THE OOLOGIST 



General Items. 



— Robins have wintered with us (Oswe- 

 go, N. Y.) ; very unusual* here. Fox 

 Sparrows in abundance — a rare occurrence. 



D. D. Stone. 



— I SHOT an Oven-bird on the 20th of 

 November, more than two months later 

 than they usually stay. H. S. Mahon. 



— A Robin with white wings and tail 

 attracts considerable attention here (Mex- 

 ico, N. Y.). Is it a case of partial albi- 

 nism? . . A short time since, a Shrike 

 (^CoUurio borealis) flew into a conserva- 

 tory in this village, and attacked a caged 

 Canary-bird. Tlie Canary was rescued be- 

 fore the Shrike had accomplished its pur- 

 pose, and the tyrant was allowed to escape. 

 J. A. Severance. 



— Forest and Stream quotes an item from 

 the Scientific American relative to the ina- 

 bility of Quail to cross wide rivers in their 

 flights. We should like to hear more of 

 this interesting subject. 



— BiKDS will sometimes demean them- 

 selves in an odd manner. We had occa- 

 sion in the tall of 1877, to shoot at a Spar- 

 row that rose from the grass in front of us ; 

 our only weapon being a small '■'pocket"- 

 rifle, we naturally brought that into ser- 

 vice. At the report the bird sprang into 

 the air, dropped into the grass again and 

 finally flew feebly to a fence near by. It 

 perched as if badly hxu't, allowed us to ap- 

 proach it without leaving its place, and fi- 

 nally suftercd itself to be taken in the hand. 

 We took it home and examined it all over, 

 but found no trace of injury, and the bird 

 began to show an unmistakable desire to 

 escape ; when released it flew away. We 

 have heard of such instances, but have 

 never before been brought into contact with 

 the fact. Doubtless the vacuum caused by 



*This is an item tliat advocates of the theo- 

 ry of spontaneous migration, as eft'ected by a 

 latent "spasm," may contemplate. And this 

 is only one instance of the non-migratory dis- 

 position of the Robin; two or three others 

 have fallen under our notice recently. — Ed. 



the passage of the ball close to the bird's 

 lungs produced a feeling akin to that of 

 numbness, which momentarily lost it to its 

 surroundings. 



— The Sparrows, Robin, Blue Bird, 

 Blackbirds, and others of first appearing 

 birds arrived a number of days earlier this 

 season than last, in Central New York. 

 The season so far, has been unusually mild 

 throughout a greater portiou of the State. 



The item on page 95 of our Febru- 

 ary issue, at the head of the second column, 

 should have been the Barred instead of the 

 Great Horned Owl. 



ANNOUNCEMENTS OF NEVT PUBLICATIONS. 



Notes on the Occurrence of Micropalama 

 himantopus in New England^ by Dr. T. M. 

 Brewer. — A pamphlet establishing the oc- 

 currence of the Stilt Sandpiper in New Eng- 

 land, and containing a paper relative to the 

 House Sparrow and its usefulness, as de- 

 termined by observations in Boston. Dr. 

 Brewer is noted for his interest in the birds 

 of New England, and is always ready to 

 protect his list, and enlarge upon such of 

 its contents as he deems of interest and val- 

 ue to ornithological circles. In this pam- 

 phlet, we have the complete known history 

 of the Stilt Sandpiper in New England. 



A North American Oology, by Ernest 

 Ingersoll, is the-title, or substance of the 

 title, of a proposed work on the eggs of our 

 North American birds. We cannot, of 

 course, comment upon the work, for its 

 publication has not yet been commenced. 

 The prospectus shows us that it will, if pub- 

 lished in accordance therewith, be a work 

 of great value. Circulars containing the 

 announcement and giving the particulars 

 can be obtained from the publisher, S. E. 

 Cassino, Salem, Mass. We shall notice 

 this work at greater length in due time. 



