12 



THE OSPREY. 



General Notes. 



A SNOWY OWL IN AN ICE-HOUSE. 

 On Wednesday, July 15, 1897, a full-grown, adult 

 Snowy Owl was shot on the interval near this city. 

 Last week was one of the hottest ever known here, 

 the thermometer ranging from 95' to 106"^ in the 

 shade. The bird was shot by W. G. C. Kimball, Jr., 

 and measured 4 feet 7 inches from tip to tip. I am 

 unable to account for the bird's unprecedented occur- 

 rence here at this time, except upon one hypothesis : 

 The bird was killed upon the cupola of a large ice- 

 house, which might have served as an abiding place 

 for his owl-ship during days too warm for outside 

 living He was first scared from a field of grass 

 where he was evidently searching for mice. — L. J. 

 RuNni.F.TT, (Supt. of Schools,) Concord, A\ //. 



crowned Kinglet, Hudsonian Chickadee, Yellow- 

 bellied Flycatcher and Black-poll Warbler, their 

 associated birds, were. It is interesting to know why 

 such birds as the above (except P. IJitdsonicus,) 

 should summer in such a high and barren locality, 

 when they are generally believed to nest in low, damp 

 localities. I think I have discovered some reasons, 

 and expect to tell them to the readers of The Osprev 

 in a later paper. — EnwiN Irvine Haines, Slation 24S 

 I'. S. Bio/ooua/ Siinuy. 



COUES' FLYCATCHER. 

 I found the Cones Flycatcher quite a common bird in 

 the Huachuca Mountains, but saw none in the Santa 

 Ritas. A nest was found on June 1 1, by watching the 

 female. At first both birds appeared rather indiffer- 

 ent about my presence, but I noticed that no time 

 was lost in driving Jays from a large Spruce tree. 

 Patient watching revealed the nest ; it was built at 

 the confluence of two limbs, resting in part on the 

 main limb, and so well hidden that it was located 

 only by seeing the bird resume the duties of incuba- 

 tion. 



The nest is of the Wood Pewee type, but much 

 larger ; being composed, outwardly, of grass stems 

 covered with lichens. The inside is lined entirely 

 with the ripe tips of a species of grass {Stipa species?) 

 growing in places near the nest. It was situated 

 thirty feet from the ground, and ten feet from the 

 trunk of the tree. In the nest were two eggs, and a 

 third one, after receiving some injury, was thrown 

 out of the nest, lodging upon the edge, where I found 

 it. Incubation in the two eggs was well advanced. 

 They resemble eggs of the Olive-sided Flycatcher, 

 but are somewhat smaller than that species. — Geo. 

 F. Breninger, P/ianix, Arizona. 



FURTHER KINGLET REMARKS. 



In the February number of The Osprev appeared 

 my article on "The Kinglets and their Distribution." 

 In that paper I told of the summering of the Kinglets 

 near Stamford, Delaware County, N. Y. This spring 

 (May 25-June 25,) I spent in the Big Indian Valley, 

 Ulster County, N. Y., which lies in the heart of the 

 western Catskill Mountains, and runs from the foot of 

 Slide Mountain (4. 220 feet altitude, ) to the main valley. 

 Upon the tops of the Big Indian, Hemlock, Panther, 

 and Slide Mountains I found the Golden and Huby- 

 crowned Kinglets. The Golden were quite numerous, 

 and their characteristic notes were often heard. I 

 secured four specimens of these, two from top of 

 Slide on June 15, 1S97, altitude 4,220 feet; one from 

 Big Indian on June 10, 1897, altitude 3,850 feet : and 

 one from Panther on June 12, 1897, altitude 3,800 

 feet. The birds seem to like the small Balsam Pines 

 on the extreme summits. With them is associated 

 the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Hudsonian Chickadee 

 and Black poll Warbler. 



The Ruby-crowned Kinglets were rarer, and were 

 only found in the low Balsam trees upon the high 

 ridge and extreme summit of Slide Mountain. I se- 

 cured five specimens, three males and two females, 

 while I camped upon Slide Mountain, June 15, 1897. 

 They were not there present upon my other trips 

 May 28, June i, June 10, etc., though the Golden- 



TURKEY VULTURES IN THE NORTH. 



On July 3, I observed a pair of Turkey Buzzards, 

 (Vultures,) such as we have down South, sailing aloft 

 over Lake Geneva, near Alexandria, Douglas County, 

 Minnesota. Some ten years ago I noticed three of 

 these birds in Kittson County, in latitude 48° 40'. 

 This is the most northern point that I have known 

 them to visit, though I do not see what is to hinder 

 their making a trip to the Arctic Circle in mid-sum- 

 mer. — Charles Hallock, Si. Paul, Minn. 



NOTE AND COMMENT. 



Mr. J. H. Bowles, of Tacoma, Wash., took a set 

 of Streaked Horned Lark's eggs on July 26, last. 



Hon. R. M. Barnes, of Lacon, 111., enjoyed a vaca- 

 tion trip to Macinac Island in the latter part of July. 



We are pleased to announce that with the com- 

 mencement of the second volume The Osprey be- 

 comes the official organ of the Cooper Ornithological 

 Club of the Pacific Coast. 



A Robin's nest flat upon the ground under a Skunk 

 Cabbage plant was found near Feltville, N. J., by 

 Silas W. Pickering, of Newark. It was a typical 

 Robin's nest and contained four eggs. 



Mr J. Merton Swain, of Portland, Me., says in a 

 recent letter: "I found the Bluebird much more 

 common at my old home, in Farmington, Me., than 

 last year ; found five pairs breeding, where I wasn't 

 able to find one last year." 



Mr. W. S. Cobleigh gave the California 'boys' 

 but a short call ; a letter mailed in San Francisco, 

 July 24, says that he was then on his way to the Klon- 

 dike gold fields. He is well equipped and is pre 

 pared to stay two years. 



We regret that our esteemed contemporary, that 

 excellent monthly, 7'//,' Nidologist, has suspended pub- 

 lication An article by Dr. Coues, in reply to a letter 

 addressed to the editor of Tlie iVido/ogis/ in its last 

 number, will be printed in The Osprev, because of 

 The A'ido/ogis/'s inability to publish it. 



Mr. A. M. Nicholson, of Orlando, Fla., had the 

 misfortune, this summer, to be severely bitten by a 

 large Alligator. While attempting to place the 

 'gator' in a box for shipment it grabbed him by the 

 foot, the large tusks inflicting a very painful wound 

 which will require a long time to heal. This is the 

 first accident of this kind Mr. Nicholson has had 

 in his twenty years' experience as a Florida naturalist. 



The Klondike gold craze may prove of material 

 injury to The Osprev. Shortly before the outbreak 

 of excitement Mr. Geo. G. Cantwell promised us 

 a series of Alaskan photographs, but as nothing has 

 been heard of him of late we fear that he has taken 

 the 'gold fever.' We wonder if the Mcllhenny expe- 

 dition will continue on its course northward to Point 

 Barrow and the Arctic Ocean. 



