233 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Peculiar Habit of the Woodcock. 



One evening, about dark, as I was 

 returning froni a walk in company 

 with a couple of friends we Hushed a 

 bird that puzzled us. It rose off the 

 ground, flying with a twittering noise 

 and constantly rising in a spiral till 

 nearly out of sight; then descending in 

 the same course, it emitted a pleasant 

 song. The song was peculiar but inde- 

 scribable. When I heard it I thought 

 of sky-larks though I had only read de- 

 scriptions of their song. The next 

 evening we secured it. It proved to be 

 a fine male Woodcock. 



The Secretary of the Indiana Acad- 

 emy of Science writes that the habit is 

 not unhnoivn, but is not at all common 

 even where the Woodcock is more com- 

 mon than here. It is probably to at- 

 tract the females at the mating season. 

 I hope to hear from others on this sub- 

 ject. 



Alex Black, 

 Greencastle, lud. 



The Plumed Partridge. 



The Plumed Partridge Oreortyx jnctus 

 phimifc7-ti s,'mhiihits the mountainous re- 

 gion of Southera California. In summer 

 they are found in high altitudes, but in 

 winter they are driven down to the foot 

 hills by the heavy snow. Their food 

 consists of various kinds of seeds, ber- 

 I'ies and grasses. They breed in high 

 mountains "not below 4000 feet" says 

 Davie. Their nest is composed of 

 leaves and grass. Their eggs are 

 creamy buff in color and from 8 to' 20 

 in number. I am unable to say from 

 pei-sonal observation at what time of 

 year they commence laying, but Mr. 

 Smithsou tells me that it is from the 

 first till the middle of April. The old 

 bird can be decoyed by a series of short 

 whistles much the same as the call of a 

 young turkey. Perhaps a short gener- 

 al description would be desirable. 



Above olive brown, top of head, side of 

 neck and whole front half of under 

 side leaden blue, chin belly and under 

 side of neck reddish brown. Flanks of 

 the same color but with end of each 

 feather white. Under side of tail dark 

 brown. 



In July and August of 1892 I found 

 them in abundance at Strawbei'ry Val- 

 ley in the San Bernardino Mts., their 

 haunts were in the bushy canon and 

 Hals that contained a creek or spring. 

 Their chief food here was the seed of a 

 kind of wild rye and also a short bunch 

 grass that grew around the water. 

 Mornings and evenings they come out 

 on the flats to feed and water while in 

 the middle of the day they stay in the 

 dark canon. Their roosting place was 

 a bush or tree high enough to be out of 

 reach of any dangerous animals. 



Edw ARD Wall. 

 San Bernardino, Cal. 



The Long-crested Jay in Colorado. 



BY A TENDFRFOOT. 



Although the Long-crested Jay 

 {Cvanociita sldlcri marrolopha) is very 

 abundant in the localit}' where the fol- 

 lowing notes were taken, its nest is, 

 comparatively speaking, very seldom 

 found. The observations given below 

 were made in the neighborhood of 

 Florissant, Col., which is about twenty 

 miles north-west of Pike's Peak and has 

 an altitude of about 8,800 feet. 



The surrounding country is, for the 

 most part, composed of well w^ooded 

 hills, and. as the Indians burned the 

 whole region a good many years ago, 

 the growth is comparatively new. As 

 reminders of foi'mer days, innumerable 

 dead pine stubs still stand which are 

 frequented by Woodpeckers. Sparrow 

 Hawks, Nuthatchs and other birds that 

 build in similar places. 



The trees are principally evergreens 

 with large patches of (Quaking asp 



