THE OSPREY. 



V-i 



General Notes. 



U. S. MUSEUM VS. BRITISH MUSEUM. 



An item respecting the series of birds' eggs in 

 tlie British Museum went the rounds of a number 

 of journals some time ago. in which it was 

 stated that the collection "contains about 48,000 

 si.ecimens, and is. no doubt, by far the most ex- 

 tensive collection of these objects in existence." 

 li iippears. howewr. from a recent census of the 

 l)irds' eggs in the U. S. National Museum, that 

 this statement is not wholly correct, the collec- 

 tion in the last named institution exceeding that 

 of the British Museum by several thousands. 

 The count, made by Mr. J. H. Riley, of the Divi- 

 sion of Birds, is as follows: Reserve series. 52.513: 

 duplicates, 11.759; total, up to June 30, i8g8, 

 64,272. 



It may interest readers of The Osprey to 

 know that Dr. W. L. Ralph, of Utica. N. Y.. is 

 now Honorary Custodian of the Section of Birds' 

 Eggs, having been appointed in November last, 

 to fill the vacancy caused by tlie death of Major 

 Bendire. — Chas. W. Richmond, United States 

 National Museum. 



HYBRIDIZ.\TION OF FLICKERS. 



It has been supposed that the Gilded Flicker 

 did not cross or hybridize with other species of 

 Colaj^tes. Last spring I secured two male speci- 

 mens of this Flicker whicli show unmistakable 

 signs of cross-breeding. The first one taken was 

 a hybrid with the Red-shafted Flicker. The 

 plumage was as usual in the Gilded Flicker, ex- 

 cept the red tint in the secondaries of both wings. 

 The second specimen secured was at the time 

 breeding in a giant cactus. It is a cross between 

 Gilded Flicker and the Yellow-shafted Flicker, 

 or common Flicker of the Eastern States, and 

 shows a faint, red. neuchal crescent. 



A year ago I took, in the Huachuca Moun- 

 tains, a female specimen of the Red-shafted 

 Flicker, hybridized with either the Gilded or 

 Yellow-shafted Flicker. It being a female made 

 it difficult to determine which, though I am in- 

 clined to think the latter. The brown head mark- 

 ings were present, rubification of wings, etc., yet 

 half of the tail was red and the other half yellow. 

 — Geo. F. Breninger, Phoeni.x, Arizona. 



A NEW BIRD FOR COLORADO. 



Some time ago I had the pleasure of examin- 

 ing a fine collection of mounted birds, owned by 

 Mr. Edwin Carter, of Breckenridge, Colo. This 

 town is situated on the Pacific slope, in the 

 mountains, at an altitude of 9.500 feet. 



The collection contains many birds not re- 

 corded before from this altitude, but the rarest 

 find is a Le Conte's Sparrow. This was taken 

 by Mr. Carter October 2. 1886, near Brecken- 

 ridge. It is. of course, an accidental occurrence, 

 as it is the first record for Colorado and the first 

 mountain record for the species, which is a plains 

 bird not heretofore known west of Kansas. 



The collection also contains a Slate-colored 

 Sparrow, taken near the mouth of the Blue 

 River, in Grand County. July 5. 1877, at nearly 

 9.000 feet altitude. This is one more record to 

 show the summer residence of the bird in the 



State and the highest altitude at which it has yet 

 been taken. 



Another une.xpected specimen is the common 

 Mockingbird, which was taken at Breckenridge, 

 .\ugust 12, 189:. This is the first record for the 

 west of the range in Colorado, and is 1,500 feet 

 higher tlian any previous record. 



A Bobolink taken in South Park, May 21. 1876, 

 is a more western record and from a higher alti- 

 tude than any previouslv recorded. — W. W. 

 Cooke, State Agricultural College, Ft. Collins, 

 Colo. 



CREEPERS' NESTS IN MISSOURI. 



On May 16 I found, in Seneca Slough, a branch 

 of the St. Francis River, in Dunklin Countv Mo., 

 three nests of the Brown Creeper, almost fin- 

 ished. Since finding the first nest of the species, 

 three years ago, I became more and more con- 

 vmced that the Brown Creeper is a regular, if not 

 common, inhabitant of the Cypress swamps, 

 where he is often heard, but very seldom seen! 

 As his song may be mistaken for a variation of 

 that of the Carolina Chickadee, evasion seems 

 easy.— O. Widmann, Old Orchard, Mo. 



BACHMAN'S WARBLER IN SUMMER. 



The summer home of the Bachman's Warbler 

 was unknown until the spring of 1897, when Otto 

 Widmann found a nest and three eggs of the 

 species on an island in the St. Francis River 

 region of southeastern Missouri and northeast- 

 ern -Arkansas. The specimens were presented to 

 the United States National Museum bv Mr. Wid- 

 mann. On May 24, last. Mr. Widmann wrote to 

 The Osprey as follows: 



"I have captured another set of three eggs of 

 the Bachman's \\'arbler. May 14, on Buffalo Isl- 

 and, Dunklin County, Missouri. I had found the 

 nest on the preceding day with the female sitting 

 on three eggs. In order to be sure to get a full 

 set, I left the nest undisturbed, but no egg was 

 added and three seems to be all they lay. The 

 nest was in a blooming blackberry bush, two feet 

 from the ground, made of the same material and 

 lined with black exactly as last year's nest. Sev- 

 eral other pairs were w^atched, but their nests 

 were too well hidden." — Ed. 



COLONIZING OF BARN SWALLOWS. 



In the May number of The Osprey Mr. Bren- 

 inger speaks of the colonizing of the Barn Swal- 

 low as unusual. In the eastern part of Massa- 

 chusetts I think this is not at all unusual. In 

 the country I have found many large barns where 

 there are about half a dozen pairs breeding. 

 Last year I found a barn with fifteen inhabited 

 nests, but this year one was found on May 21, 

 with twenty-seven new nests. Most of these 

 ■were just ready for eggs, but one held a set of 

 six eggs. Under the barn with fifteen nests I 

 noted last year a set of seven eggs, which is the 

 largest set I have known this bird to lay. The 

 large colonies I consider rare, but often find 

 from six to ten pairs in a barn. Mv experience 

 has been in the vicinity of the Blue Hills and on 

 Cape Cod. I am certain of the species, and am 

 also familiar with the Clifif Swallow. — F. B. Mc- 

 Kechnie, Dorchester. ^lass. 



