Sept. 1888.] 



AN^D OOLOGIST. 



143 



I'ine Warlilor but was iiiucli tlccpcr, :in<i more 

 peiisilf ill I'liaractcr. 



Secondly on paf^e 101. Sir. Bent alludes to the 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as a shy bird. It 

 may interest your readers as showing how its 

 habits difler in diHerent localities, that here, 

 where it is our commonest Woodpecker, except 

 the Flicker, it is also the least timid, with the 

 possible exception of the Downy Woodpecker. 



Thirdly on pajje 10:i, Mr. Cahoon's article on 

 the food of the tJreat Northern Shrike, impels 

 ine to give my experience with the Loggerhead 

 Shrike (Laniius liidoi-icidHKn). On only one 

 occasion did 1 evci- see a Shrike in pursuit of a 

 bird, and that lime I killed one Just after he 

 had captured and killed a Song Sparrow, — this 

 was in January, ISS,"). On another occasion in 

 the winter of ISSC 1 louiiil a \i'llow-rump War- 

 bler impaled on a thorn, but as a rule their 

 food here seems to consist of insects, chiefly 

 grasshoppei-s, which may fre(|uenlly be found 

 impaled ou the liarhed wire fences around here. 



I have examined the stomachs of eleven of 

 these birds with the fidlowing results: Con- 

 taining mice, i; insects, 9; not one of the 

 eleven stomaches contained the slighest trace 

 of any bird. 



Editorial, 



Tilt! O. & O. is iiiailuil each issue to every paiil sub- 

 scriber. It' you fail to receive it, notify us. 



The intelligence that Mr. Ilenshaw bad dis- 

 posed of his lai-ge ornithological cidlection and 

 the amount received for it was unquestionably 

 a surprise to a great many, and the fact that 

 the result of years of industry and effort should 

 go abroad was gieatly deplored. While we do 

 not consider the price received. .$10,000, a. large 

 one by any means, still it shows the young or- 

 nithologist whal may be secured by a studious, 

 close api)lication in obs-rving and collecting in 

 the great lield of nature. While he may be 

 able only to reap pleasure and satisfaction in 

 the acquiring of a large collection, he may be 

 assured that like many agriculturists who labor 

 hard all their lives upon their land, realizing 

 but little in their Viht time, at death a compe- 

 tency secured to their heirs, in the one ease, in 

 a valuable accumulation of specimens, in the 

 other, in the ferlile fields reclaimeil from the 

 wilderness. 



We were sorry that the collection could not 

 be kept in Anieiica, as it was very complete 

 and but few are in existence upon which so 

 much study and care ha<i been spent. It would 



have been a great acquisition to some of our 

 young Western educational institutions. While 

 the Smithsonian, Agassiz's and one or two other 

 museums in the country are as complete as 

 money can make them, still the result of indi- 

 vidual ellort in this jiarticular instance was so 

 marked it would have a value beyond the in- 

 trinsic. 



We can l)e congr-alulaled, however, in view 

 of the fact that we h.ive In this country some 

 who tiud timi^ to devote, have means to pursue 

 and are amply (jualitied to replace whatever 

 we have lost in the sale of the Ilensh.iw col- 

 lection. 



Notably, and not gi lally known either, 



is this the case here in Massacbusetts. In otje 

 particular instance, that of Mr. William liiew- 

 ster of Cambridge, it is very evident. Seeuie 

 in his competency, he has devoted no small sum 

 in securing, stiulyiug and pn-serving probtibly 

 :is fine, if not the finest, priviite collection of 

 American birds in existence; has built a mu- 

 seum upon his grounds, which in pcrfectioti of 

 detail we Ciinnot see how it tiiay be iuq)roved 

 upon. The only fault we could find, if it was 

 a fault, was that the building should not have 

 been phiced in a more prominent place, if fur 

 no other purpose than its a monument to the 

 builder's zeal in his studies iind research. For 

 its present purpose, that of ti secluded, quiet 

 study, it is perfectly adapted, but we cherish 

 the hope that at no far ofl'date it will be found 

 too small for its owner's accumulatioti titid ;i 

 larger building required, for the time is near at 

 hand when, judging from what we have already 

 seen, it will be a Mecca for thr ornithologist of 

 the Eastern States to journey to, in making 

 comparisons and studying typical specimens, as 

 (]Ualit}' rather than (luantity appears to b<' Mr. 

 i$rewstcr"s rule. We ceitaitily never bad ibe 

 |)le:isure of seeing such perfectly prepared 

 skins, or so systematically arranged. 



We intiy at some future time be able to give 

 our readers a better undeistan<ling of the build- 

 ing and its contents than at present, with the 

 hope that the example set by Mr. Brewster 

 may be followed in other sections of the 

 country. 



We notice tlitit the Massachusetts Fish Com- 

 missioners are being found fault with because 

 they do not compel the toiling tishermen of 

 Vineyard Sound and Buzzard's Bay to desist 

 from setting drift nets for blue fish, so that 

 some of the kid-gloved sportsmen may enjoy 

 the sport of trolling for them. 



Stop it by all means gentlemen; it is really 



