17(j 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Houses to Let. 



If any one wi-^lics to receive l:irii;e 

 dividend on a small in\cstinenl I woidd 

 advise them lo ])nt u]) a few liinl houses 

 around the house or i^iounds. They 

 will readily tind reliahle tenants ulio 

 will rejKiy all tronl)le. It v.ill intei-est 

 any one whether ornithologist or not, 

 to wati-h the l)irds at tiieir matint>; and 

 nesting. If there had heeii more of 

 these eon\»'nienees ])rovideil for our 

 native l)irds there W()uld lla^(■ l)een no 

 exeuse for the importation of that 

 "p(!sky varmint," the English SpaiMow . 

 I believe that all of our birds that breed 

 in boxes are jnirely inseetivoroiis, and 

 hence of great value to the fanner, 

 gardener and ,orchardist. The martin 

 will also s(r\'e the pcudtry kee])i'r a 

 good turn by driving awaj' depredating 

 crows and hawks. The bbxe-birds and 

 wrens will give us fine songs besides de- 

 stroying many insects. In the past two 

 years the following l)irds have visited 

 some bird 'houses whicli were put up 

 around the house: Bluebirds, Wrens, 

 English Sparrows, Gt. Crested Fly- 

 catcher and Puri)le Martins. Now if 

 this I'eaches you too late for this season, 

 remember it and si)end sonu' stormy 

 daj' next winter in making a fev,- lions- 

 es to let, it is far more prolitaole than 

 lirnlding etistles in the air. 



A. l^. v., 



Bennings, 1). ( '. 



A Day on Shelter Island. 



Never reading anything about collect- 

 ing in my localitj', I will write a sma!^ 

 account of my first specimens taken 

 this year. On the morning of May 1, 

 188!), I started for the eastern shores of 

 Shelter Island to see how the Kingfish- 

 ers and Ospreys were l)uilding. After 

 walking al)(>ut three miles, I saw a new- 

 Kingfishers hole in the I)ank arid started 

 up the bank for it, arriving at the toj). 

 1 measure<l ihe length of the hole liy 



thrusling a long slick into it, taking the 

 length also the dii'cction, then laying 

 the stick on the to]) of the l);ink and 

 taking the directions, 1 !)eg,-in to dig. I 

 was rcwi'.i'ded wish a set of fiuu- eggs. 

 During my walk I met a friend o)i the 

 sanie cx])editio!i as niNseif. 'Together 

 that morning, we were rewarded with 

 live sets of Belled Kingiishei' as follows: 

 1-4, l-(5, 2-(), -i-."), 8- i also two beautiful 

 sets of American Osprey of thi'ee eggs 

 eggs each. On our w:i.v home, we each 

 collected a set of Bluebird's ;uid Crow's. 

 A. E. Pavne, 



Greenport, L. I. 



A Curious Nesting Place. 



Walking one n.ftei'uoon, with a friend 

 along a railroad track, he .surprised me 

 by saying that in a few feet of me was a 

 Bluebird's nest. As I am always inter- 

 ested in anything of that sort. I at 

 once began an earnest but v.iin search. 

 At last my companion had to help me 

 out by pointing out the nest secau'elj' 

 fasteneil in one of the wheels of .a by- 

 standing ear! Tlu' bird had chosen one 

 of the holes around tlie axle for a build- 

 ing ])lace anil a\ hen I found the nest 

 there were already two eggs in it. 



K. C. M., C(.iumbia, S. C. 



Unvisual Occurences. 



Have any of the readeis of the 

 OoLo<;isT e\ cr found a set of 

 Mourning Doxc containing thi'ce 

 eggs? I founil a set of three jjlaced 

 in a frail nest in an e\'ergreen tree. 

 One egg was tlu' usual si/e, and the 

 other two were some what snnilU'r. 

 This is the first time that I know of that 

 three eggs were found. Prehajjs some 

 of the readers of the 0<>).(»c;ist liavealso 

 had a find of the sann- kind. Also found 

 a set of Rollins', with two piuc white 

 eggs and two the usual ;'o!or. 



W. ( '. HflCHIXSON, 



AN'inelu ster. Ills. 



