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H 



# OOLOGIST> 



VOL. VI. 



ALBION, N. Y., DEC, 1889. 



NO. 12 



Birds of Niagara County, N. v. 



VVe arc indebted to J. L. Davidson, 

 Esq., of Lofkport, N.Y., for 'a reprint- 

 ed list of the same, wliieli ])repared 

 with annotations was for the fora^t 

 anil Stream, Septeniper, 1SS<). It is a 

 valualih^ paper and liad we the spaee 

 wouhl reprint the same in tlie OoLo- 

 <ilST. Niao'ai'a eount_v joins Orh'ans 

 <"onnty on tiie west and llie list in main 

 is simihir to the one ])nl)lished in the 

 Ooi.oGisT hist May. 



From Mr. Davison's list we tak(^ the 

 foUowing wiiieh will prove of interest 

 to onr readers: 



In presenting the following list 

 1 do so knowing that it is not comjjlete, 

 as the 192 species given are only snch 

 as have come under my owii observa- 

 tion within the jiast ten years. I think 

 it is generally claimed that aI)out 250 

 species occur in this vicinity. There 

 are many sections of the county that I 

 have not \isited. In fact, most of my 

 <-ollecting has been confined to the cen- 

 tral i)art. Among a collection of lie- 

 tween 300 and 400 moimted specimens, 

 154 species are secured in the county. 

 A few f)f the many species given as 

 migrants may possibly remain through 

 the summer, l)ut I have found tliem 

 only during migration. 



FKO.AI THE LIST OF BIRDS. 



35. Branta catiddensis (Linn.), Can- 

 ada Goose (180). — A common migrant. 

 Mr. Norman Pomeroy, living about 

 four miles from Lockjjort, captiu-ed 13 

 a few years ago, which had alighted 

 among his flock of tame geese during a 

 severe storm, and all taking shelter in 

 the y)arn, when the door was closed on 

 them. They mateil with his tame geese 

 and he keeps a flock of 40 to 50 of the 

 hybrid geese. 



80. Ihtbo rirt/iiiiiDiN.'i ((imel.), (ii'cat 



Horned Owl (37')). — A common resid(>nt. 

 Feb, 25, 1884, a live si)ecimen was 

 brought to my son to be mounted. It 

 Avas killed iiy cldorofurni but not skin- 

 ned for a week afterward. The l)ody 

 was a mass of fat, and my son wonder- 

 ing what it got to live, on to keep in 

 snch good condition, thought he would 

 make an insjx'ction internally, and on 

 cutting it open the knife jiassed tln'ougli 

 on egg just really to be laid. Had she 

 been ke|)t alive slie would iiave laid the 

 egg during the day. 



81 . ( 'orryzi!.'^ crijth r o }> It thai m v k 

 (Wils.). B!ack-I)illed Cuckoo (388).— A 

 common summer resident. I ha\e of- 

 ten found the eggs of this spi'ciev in the 

 nest of ('. ((iiicric((!}i;s, bn.t only once 

 have I fouml it in the nest of any other 

 bird. June IT, 1882, I found a black- 

 billed cuckoo ami a mourning dove 

 sitting on a roln'n's nest togethei'. Tjie 

 cuckoo was the tirst to leave the nest. 

 On securing the nest I foun<l it contain- 

 ed two eggs of the I'uckoo, two of the 

 mourning do\'e and one robin egg. 

 The i-ol)in had not (piite tinished the 

 nest when the cuckoo took ])ossession 

 of it and lilhHl it nearly full of rootless, 

 but the robin got in and lai<l one egg. 

 Incubation had comnnnu-ed in the 

 robin and cuckoo eggs, but m)t in the 

 mourning dove eggs. I have the nest 

 and i'^^^ in my collection. See Forest 

 and Stream, Aug. 24, 1882, i)age 65. "A 

 Strange Story." I am also quitt- t-ei - 

 tain that I have seen the black-l)ille(i 

 and yellow-billed cuckoo feeding young 

 in the sann- nest, an account of which 

 was published in Forest toitf Stream. 

 since when I have found a nund)er of 

 nests containing tin? eggs of both spe- 

 cies, and ha\e come to the conclusion 

 that I was not mistaken in that obser- 

 vation. On Se|)t. 10, 1SS3. I fouml a 

 nest of the black-billed cuckoo contain- 



