July 1888.J 



A]SrD OOLOGIST. 



103 



the skins and I forwarded thera to Mr. Bi-ews- 

 ter. On their receipt he wrote as follows : 



"CAMUHllHiK, July U, 1888. 



Dkak Mi;. Xokkis: 'I'lie pair of Ilawk.s col- 

 lected at (iidilinj^s, Texas, by Mr. Sinji^ley have 

 just reached nie. They prove, as I expected, 

 referable to Butcn Uneatus allc.ni, Hidg., al- 

 ihousb they are not, perhaps, quite as typical 

 as average Florida specimens. 'I'lie sub species 

 ullc-iii, as you doubtless know, represents the 

 gray extreme of the liueatus group, whUe. elegans 

 represents the opposite or riifi'scfut extreme, 

 typical UnealuK occupying the middle or inter- 

 mediate place in the series. Hence these Texas 

 specimens are less like eleyans than is the true 

 Uni'Utns. 



I'lease accept my sincere thanks for these 

 interesting l)irds. Vou are welcome to publish 

 the above if you think it worth publishing. 

 Sincerely yours. 



\VlLLI.\M Brewsteh." 



The seven sets of eggs taken by Mr. Singley 

 near Giddings, Texas, and described by me in 

 the O. & O. for March, 1SS7 (Vol. Xll, p. :{9), 

 when under the impression that they were Jiidcn 

 linculus elef/aii.i must now, of course, be under- 

 stood to belong to Ihiteo lini-atiis alh.iii. 



'I'his llawk is not the only bird which had 

 hitherto been supposed to lie confined to Flor- 

 ida alone. The Florida Barred Owl {Strix ne.b- 

 ulosa alleni), has also been found breeding in 

 Lee County, Texas. 



The Philadelphia Vireo in Connec- 

 ticut. 



HY A. II. VEIiHILL. 



On Ma}', 111, while in a small piece of woods 

 near New Haven, my attention was attracted 

 by a bird which kept flitting about in some 

 bushes, acting much in the manner of tlie 

 White-eyed Vireo, for which I at first mistook 

 it. But on a closer examination, I decided that 

 it was a Warbling Vireo ( V. yUva), and being 

 iu need of one, I decided to procure it. 



After following it for some time, I at last 

 succeeded in getting a shot, and on picking it 

 lip I noticed that the spurious cjuill was lack- 

 ing, and at once conjectured it to be a Philadel- 

 phia Vireo {p. Philadelpicus) , which it after- 

 wards prov(rd to be. The bird was a male in 

 very fine plumage, and was examined while iti 

 the tlesh by several oi-iiitholiigists, all of whom 

 immediately cimtirmed my iilentifieation. Tiiis, 

 if I am not mistaken, is the lirst record of its 

 capture iu Connecticut. 



Food of the Great Northern Shrike. 



HY JOHN C. CAIIOON. 



In the August uumber of the O. & O., under 

 the beading of the " tJreat Northern Shrike and 

 its Prey," Mr. C. C. Maxfield says from his ob- 

 servation that the food of the Cireat Northern 

 Shrike seems to be principally English Spar- 

 rows. 



With all due respect for Mr. Maxfleld in his 

 assertion, my own experience with this bird, 

 which is based upon the taking and dissecting 

 of quite a number, proves to me that in this 

 section their food consists principally of bugs, 

 worms and small insects. That they do oc- 

 casionally kill and cat sparrows and other small 

 birds, when driven to it by hun,jer, is assured- 

 ly so, but 1 have shot them in the middle of the 

 winter where English Sparrow.s were abundant, 

 and upon dissection, failed to find any traces of 

 sparrow in their stomach. 



Below J give the contents of the stomachs of 

 five, which were shot in the fall, winter, and 

 spring; 



No. 1. Adult S. Nov. 17, 18S4, Taunton, 

 Mass. Contents of stomach — hugs and small 

 insects. 



2. Adult ? . Nov. 27, 1884, Taunton, Mass. 

 Contents of stomach — small bugs and parts of 

 large ones, and buds of trees. 



3. Adult ?. March 17, 188."i, Taunton, Mass. 

 Contents of stomach — small buds and insects. 



■1. Adult (?. March 31, 188.^, Taunton, Mass. 

 Contents of stomach — flies, bugs, worms and 

 small insects. 



5. Adult (J. Dec. 24, 188G, Taunton, Mass. 

 Contents of stomach — bugs and white worms. 



(J. Great Northern Shrike, (yng;), shot at Mat- 

 inicus Island, Me., Dec. 1.5, 1887. Stomach com- 

 pletely filled with black bugs, other small in- 

 sects, and a substance resembling purple ber- 

 ries. 



It has generally lieen conceded tliat hawks 

 and owls of all kinds live on birds, poultry and 

 small animals, but b_v recent investigation by 

 Dr. B. Harvey Warren of Westchester, Pa., it 

 is found that many of our hawks and owls live 

 wholly on mice, insects, etc. 



If all ornithologists and taxidermists would 

 note down the contents of the stomach of such 

 birds as come into their hands, I am certain 

 that there would be many new things biought 

 to light in the study of ornithology. 



[In .January, '82, I noted the appearance of a 

 [lair of Shrikes in the locality of a large colony 

 of English Sparrows. The number of the 



