140 



THE OSPREY. 



these collections of Crandall's, Norris's, etc. 

 From my point of view one set of a kind is 

 plenty to have in a collection, and four sets of a 

 kind would be loads. 



How about those Flicker Eggs, Rev? I will 

 not uphold that collector; but come to look at it, 

 is it any worse that taking the eggs from under 

 a poor hen, and when she is ready to sit, put her 

 in a coop and break her up — yes, a cruel thingi 

 and her eggs are eaten every morning- for break- 

 fast. Now, who does that? 



Now, dear reader, a word about scientific 

 Latin names. I hardly feel free to express my 

 opinion in this line, there are so many older 

 ornithologists about; but here it goes. We are 

 of English descent and use the Eng'lish lan- 

 guage in general: why not use it completely? 

 For our A. O. U. List, use a nice English name, 

 such as we already have, and abolish the Latin. 

 Then the Gordian knot would be passed. I ex- 

 pect the old professionals would dislike to give 

 up the Latin, but how about the young to take 



it up? I believe that three-fourths of the orni- 

 thologists to-day would vote against Latin. 

 Yours most respectfully, 



\Vm. B. Crispin. 



to be ke.il) whii.k our back is turned. 



Al.wieda. Cal., March 30, 1899, 

 Editor of the Osprey: 



The "Osprey" in a perennial delight. I am 

 particularly tired by the late numbers, in which 

 common sense lurks in great chunks, while 

 wisdom emanates in the lively and inimitable 

 style of the chief editor. It is impossible to 

 read the March number without a chuckle. 

 Here is audacity tempered by consistency! The 

 old bii^d has its claws sharpened, and every 

 feather lies straig-ht. May it rouse the slumber- 

 ing and awake the dead! tho" a few useless eyes 

 be scratched out. Success and more power to 

 you and Pandion. 



Yours verv sincerelv, 



H. R. Taylor. 



Pigeon Holes. 



Oregon Towhek's Nest. — This was photo- 

 graphed near Kapousin Lake, Washington, May 

 ,S, 1898. The birds are fairly common here, but 

 this is the only nest I have seen. It was in a 

 plain that had been cleared of trees, but the 



NKST ANl 



TOWHEE. 



stumps left in the ground, and the whole over- 

 grown b}' blackberry vines, sal-lal brush and 

 ferns. The place was very hot and dry all day, 

 vet the birds seemed to do all of the incubating, 

 as either the male or female was always on the 

 nest when I went there; but tlie eggs would cer- 

 tainly have baked if they had not been turned 

 regularlv. The female would not sit long- 

 enough to be photographed, but would let me 

 come within a foot of her if I left immediately. 

 The male flushed whenever the nest was ap- 

 proached. Both birds always flew from the nest 

 and did not try to get away through the brush. 

 These birds are locally known as "Cat-birds," 



as their complaining note resembles the cry of 

 a cat, and also of the eastern Catbird. Their 

 food consists of seeds, insects and caterpillars. 

 — C. W. BOWI.KS, Tacoma, Wash., Aprils. 1899. 



New Nestinc; Location of Rivoi.i 

 II V M M E R (Eugenes fui.gens). I 

 iioticv-' that my friend F. C. Willard, 

 ill his interesting- article on this spe- 

 cies, in the January Osprey, finds 

 all his nests in maples, except one, 

 wh'ch was in a sycamore. He also 

 states that he found them all between 

 .^,(li:() and (>,t)()(l feet elevation. I be- 

 lieve he thus rightly indicates the 

 rule; but, last'season, about June 20th, 

 ill these same Huachuca Mountains, 

 a companion took a Rivoli nest in a 

 uiapU , at an elevation of about 7,50(1 

 fcH; iiiid three days later I discovered 

 one of these birds building- in a large 

 fir not 100 feet below the summit of 

 this range, which is, at that point, 

 about i).000 feet high, and at a long- 

 distance from any canon stream. Nor 

 wa^ this all there was unusual in this 

 case, for the nest, being composed of 

 material collected in the vicinity, 

 which has a very difl'erent vegetation 

 from that of three or four thcuisand 

 feet below (barring the spider's webs), 

 was quite different. I can not de.s- 

 it accurately as I have not had it in my 

 possession. By a coincidence, that tiny nest, in 

 that large fir, was found the day before by 

 another collector, who had electrified me, oii 

 the previous night, by announcing that he 

 had found the nest of the White-eared Hummer 

 {h'cui/iiina Iciicotis). As that would have been 

 .something new to science, I was intensely inter- 

 ested in that species, particularly as I had shot 

 a female White-eared Hummer, in the same 

 week that Dr. A. K. Fisher killed the first 

 authentic specimen taken in the United States, 

 and had supposed mine to be the first one taken 

 until I learned from him of his find. 



;ribe 



