THE OOLOGIST. 



'27 



with specks and spots of chestnut, 

 and lihic gray wreaths. I had found 

 one uncompleted iHwainson's Warbler's 

 nest, and on visiting the same swamp 

 again in a week, I located two more 

 sets of three eggs each of this warbler 

 — the rarest of southern warblers. 



Augusta, Ga. 



Eggs of the Dwarf Screech Owl. 



As I have now in my possession 

 what is undoubtedly an egg of this rare 

 bird, I have jotted down a description 

 and full notes since the egg has never 

 been described. 



On the 25th of April 1901, Mr. F. O. 

 Nelson removed a small owl which he 

 thought was the Pygmy Owl from a 

 cavity in a Cottonwood Stum'p 3 miles 

 South of Meridian, Ada Co , Idalfo. 



There were four eggs in the nest, 

 incubation well begun, but all but one 

 were destroyed before reaching me. 

 This egg while very nearly small 

 enough for the Pygmj- Owl, is so en- 

 tirely different in shell texture and 

 shape that I would unhesitatingly 

 pronounce it an egg of the Dwarf 

 Screech Owl. The shell texture and 

 color is like tlie the Screech Owl types 

 and in no way resembles the creamy, 

 granulated, or roughened shell of the 

 Pygmy and Elf Owls. The shape is 

 more oval than the eggs of the Pygmy 

 Owls, also. It measures 1.26 x 1.04, 

 The smallest Screech owls egg I have, 

 an egg of the Texan bird, measures 

 1.36 X 1.21 and they run from that up 

 to 1.47 X 1.25 for Kennicotts' from 

 Alberta. 



The average given for Pygmy Owl is 

 1.12 X .95, Mine average 1.11 x ,94. 



However I have two eggs of the 

 Flammulated Screech Owl, one from 

 Mexico, measuring 1.24 x 1.08 and one 

 from tha Nevada line measursng 1.23 

 X 1.04. 



Considering the resemblence in 

 measure, shape and color with the 



fact that Meridian is only 110 miles 

 straight west of the type locality, ( Ket- 

 chum, Blaine Co., Idaho i, of the 

 Dwarf Screech Owl I think there is 

 little room for question that Mr. 

 Nelson had the first authentic set of 

 this bird taken in the type locality 

 and I much regret that skin and bal- 

 ance of set were not preserved. 



A Misleading Appellation. 



X()R:\IAX (). FOERSTKR. 



It would l>e difficult to trace back to 

 the originator of the name "Preacher" 

 for the Red-eyed Vireo. Since Some- 

 body, almost every writer on the Red- 

 eye has used that hackneyed term. 

 We are all fanciful at times, and say 

 and write things we would not even 

 think of at other times. Certain it is 

 that the author of this appellation 

 must have been in a fanciful or play- 

 fully cogitative mood when he wrote 

 his biography of the Red-eye. Take 

 an ordinary person, who knows almost 

 none of the birds along some country- 

 road and when you come to the Red- 

 eye's " pulpit " and hear "the clear, 

 high tones of his rich voice " which 

 are " a constant repetition of a few 

 triplets, but so ingeniously arranged 

 as not to become wearisome, " ask 

 him what the notes suggest. 1 have 

 tried it often, but never yet received an 

 answer that pronounced it declamatory 

 or harangueful. On many occassions 

 where I suggested "Preacher'' the 

 idea was ridiculed. 



No doubt its "short sentences, its 

 tiresome upward inflections, its ever- 

 lasting repetitionsness, and its sharp, 

 querulous tone " suggest certain 

 preachers; but when these notes were 

 likened to preaching no consideration 

 was taken of the fact that the principal 

 idea conveyed was a declamatory, style, 

 sharp reiterations, pauses, and clim- 

 axes. As Torreysays, "whoever dubbed 



