THE OOLOGIST. 



77 



Too Clever for the Cat. 



Last summer, while watching a motlicr 

 Blackbird feeding her young, she, seeing a 

 a cat approaching, and fearing the loss of 

 her brood, attracted the attention of the 

 stealthy animal by flying down to the fence 

 upon which the cat was crouched, and then 

 by feigning a broken wing and hopping 

 along with plaintive chirps, just in front of 

 her enemy (but always just out of his reach), 

 she succeeded in luring him to a safe dis- 

 tance. Then she immediately took flight, 

 and by a circuitous route, returned to her 

 nest. P. S. Maloney, 



Phila. Pa. 



Winter Bird Notes. 



Tlie weather since the advent of January, 

 has in general been cold and stormy, with 

 a few thaws, and the evidence of bird life 

 has not been very manifest, at least, in a 

 number of species that usually make their 

 appearance in this vicinity during the win- 

 ter mouths. The European Sparrows are 

 here in large numbers, and evidently deter- 

 mined to remain, though we occasionally 

 notice that the Northern Shrike is contin- 

 ually subtracting one of their nnmber. The 

 Sno\y-buntings are always here, sometimes 

 in large flocks, from the first snow-fall till 

 the arrival of many of our spring birds 

 herald the approach of spring. Almost 

 every day that we visit the evergreen woods, 

 we are greeted by the cheery notes of the 

 Chickadee, and often bj^ those of the Gold- 

 en-crowned Kinglet, but, strange to say, so 

 far this winter, we have failed to observe 

 either species of the Nut-hatches, Crossbills, 

 Finches, or Grosbeaks, and very few Blue- 

 jays, or Hairy AVood- picker shave put in an 

 appearance. A few owls have been ob- 

 served, and one that has lately been seen 

 wandering in this neighborhood, from the 

 description given, I have reason to believe, 

 was a specimen of the Great Grey Owl. On 

 the 27th of January, i^me specimens of the 

 Horned Lark were seen, and since then 

 they have become more common. This 

 was the earliest date that I ever remember 

 to have observed the advent of this species. 



On the 5th inst. the peculiar " croak" of 

 the Raven was heard coming over the woods 

 and soon after a pair of these birds were 

 observed flying southward. This is the 

 second pair of these birds that I have no- 

 ticed in this vicinity, and both were seen 

 near the same place, and near the same 

 period of the year, the other pair having 

 been observed in '85. Wm. L. Kells. 

 Listowel, Feb. 7th, 1887. 



Snowy Owl. 



While hunting on the prairie neai' here, 

 on the 27th, I surprised a Snowy Owl asleep 

 in a bare spot in the center of a al>out 40 

 acres of weeds. My near approach fright- 

 ened him and he started to fly, but I fired 

 and he dropped. Is this not rather early 

 for them here, and is this a usual place to 

 find them in? He measured sixty inches 

 exactly from tip to tip of wings. I never 

 saw but one other here and that was in 

 December of 1884. 



Geo. B. Holmes. 



Fernwood, Ills. 



Measurements: Alar spread, 4 feet 11 

 inches. Description: Front of head and 

 part of breast white; crown white, marked 

 with a shade of brown. 



Wings white, marked with brown in bars 

 running cross-wise of feathers. 



Wing coverts about the same as wings ; 

 tail coverts white; tail white, marked with 

 parallel bars running cross- wise. 



Under tail prevails pure white: breast, 

 white, mottled with a faint shade of brown. 



Feet covered with white down, very 

 thick to the toes Feet consisting of four 

 claws and very large. 



Eyes resemble those of Great Horned 

 owl, but a little larger. 



The bird which I have just described is 

 a rare visitor in these parts. The bird 

 from which I take the above description 

 was shot near this village on the night of 

 November 26, 1886. It is now in my pos- 

 .session, and a ni(;er bird for mounting I 

 have never seen. 



Albert G. Prill. 



Springville, N. Y. 



