many species are to be found under the bark of
dead trees, in rotten wood, under the stones, in
the moss, in the crevices of the bark of live trees,
and the careful seeker will find many pup hang-
ing to the trees, under the stones, and on the old
fences. There is no-particular place to look, you
must look every where, but perhaps the localities
must prolific in insect life are gardens and farms,
the borders of woods, low marshy places, and the
banks of streams. As ‘eternal vigilance is the
price of safety” so it is the price of a good collec-
tion. Above all things, keep a notebook of every
incident and particular of what you take, its
place of capture, date, comparative rarity, and if
unknown, a description of it and its habits; if
a larvee, note its habits, its food plant, and do not
fail to keep it and note every change until it
transforms; keep the notes very full and you will
be surprised to find how much valuable informa-
tion you have collected in one season. The note
book of one careful naturalist is worth more than
‘all the books of instruction in the world.

In collecting Lepidoptera, it is preferable to
start as near day break as possible, for then many
night flies are resting before crawling away for
the day, and all are sluggish and can be easily
taken. But as the sun draws higher the hum of
insects increases, the butterflies become lively,
new ones come out from their hiding places,
where they have spent the night, and plenty of
work lies close at hand. Now, be cautious, do
not hurry, do not run, it is of little use to chase a
butterfly, you will only get out of breath, and
have your labor for your pains, wait until he set-
tles on some flower or on the grass, strike quickly,
but lightly, with a dexterous twist throw the
bottom of the net ina fold over the hoop and you
have him; then, if he is small, put the open
mouth of the bottle over him as he comes up the
side of the net, confine it with the hand and put
in the cork. If he is large or vigorous it is often
best to put the open bottle into the net and place
it over him as he lies confined in the bottom of
the net, loosen the net alittle around him and he
will fly in. Do not put too many into the bottle
at once, not over six or eight, for they will batter
sach other, then put the bottle in the pocket and
take another, by the time that is full the others
will be dead and may be taken out, then cither
fold the wings together over the back and place
him in an envelope or pin him and stick in the box.

In pinning a butterfly or moth, take him by the
thorax, under the wings, and slide_a pin down-
ward through the thorax inclining it slightly
backward. Coleoptera should be pinned through

the right elytron. Hemiptera through the scu-
tellum. Watch the flowers, the grass, the leaves,
and even on the bark of the trees, where some of
the rarest of the moths alight, take plenty of time,
and you will soon become sufficiently expert to
enable you to take a goodly collection in a short
time. Dv not stay out too long ata time, but
find the means to go out at different times of the
day. A very cloudy day is a poor one for the
entomologist.

In collecting Coleoptera and Hemiptera in warm
weather many may be taken in the net while fly-
ing, but more will be found by sweeping and
carefully examining the grass, flowers and leaves,
many will also be found under stones, dung, and
in and about dead animals and carrion, others
will be seen swimming in the water or grovelling
in the mud beneath it.

Many species of insects rare in most localities,
have some place where they are very plentiful.
On discovering such a place, it is well to lay in a
stock for future use, for such an opportunity may
never again be had.

When you get home, do not immediately set
about taking care of the insects you have cap-
tured, lay them aside, drop all thoughts of them,
sit down to a good square meal, and above all get
rested before going to work on them.

Bird Visitors at a Florida Light
House.

BY D. D. $., OSWEGO, N. Y.

Last Spring I spent about two months in the
South collecting specimens. While in Warring-
ton, Fla., I became acquainted with Mr. Samuel
Lawrence, the keeper of the light house near there.

Learning my business, he told me that on dark,
drizzly nights myriads of small birds, and some
times larger ones, congregated about the lantern,
fluttering against the glass or resting on the upper
balcony, sometimes striking the glass or ironwork
with such force as to kill themselves. The light
is of the first order, 210 feet from the sea level to
its focal plane and lights the entire horizon. The
tower is on the main land on-a nearly straight
piece of beach and about a mile inside the en-
trance of Pensacola Bay. The country is mostly
level, with many swampy places and covered with
a growth of Pines and scrubby Oaks.

The night of March 22d being favorable, I ac-
cepted the keeper's invitation to pass the night in
the lantern with him, and was well rewarded.
During the first part of the night only five or six
birds came within reach. Four of these were
taken—two Yellow-throated and two White-eyed

158

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 10

Vireos, also a Carolina Rail that had killed itself
the night before. About 1 o’clock the birds be-
gan to come thick and fast. The air seemed to
be filled with small birds, flitting about catching
insects, their bright plumage flashing in the light
like the rapid passing of lighted candles, and pre-
senting a strange appearance to me as I stood on
the lower balcony looking out upon the gloomy,
ever rolling ocean. These birds were the above
named Vireos, Blue Yellow-backed and male
Hooded and Prothonotary Warblers, As to sex,
the Vireos were about evenly divided, but two
males were seen of Blue Yellow-backs while not
a single female of the other two Warblers was
seen. From 1 o'clock till morning I took from
the glass or upper balcony 16 Warblers, 1 Black-
and-white Creeper, 6 Vireos, 2 Little Black and
4 Carolina Rails, 1 Purple Martin, 1 Least Bit-
tern; also 1 Carolina Grebe from the ground be-
low where it was lying dead. I also saw a Clap-
per Rail, Meadow Lark, Little White Egret and
Great Blue Heron, but they did not alight within
my reach. The morning of the 24th, the keeper's
son brought to me five Blue-winged Teal and one
Red-eyed Vireo that had killed themselves the
previous night. One of the ducks struck with
such force as to shiver a pane of glass one fourth
of an inch thick. The night of the 26th again
being favorable I went to the light house and
captured a number of birds, but did not get any-
thing different from the first night, excepting one
Summer Red-bird.

The light keeper informed me that one stormy
night four years ago his assistant captured four
young Flamingoes alive and sold them to an
army officer stationed near by.

While at this same village I noted the follow-
ing arrivals:

March 23, Ruby-throated Hummer.

a 25, Summer Red-bird, ¢.
“26, Kingbird.
is 28, Great Crested Flycatcher.
us 19, Hooded Warbler.
“21, Prothonotary Warbler.
April 3, Indigo Bunting.
Chimney Swift.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
ate gS ee

Davies’ Ecc Cueck List.—We are informed
that a new and revised edition of this useful
Handbook is in active preparation. It is to be il-
lustrated by Dr. T. Jasper, and we are promised
that it will be “complete, giving accurate descrip-
tions of the nest and eggs of all North American
birds known to breed.” It may be looked for
before the end of October.

The Red-breasted Merganser.

BY P. Q. KEEGAN, LL. D.

(Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip.)

About the period of the Autumnal equinox, at the time
when the winds, let loose from their Summer-caves, sweep
with wild and fitful fury over land and sea, then away
among the quiet recesses of some sheltered bay there may
frequently be discerned a most beauteous sea-bird. Arrayed
in an apparel of the most gaudy and varied hues, with neck
and head and movement correspondingly beautiful and
graceful, the appearance and deportment of this bird may
challenge universal admiration. His accomplishments, too,
are by no means to be despised. His sight is of the
sharpest, most far-reaching description, his vigilance is in-
defatigable, and let but pressing danger be apprehended,
and lo! he dives beneath the water with marvelous promp-
titude and dexterity. Where is the sea-fowler that can
overmatch the astuteness and agility of this beautiful bird?
The gun is presented, and well and truly pointed; the trig-
ger is pulled, but ere the comparatively sluggish shot can
reach its mark, the creature has vanished—disappeared, as
if by magic, to nestle in the chambers of the deep, com-
pletely out of sight and in security.

During the dry and parching Summer season, the Red-
breasted Merganser (for that is the name of this beauteous
sea-bird) sojourns for the most part amid the desolate soli-
tudes of the Arctic regions. The cares and anxieties at-
tendant upon the breeding duties harass him then; but let
no one suppose that, at this time, his lot is unhappy and
difficult to bear. Let no one think that there he encounters
no warmth or geniality of climate, no green vegetation, no
sunlit skies or gleaming sea. We know that there is a
broad space around the pole—a “‘thrilling region of thick
ribbed ice” where, during certain months in Summer, the
sun perpetually shines, his light never fades, never gives
way to night, though sometimes it is seriously intercepted
by fog, which, however, chiefly occurs seaward ; he careers
all day and night in the heavens, and thereby concentrates
such an intensity of heat upon certain sheltered portions of
the land, that the temperature thereof frequently surpasses
that of the tropics. Captain Scoresby during the course of
his survey of the eastern coast of Greenland, having landed
one day on that desolate shore, found the temperature of a
certain spot amongst the rocks to be 70°, and he describes
the effects thereof as being particularly relaxing. A lavish
and widespread vegetation too, decorates these northern
shores from June till about September, and furnishes ample
opportunity for the prosecution of breeding undertakings
on the part of seabirds. In order, however, to illustrate the
fact, that birds can nidify at a comparatively low tempera-
ture, we may mention, that, on the 2ist of June, 1853, an
Ivory Gull (Larus eburneus) was found sitting upon its eggs
in a smallisland to the north of Melville Sound (lat. 76°),
when the thermometer indicated only 35° of heat.

As soon as the breeding duties of our bird have termi-
ted, and the new-fledged brood can provide for themselves,
and when the terrible rigors of the Arctic Winter—the sleet
charged blasts, the blighting fogs, the destruction of vege-
tation, the soul-depressing silence and frigidity of all things
—commence to be experienced, then he abandons his Sum-
mer seat, and traveling southwards, settles in more genial
latitudes. Withstrong, rapid unflagging flight, he poises in
the air over the dreary shores of Greenland, Newfoundland,
or Hudson’s Bay, and bidding them farewell, advances
briskly for days and days till he lands securely in Shetland,
in Orkney, in Sutherland, or the Hebrides, &c., and there, in
conjunction with his ‘‘co-mates and brothers in exile,”
forthwith commences his Winter campaign of diving, fish-
ing, glutting, &c.

Oct. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

159

Unlike the great Black-backed Gull, the beauteous North-
ern Diver, the Fulmar Petrel, &c., the bird now under re-
yiew is of a decidedly social disposition, and, on that ac-
count, is more frequently to be seen in flocks than in
asolitary state. Its voracity is excessive and generally
known; and we need not wonder, therefore, that its princi-
pal occupation consists in the pursuit, capture and con-
sumption of various species of fish, especially sand-eels, for
which it manifests an especial relish. The following is the
method of procedure.

The bird swims about gracefully upon the surface of the
sea for some little time, occasionally poking its head and
neck beneath the water, as if searching about for some deli-
cate morsel, then, suddenly elevating its body, and plunging
straight ahead, it instantly disappears from view. Its com-
rades, suspecting that some sport is to be had below, follow
suit; so that the entire flock seems to vanish, as if by
magic. After traversing the watery regions with consider-
able swiftness and dexterity (using the wings as well as the
webbed feet), the Merganser appears once more above the
surface, bearing a fish in its mouth, and looking as lively as
ever. The booty is soon disposed of down “red lane,”
whereupon the bird drinks a little water by way of condi-
ment or digestive, or perhaps to wash the meal down more
thoroughly ; and then gleefully flapping its wings, it appears
eminently satisfied with the entire proceeding. To inspect
a pair or more of these birds fishing in some shallow lake
left amid some far off waste of sand by the receded tide, is
an extremely interesting occupation. Such graceful move-
ments, such displays of agility, such attractive forms and
coloring cannot be discerned every day within the circle of
human intercourse. He who, towards the Autumn or mid-
winter, occasionally devotes an hour or so to the study and
contemplation of sea-bird habits and deportment, will as-
suredly not repent of the proceeding. The ever-varied and
beautiful tints and shades of ocean, the bleakness and deso-
lation of open wastes of beach-sand, will touch his heart,
and impress grateful ideas on his mind that will haunt him
for years.

The lavish prodigality of life-energy expended by the Red-
breasted Merganser, the pungent stimulating character of
the regions which it inhabits during the most important
period of its existence, conspire with extensively endowed
digestive powers to render it excessively voracious. The
mouth is provided with a number of fine, conical, saw-like
lamelle or teeth, viz., about sixty in the upper jaw and
about thirty-five in the lower. The csophagus also is
specially large and dilatable, so that ample provision is
thuswise made for the capture, steadfast seizure, and the
storing up of a liberal amount of edible matter. Sand eels
are especially delectable to the gustatory organs of the bird.
Away from a desolate waste of sandy shore, damp, pool-be-
spread, and wreck-strewn. the bird establishes itself, and
commences the operations necessary to the procurement of
victuals. It perseveringly digs its sharp beak into the re-
treats of the sand-eel, until a desiderated morsel is grasped.
This species of eelis of a beautiful silvery color—a very
delicate fish about five or six inches long; so that the Mer-
ganser in whose body it is recorded no fewer than twenty-
four of these were found, had managed, we should say, to
obtain a pretty good dinner of it !

Hovering on the confines of the comparatively clumsy
Anatidw, the Mergansers seem to have borrowed some por-
tion of their marvellous beauty and gracefulness from the
allied family of the Coiymbide. The diving powers of our
bird are remarkable. It is shy and wary, with sharp ears,
and exceedily acute and far-ranging vision, and so com-
pletely, so adequately and promptly can its bodily moye-
ments be adjusted to the dictates or promptings furnished
by the senses—so intimately associated and dependent are

its motor and sensor nerves—that when a sea-fowler fires off
his gun, the bird dives with incredible dexterity, disappear-
ing from view ere the shot can reach the now deserted seat.
The predilection of the bird for red color, however, is the
snare which frequently proves fatal. It is recorded, that
this Merganser exhibits a weakness for the fascinations of
this color, and that the Swedish hunters, aware of this fact,
frequently take advantage of it, and by wearing red clothes
become enabled to approach much nearer, so as to direct
their fire with more sure and deadly effect.

The wings of the Red-breasted Merganser are only of
moderate length (not extending to the tail),—and of moder-
ate breadth. The body, like that of the Divers (Colymbide),
is comparatively heavy, weighing in an ordinary specimen
about two pounds. Yet, notwithstanding the unfavorable
circumstance, the flight of the bird is undoubtedly strong,
swift, and remarkably well sustained.

Now if we compare these facts with those furnish-
ed by an inspection of the flying apparatus, of, say the
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), we shall perhaps
be able to glean some grains of ornithological truth. Have
you ever observed the mighty sweep of this Gull’s wings?
They measure five feet across, and the weight of the bird
itself is, on the average, only about three or four pounds.
Now, if we compare these various weights and measures
with those of the body and wings of the Red-breasted Mer-
ganser, the important truth may flash upon us, that the
greater the weight of the bird, the less proportionally is the
spread of the wing necessary to sustain its body in the air.
In the consideration of the flying capabilities of a bird, let
us never forget the fact that, in heavy birds the motion of
the wings in the act of flying is comparatively slow, while
in light birds it is comparatively swift. The former circum-
stance is illustrated in the dilatory, lazy-paced, ungainly
flying of the Crane, the Heron, &c., the latter in the mar-
yellous agility of wing displayed by the sylph-like Petrels,
Skuas, Terns, &c. It seems, too, to be an indisputable
fact, that the larger and weightier birds, when once fairly
launched into the air, can sustain and propel themselves
with a much less expenditure of animal energy than that
required from the smaller and less ponderous among the
feathered tribes. Those naturalists who have marvelled at

. the apparently excessive muscular exertion involved in the

flight of birds, have, when the facts have been more thor-
oughly examined and elucidated, become sensible that the
strength of these aerial creatures is not so grievously taxed
as they formerly supposed.

The Red-breasted Merganser, ever beautiful and accom-
plished, and not exhibiting any very marked or reprehensi-
ble meddling, domineering, piratical or other objectionable
proclivities, may be fairly ranged as regards “social posi-
tion” on the same level with the “aristocratic” Divers. In-
spect and feel the soft, close, blended, velvety plumage of
this latter group of sea birds, and compare it with the hair
of the thorough-bred horse, or even (if such be allowed)
with the locks of the well-bred gentleman, and then de-
clare if, as respects this important constituent of their ex-
ternal aspect, they are not entitled ‘‘to flourish in any so-
ciety.” To speculate upon the social position or upon the
respectable appearance of birds, may appear ridiculous ; but
my.observations and studies in Natural History have been
valueless, if roughness or smoothness, coarseness or refine-
ment in the external integuments, in the hair, nails and
other appendages of animals, does not stand as a sign and
index, a mark and register of something more recondite
and fundamental, of something intimately connected with
the most elementary organic structures, and with the ulti-
mate fountains of animal energy.

The following account of the specific characteristics of
the male Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) cannot

160

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 10

be regarded as complete:—The head is decorated with a
long loose crest of a glossy dark green color; the upper
mandible is reddish-brown, the lower one is of an orange
tint; a few rather large feathers, of a pure white color mar-
gined with black, crop out from each side of the breast, and
fold over the wings when these are at rest; the upper
breast is reddish-brown, the lower is pure white, but when
the bird is just recently killed, there is thereabouts a beau-
tiful salmon-color tint; the outside of the tarsus and toes,
and the webs are of a purplish shade, while the claws are of
a light greyish-brown. The total length of the bird is about
twenty-one inches. As is the case with almost all the Ana-
tide, a most important specific indication is afforded by the
appearance of the trachea. In the Red-breasted Merganser,
the structure and arrangement of this organ are so singular
as to merit a detailed description. Two inches from the
mouth, it swells out to four times its diameter, an enlarge-
ment which it maintains for the space of two inches and a
half; it then continues as at first for another couple of
inches, when it becomes flattened for the same distance
further ; it finally appears under the form of a bony laby-
rinth which measures two inches long, by one and a half in
breadth, and which is covered with a yellowish skin-like
parchment.

This species nidifies from about March till May or June.
Greenland, Newfoundland, and the shores of Hudson’s
Bay are the localities which have been notified as its special
haunts during the breeding season. But away along the
margins and among the islands of the more lonely and se-
cluded Highland lochs, the nest of this bird has been fre-
quently discovered. It is said to be commonly situated
amongst brushwood, and at a few yards from the water,
and to be warmly constructed with the down taken from
the bird’s own body.

Brief Notes.

BAiRb’s SANDPIPER AT HAMILTON, ONT.—Although very
few of the Plovers or Sandpipers raise their young in this
neighborhood, the Killdeer Plover and the Spotted and
Solitary Sandpipers being all we can name as Summer resi-
dents, yet as early as the 15th of August, should it blow
from the northeast witha slightly lowering temperature,
groups composed of Sanderlings, Least and Semipalmated
Sandpipers with a few Turnstones, may be seen boring into
the muddy flats or following the receding waves along the
sandy shores of the bay, in search of their favorite fare.
On the 25th ult, while examining one of these mixed flocks,
I noticed one individual whose cry was different from that
of the others; it had also a peculiar zig-zag, Snipe-like
flight, often rising to a considerable height and suddenly
taking a header toward the ground again. Acting on Dr.
Coues’ advice of shooting an unknown bird at sight, I did
so as soon as I could, and had the satisfaction of picking
up a Baird’s Sandpiper, the first found in Ontario so far as
Iam aware. In markings it resembles both the Least and
Pectoral Sandpipers, but as stated in ‘‘New England Bird
Life,” isin size intermediate between the two—a distine-
tion by which it is readily identified.—K. C. McIlwraith,
Hamilton, Ont.

NorEs FROM BELCHERTOWN, Mass.—There are quite a
number in this vicinity who are interested in the study of
Ornithology. I commenced making my collection January
ist, 84, and have since then collected and mounted eighty-
one species of birds, all of which I have taken within six
miles of home. I shot a splendid Goshawk in mature
plumage on Jan, 25th, $4. This year I have added a num-
ber of good specimens, a male Hooded Merganser Duck,
April 11th, ’85, one Bittern, one nice Blue Heron, one Long-
eared Owl. My last adventure was Aug. 2lst, ’85, when I

drove six miles before daylight to a sheet of water which
covers about five hundred acres, where I had observed
Eagles when driving past. After hitching my horse I
walked about a mile to a point of land where stand
three large Maple trees. Under one of these I concealed
myself and waited for daybreak and the Eagles, if there
were any. I did not wait in vain, for soon after daybreak
a pair of Bald Eagles came sailing over the water and
alighted on one of the trees, so close together that I brought
them both down at one shot. Length of male 30 inches;
expanse of wings, 6 feet; weight, 7 pounds. Length of
female, 41 inches; expanse of wings, T feet; weight, 7
pounds. They are now in my cabinet.—G. L. Kent,

Notes FROM OsweaGo, N. Y.—June 7. I found near here
anest of Hooded Warbler containing three fresh eggs. It
was in a wet swamp, one foot from the ground, in a small
bunch of sprouts that grew from the root of a small Water
Beech. I have never seen but four or five of these Warblers
here in the breeding season.

June 7th, I took a nest and three eggs of the Black and
White Creeper. The nest was under the roof of a very
large Hemlock, entirely out of sight. The entrance to the
nest was a small mouse hole through the decayed leaves.
It was only by a chance step that I flushed the parent bird.
I waited about five minutes and she returned to the nest
and I caught her in my hand. I have collected about here
every year since ’73, excepting 1880, ’81, ’82 and ’83, and
never before have seen this bird at this time of year, al-
though it is a very common migrant.—D. D. 8.

Rare Birds TAKEN AT Carpe Cop.—An adult female
Stilt Sandpiper (Micropalama himantopus,) in partly Fall
plumage, was shot at Monomoy Island, in company with
some Sanderlings, Aug. 5th, 1885. It was shot by a gunner
who gave it to me, and although it was pretty well shot up,
it made a fair skin.

An American Oystercatcher (Hamatopus palliatus,) was
shot by Alonzo Nye, the veterant guoner, during the latter
part of April, 1885, near Monomoy Island.—J. C. Cahoon,

Nores.—Dr. Edwards of Hyde Park, Mass., reports that
while visiting a patient at Readville, he noticed a child be-
ing attacked by a pair of Kingbirds. He called the father’s
attention who ran out, and although armed with a stick,
was so vigorously attacked in turn that he was forced to
pick up the child and retreat, leaving the birds masters of
the situation.

A large Rattlesnake was killed at Readville, yesterday.
They are not uncommon in that locality.

A large flight of Short-tail Tern passed Chatham, Mass.,
during the past week.—F. B. W., Sept. 10, 1885.

Mr. S. FraNK DEXTER reports from Chatham, Mass. ;
This year there was no regular flight of Plover, as noticed
annually for four years past. From Aug. 25th to Sept. 12th,
they passed in small bunches. The flight of Bay Birds this
season has also been very limited. Weather very warm.

Tue CERULEAN WARBLER lately mentioned, has been
added to the collection of Dr. Wm. H. Fox of Hollis, N. H.

CORRESPONDENCE.

J. L. Taylor, Wis.—The skin you send is that of the Clay
Colored Sparrow [212]. We regret that the eggs were
broken in transit.

F. W. K., Bridgewater, Mass.—The Cowbird certainly has
an odd appearance. We consider it merely the changing of
plumage from the young to that of the adult.

Received.—E. Kell Bacon; G. H. R.

ae al

ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

$1.50 per

OOLOGIST.

VOL. X.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuBLisHER. Single Copy
Annum. Established, March, 1875. 15 Cents.
PAWTUCKET, R. I., NOVEMBER, 1885.

Mississippi Valley Migration.

SPRING OF 1883.—Continued,

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE, BURLINGTON, VT.

WaRrBLING VIREO, ( Virrcosylvia gilva). St. Louis,
Mo. On April 18th, first saw two singing at old
stands, April 22d. Have inereased and are
regularly heard, and by the 29th they were ma-
ting and were industrious songsters. May 1st.
Height of the migration. Manhattan, Kans.
First, April 24th. Liter, Ill. First, April 15th.
Jefferson, Wis. Was the first Vireo of the season
and came on May 5th, when four single ones
were seen at as many widely separated places ;
all in full song. May 6th. Quite an increase ;
heard in about a dozen places, and on the 7th
they were much the same, with a few additions.
May 12th. The height of the season; forty to
fifty seen during the day. May 19th. The
height still continues, with much song.

YELLOW-THROATED VrrEO, (Lanivireo flavi-
frons). Anna, Ill. First one, April 20th St.
Louis, Mo. First, seen on April 17th, in song.
May 1st. Height of the season. Manhattan,
Kans. First, April 24th. Two seen May 4th.
It is here a rare Summer sojourner. Liter, Ill.
First, about April 28th. Jefferson, Wis. First,
saw one on May 10th. Height of the season was
May 12th, and the bulk departed during the next
week. Saw one on May 19th, and another on
May 23d, which was the last one noted, though it
probably breeds in favorable localities.

Curr Swatiow, (Petrochelidon lunifrons).
St. Louis, Mo. First, seen on April 14th, and by
the 29th had increased but were not in full num-
bers. May 1st. About one-fourth are here.
May 3d. Bulk at colonies. Manhattan, Kans.
First, April 25th; by the 29th, in full Summer
numbers. Griggsville, Ill. Twelve seen for the
first time on April 13th. Racine, Wis. First,
May 4th. Jefferson, Wis. First, one on
April 4th, but no more until the 24th, when a sec-
ond one appeared. April 28th. For the first
time are common and the bulk of the species is

saw

No. 11.
here. By May 7th, most of the migrants had left
and they were in about Summer numbers.
Barn Swauiow, (/irundo erythrogastra).
Louis, Mo. First, seen on April 14th.
fil. First, April 28th. Grand View, Ia.
saw four on April 15th. Racine, Wis. First,
May 3d. Jefferson, Wis. First, saw one on
April 27th, and on May 9th, though more had
arrived, they were still quite scarce. In the
evening of May 11th, the bulk arrived, but it was
not yet the height of the season. May 19th. In
full Summer numbers, but not very common
here; probably about ten or twelve pairs in the
square mile upon which the town is situated.
Argusville, Dak. First, May 12th.
WIUITE-WINGED CrosspiLn, (Loaia leucopterd).
Anna, Ill.

St.
Liter,
First,

According to Ridgway they are an
occasional Winter visitant here. Elk liver,
Minn. On February 7th, seven were sent me
from eighty miles north of here. February 26th.
One female seen feeding on Tamarack cones.
March 29th. Killed a male; its lower mandible
turned to the left, while in six others that I have
it turns to the right. Its plumage was changing ;
there were a good many brown feathers around
the head and neck.

[The irregularity of the movements. of the
Crossbills are strikingly brought out in the last
three years’ records of migration. In 1883, they
were noted from Jefferson, Wis., and Coralville,
Ta., besides the notes given above. During the
whole of 1884 not a note was contributed on their
movements. While the Winter and Spring of
1885 were marked by an unusual commonness,
even abundance in the eastern part of our district.
They were noted from south of 38° in Illinois,
and over a dozen records attest their presence in
Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. |

Common Rep-Poun, (Aegiothus linaria).
Ill. Rare Winter visitant; saw but one flock
during the past Winter. St. Louis, Mo. Winter
visitant. Saw a flock of thirty to thirty-six on
February 12th. Jacksonville, Ill. Going over
in flocks Mareh 4th. By April 9th must have

Anna,

Copyright, 1885, by FrRanK B. WEBSTER and EATON CLIFF.

162

ORNITHOLOGIST —

[Vol. 10-No. 11

gone on, as very few are now seen. Jefferson,
Wis. Winter visitant, though chiefly transient.
Occasionally seen during the Winter, but most of
them left during the cold time in January. The
first flocks came back again March 14th, and the
last was seen March 24th. Waukon, Ia. About
sixty seen March 11th, andon March 25th a flock of
two hundred and fifty or more. Mitchell, Ia, Lots
of them during the Winter. March 25th, a flock
seen; probably seventy-five per cent. have gone
north. Elk River, Minn. Winter visitant ; Feb-
ruary 15th, twelve seen in an eight miles tramp.
March 13th. Numerous, and collected in large
flocks. April 3d. About two hundred scen;
also saw a Sparrow Hawk catch one on the wing.
April 12th. Nearly two hundred; and a few
days later all were gone.

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, (Astragalinus tristis).

Anna, Ill. I saw them but twice during the
Winter. The first time was about the middle,
and the second time about the last of December;
weather cold, ice two inches thick; saw about
twenty each time. The plumage was very plain.
St. Louis, Mo. A few were seen January 1st,
but by February 3d it was too cold for them and
they almost all left. February 12th. In a nine
miles’ walk saw only two birds, while in the
same place four flocks were seen on January 29th.
March 16th. Are beginning to come back, and
were found in four places ; afew birds only and in
plain dress. A song once heard. On April 15th
they were still scarce, and on the 18th single calls
were heard in six places. April 20th. More con-
spicuous, and on the 2ist was seen a flock of
about twenty with the males in full Summer
dress. On April 29th they had begun to be quite
numerous, and hy May 1st were everywhere and
could be found in large flocks on high trees over
the water. Such companies make so much noise
that the song of other birds is drowned. They
are much like Blackbirds; all the voices stop
suddenly for a moment. May 11th. Height
continues, but by the 15th they had decreased.
Manhattan, Kans. Partially resident; seen Janu-
ery oth, and several times during the early part
of March. By March 25th they were common.
April 7th, two hundred seen in five miles. April
14th, many. By April 29th they had reached
full Summer numbers. Jacksonville, Ill. May
wth. First. Liter, Il. In flocks January 20th.
None seen from then to May 2d, when flocks re-
appeared. Grand View, Ia. First, May 5th.
Coralville, Ia. First, May 22d. Polo, Ill. Nu-
merous May 15th. Jefferson, Wis. May 10th.
First arrived in flocks; thirty to forty birds seen.
May 12th. Not quite the bulk. May 14th. Nu-

merous but not the height; heard almost con-
stantly and still in flocks. Waukon, Ia.
May 6th. Mitchell, Ia. Several small flocks
seen during the Winter. Hastings, Minn. First,
May 23d. Pine Bend, Minn. First, May 27th.

Prxe Gouprrncn, (Chrysomitris pin us) Anna,’

Ill. According to Ridgway they are an océasion-
al Winter visitant. I saw none last Winter. St.
Louis, Mo. One bird seen on January 18th.
Manhattan, Kans. Common Winter visitant.
Last Winter they were unusually abundant. Seen
through ali of December and January. On March
28th, were still abundant, a flock of at least five
hundred. Another flock of perhaps three hun-
dred was seen April 29th, and even as late as
May 4th fifty were scen. Jefferson, Wis. Win-
ter visitant, transient, and possibly Summer so-
journer. <A small flock remained about the Apple
trees in my yard nearly all Winter; in early
Spring they slightly increased, and were very
tame, allowing us to pass within five or six feet
of them. They spent the most of their time on
the ground under the Pines. They gradually
disappeared and the “last? was set down as April
5th. However, on May 19th, I shot a male of
this species, and in the latter part of May small
flocks were again seen, and all through the month
of June they were quite common.

Grass Fryen, (Powcetes gramineus). Anna,
Ill. According to Ridgway they are resident
here. St. Louis, Mo. Transient. First, seen on
April 12th. Manhattan, Kans. April 21st was
the first time it was certainly seen. It was un-
doubtedly seen earlier but not surely identified.
April 29th. Summer residents are here in full
numbers. Liter, Ill. First, both male and fe-
male, April 22d. Griggsville, Ill. First, April
7th. Racine, Wis. First, April 18th. Jefferson,
Wis. On April 12th, first saw about forty, all of
which came during the previous night. They
are full of song; mating and fighting. April 14th.
Only half a dozen seen. Not much change from
this date until May 5th, on which day quite an
increase was apparent, and on the 6th they were
in Summer numbers. They are not very com-
mon here. Waukon, Ia. First, May 6th.

Lark Frvcu, (Chondestes grammica). St. Louis,
Mo. First, seen on April 3d, and by the 29th
was one of the prominent songsters by the road-

side. Manhattan, Kans. First, April 10th; on
the 29th was in full Summer numbers. Glasgow,
Mo. First, April 18th.- Polo, Ill. Numerous

May 4th. Racine, Wis. First, April 12th. Jef-
ferson, Wis. First, saw two pairs April 27th.
May 12th. They are quite scarce, having been
seen only six or eight times this Spring.

FIELD Sparrow, (Spizella pusilla.) Anna, Il,’

First, »

165

never counted them. St. Louis, Mo. On
March 13th, first saw one male, in song,
at the same place at which 1 found the first
bird last year, twelve days earlicr. By
March 16th, several old acquaintances have
returned, and are sitting on the same trees as in
former years. They are full of praise, if song
means praise. March 17th. A few more, about
the bulk of the species. March 30th. The
height of the migration. Manhattan, Kans. First,
April 30th. Liter, Ill. Seen January 6th. (?)
Polo, Ill. First, April 15th. Jefferson, Wis.
First seen by me on April 25th, but this proba-
bly came some time before. May 10th. Seen
for the second time; seems to be quite uncom-
mon about here. Tastings, Minn, First, April
6th, four seen. (?)

Sona Sparrow, Melospiza fusciata). Fayette-
ville, Ark. Seen March 17th. Anna, Il. Win-
ter visitant ; saw from ten to fifty per day. St.
Louis, Mo, Winter visitant; not many, but cer-
tain to find a few along the banks of creeks.
Same conditions and numbers continued all
through December, January and February. On
March 9th they were found in a very musical
mood, but in the same numbers. March 13th.
New arrivals observed, and on the 14th song was
heard in many places. April 6th. Height of the
season. Bulk departed April 8th, and the last
one was seen April 9th. Manhattan, Kans.
First, March 10th, abundant, fifty seen in five
miles. Twelve seen on the 12th. Three seen
April 7th, and the same number the 14th. No
change after April 29th. Liter, Ill. Resident.
Seen January 6th. Jefferson, Wis. First, saw
three on March 24th, and during the week from
March 25th to 31st, seven more were seen. April
4th. Everywhere in twos and threes; forty to
fifty seen. On April 12th was the height of the
season; two hundred seen. April 24th. Not
one-tenth was left, but by the 21st they were
again more numerous, and in about Summer

numbers. Waukon, Ia. First, April 11th. Elk
River, Minn. First one seen April 8th.

Swamp Sparrow, (Melospiza palustris). Fay-
etteville, Ark. Common all Winter in low

Anna, Ill. Winter visitant,
and perhaps resident. Saw from ten to fifty per
day. St. Louis, Mo. Winter visitant and tran-
sient. On January 29th one bird was found in
the same place as last Winter. March 2d and 8th.
Three birds were seen, and on the 14th they were
seen several times. The bulk arrived April 4th,
and the height of the season was on the 9th.
April 17th. Decreased; one party only, but on
the 20th there were small parties in many places,

swampy ground.

and they were still numerous on May 2d. The
last regularly was May 5th, but single young
birds were seen May 14th, 15th and 17th. Man-
hattan, Kans. Were certainly here by April 7th.
Liter, Ill. January 20th. Males and females in
flocks (7). Racine, Wis. First, April 17th. Jef-
ferson, Wis. I saw the first one on April 28th,
but they probably had come a week earlier.

BLAcK-THROATED Buntrne, (Spiza americana).
St. Louis, Mo. On April 21st, first saw a party
of twenty singing males. April 29th. In small
flocks, which dispersed during the morning hours
of warm days, re-entering old stands. May 1st.
The bulk of the species has arrived, and they are
now very conspicuous in the morning, singing,
or flying singly or in pairs, calling. Manhattan,
Kans. April 26th. First, April 29th. Full
Summer numbers. Polo, Ill. First, May 34d.
Mitchell, la. Has been taken here. Pine Bend,
Minn. Occurs here to my certain knowledge. I
saw one on a fence singing, in an open field half
a mile from any timber. It was positively identi-
fied. [This is the most northern record for
Minnesota that I have seen, but it is also recorded
from the same latitude at Huron, Dak.]

Bosonink, (Dolichonyx oryzivorus).
hachie, Tex. First, February 20th. Last, April
Ist. St. Louis, Mo. On May 2d, in the morning
great numbers were seen going north in five large
flocks. May 3d. Two males were seen in com-
pany with Red-wings; by the 5th they were
present in large numbers, and from the 15th to
the 17th I noted a flock of a hundred and fifty
males and females. Last one was seen on May
2ist. Manhattan, Kans. First, May 7th. Not
known to nest here. Polo, Ill. First, May 14th.
Racine, Wis. First, April 28th. Jefferson, Wis.
First, saw one flying and singing on May 5th, and
on the 6th two more. May 7th. There was a
slight increase; about a dozen seen, and on the
10th there was a still greater increase, but they
were not yet common. The bulk arrived on
May 12th, and on the 19th was the height for
males, though not for females. On May 26th the
first females came, and on June Ist they were
thinking about building. Argusville, Dak. First
May 13th.

Waxa-

—_<¥_o———_—

Notes from Silver City, N. M.

BY CITAS. H. MARSH.

(Concluded from page 149.)

Jassin’s Kingbird builds a very pretty nest of a
dusty white weed mixed with grasses and lined
with wool and fine grass and situated well out
towards the end of a branch of the Oak or Cotton-

wood, from twenty to thirty feet from the ground,
though I found one nest in my cactus patch, high
up on an upright stalk, in a dense thicket of
prickly branches ; a most secure place in which to
rear her young. The eggs are usually four in
number, white, with large umber brown blotches,
thickest on the large end, measuring 1.00x.70, and
are laid during June and early July.

The Canon Towhee usually places its nest
of soft, fine grass, in the branches of the
cactus, from eighteen inches to three feet from
the ground, though occasionally some low bush
furnishes it with a resting place. The eggs, from
two to four in number, measure .§0x75, and are
of a bluish-white, thickly spotted and blotched
with brown and lilac. One nest that I found this
season was built upon the old nest of a Mocking-
bird in a Box Alder, some six feet from the
ground, and contained four eggs, incubation well
advanced. Aside from the foundation structure
the nest was atypical one. Nesting commences
in May and continues into June, though I am in-
clined to think that but one brood is reared.

Ofa near relative, the Spurred Towhee, I have
found but few nests and these in June. With but
one exception they were upon the ground near
the root of a tree or bush. The nest spoken of
was in a bunch of “ wire grass,” which raised it a
foot or little more from the ground, and was com-
posed of the coarse stalks of the ‘‘ wire grass”
lined with finer grasses. It contained three eggs
.90x.75, greyish white, with fine reddish mottling.

June 3d, a Black-throated Sparrow, flying from
a Cactus, disclosed the resting place of its nest, a
dainty structure of fine grass, lined with a few
horse hairs, some four feet from the ground, and
containing four bluish-white eggs .70x.45. Several
other sets were taken during the month, one from
a giant Soapweed and one from a bunch of ‘‘wire
grass’; the eggs from three to four in number.

Early in,the morning of May 11th I started for
the foot hills at the base of the Continental Divide
anticipating a long and busy day among the
birds. Nor was I disappointed, for aside from se-
curing a well filled bag of desirable specimens, I
discovered the nesting places of a number of my
feathered acquaintances.

First from a hole, some twenty-five feet from
the ground, in the dead trunk of an Oak flew a
female Harris’s Woodpecker. <A climb brought
me to the opening, only to find from the loud
twittering within that I was too late to secure
the eggs and that the nest was inhabited by young
birds. A little later in the day, while eating my
lunch near a spring in the woods, my attention
was attracted by a female Humming bird, which
alighted on an overhanging branch of an Oak

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10--No. 11

sappling some fifteen feet from the ground. Ob- —
serving it carefully, I soon discovered that it was
at work upon a nest, attaching bits of lichens to
the outside. She soon discovered me, and fearing
that she might abandon the nest, if disturbed, I
moved to some little distance and left her to her _
work, intending to visit her again at a later day.

But a short distance from the spring stood a tall,
half dead Oak, and high up in its branchless
trunk from a small opening protruded the gayly
banded head of a California Woodpecker, indicat-
ing that she had a nest within. But it was far
out of my reach, and reluctantly I passed on.

A Wollweber’s Titmouse, darting about among
the branches of a Juniper tree next attracted my
attention and I was raising my gun with the in-
tention of adding it to the contents of my bag,
when, seizing some insects in its bill, it flewtoa
neighboring Oak and disappeared. A few mo- —
ments observation served to show me that Woll-
weber and his mate were busy carrying insects
into asmall hole, apparently a deserted Wood- —
pecker’s nest, some twenty feet up on the trunk
of the Oak, presumably to supply the wants of a
family of small Wollwebbers. And voracious
appetites they must have had, judging from the
number of times that the parent bird passed into
and out of the hole during the ten minutes that I

ratched them, carrying with them each time some
tempting morsel. To reach the nest promised a
hard scramble and as I am not as good a climber
as in my younger days, before the harsh east
winds of New England played sad havoc with
my lungs, I was forced to confine my observations
to the ground.

One week later I returned to look at my Hum-
mingbird’s nest, but found the female still at
work upon it. Now, however, the outside was
completed and she was busily engaged in lining
it. I had abundant opportunity to watch her
lying upon the ground under an adjacent tree, for
she paid but little attention to me, though fully
aware of my presence. Flying to the branch
with some flossy material she would alight upon
it for a minute, then entering the nest would place
the floss in position with her bill, pressing it down
into place, then she would whirl around five or
six times, pressing against the sides of the nest
with her breast, evidently adjusting the inside to
her form. This operation was repeated many
times while I watched her and I was congratu-
lating myself that at my next visit I should se-
cure a fine set of eggs. At no time during my

yvatch did I see the male, but from my observa-
tion of the female think that it was the Broad-
tailed Hummingbird, but cannot be positive. ‘

Nov. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

165

High up in the top of a high Juniper was a
mass of sticks, from which in answer to a loud
shout flew a medium sized Hawk, which I took
to be a Prairie Falcon. Here again I was doomed
to disappointment, for huge of size and bare of
branches for many feet, I could not hope to climb
without some assistance, which I determined to
bring with me when I returned for my Humming-
bird’s nest, but alas, within a week Uncle Sam’s
pets, the Apaches, made a bloody raid through
this section, murdering and pillaging as they
went, shooting a ranchman within a short dis-
tance of the location of my nests and for several
weeks rendering it unsafe to venture into the
mountains, so that my Hawk and Hummingbird
reared their broods unmolested by me. The raid
put a stop to an expedition I had planned to the
top of the Divide, where I had expected to find
the nests of the Red-faced and Grace’s Warblers,
as well as other rarities, which I was positive
nested there.

a Sg

Loons at Poland, Me.
BY G. H. R., BOSTON.

The writer took advantage of an opportunity

that enabled him to spend the collecting season of

85 at Poland, Me., where he arrived on the after-
noon of June 22d.

The place, to his thinking, promised much as a
field of ornithological research, (which promise
was afterwards abundantly verified,) being situa-
ted in the midst of large woods and fields, with
numerous lakes and ponds lying almost at the
door. Without much trouble, an able assistant,
whom we will call Ross, was found in the person
of an enthusiastic and experienced local sports-
man who was thoroughly acquainted with the
surrounding country. Monday, June 29th, was
the day set for an excursion after Loons’ nests,
which, as he was informed, were to be found in
the “Range Ponds,” one or more pairs regularly
nesting there every year. We started in the
morning, I with my little 32-calibre skeleton rifle
and Ross with his 22, with which I soon found
he could do remarkable work, and after twenty
minutes brisk rowing, emerged into the head of
the pond, but nothing in the shape of a Loon
could be seen or heard. We pulled up the right
hand side of the pond until we rounded a point,
disclosing what appeared to be the mouth of a
small stream, which terminated in a circular-
shaped basin of water or swamp so thickly filled
with rank grass, dead trees and floating islands
that a boat could barely be forced through,

The stream and basin were surrounded by a

heavy growth of tall Pines and Birches, dead at
the water’s edge, making the whole place damp
and gloomy in the extreme. Just as we reached
the edge of the basin the loud ery of a Loon was
heard at the mouth of the stream, directly behind
us. Secing us approach, she had slipped off her
nest, and diving, swam under us, came up away
in our rear. ‘“ There she is,’ said Ross, ‘‘and she
has a nest somewhere in this place close to the
water.” Standing up for a better view, the first
sight upon whieh the writer's eyes rested, within
ten feet of the boat, was a mound-shaped hillock,
with a slight depression at the top, in which were
two large dark colored eggs, which were immedi-
ately appropriated. The nest was built upon the
extreme edge of a floating island, of weeds, sods
and water grass, among which were to be seen
some dead sticks, evidently put there to give
solidity to the structure, and was nearly as large
around as a bushel basket and about eight inches
high. The eges were beauties, averaging 3.76x
2.87, of a dark drab color and covered with
darker spots, thickest at the greater end. When
found, the under part of the eggs was wet, show-
ing that the weight of the bird, when on, sunk
the nest partly under water.

While I was jotting down minutes in my note
book a second Loon was heard, and both birds
were seen at the mouth of the stream, trying to
attract our attention from the nest by loud cries
and flapping of wings. Ross set me ashore and
went back to the nest while I crept through the
underbush until I got within filty yards of them.
Wailing until the female rose in the water, pre-
senting a good mark, I fired. The report had not
died away before the head of the bird dropped
forward into the water and I knew I had bagged
her, as it is a peculiarity of these birds when shot
that only the head settles forward and the body
continues to float, like a Duck with its head
under water. Slipping another cartridge into
the barrel I waited for the other to rise. He was
down only a few seconds and came up a little
way off, but immediately swam to his mate.
Again getting a fair shot I fired, and although I
heard the thud of the bullet as it struck him, he
dove and came up nearly half a mile out into the
pond. Ross came up with the boat and we gave
chase, but it was only after half a day’s hard work
and a large expenditure of cartridges, that he was
finally brought to by a splendid shot by Ross.

ee

THICK-BILLED GREBES (Podilymbus podiceps)
mn Kansas.—Mr. VY. L. Kellogg reports finding,
May 26th, 1885, a number of nests of this bird
containing from five to ten eggs each.

166

Catalogue of the Birds of Kalamazoo
County, Michigan.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.—PART IX.

Actodromas fuscicollis

181. [536.] (Vicill.)
Ridg. Bonaparte’s Sandpiper. <A rather rare,

irregular migrant.
with us.
182. [538.]

Only recorded a few times
Actodromas minutilla (Vieill.)
Bp. Least Sandpiper. Not a rare transient both
Spring and Summer. Observed it as late as May
22d in the Spring, but it does not summer here.
Have seen it by August 10th in the southern jour-
ney. Found around the borders of lakes asso-
ciating in small flocks with the Semipalmated
Sandpiper.

183. [539a.) Pelidna alpina americana Cass.
Red-backed Sandpiper. Arrives in small flocks
or very often singly about May 15th, and remains
frequently as late as the first of June. Not rare
in Spring. Do not know of it in the Autumn.
It is found here in late August.

184. [541.] Hrewnetes pusillus (Linn.) Cass.
Common and generally associating with the
Least Sandpiper. Have taken it as late as June
Ist in the Spring migration out of a flock of forty
or more. Have secured it as carly as August
11th, and yet have not satisfied myself that it re-
mains during the Summer. Quite common, both
Spring and Autumn, along the edges of lakes and
ponds.

185. [548.] Zotanus melunoleucus (Gmel.)
Vieill. Greater Yellow-legs; Tell-tale. Not a

rare Spring and Fall transient around our lakes
and ponds. Have not sufficient data to give a
good idea as to arrival and departure. A noisy,
well known species; as its name implies it is a
tell-tale and often scares game ere the hunter has
reached a good point to shoot from.

186. [549.] Totanus flavipes (Gmel.) Vieill.
Lesser Yellow-legs. A smaller species than the
last and more abundant. I have taken it May
4th and 16th, August 30th and September 7th,
showing that it is with us quite a time although
not a Summer resident. It, like the last, is often
shot for food, but although tender is not as large
as a Common snipe.

187. [550.]
Cass. Solitary Sandpiper.
the last named species.

solitarius (Wils.)
Not so abundant as
Inclined to resort to out
of the way places. An unfrequented low piece of
woods is often chosen. Arrives in late April and
remains two weeks or more before passing north.
It returns to us late in August and remains until
September 20th.

188. [555.] Bartramia longieauda

Rhyacophilus

(Bechst.)

ORNITHNLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 11
Bp. Bartram’s Sandpiper; Field Plover. A
common species and nests in many quarters, al-
though the eggs are rarely found. Arrives in the
latter part of April as a rule, but sometimes
earlier. Remains until October 15th and ocea-
sionally later than November 1st.

189. [556.] Tryngites rufescens (Vieill.) Ca-
ban. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. A rare species,
only twice taken, September 17, 1875, and Sep-
tember 14, 1882. Not yet observed in Spring.

190. [557.] Tringoides maeularius (Linn.)
Gray. Spotted Sandpiper. Our most abundant
representative of the family during Summer.
Nests near lakes, ponds and streams on marshes,
fields and shores. Occasionally appears as early
as March 27th, but usually in April, Is found
with us in October frequently in late seasons.

191. [560.] Mumenius boreulis (Forst.) Lath.
Eskimo Curlew. Once taken by Benjamin F.
Syke, October 28, 1879. A rare migrant.

192. [565.] Steganopus wilsont (Sab.) Coues.
Wilson’s Phalarope. An irregular transient, only
occasionally seen. Taken as late as May 21st
one season. It does not summer here however.
Only once taken in the Autumn, Sept. 8, 1878.

193. [569.] Rallus elegans Aud. Red-breasted
Rail; Marsh Hen; King Rail. A rare transient.
Only twice captured to my knowledge. These
specimens were taken near small lakes in Spring.

194. [572.] Rallus Linn. Vir-
ginian Rail. A common species. Breeds near
small lakes and ponds ; usually preferring dryer
grounds than the next species; nesting in the
higher parts of the marshes. Common from May
10th to September 20th.

195. [574] Porzana carolina (Linn.) Baird.
Sora Rail. Our most abundant representative of
the family. Nests around lakes and ponds where
grass and cat tails are to be found in pools of wa-
ter. Arrives in late April or early May and re-
mains from five to five and a half months. Afford
but poor shooting here as they rarely fly.

196. [579.] Gallinula galeata (Licht.) Bp.
Florida Gallinule. This species is confined to a
few lakes and ponds in these parts and some dis-
tance from my home, so that I have had but lit-
tle chance of studying their habits. Have found
but few nests, which were built much in the
same manner as the nests of the other rails.
Placed in rushes over water at the edges of lakes
and ponds.

197. [580.] Fuliew americana Ginel. Ameri-
can Coot. Arrives about the middle of April and
remains a month sometimes. Appears again from
the North about September 20th and stays until
November 10th and sometimes much later, Ex-

virgintunus

ao
a

Nov. 1885.]

ceedingly abundant during migrations and usu-
ally in numerous flocks. Occasionally in pairs or
singly. Does not summer here.

198. [583.] Grus canadensis (Linn.) Temm.,
Sandhill Crane. I have never met with this bird,
but it was once common here and years ago ap-
peared in the county each season. Undoubtedly
passes through this territory each year as it is re-
corded from the north.

199. [588.] Olor Americunus (Sharpless.) Bp.
Whistling Swan. Never abundant to my know-
ledge, Never a regular visitor, but occasionally
seen Spring and Fall on the larger of our inland
lakes. Secured a fine specimen at Long Lake
last April 24th. which had in company with
three other birds been dallying for a week or
more. One season they were seen as early as
March 22d. Only captured a few times of late
years, but once not very rare.

200. [591.] Chen hyperboreus (Pall.) Boie.
Snow Goose. Not a rare irregular visitor. Se-
cured three out of a flock of ten or more in Oc-
tober 24th, 1884, in company with a friend of
mine. Flocks appear at odd times Spring and
Autumn in this section.

201. [594.] Bernicla canudensis (Linn.) Boie.
Canada Goose.
over from February 23d to March 16th.
seen as late as April 14th. Returns in the south-
ern migration about September 25th, at the
earliest, and becomes abundant in flocks by Octo-
ber 20th. Often. observed as late as November
25th. Rarely shot, however, because of their wa-
riness.

202. [601.] Linn.
Green-head. Abundant migrant. Occasionally
arrives by March 15th, usually later. Quite com-
mon until April 20th. Always appears in flocks.
Most of the birds pass north to breed, but a few
isolated pairs nest with us each season. Again
common in September, remaining until October
50th, trequently, and occasionally to Christmas in
Open seasons. One nest which I met with was
placed in a hollow stub, similar to the Wood
Duck’s nest. The date was May 31st, and the eggs
were ready to hatch.

203. [602.] Anas obscura Gmel. Black Mal-
lard; Dusky Duck. Common migrant, spending
about two weeks with us, both Spring and Au-

Airives, or more properly passes
A few

Anas boscus Mallard F,

tumn. Does not Summer to my knowledge.
901, (604, ] Chaulelasmus streperus (Linn.)
Gray. Gadwall. A rare transient occasionally

taken in the Fall migration.

205. [605.] Dafila aewta (Linn.) Bonap. Pin
tail. A common species Spring and Autumn, ar-

riving in March and departing in November.
Does not nest here. A very beautiful and grace-

AND OOLOGIST.

167

ful species, much resembling the geese on the
water,

206. [607.] Mareea Americana (Gmel.) Steph.
Baldpate ; American Widgeon. Observed dur-
ing migrations north in April and early May, and
in the autumnal journey in October. Not rare
but not often taken because of their extreme shy-
ness,

207. [603.] Spatula clypeata (Linn) Boie.
Shoveller. A rather irregular migrant, taken oc-

casionally both Spring and Autumn.

208. [609.] Querquedula discos (Linn.) Steph.
Blue-winged Teal. Arrives during first three
weeks of March. Does not remain during Sum-
mer. Appears in early October from the North,
remains until the last of the month, sometimes

later. Is quite abundant from October 10th to
20th.
209. [612.] Nettion Curolinensis (Ginel) Baird.

Green-winged Teal. Abundant some seasons.
Can't give reliable Spring arrivals. Occasionally
remains until November 15th. Does not nest here.

210. [615.] Ade sponsa (Linn.) Boie. Wood
Duck; Summer Duck. An abundant species,
but not so common as formerly. In fact, all the
Ducks are much Jess common than a few years
ago. The onslaught of the hunters has worked
havoc amongst their numbers, and not one is
seen now in the Fall where a hundred were to be
found ten or eleven years ago. The Wood Duck
arrives during the first week of March in open
seasons, and even February, but generally the
third week in March. .A few remain to nest with
us each year. <All do not depart for the south
until November.

211. [614] Twlia (Linn.) Baird.
Scaup Duck; Big Blackhead. Abundant. Per-
haps the most common species in the family.
Arrive by March 16th, or earlier, and is abund-
ant by April Ist. But there are not a dozen here
in the Spring where a hundred are found in the
Fall. Associate with Lesser Blackheads and
Bufteheads on the lakes and fly frequently in
vast flocks. I have met with more of them in
late Autumn than of all the other species of
Often shot as late as Novem-

marila

Ducks combined.
ber 20th.

212. [615.] Puliv affinis (Eyt.) Baird. Little
Blackhead. Abundant, and so similar to the last
as to need no description as to habits and appear-
ance. Considered identical by many and often
only identified with difficulty; never with cer-
tainty while on the water.

213. [616.] Fulix collaris (Donov.) Baird.
Ring-billed Duck; Collared Duck. A rather

rare transient. Arrives in March from the south,
and from the north in September.

168

THE
ORNE THO LO Gis£

—AND—
VOLOGIST.
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

Ne CAN SEs Onna,

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

BIRDS,
THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE,

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,

PAWTUCKET, R, I.

Editor’s Notes.

The annual meeting of the American Or-
nithologists’ Union will be held in New
York, commencing Tuesday, November 17.
The place of meeting will be the American
Museum of Natural History, 77th Street
and 8th Avenue. It is expected that, in
addition to the usual routine business of
such an occasion, a good list of scientific
papers will be presented, and that the
meeting will be fully attended.

The A. O. U. Committee on the Classifi-
cation and Nomenclature of North Ameri
can Birds announce the early publication
of their report. It is to consist of two
parts, of which Part I is “the New Code of
Nomenclature adopted by the Union” ; and
Part II a “Classified List of North Ameri-
‘an Birds, giving the names of the higher
groups, as well as of the species and sub-
species, from subgenera to orders.” <A
concordance is also given of the previous
Check Lists, and a brief statement of the
geographical distribution of each species
and subspecies, with special reference to
its North American range. The work is
the result of the expenditure of much time
and research by the Committee.

The Publisher announces that after this
number the Ornithologist and Oologist

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 11

will only be sent to those whose subserip-
tions for the current year have been paid.
He continued the list of the previous year
thinking that doing so would be a conven-
ience to many and that payment would be
made during the year. If this had been
done, the Magazine would have paid its ex-
penses. Looking over ourlist we find that
fully one quarter of our subscribers are in-
debted to us for the current year’s sub-
scription. The office of publication will be
removed to Boston after issue of the De-
cember number, which willbe accompanied
by an Index for the Volume.

The Little Yellow Rail, (Porzana nove-
boracensis,) in Kansas.

BY PROF, L, L. DYCHE, LAWRENCE, KANSAS,

On the 18th of last April, while hunting for
water birds about four miles southeast of the
State University, Lawrence, Kans., my dog came
to a stand in the high grass and weeds which
stood ina marsh. I tramped and kicked through
the water and entangled vegetation, but could not
flush a bird. The dog persisted in his point until
I had proceeded several yards, when he thrust
his nose into the grass and water and then came
running to me with something in his mouth. He
placed a small bird in my hand, which at first
sight resembled a young chicken, It proved to
be a Little Yellow Rail, (Porzana noveboracensis,)
the first specimen of the species ever found in
this State.

Later, while tramping through a grassy meadow
about two and a half miles south of town, Oct.
1st, my dog “Joe” caught and brought to me
another specimen of this Rail. It was taken in a
wild or natural meadow, where the grass (the
second growth this year) was fresh and green, and
about a foot in height. The ground was moist,
but not at all like a marsh.

To my knowledge these are the only specimens
of this species ever taken in this State. I have
them mounted in the State University Museum.

My experience would lead me to think that this
species is not so rare in the State, as it is hard to
find. Neither of the specimens which I have se-
cured would flush, and it was only by the assist-
ance of my ever faithful dog “Joe,” that I was

made acquainted with their presence.
ern ee i

v. 1885. ]

No

BY FRANK B. WEBSTER.

CHAPTER IIT.—SUPPLIES.

We will next direct our attention to supplies,
or materials required. They are very simple and
can be obtained almost anywhere ; but time will
be saved and perhaps expense by getting them
from a reliable dealer in taxidermists’ supplies.
We will first consider the poison, which is the
bugbear of the art. It is at present universally
considered by experts that it is absolutely neces-
sary to use arsenic in some form; the two popu-
lar compounds being Arsenical Soap and Dry
Preservative. The soap is made as follows:
Arsenic, pulverized 2 Ibs,; salt of tartar 12 0z.;
camphor 5 0z.; lime in powder 4 0z.; white soap
2 lbs. Shave the soap into small pieces, put it
in an earthen pan over a slow fire; add a little
water and while it dissolves stir with a wooden
spoon ; take it off, add the tartar and stir till it is
amalgamated ; add lime and arsenic slowly as it
grows solid; mix it well. Grind up the camphor
with a little alcohol, or dissolve it in the same;
aad this to the mixture when quite cold. It will
then be ready to put in jars. To useit: Take
a deep dish, put in about a gill of the soap, add
water and with a brush [a common shaving
brush is good,] work it until it is about like
cream. With this paint the ¢rséde of the skin.
Then immerse it in a box of sawdust and shake
at once. Enough of the sawdust will adhere to
absorb the moisture and prevent it from soiling
the feathers. If the soap in the dish dries before
you have occasion to use it again, all you will
have to do is to add water as before. If the skin
is very large apply plenty of the soap.

The Preservative is either dry arsenic
ized,) or arsenic and alum, equal bulk
well mixed. I prefer the latter for work in New
England, but parties who collect south have in
some instances stated that they prefer the former.

(pulver-
of each

It is applied to the inside of the skin with a-

rabbit's foot, immediately after skinning. I
would recommend to use the Preservative on all
birds smaller than a Yellow-shafted Flicker, and
the Soap on all larger.

With careful usage, from what has come under
my observation, I do not think any danger need
be apprehended. I would always wash one’s
hands after use, as the poison will occasionally
get into scratches and cause them to fester. It
acts like a sliver, and I have often scraped it out
with the point of my knife.

For stuffing or filling, I use Excelsior, Tow and
Jute. The first is fine wood shavings, such as are

169

used by upholsterers. This I use for making the
body form. American tow is the best for filling
the necks and in about the body. Jute or very
fine tow I use for Canaries and smaller birds.
For the largest birds I sometimes cut tow and
excelsior together.

Wire, to be suitable, should be of the best
quality and annealed soft, so as to be free from
all tendency to spring. It is sold by numbers,
the numbers corresponding with some standard
gauge. There are several. I have adopted that
of the Washburne & Moen Manufacturing Com-
pany, commencing with number 0 for the heaviest
—the numbers run up, number 30 being the finest
required by taxidermists. I have compiled the
following table of sizes used, from birds in my
possession at this writing, which will be of use to
the beginner. There will be necessarily some
variation from it. A bird mounted with wings
spread, sometimes will require a size larger wire
for legs than if it was to be mounted with wings
closed ; also if to stand on one leg it should be a
size larger.

|
MEQUON) PosonsoanancooneaG Wood Duck
Blue Bird. Eider Duck
Blue Jay....... | Bagle......
Purple Grackle...........18 Canary...
GTOUBGiecarreiapianeseasysteretate 14 Cat Bird 30
Long-eared Owl.......-.. 13 Yellow-shafted Flicker. ,.18
Red-tailed Hawk...... «. Ld | WOOdCOCK sin verines ce cise 17
Golden-eye Duck........ 12 | Screech Owl.. ciel
Herring Gull | Cooper’s Hawk cyst!
Warbler | Night: Heron saeescte cede
SI siyee hs Gonnndoodblodoecot 18 | WOOT erasactana sietesyaictae setae 10
Quail | White Pelican...........- fh
Dove |) Barred:Owle-<-nendcce cece 13
Green Heron | Great-horned Owl........ 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk....14

To straighten wire—sizes 16 and finer: Cut off

a piece about twenty feet long, fasten one end to
any stationary object. With heavy pliers take
hold of the other end and pull steadily till you
feel it give. It will then be found perfectly
straight and can be cut into convenient
lengths, from six to twelve inches. The heavier
sizes should be cut as required, and with a small
hammer pounded straight on the anvil. To
sharpen the fine wire, hold an end on left fore-
finger with thumb, and with the other hand
sharpen with file, using the file only one way,
from you, at the same time with the thumb that
holds the wire keep twisting. This will cause an
even point, and with a little practice you can
sharpen half a dozen at a time.

Plaster of Paris for drying: Select a coarse
grade rather than the finest, as it will not adhere
so readily to the feathers. ;

The rule for ordinary cleaning is as follows:
Wash the soiled parts carefully with tepid water,

170

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 11

using a fine sponge. Have a tray filled with
plaster, put the wet part to the plaster, rub it
vigorously, pushing off the wet plaster and put-
ting on the dry. Keep the feathers moving.
Work tt till the plaster will not stick. Then take
the bird and give it a thorough brushing, and
blow it with your breath till you get out all the
plaster dust. Take it by the wings and shake
well. The feathers will resume their natural po-
sition or lay. Be sure that the nostrils and bill
are well filled with cotton, or you may shake
blood out and have more cleaning to do. (The
vent of large birds should also be filled with cot-
ton.) Sometimes after skinning, you may have
to clean the bird again, as the process will often
force blood out through the wounds, but the
second cleaning is not as lard as the first. Many
do not clean their birds till after skinning. My
reason for doing before is, that I consider there is
more trouble from the soiled parts soiling other
parts than from having to wash a second time.
If your bird is a white one and you wish to re-
move stains and dirt other than blood, wash first
with spirits of turpentine and dry with plaster ;
then wash with naphtha and dry with plaster.
As a general thing this will succeed. If not,
then try soap and water—wash out the soap and
dry with plaster. Ammonia and water is also
effective. Salt and water is recommended to
clean off blood; also alcohol and water. Ben-
zine seems to act about the same as naphtha.
The plaster has a whitening effect which assists
very much. The stains that are troublesome are
confined to white birds. The dark ones never
trouble. I note that in looking over my collec-
tion, and that of others, I never notice blood
stains, and I think if the dry blood was simply
scraped off, the stain would fade so that it would
not be seen in a short time.

One thing more. Do not be afraid of your
bird. Take hold of it in a determined way. A
washed Crow can be thrown into plaster all over
till it looks like a Ptarmigan, and will come out
all right in the end, Some use meal instead of
plaster. If you wish to try it, get white bolted
meal; keep it in a very dry place when not in
use. Meal is a good absorbent of grease. In
skinning birds that are very fat, such as shore
birds, you can use it freely. Throw it on as you
separate the skin and it will prevent the fat from
soiling the feathers.

So much forsupplies that are used in the actual
stuffing. Those that are used in decorating, &c.,
we will consider later. Meantime we will attend
to our bird.

Practical Entomology.

BY WRIGHT AND BATES, 73 HANOVER ST., BOSTON.

(Continued from Page 157.)

NIGHT COLLECTING.

This is one of the most lucrative employments
of the collector of Lepidoptera. At night, and
then only, can many of our rarest moths be cap-
tnred. By far the best method for this work is
what is known as “Sugaring” or “Baiting.” For
this a compound of stale beer, rum and molasses,
mixed to the consistency of mucilage, is smeared
upon the trunks of from five to twenty trees, pre-
ferably an apple orchard, by means of a brush or
swab. Only a small place about eight inches
square should be covered, which should be fre-
quently examined by means of a bull’s-eye lantern.
The moths will flock to these baited spots on the
trees, and may easily be taken by placing a killing
bottle over them. It is well to hold the net under
the baited spot before turning on the light, as
many varieties have the habit of suddenly drop-
ping to the ground on the approach of the light.

The collector should not be discouraged, how-
ever, if the first one or two nights do not prove
renumerative, for every night does not combine
the proper conditions, and the oftener the place is
baited, the more moths will frequent it, sometimes
coming in Jarge numbers.

Advantage may be taken of the well known
fascination ‘of the moth for light, by means of the
trap. This is a box open at one end; at the
closed end, behind a glass screen, is a lamp, placed
in front of a convex reflector; between this screen
and the open end is a series of four glass plates,
placed alternately at the top and bottom, extend-
ing two thirds the depth of the box, and raking
toward the lamp at an angle of 70°.

The moth, flying toward the light, will strike
against the first plate, flutter over it to the next
and so on to the screen, which stops their pro-
gress and prevents them from getting scorched.
They may be taken out by opening a small door,
made at the top of the trap, and putting a killing
bottle over them.

This trap may be in use while the collector is
attending to the baited trees, and examined occa-
sionally, or it may be left over night.

We have taken many moths, especially on
warm, rainy evenings, by opening the window of
a lighted room, or placing a light on a table on
the piazza; they will be attracted by the light,
and may be taken in the usual manner. Care
must be taken, however, that they do not get
scorched in the flame. Now will look over the

HOME KIT.

The first thing needed is the:

Nov. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

La

SerrivG Boar.

This may be made like Fig.
8, which is the common
model. Another form
is to take two strips of
thin wood and nail, at
the ends, to two braces.
These end braces should
be cut on top where the strips are to go, with the
middle lower than the ends, so as to give a dish-
ing shape to the setting board. In this way the
ends of the wings will be slightly higher than the
body, this is desirable, since if the least dampness
strikes the insect it is apt to droop. These set-
ting-boards should be of different sizes and with
grooves of different widths, some narrow for the
butterflies and the narrow bodied moths like the
Geometridw, and some with wide grooves for the
large-bodied Sphingidw. These grooves should
have a strip of cork or pita-wood at the bottom to
thrust the pin through.

Forcers. Of these several pairs will be needed
(Figs. 1-7). <A pair like Fig. 9 will be necessary
in order to pin or unpin an insect without slant-
ing the hand too much.

Fig. 9. THe Serrinc NEEDLE is a
),Sharp needle set in a handle, for
} moving the wing and legs of the
)/f insect in setting. Several kinds
and sizes will be needed, some
| straight, some curved, and one
with a hook at the end for draw-
¥ ing out the feet. Other handy
tools are, a pair of fine pointed
scissors, and several camel’s-hair
¥ pencils.

MOUNTING.

Now we will suppose you are
well rested after your collecting
trip. Do not wait too long, how-
ever, else the insects will become
too dry, and will need to be
relaxed.

The first thing to do is to sort
what you have taken. Throw
away all damaged insects, unless
very rare. What Lepidoptera you
do not wish to mount, fold away
in papers.

This is done by taking a strip
of paper and folding it so as
to form a triangular envelope,
with the ends lapping oyer to hold it together.
Do not stick down the ends, for the flies will surely
get broken in opening. Now fold the wings of
the insect together over the back, tuck the anien-
ne between them and place it in the paper,
marking the fold with the name, the date and

place of capture. Diptera, Hymenoptera and
Neuroptera may be treated in the same way.

Now, to set the Lepidoptera, force the pin,
upon which the insect has been placed, through
the cork in the groove of the setting hoard, being
careful to choose a board suited to the size and
form of the insect, and push it down until the
wings rest flat on the top of the board, now with
a setting needle or forceps, draw the wing care-
fully forward to its proper position and fasten by
sticking a pin behind one of the veins of the wing
near the body, never touch the fingers to the
wing; serve all the wings in the same way, draw
forward the paws or fore-legs, set the antennv in
position, and fasten all securely. For holding in
position till dry, some recommend winding with
cops as in Fig. 8, others hold the wings in place
by strips of glass, but we prefer to place a strip of
cardboard over the wings and fasten with pins or
tacks. When mounted in this way the boards
may be moved about without injury to the in-
sects. Leave them on the boards at least a week,
and some of the larger moths need two weeks to
become thoroughly dry. Diptera, Hymenoptera
and Neuroptera should be treated in the same way.

Coleoptera are best set by sticking the pin into
a sheet of cork, and holding the legs and antenne
in place, by means of pins, until dry. Small
beetles may be stuck upon bits of card, or on
what are known as “mica mounts,’ through
which the pins are thrust.

CARE OF COLLECTIONS.

No insect should be placed in the cabinet un-
less it is thoroughly dry, and care should be taken
that none infested with Dermetes or Anthrenus
are placed therein ; the only place where we de-
sire these little pests is dead and stuck upon a
card in their proper position in the cabinet.
Should the collection, however, become infested
with these parasites, which indicate themselves
by a little pile of dust and debris at the foot of the
pin, give the collection a slight baking in the oven.

Tue Casrnet depends upon the means of the
collector, but wliatever is used it must be tight.
The most useful form is a case of shallow

drawers about two inches deep and fitted with
Boxes like Fig. 10 may be
Fig. 10.

tight glass covers.

used for storing the collection, they should meas

ORNITHOLOGIS

[Vol. 10-No. 11

double; or they may be made in the form of
books. In any case the drawers or boxes should
be lined with a layer of sheet cork, with a sheet
of white paper stretched over it. Whatever your
collection is stored in, keep it from the light. Do
not put camphor into the drawers, for it will
cause many of the Lepidoptera to grease; use a
little benzine, crude creosote, or still better, disin-
fecting cones like Fig. 11.

Arrange the insects in their natural
order, if possible showing three speci-
mens of each variety (the male, female
and under side), and label each one with
its name and the date and the locality
of capture. By this means the name
and characteristics of each insect are at
the same time impressed upon the mind
and naturally associated one with the
other, thus aiding the memory and
facilitating the identification of species
when a collection is not at hand for
comparison.

———

A Re-discovery for Texas.

BY PROF. W. W. COOKE,

Forty-four years ago, Mr. J. P. Giraud pub-
lished an account of sixteen new species of birds,
which he claimed had been taken in Texas. Con-
siderable doubt has been expressed by ornitholo-
gists in regard to the correctness of this claim, but
the recent great extension of our knowledge of
the avifwuna of Southwestern United States is
tending to inspire confidence in Giraud’s record.

The present standing of his sixteen species is
as follows: Mexican White-throated Wren, Cath-
erpes mevicanus, (Certhia albifrons. Giraud). Is
now well known as a bird of the western border
of Texas, along the Rio Grande.

Olive-headed Warbler, Peucedramus olivaceus,
(Sylvia olivacea. Giraud) No ‘specimens are
known from Texas except those taken by Giraud,
but Mr. Henshaw succeeded in finding the species
in Arizona.

Black-throated Gray Warbler, Dendraca ni-
grescens. Sclater supposes that the Sylvia halsett
of Giraud is really the female of this species,
which has no other record from Texas. But there
is no reason for thinking that it does not occur
there, since it is a common migrant throughout
the Rocky Mountains, west of Texas, and its
present known range extends almost to the west-
ern border of the State. Moreover, a closely re-
lated species, D. Townsendi, which has a nearly
similar range, has, within the last few months,

been taken for the first time in Texas by Mr.
Lloyd at San Angelo.

Painted Redstart, Setophago picta, (Muscicapa
leucomus. Giraud). Though Giraud’s Texas re-
cord has not since been checked, both Mr. Hen-
shaw and Lieut. Bendire have had the good for-
tune to secure specimens in Arizona.

Red-faced Warbler, Cardellina rubrifrons, (Mus-
cieapa rubrifrons. Giraud). This species has also
been taken by Henshaw in Arizona.

Red-bellied Redstart, Setophaga miniata, (Mus-
cieapa derhamit. Giraud).

Red Warbler, Hrgaticus ruber, (Parus leucotis.
Giraud),

Brasher’s Warbler, Basileuterus
(Muscicapa brasherit. Giraud).

Bell’s Warbler, Bastleuterus belli, (Muscicapa
bell. Giraud).

Blue-headed Euphonia, Luphonia clegantissima,
(Pipra galericulata, Giraud).

These last five species are all now known as
birds of Mexico across the Texas line, but no
specimens since Giraud’s time have been taken
on this side of the Rio Grande.

Audubon’s Oriole, /eterus wuduboni, (Giraud).
This species was not only added to the fauna of
the United States by Giraud, but was by him for
the first time made known to science. It has
since been found to be a regular visitant to south-
western Texas.

culicivorus,

Giraud’s Shore Lark, Olocorys ulpestris Giraudi,
(Alauda minor. Giraud). After it had rested for
many years as a synonym of var. chrysoleama, Mr.
Henshaw has at last determined that the Alauda
minor of Giraud is a tenable variety found only
in Texas. Here we have a very strong argument
in favor of Giraud’s good faith.

Giraud’s Flycatcher, Myiozetetes tevensis, (Mus-
cicapa texensis, Giraud). No other record has
been made of its occurrence in the United States.

Lawrence’s Flycatcher, Mytarchus lawrencet,
(Museicapa lawrencet. Giraud). Was since been
taken by Stephens in Arizona.

Fulvous Flycatcher, Hmpidonar fulvifrons,
(Muscicapa fulvifrons. Giraud). The typical form
is Mexican, occurring just across our border. A
slight variety (pallescens) is not uncommon in
New Mexico and Arizona.

So far we have spoken of fifteen of Giraud’s
sixteen species, and we find that of these, seven
have not since been taken in the United States;
five are now known from Arizona or New Mexi-
co, and three are well known from Texas.

We have now to add the late re-discovery in
Tevas of the other Giraud species, thus fully vin-
dicating Giraud’s good faith so far as this species
is concerned.

Noy. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

173

Rev. I. B. Henry, of Mason, Tex., has had the
good fortune to secure there several specimens of
the Mexican Goldfinch, Astragalinus psaltria
mexicanus, (Fringilla tevensis. Giraud), and he
has also determined that they are not accidental
visitors, but are a regular and not wneommon
species in his vicinity. He has noted their arrival
for several seasons, the first one in 1885 having
come May 20th. After identification by Mr.
Henry and myself, a specimen was sent to Mr.
Ridgway, who kindly compared it with Giraud’s
type and finds that if agrees more closely with
Giraud’s bird than with specimens from Mexico.
Could any better or stronger proof be desired that
in this case, at least, Giraud captured his specimen
actually in Texas.

Here, then, we have a species taken in Texas in
1838; no other trace of it found there for over
forty years, and then re-discovered. Not, how-
ever, as would be expected, as a casual visitor to
the extreme western border of Texas, but a regu-
lar Summer resident at a place two hundred miles
east of the Rio Grande.

California Mottled Owl.

(Scops asio bendirit.)

BY W. OTTO EMERSON, HAYWARDS, CAL.

It is my purpose to give here my observations,
extending oyer the last six years, on this little
Scops. Except the Barn Owl, which takes the
lead, it is here the most common of the family.
On a still evening, Mottled Owls may be heard at
all times of the year calling and answering one
another from fences and posts, also from the
dead limbs of the many trees along the creek and
on the hillside.

As I write this evening, one is giving his hoo-
too-to-to-to-hoo in fast running notes repeated
two or three times. Their principal enemy is the
small boy whose depredations I have frequently
had cause to lament. The past season I found
three cosy homes of Scops broken into and the
eggs smashed by some boy’s long stick, because
he could not get them out, the holes being over
three feet deep down the Oak limbs.

Knowing that the Barn Owl likes nothing bet-
ter than to get into some Pigeon’s cot or the
gable end of some barn, it occurred to me that
perhaps these persecuted little Owls might make
use of a home prepared for them in some quiet,
shady place. I therefore nailed up three starch
boxes on some Australian Gum Trees in a small
grove. I made a hole at one end facing the
north and placed some leaves and sawdust at the

bottom of the boxes.
1885.

I did not visit the boxes until April 10th,
Rapping one of the trees before going up, some-
thing very like a cat's head appeared at the hole
in the box, showing me that one of the boxes
had been appropriated. From the cat-like ap-
pearance of their heads, the boys call them
“Cat Owls,” in this neighborhood. Mrs. Scops
blinked at me three or four times, then flew to a
tree close by. On looking in the box I found two
eggs. On the 12th, there was a third. Incuba-
tion was not commenced until the 17th, no more
eges having been lait. The male was not seen
but once during incubation, and that was once
when the female leaving the box, I went up
to examine it. She gave a quick, short call
and the mate came in an instant, and began to
snap his bill at me from a limb over head. I
kept a watch on her sitting, and she got so that
she would come to the hole when I tapped on
the tree and look down until I left.

This was on March 14th,

On looking in the box May 10th, I found three
white, downy Owlets, one not quite dry. Mrs.
Owl seemed to think I was getting too free with
her household, for when I took one out she flew
about, calling the mate. They both came near,
snapping their bills all the while. The young
could not hold up their heads, their eyes were
very round and full but not open. There was
down to the toes, feet a light pink. On taking
them out they gave a slight peep, like a young
chick just hatched. They grew very fast and in
cight days commenced to show signs of pin-
feathers, and had strength enough to snap their
bills. About this time, May 18th, I found one of
the young with its head missing, which I could
not account for unless food got short, and rather
than to see them all starve the birds fed one to
the others. Next day the body had disappeared.
I put all the remains of birds skinned, on the top
of the box. They made away with it and grew
very fast. By the 25th, fifteen days after hatch-
ing, they had their eyes open. They would now
back up into the corner in a bunch, snapping
their bills on my trying to get them out. By the
20th they all had pin-feathers of the grey plum-
age, with white down still showing on the ends
of the feathers. The old ones did not now stay
around. They were still in the box on June 14th,
when I went out to the “Farallon Islands.” So I
don’t know how they got on after that.

There is very little difference in the eggs of
the California Mottled Owl and Little Screech
Owl. In three sets of the former, three in each
set, and aset of three and four of the latter be-

ORNITHOLOGIST [Vol. 10-No. 11

fore me, the set of four is somewhat larger than
any of the five sets, measuring: Sets of four,
1.58x1.25 ; 1.50x1.28 ; 1.55x1.31; 1.53x1.27. Set
of three, 1.4551.20; 1.40x1.22; 1.42x1.22, The
above being Screech Owls. The following Cali-
fornia Mottled Owl, measuring: Set B, of three,
1.44x1.18; 1.42x1.20; 1,28x1.20. Set §S, three,
1.42x1.21; 1.40x1.16; 1.42x1.16. Set E, three,
1.57x1.20; 1.38x1.22; 1.42x1.16. All are of the
same glossy, crystal white peculiar to the Owl's
eggs.

I give here a record of my first sets for each
season, during six years: March 18th, 1880; April
24th, 1881; April 11th, 1882; March 24th, 1883;
May 13th, 1884; April 12th, 1885. It will be
seen that the year 1884 was later than the rest,
the Spring being very wet all the hollows in the
trees were filled with water.

I found one the past Spring that had taken up
quarters in an old wood rat’s nest placed on a
limb of a Bay tree, some thirty feet from the
ground. A large mass of dead leaves from the
tree had been put together, and a hollow formed
in the centre, lined with feathers of fowls and
birds. z

I took a young Mottled Owl from some boys
two years ago, and put it in my greenhouse with
a young Sparrow Hawk. They seemed to get on
well together except in feeding, when the young
Hawk wanted all the attention. When he got his
portion he would take it in his claws, fly down in
a corner on the long table, and spread his wings
as though to hide his food. The Owlet would
snap at his meat when a piece was held up to
him, make a grab, shut his eyes and swallow it
down with great satisfaction. The hot weather
was too much for them in the hot house, with all
the windows out, and I found them boti laid out
one afternoon.

‘©The Cedar Bird.’’

(Ampelis cedrorum, Vieillot.) Gray.

BY FRANK R. RATIBUN.

This bird belongs to the family of Wax-
wings, of which we have but two examples
on this continent, the other being the Bohemian
Waxwing or Chatterer, a somewhat larger bird,
but strikingly similar in many respects. The
Cedar Bird is a true tramp, breeding anywhere in
his peculiar lazy way, and roaming from Florida
to the Red River country. He is not, however,
one of the diffident and solitary kind, but of a
social cast, and may nearly always be seen con-
sorting with members of his own kind. When-
ever his “dreary whisper,” his “ wheezy” whistle
is heard, a superficial search will almost invaria-

bly find an encampment of the brotherhood. We
have called him a true tramp, but we might qual-
ify this statement somewhat by dubbing him a
tramp of the gypsy clan, so nomadic and erratic
are his movements and visitations. The heat of
Summer and Winter’s rigor have no depressing
influence upon this indomitable bird. His char-
acteristic fearlessness and independence is stamped
upon his features, and evidenced in his striking
profile. His sinister aspect, due to its peculiar
markings, has always seemed to me to be sur-
rounded with an eerie halo, with an atmosphere
suggestive of the weird which is inexplicable. The
sun neither incites nor delays his wooings, for
sometimes the first young of the year are not
seen until the month of August. In fact, he
seems to take so much pleasure in his gregarious
habits as to be unmindful of his domestic affairs.

The Cedar Bird is known and recognized as
the Carolina Waxwing and the Cedar Waxwing.
He also has such local names as the ‘‘ Ring-tail”
and the “ Wax-bird,” but is universally known in
the north as the ‘‘ Cherry Bird.” The first name
has been given him from the yellow color which
tips the ends of his tail feathers; the second, from
the peculiar red and horny appendages of his in-
ner wing quills which much resemble red sealing
wax; and the latter, for his love for “cherry-
ripe,” so tantalizing to the horticulturist.

This bird is of a very social, amiable, and very
affectionate disposition. I had the good fortune
to become intimately acquainted with a pair of
them the past season. They had selected for
their nesting place the bough of a soft Maple
tree, some twelve or fifteen feet from the ground.
The tree stood close to the sidewalk of the street,
and immediately in front of my gate. From my
breakfast table I could easily watch their labors.
The situation was very public and the street a
familiar thoroughfare of the boys and girls as
they went to and from the public school. The
birds had but one object in view, apparently,
and that to build, brood and bring up. I often
stood immediately beneath the scene of their toil,
without for a moment inspiring fear or interrupt-
ing their labors. That they saw me was evident,
for as they came to the spot alternately with ma-
terials, they would pause for an instant and peer
at me with their gypsy eyes from beneath their
sable frontlets, and seemingly satisfied that it was
only me, proceed with their work of construction.
IT could but fancy they knew me and sought my
protection, so trustful did they seem. When the
female began to incubate her liege seemed very
attentive and kind, bringing food and occasionally
cheering her labors with a low whisper. Their
bliss, however, was interrupted after a few days,

Nov. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

by the inherent destructiveness and mischief of
some ruthless boy, who had, as I was led to infer
from the scattered embryos and shells upon the
walk beneath, cither stoned or poked them from
their nest. The pair disappeared and were never
seen more.

The horticulturist has long eyed these ‘“ cherry
birds” with suspicion, if not with hostility, for
their peculiar fondness for garden fruits and cher-
ries. They are, however, very beneficial birds,
much more so than injurious, and for this reason
should be protected and tolerated. They destroy
vast numbers of harmful bugs, caterpillars and
canker-worms. Occasionally they awake from
their lethargic moods and launch forth on vigor-
ous wing after flying insects.

While the Cedar Bird is to some extent a Spring
and Autumn migrant, he does not hesitate to
brave the rigor of our northern winters, where he
collects in communities amid the thickets and
groves. There they feed on various berries, es-
pecially those of the Cedar and other small cling-
ing fruits. Occasionally they sally forth from
these retreats and enter the cities and villages
and feed upon the berry clusters of the ornamen-
tal Mountain Ash to repletion, sometimes spend-
ing the entire day in the tree. This is not unu-
sual, for I have observed them thus for successive
Winters. :

The plumage of the Cedar Bird is strikingly
soft and smooth, and the colors of the body are
full of rich and insensible blendings, which shade
from an ashy color on the rump through cinna-
mon toa rich purplish cinnamon on the breast
and head; and through yellowish or yellowish
buff on the belly, to the white of the under tail-
coverts. He has a prominent crest of cinnamon
drab and a sinister stripe of velvet black across
and above the eyes, which is brought out in strong
relief against the prevailing body color, by a mar-
ginal line of purest white above, and a spot of the
same color at the lower base of the bill.

The inner wing quills and occasionally the tail
feathers—which are each finished off with a touch
of chrome yellow—terminate in peculiar horny-
like appendages strangely suggestive of red seal-
ing-wax, Sometimes these singular adjuncts are
wanting, usually in the young birds.

This bird is from six to seven inches in length,
and the eggs, which are laid in a carefully con-
structed nest of mosses and various fibrous mate-
rials, are from three to six in number, and have a
pale or livid bluish ground sharply and thickly
dotted and blotehed with blackish spots. Aver-
age specimens of the eggs measure about cighty-
two by sixty one hundredths of an inch.

Canada Goose in Nova Scotia.

(Forest and Stream.)

BY J. MATTHEW JONES.

A few flocks undoubtedly pass the winter on our Atlantic
coast, for almost annually during that season specimens are
shot by persons along the shores, and therefore it is some-
what difficult to ascertain with certainty the date of the ar-
rival of the southern migrants on their way north in Spring.
A flock of forty were observed Feb. 23, 1870, at Glace Bay,
Cape Breton, going north. This is the earliest date we have
recorded of their migration in a northerly direction. The
unusully high temperature which prevailed over the Mari-
time Provinces during that month, had doubtless much to
do with this early migration, if such it can be called, as the
flock which had probably w'ntered on some part of the At-
lantic coast, was enticed by the absence of ice from shore
waters, 2s well as the broken state of ice in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, which was remarkable during that Winter, to
venture on their northern journey so early. In the early

_ part of February, 1871, a small flock was observed outside
Ship Harbor, Halifax county, and one shot and brought to
town. Again, in January, 1879, a flock of twenty frequented
the coast between Lawrencetown and Cole Harbor, Ialifax
county. The most remarkable occurrence, however, as re-
gards the appearance of Wild Geese here in Winter, took
place on Dec. 23, 1883, a most inclement day, when the ther-
mometer fell to 15° below zero, with a stiff northerly gale, a
flock of Wild Geese passed over Halifax city, steering for the
entrance to the harbor, Again, as late as Dec. 13, 1884, a
flock of thirty passed over King’s county, close on the Bay
of Fundy.

From these facts and others with which we could supple-
ment them, we may conclude to a certainty that a few flocks
of Wild Geese do winter here.

Although, as we have before remarked, owing to these
stray flocks wintering with us, and moving from one point
to another, it is difficult to ascertain the true date of the
arrival of the migratory bands from the south; yet we ven-
ture from our record of opservations made during the last
twenty-four years to state that the earliest arrivals may be
set down as usually occurring from the 6th to the 12th of
March; but should the temperature be lower than ordinary
at that period, and the weather be severe, the migration is
delayed until milder weather occurs. Sometimes it so hap-
pens that a week or ten days of unusually mild weather oc-
curs early in Spring, which has the effect of bringiug to our
province the leading columns of migrants, and the sudden
change to alow temperature again which frequently takes
place on such occasions and that for a prolonged term,
proves most disastrous to the Geese. In the last week of
February, 1880, the weather was remarkably mild, as may be
imagined when we state that flies were observed buzzing
about in the sun in sheltered spots on the 28th of that month.
This had the effect of bringing up the Geese. On the 26th of
March began a cold spell which lasted off and on for a fort-
night, accompanied by snow storms, freezing up the coun-
try asin the depth of Winter. The poor Geese, unable to
find food, were reduced to great extremities and became so
weak and tame that numbers were killed by boys with sticks ;

.but when killed were hardly worth having, so emaciated
had they become. In the Spring of 1882 the Geese also
came up too soon to proceed north and were obliged to re-
main with us even to the end of April, for the St. Lawrence
was covered with ice, and the coast of Prince Edward’s Is-
land as late as the 20th of that month, according to a local
paper, had an ice belt even on its northern shore ‘* extend-
ing at least eight miles out without a flaw or crack, thirty
inches thick, and in all respects as safe as any day during
the Winter.”

176

The numbers of Geese which pass over Nova Scotia vary
greatly, in some seasons nota tithe of the usual quantity
being observed. May not this be attributed to the Geese
sometimes preferring to make their journey north a few de-
grees to the westward to escape the storms of the Atlantic
coast which are occasionally very severe and continuous
about the time of their migration? It is very rarely indeed
that the Geese pass over this province on their migration
south in Autumn, and we have only recorded a few instances
of stray flocks being observed to do so.

Tow far beyond the latitude of Hudson’s Bay this species
proceeds in Spring to breed is difficult to ascertain from
published reports; but it is very probable they tenant all
the waters of the Churchill and Mackenzie districts to the
borders of the Arctic Sea, if not still further north. Ac-
cording to Barnston it is plentiful during the whole Winter
in mild seasons on the Pacific coast of British America.

Brief Notes.

Nesting OF THE WoRM-EATING WARBLER,
(Helminthotherus vermivorus,) IN CHESTER Co.,
Pa—Though by no means a common resident
with us, the Worm-eating Warbler is frequently
met with in favorable localities. It frequents the
most solitary parts of the woods, making but little
noise that would attract the attention of passers
by, and might easily be overlooked.

In such localities the nest may be looked for.
Three of them found by the writer, two several
years since and one on June 9th the present Sum-
mer (1885), were all located almost precisely alike,
and all within a radius of a quarter of a mile.
They were situated on steep, wooded hillsides,
sunk into the ground, and so overhung and con-
cealed by dry leaves as to make it impossible to
detect them without the birds betraying the pres-
ence of the nest.

The nest found the present season contained
five eggs of the Warbler, and one Cowbird’s, all
well advanced in incubation. The birds evinced
great uneasiness at my presence, coming to with-
in a few feet, and offering a good opportunity for
identification without my being compelled to
shoot them. The nest outwardly is constructed
of dry leaves, noticeably those of the Beech, very
loosely put together, then fine rootlets and stems,
and finally the inside lining is made of the fine
flower stalks of the Hair Moss—Polytrichium.

This last peculiarity existed in all three of the
nests, and would, I think, alone be sufficient to
identify the species. I would like to know the
experience of other collectors with regard to this
circumstance.

The eggs, five in number, are of a clear glossy
white ground, spotted more abundantly toward
the greater end with varying shades of brown,
similar in size and shape to those of the Pro-
thonotary Warbler, (Protonotaria citred),— Thomas
H. Jackson, West Chester, Pa.

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 11

VirerstA Rar Nesting my Canrrornta.—tl
am able to place on record the first instance
(to my knowledge) of the nesting of the Virginia
Rail on the Pacific coast. On April 3, 1885, I

found a nest containing seven eggs, partly ineu-

bated. The nest was placed in a Jot of wild par-
snip, burdock and water grass, about sixteen
inches from the water, in a small swamp fed by
springs rising from the bottom, not 500 yards
from the window where I am now writing. The
nest was neatly woven of water grass around the
weed stalks.
a nest of the Red-shouldered Blackbird, as they
breed in the swamp. I should not have taken
any notice of it if the little Rail had not made
herself known by sharp, cackling notes on leay-
ing the nest. It measures across the top 714x6
ins; depth inside 213; height over all 41 inches.
The eggs do not differ in color or form from the
Atlantic coast specimens in my collection.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Mr. Emerson writes us that a small Grey Owl was caught
on the steamer from San Francisco to the Sandwich Is-
lands when two days out from the former place. He asks
whether any other record exists of Owls being seen so far
at sea.

M. M, Baldwinville, Mass.—It is our opinion the Fox is
what is known as Cross Fox. Wholesale value of skin,
tanned, about $3. Mounted Foxes such as are shot in your

State, are worth from $8 to $12.
SS ——

The Crown ofthe Kingbird, ,

In connection with the current discussion in your natural
history columns in regard to the use of the coronal decora-
tion of the Kingbird and other species, permit me to quote
from a paper written by me in January, 1883, and published
inthe July number (of that year) of the ‘Journal of the
Cincinnati Society of Natural History,” viz.: “A List of the
Birds of Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky.”

“107". Tyrannus carolinensis (L.) Temm.—Kingbird ;
Bee Martin. An abundant Summer resident; arrives April
20th. Several years ago, in May, I saw one of these birds
occupying an exposed perch on a Pear tree in bloom, about
which many bees were darting. Several times I observed
that he caught the insects without leaving his perch,by quick-
ly turning his head and grabbing them. My attention being
thoroughly aroused, I noticed that many of them seemed to
fly directly toward the bird, the majority appearing to ‘shy
off’ a short distance from him and change their courses,
but very few escaped him. Did the thrifty Hymenoptere
mistake the fully displayed crimson crown fora flower?
Once since I have observed the same phenomenon.”

In a recent edition of this paper, entirely rewritten, how-
ever, published during September by the Kentucky Geo-
logical Survey (a copy of which I forward to yon), the fol-
lowing additional remarks are added, page 33:

“Mr. C. C. Nutting, who has spent considerable time
studying the birds of Costa Rica and Nicaragna in their
native haunts, states that he has seen Muscivora mexicana
perched upon a twig and waving its curious and brilliant
fan-shaped crest after the manner of a flower swayed by a
gentle breeze, and thus attracting insects within reach,”—
C. W. Beckham in “Forest and Stream.”

On first appearance it looked like

sie

~ Nee -

ORNITHOLOGIST

—AND—

OOLOGIST.

$1.50 per

FRANK B. WEBSTER, PuBLisHER.

Single Copy
Annum. Established, March, 1875. 15 Cents.
No. 12.

VOL. X.

BY PROF, W, W. COOKE, BURLINGTON, VT.

Since the last number of the O. and O. ap-
peared, the American Ornithologists’ Union has
held its annual meeting, and mapped out the
work for next season, The work on migration
will be continued next Spring, and the commit-
tee are so well pleased with the notes collected
this year that little if any change will be made in
the plans, instructions or schedules. There is
still room for and need of many more observers,
and all who are willing to aid, should send in
their names to the Superintendents of their re-
spectiye districts. Before Spring migration com-
mences, schedules will be sent to each observer,
and it is specially to be desired that the observers
in the south, make full notes throughout the
entire Winter season.

The report of Migration in the Mississippi
Valley during the Spring of 1884, is now passing
through the press and will be distributed during
the Winter.

SPRING OF 1883.—Coneluded.

Cownirp, (Molothrus ater). Canton, Miss.
Summer resident. Fayetteville, Ark. I think it
is here a transient, as I have never seen any in
Summer. Saw a single bird February 20th, and
a small flock February 27th. Are now, March
1st, moving north. Anna, Ill. According to
Ridgway, resident. St. Louis, Mo. First, seen
on April 5th, and the height of the season was on
the 12th. Manhattan, Kans. First, April 3d,
one seen. By April 29th, both males and.females
were in full Summer numbers. Liter, Il]. Feb-
ruary 27th, first, both male and female. Grand
View, Ia. Saw some in Winter, but they may
have been female Redwings. Jefferson, Wis.
On April 21st, first saw one flock of about forty
males and females. The bulk of the species ar-
rived on April 28th, and on May 12th it was the
height of the season; about five hundred seen.
May 19th. Just about in Summer numbers.

Common Crow, (Corvus frugivorus). Duck

in countless numbers. Fayetteville, Ark. Resi-
dent in large flocks. Anna,Il. Resident, spend-
ing the Winter in the bottom lands, and especially
in the vicinity of swampy lakes. While I was
camping out last Winter, every morning long
straggling flocks would go over camp, that would
take an hour to pass. They were feeding largely
on pecan nuts. St. Louis, Mo. Resident.
Roosting by thousands in Winter among the
Willows opposite St. Louis. On March 14th,
only a few were seen in the lowlands, where they
had been very numerous two weeks before. Man-
hattan, Kans. A very common Winter resident,
but never scen in such numbers as congregate
about St. Louis. March 31st. Six nests with
full sets. April 7th. Five more nests to-day.
April 14th. Four or five nests, one with seven
eggs. Liter, Ill., February 26th. First, and on
March 8th, fifteen seen in a flock. Osceola, Il.
Building nests April 9th. Racine, Wis. First,
March ist. Jefferson, Wis. Winter sojourner.
About half a dozen wintered with us and were
seen every few days. A few more passed through
in early Spring, but no larger flock than a dozen
was seen at any time. Two full sets were found
April 7th. [There seems to be a tract of country
in the vicinity of Ripon and Green Lake, Wis,,
which is shunned by this species. Though but
sixty miles north of Jefferson, and the same char-
acter of country, less than a dozen Crows were
seen there in as many years’ residence and col-
lecting. None known to Winter.
There was one time when for five years not a
Crow was seen.] Waukon, Ia. First, one Feb-
ruary 25th. Not common here at any time of

were ever

year. Mitchell, Ia. Seen every week during the
Winter. Hastings, Minn. First, two seen March
4th. Pine Bend, Minn. First, March 16th. Elk

River, Minn. First, March2d. Argusville, Dak
First, April 16th.

Buve Jay, (Cyanocitta cristata). Duck River,
Tenn. A hundred and twenty seen on April 1st,
in a five mile walk. Anna, Ill. Resident. One

J

(/

Copyright, 1885, by FRANK B. WEBSTER and EATON CLIFF.

as oe

2 ))

ORNITHOLOGIST

.

_ [Vol. 10-No. 12

of our most familiar birds both around civiliza-
tion and in the woods. Like the Crow, they are
fond of pecans, and I think they sometimes store
up food in crevices in the bark of old trees. I
have also seen them picking open acorns. St.
Louis, Mo. Resident. Generally found in troops
of from five to seven. On‘April 27th, twenty
were seen in a flock on wing, and again on May
ist. Manhattan, Kans. Very common resident.
Jacksonville, Ill. Commencing to build March
2d, and taking the sticks from a last year’s nest.
Soralville, Ta. May 4th, a nest with one egg.
Mitchell, Ia. No Blue Jays wintered here, that
I know of. They commenced to return about
April 27th, and large flocks passed over. Elk
River, Minn. Resident. Thirty-three were seen
February 15th, in an eight miles walk. On May
29th, a nest with eggs of a dul] cream color with
faint spots not so thick as common.

GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER, (Mytarchuscrin-
ttus). Anna,Ill. First was heard on April 17th.
Were numerous and noisy April c0th. St. Louis,
Mo, First saw two on April 17th; they were
silent. On April 20th the bulk of the species came.
Manhattan, Kans. First, May 3d. Liter, Il!.
First, May 2d. Des Moines, Ia. Fir-t, May 5th.
Polo, Ill. First, May 20th. Jefferson,
First saw one on May 12th, and on the 19th one
more. Only about a dozen seen during the whole
Summer. ;

Vis.

Woop PrEwerE, (Contopus virens).
Mo.

St. Louis,
On May 5th, first saw several; calling.
Manhattan, Kans. First, May 20ih. Racine,
Wis. First, May 16th. Jefferson, Wis. On
May 26th, was the first I saw, though I think it
came long ago. Waukon, Ia. First, April 17th. (?)

Nieur Hawk, (Chordetles popetue). St. Louis,
Mo. First, seen on May 15th, and also on the
16th and 18th, when there were a great many go-
ing north; numerous along the border of the

woods. Manhattan, Kans. First, April 14th.
Griggsville, Ill. First, (?) May 25th. Coralville,

Ja. First, May 7th. Polo, Il. First, May 11th.
Jefferson, Wis. First, saw one on May 21st, and
on the 31st found fresh eggs. Argusville, Dak.
First, May 29th.

GreAT BuuE Heron, (Ardea herodias). Fay-
etteville, Ark. A searce Winter resident along
streams. Anna, Ill. Remain only in mild Win-
ters, Manhattan, Kans. First, April 28th.
Liter, Ill. First, April 2d. Polo, Ill. First,
April 20th. Jefferson, Wis. First, April 11th.
Mitchell, Ia. One male on March 25th.
Elk River, Minn. Four seen April 7th, were the
first. [A pretty irregular record. |

AMERICAN Brrrern, (Botaurus lentiginosus).

seen

Fayetteville, Ark. First, March 31st. Anna, Ill.
Resident, according to Ridgway, in mild Winters.

Manhattan, Kans. First, (?) May 12th. Kansas
City, Mo. First, March 28th. Liter, Ill. First,

April 2d. Elk River, Minn. First, April 19th.
Argusville, Dak. First, April 22d.

The Social Life of Arctic Birds.

BY THE LATE DR. ALFRED E, BREHM.

(Popular Science Monthly.)

“When the great architect of the universe had
finished his favorite star, the earth, Satan aspired
to destroy it. From the seventh heaven he slung
down a great stone toward the blooming earth;
but an archangel, witnessing the wicked act, flew
down faster than the falling rock, and turned
itaside. The stone fell away up in the Northern
Sea, and was broken up. The fragments scatter-
ed on every side and formed cliffs, some of which
sunk in the deep, while others rose black out of
the waters. God in his infinite mercy piticd the
bare devil’s rock and made it fruitful.’ Thus
runs an ancient Lap legend. The rock is Scandi-
navia; the fragments are the innumerable islands
that surround it; and the fiords are the clefts be-
tween the larger stone and the fragments. One
should have seen the country, rowed through the
fiords, and gone down the icy mountains to the
lakes and bays, to appreciate the appropriateness
of the Saga.

Scandinavia is an Alpine country, and has, like
Switzerland and the Tyrol, majestic glaciers,
musical, dancing mountain brooks, and strong
rivers rushing over the blue slopes which are re-
flected in the transparent dark lakes. High up
among these lie the prettily poised dwellings of
the men, like Eagles’ nests stuck to the rocks.
To make the similarity with the Swiss Alps com-
plete, the green meadows are also not wanting in
Scandinavia ; and, while the northern mountains
do not resound with the exultant jodel, joyous,
fresh, melodious songs may be heard in the
valleys and on the heights. The difference he-
tween Switzerland and Scandinavia is neverthe-
less great, even if we only consider how the deep
sea cuts into the land and forms large bays which
receive, from the shadows thrown upon them by
the dark surrounding rocks, a mysterious yet not
fearful aspect.

The fiords of Norway are remarkable, but they
are not the most peculiar feature of the country ;
this is found in the innumerable islands which
rise more than a thousand metres above the sea,
or, planting their roots in the boundless deep, are
visible only at low water. These islands are

Dec. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

charming in the highest degree, and their peculiar
beauty approves itself when the sun is resting
below the horizon at midnight, and only a breath
of twilight sweeps over the masses overflowed by
the water. One might then well believe himself
in a scene of enchantment.

The farther the traveler advances beyond the
polar circle toward the north, the larger and more
comfortable are the houses, while in the south,
where the population is denser, they are of
slighter construction. Yet no furrow is turned,
no scythe is swung there; the sea is the ficld from
which man derives his living. At the parting of
day and night, when the sun goes away for
months, the men sail recklessly in their boats and
canoes to their anchoring places far up in the
north, and their spacious houses are quickly filled
with guests. Obeying the resistless drift, come
hosts of fishes out of the deepest deeps of the sea,
so that the net cast for them mocks the strength
of the Herculean men, or is torn under the bur-
den. The throng of the foolish fish is so dense
that an oar pushed perpendicularly through it re-
mains upright. Millions are caught, and millions
go on, so that there is no sign of a decrease in the
number. This migration of the fishes reaches its
extreme point at about Christmas time. No
pencil could reproduce the picture which the
polar sea exhibits at this season. Hundreds of
craft, manned with stalwart fishers, are being in-
cessantly filled with speckled prey; as far as the
eye can reach, nothing but fish, which crowd
and press upon one another to get to the breeding
place; the massive glacicrs and rock-built shores
in the background, and, as illuminants to the
scene, the ghostly moon and the crackling north-
ern lights. All this time there is also twilight
on the southern horizon, and toward February a
narrow strip of the sun shows itself again, gradu-
ally to rise higher. With the first appearance of
day the fishes begin to sink slowly in the fathom-
less depths. As the sky becomes brighter, the
sea and its bays become more quiet. The boats
cease to glide over the surface of the waters, the
fishermen go home with their spoil, and the
northern world lies silent, }asking in the beams
of the returning sun. But this quiet only lasts
for a few weeks, when new noisy, swarming
hosts come to the islands. They are the birds,
which come up from the sea to the land. Itisa
deeply poetic trait in the lives of these creatures
that only two causes determine them to seek terra
jirma—the power of love and the approach of

death. The sea bird, weather proof, lives on the
sea. He hunts his food by diving, swinging over

the billows, and sleeps and dreams with his head
hidden under his wings. But there comes a time

when the earlier sunbeams kiss the northern isl-
ands; then he is mightily moved in his soul, and
hastens to the coast to celebrate there his annual
wedding. And, when he feels that death is near,
he swims with his feeble limbs back to the place
of his birth, there to close his life. It is the same
feeling that inspires in aged men that ardent de-
sire to return to their old home to die and be
buried there. To the naturalist who goes to the
north to study the ways of the birds this trait in
their character is of peculiar interest. Of one of
the tribes of these colonists of the northern bird
mountain I must make particular mention. It is
the Eider Duck, the producer of down. It be-
longs to the family of the Ducks, and forms, so far
as bodily stature is concerned, one of the largest
species of the group. The plumage of the male
is handsome and brilliant. In it black, red,
ashen-gray, ice-green, white, brown, and yellow
are mingled with splendid effect. His head and
back are snow white, his neck is rose red, and the
lower part of his body is deep black. The female
is less richly colored, in a modest garment
adorned with gray and black spots and stripes.
The Eider Duck is a real sea bird, and is excelled
by none of its fellows in diving, while no other
bird is more awkward in flying and helpless in
walking. On the ground it moves with a toil-
some waddle, stumbles and falls flat; and it
greatly prefers the fluid element to the solid land.
The birds generally live during the Winter in
large flocks on the open sea, and feed themselves
with shell fish which they bring up from the bot-
tom. But, as soon as the Spring sun begins to
shine over the waves, the drake feels newly
awakened the old love in his heart for his mate,
and he renews his wooing. One pair after an-
other leave the host and swim steadily toward
the land. This wedding journey toward the
breeding place offers a pretty picture of conjugal
life. From the moment when the pair have
found one another again there rules only one
will, that of the Duck, to which the male yields
fully and without wavering. Quite noticeable
are his courteous attention and tenderness toward
his spouse, which Madame Duck takes, as matters
of course, in calm dignity. She steadily makes
toward the shore, and finally lands, hardly heed-
ing the cautions of her mate, whose instinct,
sharpened by the experiences of former journeys
he may have made, prompts him to beware of
the devices of men. Loyally he waddles into the
country, and follows her in her interminable
tours while she is looking for a suitable nesting
place. Madame shows an exceedingly dainty
taste during her explorations, carefully examin-
ing every bush, shrub, stone, and protected spot,

180

[Vol. 10-No. 12

venturing without fear into the dwelling houses,
even into the kitchens and chambers, where, if
she finds a spot to her taste, she does not hesitate
to take possession of it. Occasionally she will
fix her nest in the oven, leaving it to the worthy
matron of the establishment to find another place
to bake her bread. The thrift of the woman
generally gets the better of her vexation, and she
lets the fowl alone so as not to lose its down.
The nest is quickly built. The foundation is laid
with dry grass and straw, after which the Duck
strips herself of down and torms with it a thick
soft cushioned bowl. The drake follows every
step of his mistress during these excursions and
preparations, and looks out for her safety, with-
out, however, “lending a hand” in any of her
labors. As soon as the eggs are laid he deserts
nest and mate and flies off to the sea to join the
other males again. Great throngs of these grass
widowers may then be seen sailing among the isl-
ands, wholly unconeerned about what is going on
on the mainland. But we shall see how soon
they are driven from this careless life.

The Duck lays from four to eight, sometimes
indeed ten grayish-green eggs, and then begins to
sit upon them. The Northmen have been only
waiting for this time to gather their spoil. Thirty
Ducks’ nests furnish a pound of down, which can
be sold on the spot for thirty marks German, or
$7.50 American money. The eggs are also worth
money, and are generally sent to England. A Duck
colony of this kind is a capital, the income from
which is all clear gain, for the bird feeds itself
and costs nothine. As soon as the eggs are laid
the Northman appears with a great basket, into
which he puts nest and eggs. The Duck is deep-
ly distressed over this unrighteous seizure of her
property, and in her inexpressible agony flies out
to sea to seek comfort with her mate. Whether
he receives her with tender expressions of sym-
pathy or with scoldings for her neglect of his
warnings is still an unsolved problem; but it is
certain that he becomes tender again toward her,
and after a few weeks waddles back behind her
to the same bay where she had been so badly
treated. She again gathers straw and grass for
the new nest; but how about its warm lining ?
The new down has not grown upon her in so
short a time; what shall she do? There is no
mother, not even a Duck, that can not find her
way out of a difficulty when the question concerns
her offspring. Her breast is indeed bare, but her
mate still has his full coating of down, and is now
obliged to sacrifice it on the altar of affection.
He cheerfully adapts himself to the unavoidable,
and begins to strip himself. The process does
not go on fast enough for the impatient Duck,

and she helps in the work, and both persevere in
it till the drake stands out entirely bald. Then
he flies away and troubles himself no more about
wife and nest, an indifference for which we need
not blame him in view of his own forlorn condi-
tion. The Duck herself also thinks of only one
thing—her brood. She leaves the nest only once
a day fora little while in the morning, to take
her bath in the sea, plume herself, and get some
food; but while attending to these details she
does not forget to cover the eggs carcfully with
down, so as to keep them warm. Danger no
longer threatens the brood from man, who gen-
erally takes good care of this hatching to preserve

the species; but it is likely to come from birds of

prey. Under these circumstances the practical
value of the Duck’s simple duskily speckled coat
is fully demonstrated. The color of its plumage
agrees so well with that of the ground that it is
very hard to distinguish the bird from its sur-
roundings. It has happened to me more than
twenty times to be standing directly over a nest
and not remark it till I felt a gentle pecking at
the feet, which the bird gave me by way of warn-
ing that I was approaching too near; for ‘the
Duck hardly ever thinks of flying from man dur-
ing the time of its brooding. I have frequently
bent down over a nest, stroked the bird, and felt
the eggs without its rising. The most it would
do was to snap, as if in play, at my fingers.

A characteristic trait of the Eider Duck is to
have as many eggs as possible, whether they be
its own or strange ones; it is a trait that is not
found to exist to so great an extent in any other
being. The sitting birds steal one from another
whenever they have an opportunity. It is no un-
common occurrence, when one of them is away
from her nest for a little while, for her neighbor
to purloin three or four eggs, carry them to her
nest, and hatch them out with her own. The
robbed Duck discovers the theft immediately on
her return, but gives no sign of concern about it,
seeming to say, ‘‘We will wait till you go away,
and then I shall take my revenge.” Her time
comes at last; and thus no Duck knows whether
it is sitting on its own eggs or another's.

The young come out from the eggs at the end
of thirty-six days, but dv not stay in the nest any
longer than till they have become completely dry,
when the mother takes them to the sea, which
she does not leave till the young have become
tired in this their first swimming lesson, and can
no longer ride on the backs of the strong waves. It
is usually a considerable distance from the nest
to the shore, and the chicks are exposed to many
enemies in the shape of Hawks, Ravens, and

Dee. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

181

Gulls, which keep an eager lookout for them.
Now the Northman steps in with his protecting
hand and comes along with a pair of large
baskets, into one of which he puts the young
birds and into the other the precious down, while
he goes from nest to nest, examining them to see
in what ones the brood is ready to be removed.
Hence he takes the young ones to the sea, while
the mother waddles along behind, well knowing
where he is leading her. At the shore he turns
the basket over and goes away, leaving it to the
old birds to find their own. They plunge into
the flock, and each speedily gets as many of the
chicks as she can. After a few hours the family
bonds are closely sealed again, and each mother
has gathered her little ones around her, which she
treats with the most tender care, while they in re-
turn show the most grateful affection for her.
They go with the old ones into the water, crawl
around on their backs, and receive instruction in
swimming and diving for mussels, the mother in
the last exercise going down with a chick under
each wing. In the course of eight weeks the
young become fully instructed, and are ready to
begin the struggle for existence on their own ac-
count. Now appears the Herr Papa again upon
the scene, when there is nothing more to be done,
and proudly conducts the whole company over
the open sea to their winter home. Such is the
history of the best-known and most interesting of
the birds that people the mountains of the. North.
I have thought it proper to give in brief a clear
picture of its habits, because it forms in some re-
spects the central point of the motley, busy com-
pany. We will now sketch in broad outline a
general picture of one of these bird-mountains.
The Storm Gulls are inseparable from the Eider
Duck. If there are ten thousand pairs of Ducks
on a mountain, then the number of Gulls nesting
there will be at least fifty thousand. They come
rushing up in graceful, rapid flight, presenting a
pleasant aspect with their snow-white and dark-
colored feathers. They are the real but innocent
betrayers of the Eider colonies, for where Gulls
circle in great numbers around the island one is
sure to find nests of down. The host is further
increased by large flocks of a kind of Snipe which
are distinguished by their clear voices. They are
the police of the mountain, thé guardians of the
safety of the bird-republic; for as soon as they per-
ceive anything that betokens danger, say an ap-
proaching boat, they cry out in chorus and give
an alarm that instantly sets the whole population
in motion. The Gulls immediately send forth
scouts which go toward the boat, soaring, screech-
ing around it, swooping down upon it with the
speed of an arrow, and often touching the boat-

man with the tips of their pinions. The mass of
the army follows the scouts. They come by
thousands and thousands, in so thick masses as to
obscure the sun. The explorer is forced to come
to the shore veiled in this living, fluttering,
screeching, rushing cloud. The Ducks, if they
are not actually sitting, fly, the Snipes hastily
seek the sea, and the Wagtails follow in noisy
flight, but the host of Gulls stands firm, screams
and bustles and whirls and plunges, as if it could
prevent the advance by noise and sham fighting.
One may walk the shore and see nothing but
birds and nests, and hear nothing but the discord-
ant din of voices, accompanied by the thunderous
rushing of thousands of wings lashing the air.

A more quiet picture is afforded by the hill
where the Auks brood. They resemble the Eider
Duck in shape, except that their bills are sharp
and nof flat, like those of the latter. There are
three species of them, which are distinguised from
one another by the length of the bill and its eur-
vature. All three species live and brood in the
same places. I was told of a mountain where a
million of them had built their nests. Iam sure
of one thing—that no man has ever seen a million
birds, even though he has traveled over half the
earth. Doubting the accounts, I visited the de-
scribed mountain. On a bright Summer day my
companion and myself took a boat and rowed
toward it, over the smooth, transparent water, be-
tween beautiful islands, followed by the screech-
ing of the startled Gulls. High above us on a
towering ridge we saw the watchful Ospreys; by
our side, on right and left, along the shore-cliffs,
the sitting Eider Ducks. Finally we came to the
populous part of the mountain, which is from
three hundred and twenty to three hundred and
thirty feet high, and saw really immense numbers
of birds sitting on the ridges. The higher parts of
the cone were covered with a brown spoonwort,
and as we approached the shore the birds drew
back thither, and suddenly disappeared from view
as if by concerted agreement. When we had
reached the shore and landed, and were wonder-
ing what had become of the hosts of birds, we
found the ground burrowed all over with holes
that looked like common rabbit-holes. We soon
learned that they were the entrances to the nest-
chambers of the Auks. The holes are large
enough to permit the birds to pass through, and
then widen on the inside so as to give room for the
nest and the two birds. As we climbed toward
the height, the tenants first carcfully and anxious-
ly peered at us, then slipped out and threw them-
selves screaming into the sea, which was soon
covered, as far as the eye could reach, with birds
whose cry resembled the noise of a gigantic surf

182

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10--No, 12

or of a raging storm. At last we reached the top
of the mountain, where two Falcons that had been
soaring over our headsswooped down like arrows
into the swimming mass; each seized an Auk in
its claws, and then rose slowly toward the clouds.
But the sea extended its wide, dark blue, bare sur-
face before the eye, for the white swarm of birds
had disappeared, having dived down beneath the
protecting waves. After one or two minutes one
arose, then a second, and a third, and so on in
quick succession, and, as they thus gradually ap-
peared on the surface, they looked like flecks of
white foam. With marvelous rapidity the little
dots increased, till soon it was only here and there
that a strip of water could beseen. The screech-
ing began anew, and the birds arose again from
the water and moved toward the heights. We had
sat down; the rustling, like that of the surf, and
the monotonous cry of the birds, had lulled us
gradually into a deep sleep. When we awoke
and opened our eyes we could have believed that
we were transported into a fairy land. In num-
bers like the sand on the sea-shore, the Auks were
squatting at our feet and down to the edge of the
water, and curiously looking at us. We were the
giants of the fairy story; they were the dwarfs,
who dwelt in the secret caves of the mountain.
The millions were there, if one could judge by the
eye alone, but it is probable that, on an exact
count, they would be many thousands short.

The Auk lives a life of strict monogamy. It is
to his beloved old wife, the flame of his youth, that
he gives his attentions on every returning Spring.
The old Auk is a constant, loving spouse, a pattern
of a husband, and it is really a pity that the nu-
merical relation of the sexes is such that not every
young male can mate himself, and many are com-
pelled to wander through life in compulsory
bachelorhood. Particularly painful is the condi-
tion of the solitary one when the pairs go to the
mountain in the Spring. What shall he do?
Shall he alone or with other morose companions
wear out his life on the high sea? No, that would
be suicide. He follows the bridal trains to the
mainland and has at least a happy company
around him, and may always hope that one of the
males may perish, and he then in some possible
way find favor in the eyes of the widow. The
Auks return every year to their old nests, which
they readily distinguish, and the young, newly
mated pairs build themselves new nests, or take
possession of old ones whose owners have gone
the way of all fiesh. The male keeps watch at the
entrance, while the female sets the house in order
and lays her single egg, which is sat upon for
about three weeks and a half. The female sits
twenty-one hours a day, and the male ought to sit

three hours, but he never does it, at least not in
the beginning. As soon as the female goes away
he rushes after her in a spasm of jealousy, for the
young fellows are lurking around in all the cor-
ners and at all points. But this neglect of duty
by the house-tyrant brings no harm to the egg.
The nearest young fellow nimbly slips into the
nest, and keeps the egg suitably warm till the
mother returns. Shall he not also have a little
satisfaction when the others are sipping the joys
of life in full draughts? There are no orphans
among the Auks. If a pair happen to die, the
young fellows will hatch the egg out, or, if the
chick is already hatched, they will take care of it.
The early instruction of the chick is a matter of
patience, time and trouble. As soon as it is dry,
the parents take it to a cliff by the sea-shore and
spring down, while the young one remains stand-
ing above and not knowing what to do in his help-
less condition. The old ones call, but he does not
follow, for he is afraid of the leap and of the
strange element. Father and mother repeat the
leap again and again, and encourage the timid
one. The young bird follows at last, not ventur-
ing upon the leap, but in a kind of desperate
mood letting himself fall. As soon as he has
touched the swinging wave he feels at home, and
begins to swim bravely, the parent keeping by
him, so as to give him rest on their backs when
he is tired.

A quite different spectacle is presented by those
mountains which are principally inhabited by a
peculiar species of Gull, To observe one of them
I made a special excursion into Lapland. I had
at the time a design of writing a book on the life
of birds, and had read in some work about Three-
toed Gulls that nested in the bird-mountains in
such multitudes “that they darkened the sun when
they rose, completely covered the mountain when
they sat down upon it, deafened the ears when
they screeched, and turned the verdure-clad rocks
white where they were sitting.” There are only
three such mountains known—one in Lapland,
one in Iceland, and one in Greenland. The one
in Lapland, which is much the most remarkable,
lies out of the course of the steamer, and we were
therefore obliged to charter a special boat to reach
it. A storm compelled us to go into a harbor of
refuge. When the tempest had abated, about
midnight, we continued our voyage. The waves
were still high, and single Gulls shot before and
around us like dazzling white flashes. All at
once, at Cape Svaerholm, not far from the North
Strait, there rose before us a great black cliff. It
looked like a large marble table covered with
millions of little white points that shone like stars.
We fired a shot at them, when, as soon as the re-

si
hoe
— so

Dec. 1885.]

183

AND OOLOGIST.

port had ceased, these became living birds, pure
white Gulls, and sunk in a few minutes hastily
down to the sea in so compact a throng that I
might have thought a snow storm had broken
loose and was pouring its immense flakes down
from the sky. For a few minutes it snowed birds
as far as one could see. The surge rolled wild,
but it was the euphonious accompaniment of the
rustling of the wings and of the shrieks of the
frightened sea-birds. As far as the eye could
reach the waves were covered with the foam-born
children of the sea, and the cliff and the mountain
were as white-dotted as before. Yet these were
only the males, which had rushed away on the
approach of danger.

Fall Migrants at Raleigh, N.C.

AS OBSERVED BY H. H. AND C. 8. BRIMLEY IN 1885.

Olive-backed Thrush, (Hylocichla swainsoni).
Only one seen this Fall, on Oct. 7th and 21st.

Blue Yellow-back, (Parula americana). Lrather
think this species must Summer here, but this
year observed none from the end of May till Aug.
26th, and they were seen from that date till Sept.
29th, but were not as common as in the Spring.

Black-throated Green, Chestnut-sided and
Blackburnian Warblers were only observed on
Sept. 25, (when one of the first, three of the sec-
ond and two of the third were procured,) and
Black-and-Yellow only on Sept. 24th, (one taken).

Water Thrush, (Siwrus ne@vius). Quite scarce
this Fall; first one seen on Aug. 17th, Jast seen
on Sept. 29th.

Golden-crowned Thrush, (Sturus auricapillus).
Arrived on Sept. 4th, and from that time one or
two seen about every other day till Oct. 28d.

Black-poll Warbler, (Dendraea striata). Arrived

on Oct. Ist; became common on Oct. 8th; con- °

tinued common till Oct. 16th, last one seen Oct.
17th. The Black-polls fed largely on caterpillars
while here this Fall.

Black-throated Blue Warbler, (Dendraca ceru-
lescens). Three only seen this Fall; Oct. 7th (¢),
15th (¢), 16th (4).

Blue-headed Vireo, (Lanivireo solitarius). First
one seen on Aug. 31st, another on Sept. 25th and
two more, the last of the season, on Oct. 31st.

Bobolink, (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). Quite scarce
this Fall; arrived on Aug. 31st, and after that
only seen on Sept. Ist and 9th. Usually rather
common both Spring and Fall.

Towhee, (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). Arrived
Oct. 15th and became common the next day; on

he 17th only two were observed, and a few were

seen throughout the remainder of the month and
the early part of November.

Black-billed Cuckoo, (Coceyzus erythrophthal-
mus). One was shot on Sept. 23d, the only one
observed here by us since May, 1882.

Red-headed Woodpecker, (Melunerpes erythro-
cephalus). Three seen on Sept. 24th, one on Oct.
17th, and a few more during the latter part of Oc-
tober, but the species was less common than usual
this Fall.

Rusty Grackle, (Scolecophagus ferrugineus). A
small flock of half a dozen seen on Oct. 27th, and
again on Nov. 2d; this bird is not as a rule com-
mon with us, but almost invariably occurs in
small numbers in the Spring, and less often in
the Fall.

Crow Blackbird, (Quiscalus purpureus). The
first of the season was shot Oct. 29th, and no
more were seen till Nov. 2d, when a flock of
about forty were seen. Small flocks were seen
throughout the early part of November, but the
species never became common.

Wilson’s Snipe, (Gallinago wilsoni). An un-
usually early arrival of this species was observed on
Novy. 4th The species usually occursin small num-
bers in December, and is not as a rule seen again
till March, when it is usually common.

Red-bellied Nuthatch, (Sita canadensis), A
single specimen of this species was observed on
Oct. 31st, and again on Nov. Ist.

The migrating birds have now (Noy. 15th) all
left us with the exception of a few Towhees and
Blackbirds. One very late straggler, a Black-and-
White Creeper, was captured on Nov. 10th, more
than a month since we had recorded (as we sup-
posed) the last of the species.

Our Winter visitors have nearly all arrived
now, both varieties of Kinglets being present in
large numbers, though the Brown Creeper has
been quite rare so far this Winter. Shrikes have
been unusually scarce this Fall, only two (Sept.
17th and 19th) having been observed so far, while
Cedarbirds have added one more instance of the
regularity of their irregularity by turning up in
small numbers in the early part of November, one
of the periods at which the experience of other
years has led us to expect them. ;

————————————————

American Velvet Scoter in Wis-
consin.

I recently obtained an American Velvet Scoter
(Melanetta Velvetina,) near this place. This is the

second record of its occurrence in the interior of
the State. —C. F. Carr, Madison, Wis.

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 12

Seda EAS
é < te
ORNITHOLOGIST

OOLOGIST.

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF

NEA UR Avie Et LS dO In Ye,

ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF

BIRDS.
THEIR NESTS AND EGGS.

DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRD LIFE.

FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher,
PAWTUCKET, R. I.

Editor’s Notes.

Our issue this month brings us to the
close of our tenth volume—five volumes of
“The Oologist,” and five of the “The Or-
nithologist and Oologist.” This period of
ten years is a long one for the existence of
a Magazine which appeals only to a small
class in the community, aclass widely scat-
tered and difficult to get at. We have en-
deavored, with what success our readers
must be the judges, to meet their wants
and to provide for them an opportunity for
the interchange of their observations.
What our Magazine lacks is adequate sup-
port. For this we have striven so far in
vain, but always hoping for an improvement
in the not distant future. :

This month completes Dr. Morris Gibbs’
“Catalogue of the Birds of Kalamazoo
County, Mich,” also Prof. Cooke's series of
the “Mississippi Valley Migration,” both
of which form permanent records for future
reference—the former as it contains a list
of the birds of that locality complete so far
as now known—the other a series of obser-
vations on the annual travels of certain of
our best known and most widely scattered
varieties. Our best thanks are due to these
gentlemen for their continued efforts, as
also to our other friends who from time to

time have provided us with articles. » It has
always been our endeavor to fill our col-
umns with original communications, and
for these whenever they possess any fea-
tures which we deem of general interest,
we will gladly find space.

I have received many valuable hints from
readers of the O. and O. in connection with
the articles on Taxidermy now in prepara-
tion, also inquiries in regard to them. It
is my intention, if possible to give an arti-
cle on mounting [Stuffing] birds in the
January number, one on small animals in
February, and complete the series in March
and April. After that all the articles to-
gether with those on Entomology by
Messrs. Wright and Bates, one on Oology
by M. Abbott Frazar, which will shortly
appear, will be reprinted in book form.

I was induced to give the readers of the
“O. and O.” the benefit of a first perusal
of my notes. I have to acknowledge the
receipt of an ingenious stand to hold
birds, from EK. V. Clemmens, Esq., and an
article on preserving badly damaged speci-
mens, by James Speed, Jr., to both of which
future reference will be made. Useful
criticism in regard to my methods will be
gladly recorded. F. B. Wesster.

Oology of New England.

It gives us pleasure to announce that a
long needed want has a prospect of being
supplied. We refer to an illustrated work
on Bird’s Eggs. Mr. E. A. Capen has been
engaged in an undertaking which in itself
is of a magnitude well calculated to debar
any private individual, except one of more
than ordinary skill and determination.
From the proofs that are to-day handed
to us, we are fully satisfied it will obtain
well merited success. With artistic and
natural skill, he has painted in oil, some
three hundred and twenty-three full-size
sketches, representing all the species of
eggs that are known to have been taken in
New England. These have been repro

185

Forbes Lithograph Co., which is another
guarantee of high excellence] covering 25
plates, size 10x14. In glancing over the
sheets, our attention is especially attracted
to the one containing the Murres, Lomvia
troile. It is well known to our readers
that the eges of these birds present the
greatest variation From the dark brown,
heavily blotched, to the dark green, with
the intermediates of almost white. These
are represented by four illustrations, which
when compared with the actual specimens
can be fully appreciated. The next no-
ticeable plate is that which embraces the
Terns, that of the Arctic with its rich
shades of brown. does full credit to both
artist and bird.

The egg of the Solitary Sandpiper, by
almost a chance, finds itself in line. Mr.
C. informs us that he could find only one
set, on record as taken within his limit.

Great care is indicated in selecting typi-
cal specimens. Accuracy in color, size and
shape together with the bas-relief effect,
caused by the tinted background, are just
what is wanted by our young collectors.

In addition to the plates, Mr. Capen has
compiled a brief and thorough description
of each, together with the nests and breed-
ing habits of the birds. While it is intended
to cover the birds that breed in New Eng-
land, it must not be overlooked that this
means the common birds east of the Mis-
sissippi to a great extent. The moderate
rate for a work of this description at which
it is offered, we trust will be the means of
placing it in every library and in the hands
of collectors.

We are glad that enterprises of this
kind, are not confined to the few and shall
look forward to an endorsement that will
enable Mr. Capen at no far distant day, to
give us a companion volume which will
complete that which others have failed to
attempt. ES BW.

American Ornithologists’ Union.

The third annual meeting of the Union was
held on Nov. 17 and 18, at the American Museum
of Natural History, New York City. Among the
members present were Messrs. J. A. Allen, R.
Ridgway, W. Brewster, W. W. Cooke, O.
Widmann, Dr. C. H. Merriam, A. K. Fisher,
Hi. A. Purdie and E. P. Bicknell. The princi-
pal interest of the meeting centered in the discus-
sions which arose over the various papers pre-
sented. Mr. Arthur P, Chadbourne presented a
series of colored charts, showing the distribution
of each species of birds in New England and
Eastern British America. <A very spirited discus-
sion ensued over the question, whether in color-
ing such maps, we should be guided wholly by
the printed records, or be allowed in some cases
to generalize from known habits. It was con-
cluded, that in all but the most common and
widely dispersed species, about which there could
not be a shadow of a doubt, no color should be
put on such charts, beyond that attested by fully
substantiated records.

Mr. Bicknell showed a chart, representing in
very clear and easily understood symbols, the
periods of residence and song of different species
at any given place. The method is capable of be-
ing extending to any number of localities, and
hence to the tabulating of the notes collected by
the corps of migration observers. Other methods
of tabulating these reports were presented by Mr.
Dutcher and Mr. Wheaton. The question being
broached of the best methods for keeping field
notes, several methods were given, the best of
which seems to be Mr. Brewster’s card method,
according to which the notes are written continu-
ously on cards temporarily bound, and at the end
of the season the cards are disconnected and dis-
tributed so that those on like subjects shall be
together.

The wholesale slaughter of birds for millinery
purposes brought nearly every one present to his
feet with plans for its suppression. One interest-
ing feature of the meeting was the account by
Mr. Brewster of his observations carried on at
lighthouses during the season of migration. By
means of these observations the speaker had pene-
trated deeper into some of the secrets in the life of
the small night migrating birds than any one else
has yet done. His account of what he saw was
most entertaining and valuable, and opens a new
chapter in the history of our birds.

After a pleasant and very profitable two days’
meeting, the Union adjourned to meet next year
at Washington.

186

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 12

Practical Taxidermy.

BY FRANK B. WEBSTER.

CHAPTER IV.—SKINNING.

We will select a Bluebird from the lot, and take
it to the work room, Taking our medium scal-
pel, long-nose plyers, fine forceps, scissors and
brain spoon, we will proceed with the

SKINNING OPERATION.

Lay the bird on its back. With the fine forceps
remove the cotton from its throat, and refill with
fresh cotton. Part the feathers right and left,
exposing the bare skin on the stomach from the
breast bone to the vent, and cut lengthways
B. [Fig. 1,] with scalpel. Avoid if possi-
ble, cutting through the second skin or sack
which holds the intestines. [ Varéation.—In sea
fowl the feathers cover the entire skin and the
cut must be made through them; it can be done
with scalpel or scissors—if with the latter, insert
at A and cut along to B.]

Now push the skin from the body to the right
till the joint C is exposed; cut it and draw out
the leg till you get to where the meat ends, U;
cut the meat at this point and strip it off the bone.
Taking hold of the foot draw it back in place,
the bone will then be clean and loose. [See fig. 2.]
Repeat this operation with the left leg ; cutting
at D, drawing out to U, cleaning the bone and
drawing back. Both legs now hang loosely in the
skin. Next push the skin from the body to the
vent, B, lift the bird with the left hand, stand it
on its head end and bend the tail over backwards,
and with scissors cut the vertebra between the
body and the end or knob that holds the tail
feathers at B....B. [Fig. 3.] Use care not to
cut the knob V, [Fig. 3,] for by doing so the tail

feathers will fall out; also be careful not to cut
through the skin on the back. Just press the
scissor points till you have the vertebra between
them. There is a joint at this place—an expert
will sever it with the scalpel. “ Thds is the first
snag you strike.”

Take the body with the plyers at the place
where the vertebra has been cut, hold it firmly
with the plyers in the right hand, and with the left
thumb and finger push the skin down towards
the head, both on back and breast till the wing
joints are reached. Drop the plyers. Plyers are
only used in handling small birds, where the
fingers would be in the way. In skinning very
large birds many hang them up by fastening
hooks in the body. Medium sized birds require
neither. Cut the wing joints at E and F, [Fig.
1]. Without stopping to clean proceed to skin
to the skull. Lay the bird down skin towards
you, and by using the nails of both forefingers to
pull, and at the same time pushing with both
thumbs, the skin will slide over the large part of
the skull. Work carefully, bear evenly on both
sides and be steady. Should the skin break it
must be sewed up after the skinning is completed,
and before poisoning, by overcast stitches on the
wrong side. Then with point of scalpel pick the
ear skin from the ear hole H, [Fig. 1,] and cut
the skin from the eye, being careful not to cut the
eye-lid, Then skin to base of bill, G. [Figs. 1
and 5.] Remove the eyeballs and cut off the
skull at K....K [Fig. 5,] at the angle shown in
figuie 5 A. Draw out the tongue and windpipe,
and the body will be separated from the skin.
[Poison it and give it to the cat.] Clean the
brain from the skull cavity with brain spoon.
Next go back to the wing joint E, draw it out to
W, and part the skin so as to expose the meat

Explanation of Pen

Fig. 1.—Shows bird partly skinned.

A.—End of breast bone.

B.—Vent.

C and D.—Leg bones, second joint from foot.

U—U.—End of same bones.

E and F.—Wing bones—body joints.

G.—Base of bill.

H.—Ear.

V.—End of Vertebra.

Fig. 2.—Shows leg.

C, D to U.—Bone that is left in skin.

Fig. 3.—Shows tail.

B—B.—Place to sever vertebra.

V.—End of vertebra and socket of the quills
of the tail feathers.

Fig. 4—Shows wings.

Sketch.
E to W.—Bone that is cleaned and left in skin.
W to X.—Two bones, cleaned and left in wing.
Fig. 5.—Shows skull. ‘
G.—Base of bill.
H—H.—Ear holes.
K—K.—Place to cut skull.
H—H to G.—Part of skull left in skin.
Fig. 5a.—Side view of same.
K—K.—Same cut as in Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.—Wing bones, E and F to W. [See Fig.
4.] This shows them tied. Use thread for small

birds.
The old story of the school @PoY who made a

drawing and wrote the necessary description,
“this is a cow,” has a moral which should be duly
considered by many us.

Dec. 1885.] AND OOLOGIST. 187

188

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 12

from W to X [Fig. 4,]; clean the bone E to W,
and cut away what you can of the meat from W
to X. It is not necessary to take every particle
of meat. I leave the cords, they help to hold the
wing firmly when dry. Be sure the poison is
well applied at the proper time. Repeat this in
like manner with the other wing, F to W and W
to X. Many skin the wing from W to the tip
beyond X. This can be done by starting the
skin by pressing flrmly at the point W, side
towards the quills. When it starts it can easily
be skinned the rest of the way. I do notasa
rule do this; it sometimes displaces the wing
feathers so that it takes time to make them
smooth. In large birds I only clean the bone
to W, and after the bird is all skinned and turned
back, I open the wing on the outside under part
from W to X, remove meat, poison and sew up
the cut.

The skinning is now completed. Poison by
brushing dry preservative over all the parts (flesh
side) with the rabbit’s foot. For large birds use
arsenical soap. Fill the eye cavity in the skull
with cotton, about as full as when the eye was in.
Your skin is now completely inside out. To turn
it begin by pressing the skull back, exactly the
reverse of skinning it. When in far enough so
that the bill can be taken hold of from the out-
side, do so and work it firmly and carefully till
drawn through. In the same way handle the
wings and legs [leg bone being drawn out to
poison]. Run your forceps in the eye holes and
lift the skin from the skull. Round the eye holes
out, smooth the feathers, brush them with your
rabbit's foot; sometimes lifting the bird by the
bill and shaking gently helps. Lay the bird on
its back ; take the two wing bones E and F, and
tie them with thread about the same distance
apart as they would naturally be. [Fig. 6.] Ifin
skinning you are interrupted before you have
time to turn the’skin, and it gets dry before you
resume, wet the inside carefully with water ap-
plied with a small brush. Do not use too much
so as to wet the feathers. This will in a minute
soften the skin. It could not be turned without
doing it. When soap is used the skin does not
dry as quickly as with the powder.
is now done.

I will repeat the points in a more condensed
form, hoping to avoid the confusion which fre-
quently results from attempting to follow a re-
ceipt or rule.

Your skin

IN BRIEF.

Lay bird on back.

Replace the cotton in throat and beak.
Part feathers and cut from breast to vent.
Cut leg joints and skin legs.

Bend tail over back and cut vertebra severing
tail from body.

Skin body to wings.

Cut wings from body.

Skin to skull and over it.

Draw out ears and cut away from eyes.

Skin to bill.

Take out eyes.

Cut off skull.

Sever body, drawing tongue with it.

Clean out brain.

Clean wing bones.

Poison skin.

Fill eye sockets with cotton.

Turn skin.

Tie wing bones.

VARIATIONS.

Fig. 7.—With hardly an exception, if the bird
is fresh the skin can be turned over the skull.
There are, however, some cases where the skull is
large and the neck small, such as in Ducks and
Woodpeckers. Ifit isa bad case or the feathers
are inclined to start, when you have skinned to
the skull cut off the body at the neck, complete
skinning (except head) and poison, turn skin.
From the outside make a cut in the skin from the
top of the head, about between the eyes to just
below the skull, O....O0, draw out skull through
this opening, clean in manner previously de-
scribed, put skull back and sew up cut from the
outside. Avoid this if possible, as it causes con-
siderable extra work to make as smooth as when
done in the other way. Never do it to a Flicker
as the head can always be turned. I seldom do
it to a Wood Duck. Many assist the process by
cutting away part of the skull before skinning it,
(skinning till it is exposed); also by crushing the
skull. It is however done at the risk of hurting
the feathers. Good perseverance is better.

TIME REQUIRED.

I receive many letters asking how long it
should take to skin certain birds. Well, it de-
pends on the nature of the workman, All horses
cannot trot inside of three minutes. Ata rough
estimate I should say, under favorable circum-
stances :

Canary, quick, 5 minutes; slow, 10 minutes.

Flicker, i" "38 ef as) og

Pigeon, ieee Is cy eA ie

Eagle, 1 hour.

Hawks and Ducks, 20 to 40 minutes.

I have seen Terns skinned, poisoned and turned
ready to stuff, in less than three minutes.

Our skin is now ready to stuff or mount. We
can do it at once, or if it is not convenient, it may
be put away in a damp or sweat box. Your

Dec. 1885.]

AND OOLOGIST.

189

patience, perhaps, being now taxed, we will
make our sweat box. Take a pine box say 12
inches deep, 12 inches wide and 24 inches long.
Fill it to depth of 5 inches with sawdust. This
we will wet thoroughly, not so that the sawdust
will float, but next door to it. Place this on the
cellar bottom, lay our skin on the sawdust, cover
the box with wet carpet, (not so wet as to drip)
place the cover over the carpet. Our skin will
keep in this way from two to five days, and some-
times longer, fresh and soft. This is the same
box we shall use in softening up dried skins. In
it we place our skin and take a rest.
a ee

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

(Zamelodia ludoviciana.)

CARR, MADISON, WIS.

BY Cc. F

This fine representative of its family is now one
of the common birds of Waupaca County, Wis-
consin. <A few years back, it was comparatively
Tare.

In September, 1878, I captured my first speci-
men, it was, however, mutilated beyond preserva-
tion, as I was within ten feet of it when I shot. I
could only find a part of the rose breast and a
small portion of its head, but ample enough for
identification beyond a doubt. For two years
after I only saw it occasionally during the migra-
tions. Then I was absent during the next two
years, but upon my return I found it quite com-
mon about the streets and borders of the villages,
even nesting in the shrubbery in the door-yards.

The farmers in that vicinity call it the “Pea
Bird” on account of it’s destroying green peas,
and about the village gardens it soon ruins a
“patch” of peas. It tears open the pods and takes
out part of the peas. If it would make clean
work of it, it would have a better reputation, but it
scarcely ever takes more than one or two peas
from one pod, and then goes to the next, and so
on from day to day.

It generally visits the gardens early in the
morning before the people are about, nor does the
old time “scare crow” frighten it away. After the
first morning it generally takes stones and “clubs.”
We added a number of fine specimens to our cabi-
net by watching a small “pea patch” that we culti-
vated, until the neighbors complained at being
awakened from their morning slumber by the re-
port of a gun, and threatened to enforce the law.
T have always found its nest in a slender sapling
situated from six to twelve feet from the ground.
Both nest and eggs are too well known to merit
description here.

Catalogue of the Birds of Kalamazoo
County, Michigan.

BY DR. MORRIS GIBBS.—PART X.

214. [617.] ABthyia vallisneria (Wils.) Boie.
Canvas-back. A straggler from the great lakes ;
occasionally taken on our small inland lakes. A
very strong flyer and early taken. Usually asso-
ciates with the Redhead while here. Taken late
in the Fall.

215. [618.] -@thyia americana (Eyt.) Bp.
Redhead. Abundant transient. Common about
April 15th and November ist. Observed from
April 2d to 19th, and from October 28th to No-
vember 19th. Never summers.

216, [620.] Clangulaglaucium americana (Bp.)
Ridgw. American Golden-eye. A rare species
in Spring and Fall, but often quite common in
December and February, occasionally throughout
the Winter months, when the river is open in
spots. A very hardy species, usually leaving us
in early March and not appearing till very late
Fall. Much like ZZ. glaeéulis in its habits and
times of visitations.

217. [621.] Clangula albeola (Linn.) Steph.
Butterball; Bufflehead. A very common species.
Arrives in Spring before ice is gone and remains
for a month or more in small flocks or pairs.
Again appears in Fall about September 20th, and
remains frequently until November 20th, and oc-
rasionally much later. A tough, swift-flying
Duck and hard to kill trom its skill in diving.

218. [623] Harelda glacialis (Liun.) Leach.
Long-tailed Duck; Old Squaw. A rare Winter
straggler, only twice observed to my knowledge.
A flock appeared the 14th and 24th of last Febru-
ary, and a few specimens were taken. Only ap-
pears from the north during severe weather and
when the streams are nearly all frozen over.
While here the thermometer registered 26° to 30
below zero,

219. [681.] Melanettu fusca (Linn.) Boie. Vel-
vet Scoter. Once taken by Mr. Syke. A rare
transient. ’

920. [634.] Hrismatura rubida (Wills.) Bp.

Ruddy Duck. A very common but rather irregu-
lar migrant. Have not often met with it in the
Spring, but it is exceedingly abundant some Falls.
Keeps in large flocks. The birds dive well and
are difficult to hit and afterwards to bag. It ar-
rives in early April and is never common during
Spring migration to my knowledge. Have seen
it as late as April 14th. It again appears about
October 15th and becomes abundant by Novem-

190

[Vol. 10-No. 12

ORNITHOLOGIST

ber first, and is observed after the last of the | A common resident from April 1st to Nov. 1st.

month. A hardy species. Never summers here.

221. [636.] Mergus merganser americanus
(Cass.) Ridgw. American Sheldrake. I have ob-
served this bird every month of the year except-
ing June, July and August. It may nest here, as
it certainly does les$ than fifty miles north, but I
have failed to prove it. It frequents open streams
in Winter, and appears at home in our ice-cold
rivers in January. Is quite abundant in early
April and November.

222. [6387.] Mergus serrator Linn. Red-
breasted Sheldrake. A rare and irregular migrant.
Not often taken.

223. [638.] Lophodytes cucullatus (Linn.)
Reich. Hooded Sheldrake. An irregular mi-
grant. Occasionally abundant during Spring and
Fall. Appears more often on our rivers than on
the lakes. Arrives the first week in April. A
very handsome bird, but not good for the table by
any ordinary course of cooking.

224. [666a.] Larus argentatus smithsonianus
Coues. American Herring Gull. Common dur-
ing Spring migration, when considerable numbers
are seen feeding around the edges of the lakes on
the ice. Not so many seen in the Autumn. Ob-
served in February some seasons, although gen-
erally seen first in March. Remains until May
first in some instances. Appears in late Septem-
ber and remains for a month in pairs or singly.

225. [675.] Larus philadelphiw (Ord.) Gray.
Bonaparte’s Gull. A rather rare species, ocea-
sionally taken around our inland lakes. Never
summers.

226. [686.] Sterna fluviatilis Naum. Common
Tern. A rare straggler. In May 1884, about the

middle of the month, fifty or more appeared at
Long Lake, where they bad never been seen be-
fore. They all left soon after. On the 24th of the
month two more were seen, one of which was shot.
[732.] Dytes auritus (Linn.) Ridgw.
Morned Grebe. A rare transient, only a few times
captured during Spring and Autumn. Found on
our lakes and ponds, and like the next, an expert
diver. lave seen it as late as June Ist, once.

227.

228. [735.] Podilymbus podiceps (Linn.) Lawr.
Thick-billed Grebe; Common Grebe; Dabchick;
Hell Diver; Carolina Grebe. A very abundant
species Spring and Autumn, arriving as early as
March 10th some seasons. Remains as late as
May 20th in some numbers. A few remain to
breed, but I have never taken the eggs, although
they have been taken in an adjoining county, Re-
mains until Noy. ist, generally; sometimes until
December 20th.

229. [736.] Colymbus torquatus Brunn. Loon.

Often arrives in February in open Winters, and
remains till Christmas some years. Nest, laying
two large eggs, which are lain ina roughly formed
hollow on a bog well out from shore.

280. [740.] Colymbus septentrionalis Linn.
Red-throated Diver. Almost a yearly visitor to
our rivers. Have never observed them later than
April 25th. Only remain so late after severe
Winters and the streams are frozen to the north.
Usually appear in January or early February, and
remain until March 80th. Never seen on the
lakes and ponds tomy knowledge. Nearly always
seen in flocks of five to ten, sometimes more, A
swift flyer and very Wary.

This concludes the list of Kalamazoo County
birds. If any of the readers detect errors, it will
be considered a favor by the writer if corrections
are offered. As new species are added to this
catalogue the same will be presented through the
columns of the O. and O. G.

Sketches from Terrebonne Parish,
Louisiana.

BY E. C. W.

A pair of Little Screech Owls, last Spring,
made their residence in my Pigeon house. I
visited the house April 6th, and, as I looked
through the door, perceived a pair of yellow eyes
staring at me from the darkness within. I re-
moved their owner, a female Little Sereech Owl,
who was complacently sitting in a Pigeon’s nest.
I liberated her, and appropriated the eggs—the
usual complement of four.

Those versatile songsters, the Mockingbirds,
build their nests in forest, field and town, at alti-
tudes between two and fifteen feet. The Mock-
ingbird’s breeding season begins about the 15th
of March, but this year, owing to a late Spring,
I did not observe a clutch of eggs until April 6th.

Contemporary with the Mockingbirds in sea-
son of breeding are the House Wrens. I observed
the first completely fledged young of this species
this year on the 9th of April. These Wrens
breed here in profusion; and they are not par-
ticular as to where they build their nests, for I
have found them breeding in woodland stumps,
mortices in fence posts, old cattle skulls, and two
of my friends, not given to oological inquiry,
have found a nest apiece in the pockets of their
respective coats which hung, unused, on pegs in
their rooms.

The Maryland Yeliowthroat, that vivacious
little member of our avi-fauna, finds the black-

Dec. 1885.]

191

berry bushes a secure place to fix its nest in.
walk through a patch of berry bushes in April,
May and June, before the berry pickers are
abroad, will certainly startle some from their
briery retreat. Make an opening in the side of
this dome-shaped berry bush from whence our
bird has flown, and there—surely, if that is not
a pretty nest, and if our bird has no idea of
wsthetics, it is capable of accidentally arriving at
wonderful results in the harmonious arrangement
of forms and colors.

The Purple Martins, every year, take possession
as a habitation, of the projecting ledges of the
capitals, over the columns, of the court house
gallery, in the town of Houma. Here, every
season, two or three successive broods of young
are raised by each pair. Sometimes the town
boys of the neighborhood wickedly assault them
with missiles; but the space between the ledges
and the gallery ceiling being only four or five
inches, the nests do not suffer much damage.
Those who esteem the Martins here, every Spring
prepare gourds and erect them on poles, which
are readily occupied.

The Blue Yellow-backed Warbler and the
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher are two species of our
principal breeding birds; but their nests are diffi-
cult to discover on account of the exuberance of
moss and foliage of our trees, amongst which
these birds breed.

Least Bitterns are very numerous in our
swamps and bayous. They are commonly known
here by the less euphonious name of Cap Cap.
While inspecting a deserted Heronry last May,
I started a Least Bittern from one of the old nests.
I examined the nest and found therein its four
eggs.

Purple Gallinules breed among the rushes of
our bayous and swamps, principally during May
and June. The young of this beautiful aquatic
bird, when unfledged, resemble young turkeys.
They follow their mother, walking on the grassy
surface of the water, in her wanderings in search
of crayfish, snails, etc.

A pair of Yellow-billed Cuckoos built a nest in
our orchard last July. This nest—a lining of
moss resting on a few sticks—was situated in the
topmost fork of a Fig tree branch, eleven feet
from the ground. Alas! the luscious figs that
studded every branch of the tree, even immedi-
ately over the Cuckoo's nest, began ripening be-
fore the female had finished depositing her eggs,
and the frequent visits we paid the tree in search
of fruit caused the luckless pair to abandon their
nest, leaving two eggs at our mercy.

A | Song of the Golden-crowned Thrush.

(Siurus auricapillus.)
DR. MORRIS GIBBS, IN Forest and Stream.

The song of this species has been but little de-
scribed by writers; in fact it is only within the
last few years that mention has been made of its
best musical efforts. The common, loud clanking
notes so often heard, have been listened to by all
collectors, but a superior strain, only occasionally
uttered apparently, has been listened to by but
few intelligently. I think it safe to say that no
bird among us which is so well known has eluded
the describers of bird songs as this one has done.
I listened to the true song of the Oven Bird in 1880
for the first time, and before I had read of its dis-
covery by any writer. The first burst of melody
reached me in a dense piece of low woods filled
with underbrush, in Montcalm county, in May,
and the delightful notes were surprising and
doubly pleasing to me in such a location. To de-
scribe the notes would be next to impossible. It
is more difficult than the songs of the Warbling
Vireo and Tanager, and with more dash and har-
mony if it is possible. At first on hearing the
notes the idea presented itself that a species new
to me was singing, and my extreme care in reach-
ing the glade in hopes of a shot was what secured
me a chance of witnessing a most singular per-
formance. Carefully crawling through the almost
impenetrable growth of small saplings and brush,
T came at last to a partial clearing over which a
bird, apparently in the highest transports of joy,
was fluttering in irregular flight. It is not sur-
prising that I failed to recognize the bird in_ its
decidedly unusual performance, for there was not
one point in which it resembled itself in ordinary
habits, and the specimen would have been shot at
once in my eagerness to add a new bird to my
collection had I not observed another bird, un-
doubtedly its mate, perched on the ground near,
and which appeared to be a Golden-crowned
Thrush and the centre of attraction to the delight-
ful warbler overhead. Never had I heard the
song before, and never have I witnessed such a
scene. This was indeed making love with a spirit
which I had never witnessed among our birds be-
fore. The song was almost contiuuous, and with
an occasional interruption to the new song by the
common chattering notes so well known and de-
scribed by Coues as a “harsh crescendo,” the
notes were all of the most melodious description.
The energetic unconscions fellow was meanwhile
constantly flying about above his inamorata, de-
scribing every form of flight except that of regu-

192

ORNITHOLOGIST

[Vol. 10-No. 12

lar sailing; first dashing through space to the edge
of the glade, which was probably twenty feet
across; then rising to the tops of the bushes, he
would half flutter, half fall towards his prospect-
ive mate. Ona sudden he would flutter directly
upward as we often see the English Sparrow or
House Wren do, and reaching a height of twenty
feet or more, dash about the clearing in varying
circles, ever tending in his flight toward the object
of his extravagant attention. She in the mean-
while sat silent and evidently interested in the per-
formance. Suddenly the male dropped beside
her, and alternately dashing and wheeling about,
but continually on the move and always revoly-
ing about her, gave evidence of his adoration by a
series of hops, dignified struts, droopings of the
head and tail, elevation of the wings and crest,
which would have done credit to both the Turkey
and the Ruffed Grouse. While on the ground the
song was kept up with the usual vigor, but the
interruption by the coarser, common notes was
more frequent and the bird stopped in its struts
in order to utter the notes which apparently
caused him more effort than did the more beauti-
ful song. The appearance of a third party on the
scene, probably also a lover, caused the first per-
former to dash into the brush much to my dis-
appointment.

That the love-song is not common is evident to
all, and the very fact of its having remained so
long unknown is proof of its rarity. After my
first experience I watched continually for the
beautiful song, but did not hear it until the follow-
ing year, although the woods were filled with the
common notes. The following Spring, while sit-
ting at the roots of a gigantic elm, a female of
this species fluttered near, carrying material in
her beak, evidently intended for nest construction.
While watching her, the male suddenly made his
appearance, and the scene of the previous year
and with, I think, superior musical performance,
was enacted in my presence. However, in this
instance the male rarely descended to the ground,
evidently being fully mated and. not considering
it necessary to strut about after securing his part-
ner to the extent of nest construction being in
progress. Since that time I have never heard the
song, although a thousand chatters have reached

my ears.
oor ge

Mr. A. W. Butler, Corresponding Secretary of
the Brookville Society of Natural History, In-
diana, sends us a circular calling a meeting at In-
dianapolis on December 29th, at which a state-
ment of the present condition of each branch of
Science that is being studied within the borders
of the State, is to be given, for the purpose of in-
teresting the people in the proposed State
Academy of Science. Mr. Butler is to present a
paper on Ornithology.

Boston Notes.

Up to the present time the story of the past has
been repeating itself—business dull and game
scarce,

During Augustan unusual mumber of Great Blue
Herons were brought in, also the first Owls of the
season, a pair of Barred in the down, we should
judge citizens of this State. These were followed
by a few Great Horned. In September consider-
able excitement was reported in a neighboring
town, over a Leather-backed Turtle that had
fallen into the hands of one of the craft. He de-
scribes itas measuring about seven feet in length of
shell; the flippers four feet. It weighed 800
pounds. As it stands stuffed the extreme
length would be about twelve feet. His state-
ment of the number of barrels of meat that he
took from it almost seemed an exaggeration. It
was captured oft the coast. Towards the last of
October it was whispered that an old friend had
appeared, and another of the same family a few
days later confirmed it, and by the 12th of No-
vember we recorded seven Snowy Owls as ar-
riving at Boston; all, as near as I can ascertain,
being killed in this State.

We received our first Hawk Owl, November
9th, from Maine. In August we made our first
acquaintance with the American Porcupine.
They are reported quite plentiful a few hours
travel north of us, and it seems strange that we do
not see them more often.

Moose, for an animal that is considered nearly
exterminated, seems to have favored some of our
Boston sportsmen. One gentleman reported see-
ing twenty-three, and from the specimen, whose
head he secured, we think he took decided advan-
tage of the situation. Several others returned
with fine trophies in the way of horns.

The weather has been very mild, and we look
forward to a good cold snap to help us to other
items of interest for our next— 7. B. W.

CORRESPONDENCE.

H. E. 8., Cuba, N. Y.—The fi.st bird you describe is the
Cedar Bird. The next, you will have to be more definite.
In measuring eggs, 1.04x,89 would mean: Long diameter
1 4-100 of an inch, and the other the short diameter—widest
distance from side to side.

W. B. Hull, Milwaukee, Wis.—Your bird is no doubt an
Evening Grosbeak, (Hesperiphona vespertina,) No. 165 in
Smithsonian Catalogue. We are not aware of any more
common name. It is migratory, and common in western
United States.

REcEIVED: Ellwood C. Erdis; C. H.

will appear in January.
——
Index and Title Page to Volume X are issued to sub-

scribers with this number.

Andres, These

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