THE OOLOGIST. 



31 



Birds of Iowa. 



The Acacleniy df Natiiial .Scieuces, of 

 Davenport, Iowa, has lecently issued in 

 volnine V of its proceedinpr, au annotated 

 catalogue of the birds of Iowa, by Charles 

 11. Keyes and II. A. WilHatus. M. D. This 

 is a welcome contribution to the nri-fminn 

 of the Ujiper Mississipi valley; and those 

 interested in omit hoi o,L;y, especially Iowa 

 stiuleiits. will be delighted to jieruse the 

 pages of this nni<h needed publication. 

 About 270 specii s of birds are enumerated, 

 but as stated in the introductory the- list 

 makes no pretension to completeness. It is 

 to be remembered, however, that no species 

 are entered upon "authority;' every entiy 

 having an authentic m.atcrial basis in the 

 cabinets of the authors. The latter fact is 

 indeed signiticiint ; and it would be well for 

 all those contemplating the preparation of 

 a work of this kind to bear this considera- 

 tion in mind : that it is far more preferable 

 and infinitely moi e valuable, to have a 

 faunal catalogue of any region, however 

 limited, leased upon authentic specimens, 

 ratlier than to include also species "said"' 

 to have been observed, even though the 

 latter may, and all probabdity do, occur in 

 that particular region In the former 

 instance, even though the list may not be 

 as full as desirable, it is always important 

 for reference; while in tlie latter case, all 

 included " probable occurrences ' tends to 

 cast shadows (.f suspicion as to the accuracy 

 of the whole enumeration. This important 

 feature of having a material basis for the 

 Iowa list, coupled with the then long 

 familiarity with loAva's mi-fmina and the 

 conscientious accuracy of the authors, 

 make the Annotated Cata'ogue of the Birds 

 of Iowa especially ^aluablt- to working 

 ornithologist. 



The authors of the list have even gone 

 f.irther— thanks to their generosity and 

 thought fulness for less favored workers — 

 and issued reprints; oO pages neatly inclosed 

 iu covers. Copies may be had on applica- 

 tion to the senior author, whose address is 

 Des Moines, Iowa. 



Brewster's Linnet. 



Editor OoLociisT: Perhaps it will be of 

 interest to your many rearlers to learn that 

 on March •20th 1888, Jesse Craven, while 

 collecting redpolls .shot a Brewster Linnet, 

 the same being in company with the red- 

 polls, in the vicinity of the town of Sweden, 

 near the line between Orleans and Monroe 

 County, the specimen being a female answer 

 ing iu description correctly according to 

 llidgways Birds of N. A., which is as follows: 

 above olive browTiisb, streaked with dusky, 

 the rump tinged with pale sulphur yellow 

 beneath whitish, tinged with dull buflFy or 

 pale fulvous on chest, the si.les and lower 

 tail coverts streaked with dusky, wings with 

 two pale fulvous bands across coverts, quills 

 and tail feathers narrowly edged with pale 

 sulphur yellow, length o.o wing 2.75; tail, 

 2.25, these measurements are as nearly 

 right as I could get them from the skin, as 

 I did not see the bird before it was skiued, 

 the skin is now in his collection. I believe 

 the latest record of this bird to le iu 1870. 

 i f any one has a later record we should like 

 to hear from them through the Ooloc4ist. 



F. C. L., Hollev X. Y. 



Am. Long-eared Owl. 



This decidedly nocturnal bird is quite 

 plentiful in this locality, where it arrives 

 from the south about the middle of Feb- 

 ruary. Its favorite haunts are dark swampy 

 woods; especially tamarac swamps. Out 

 of tliese retreats il is seldom if ever seen 

 during the light of the day. 



On accouut of its retiring habits, I have 

 had but few opportunities to observe its 

 movements. All I can say is that about 

 the middle of Ajiril 5 to 7 eggs maj- be 

 found averaging about l.f)5 by 1 .34 and as 

 is the case of nearly all Owls' eggs, white. 

 This specie s generally constructs its own nest ; 

 but a deserted squirrel's or woodmouse's is 

 often occupied. Although its fwid consists 

 principally of mice, squirrels etc., it makes 

 sad havoc among the young warblers and 

 other nestlings of the neighborhood. 



J C W...Tr., Detroit, Mich. 



