151 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Gleanings from Our Correspondents. 



Notes and Rons of Interest, Queries (ind 

 Answers. 



In Feb. No. Oolocust Air. N. F. Posson, 

 of Medina, N. Y., says in bis urticlo that be 

 saw a "Horned Lark" on Jan. 1st. I saw 

 the Horned Lark on Jan 2.^th for the first 

 time this year. Would like to know if this 

 can be beaten; I found a uesl of the H. L. 

 on March 28, '8C>; contained 4 eggs. Goo. 

 L. SVbite, Mt. Morris, N. Y. 



Eugene Fernbollz, Jeflerson, Wis., has 

 in his collection an eud-blo\\n eirg of the 

 Blue -bird. It is of a white color having a 

 circle of blue about one-sixteenth of an inch 

 wide and about one-fuurlh inch from the 

 small or tip end. 



Under date of Feb. L>4lli, E. L. Mt'nf- 

 fee, of San Jose, C'al., writes; 



"Tho t'gg sratsDU here lias luirdly ooiii- 

 nuMU-cd yvt. I found a set of 402 o the 

 20th iust., whieh is unusually early for 

 thi.s seetioii. Althougli I frequently 

 hear of owls nesting even in January 

 in the Easti;ru states, this is the earliest 

 date that has eome to my knowledge 

 while eolleeting in California for sever- 

 al years. The next eggs wliieh the 

 wide-awake Californian oologist nniy 

 seek for are tlu' Least Tit, Plain Tit, 

 Meadow Lark and Slirike. Robins 

 have been unusually searee in this seet- 

 ion this season, as they were luiusual- 

 ly i)lentiful last. I have not seen UH)re 

 than a dozen the wlnde season; the 

 first in Octobei- and the last on the 2;3d 

 in St. 



The Bliiel)ird, House Finehand (Jreeu 

 Backed (Joldlineh are among the arriv- 

 als tliat ha\ (■ 1)econie eonmioii. Swal- 

 lows ha\(' just arri\'ed and 1 have seen 

 a few do\cs, although 1 srspeet they 

 wese some tliat wintered lu're. 



We have reeeived many letters from 

 collectors in the various states and Can- 

 ada making inquiries as to whether it 



is unlawful to t-oileet bird's eggs in 

 their respective localities, and if so, 

 how tlu\y can obtain ;i i>ermit (o collect ? 

 As the laws in the various States, rro\- 

 inces, and we might say loeaiities, ^ ary, 

 j we nuist advise eolleetois to consult 

 some legal friend. But we might add 

 that the fnic oologist or the e(d!eetor of 

 eggs for scieiititic purposes is rarely 

 molested and that in most localities 

 tlu' law either allows liini to collect or 

 a iierniil can be obtained tlirough a lot 

 of tun)iu'cessary (?) "red tape." 



E. G. B., of Monson, Me., sends us 

 an egg of the Olive-baeked Thrush and 

 gi^•es the following very interesting 

 descrii)tion: 



"The l)ird is, 1 am i|uite sure, some 

 species of Thrush, Imt 1 can find no de- 

 scription of nest, eggs, etc., in Samuel's 

 'Birds of New England,' which coin- 

 cides with that of this bird. The bird 

 strongly resembles the Hermit Thrusli 

 in color and markings, when seen at a 

 little distance, but is considerably larg- 

 er. It also has a note very much like 

 that of the Hermit Thrush when the 

 nest is approached. It l)reeds very 

 commonly here. The nests that I have 

 seen, and I have seen a large number, 

 was i)laced in a cedar tree from four to 

 ten feet from the ground, and with one 

 exception, within a few feet of a pond 

 or stream of water. The nest is con- 

 structed of birch and cedar l)ark, grass 

 and leaves. It is quite deeply hollowed 

 and lined with grass and leaves. I can 

 not say i)ositively wlielher any uuul 

 was used or not, but think there was 

 not. The eggs are usually four in 

 number. Some that 1 ha\ c seen mucli 

 large)' spots than the one, I have sent 

 you." 



For the Oologist.] ' 



The Wilson Ornithological Chapter of 

 the Agassiz Association. 



This Society was organized Dec. o, 

 1888. in order to investigato the hal'its 



