lOf) 



THE OOLOGIST. 



sccis stDoil upon IIk" tour sc)»;iral(' (•<ir- 

 lu'i's iulfutly \v:itihin«>; Ihf antics of a 

 sii()\v-\\ hitf Enj^lish Sparrow, wliicli 

 secnu'il to he king aiuouff its sol)ci'- 

 vv I'oatcd IVUows, dciuanding and if- 

 cciviug from them an amount of liom- 

 agf and i't's})ectful attention that 

 woidd liave done tiie heart of liis high- 

 ness, the Shah of Persia, good. A 

 resi(h'nt of tiie nc ighloi liood said that 

 lie liad noticed tiie all)ino tor t\\o or 

 three years. "He has a nest in yon- 

 der churcii steei)le/' he exphiined, 

 "and 1 have spent eonsiderabU^ time 

 in watching liim and studying liis ])e- 

 culiai'ities. He is a male hiril and a 

 hai-helor. Tliat may S(Uind sti'ange, 

 hut lliere ai'e lots of liachelor and spins- 

 ter birds among the English Sparrows. 

 Season afler season tliey refuse to 

 mate, set uj) estuhlishmcnts of their 

 own and live in them, ilesi)ised and 

 ([uarreled with i-onstantly by the mar- 

 I'ied l)ii'ds. This white Sjiai-row se»^ms 

 to have some authority over the others. 

 They bring liim food and even build 

 his nest for him. Life with him is an 

 existence of idh-ness and luxury. 

 When any bird refuses or neglects to 

 ])ay him tril)ute he attat-ks the direU'ct, 

 gives him a souiul drid)bing and event- 

 ually lu'ings him to terms." 



1 took the above from the Atlanta' 

 Constitution, and the Constitution coj)- 

 ied it fr<mi the Philadelphia Inquirer, 

 and I should be glad to hear from some 

 of oologist friends in Phihulelphia 

 about the white Sparrow, for I know 

 it would inteicst all the readers of Tnii: 

 Uoi.ocasT. 



J.W.P.S.. 



Sans Souci, N. ('. 



Nests and Eggs of North American 

 Birds. 



T/if Fvllfliring u W/int the Farm. Fiehl 

 and Stockman, of Chka'jo says of 



the third edition of Davie's Work. 



A thorough and reliable woik, the 

 new edition of whicli has l)een looked 



for during several UHiiitlis l)y those in- 

 terested in birds. In some respccls it 

 is a uni(|U(' woi'k. The iiiNcstigations 

 to procure the necessar_\' scieiitilic facts 

 have l)een ])ursued with great i)ersisten- 

 cy and hdelity. Theauthor seems to have 

 brought under contril)Ution every one 

 who could give the data wanted fi'oni 

 original sources. Usually the authority 

 is cited. The illustrati<ms are a great 

 hell) especially to y<iutlif\il students or 

 collectors. 'I'hey add much to tlu' al- 

 tractivciH'ss of the book for the geiu'ial 

 reader. There ai'c thirteen of these 

 full-page illustrations. Sonu' of them 

 probably depii-t what has never before 

 iicen attemiJted. Sni'h b)r example as 

 that of the Burrowing Owls, Water 

 Ouzels or Dii)i)ers and nests, Califor- 

 nia Bush Tit, et<-. Among the jdates 

 which are an ornament to the book 

 as jjictures are those of the Swallow- 

 tailed Kite and nest, the Wood Ducks, 

 Blue (Tray, (Inatcatcher and nest, etc. 

 Tliere is a touching and poetic dedica- 

 tion to tiie memory of Lociiis S. Willson, 

 evidently a companion and dear friend 

 ill the juusuit of scientific knowledge 

 and in the appreciation of nature. 



One feature which should popularize 

 this work for coUectoi's, students anil 

 the getiearl reailer, is the care in giving 

 prominence to the common names. In 

 this respect great care and good sense 

 is shown in the type and the general 

 style of i)rinting and arrangement of 

 l)aragra])hs. The sco])e of the work 

 seems to !te to cover the land and water 

 l)irds of North America and to give a 

 description of the nests and eggs. It 

 includes all the species that are indi- 

 geuious north of the Southern United 

 States boundary, including Greenland 

 and the Peninsula of Lower California. 

 The breeding range of each spei-ies is 

 given, the time of nesting, the exact 

 number of eggs laid, their color and 

 size, together with the chief ciiaracter- 

 istics of till' birds. 



Often the mcasm-euK'Uts of eggs are 



