24 



THE OOLOGIST 



On the 27tli of May iiiv attention was at- 

 tracted by a Huinuiiiig Bird fluttering a- 

 round a regalia busli. 1 watched lier, but 

 she did not stay long at the flower bush, but 

 skimmed oflf' thi'ough the air and alit upon 

 an oak tree ch)se by. I succeeded in fol- 

 lowing her across the road into a small piece 

 of woods, where I saw her fly close by the 

 nest. It was situated on a small oak about 

 thirty feet from the ground and contained 

 two eirgs. F. M. Spikgle. 



— ^YE should tliink a Sparrow Hawk 

 could be employed to advantage by ornith- 

 ologists while out collecting small birds. 

 An experiment in this direction furnished 

 evidence toward its feasibility : in less than 

 half an hour after the Hawk was discover- 

 ed by a Robin, there were within easy gun- 

 shot at least ten different species and thrice 

 as many individuals. Perhaps a young 

 bird is more effective than an adult, but in 

 either case, the Robins are powerful assail- 

 ants and their attacks calculated to be se- 

 vere, and unless the Hawk has partial free- 

 dom, it is exposed to considerable danger. 



— GoLDEN-CKESTED and Ruby-crowued 

 Kinglets and Horned Larks have been nu- 

 merous the past winter and spring in most 

 of the Middle portions of the United States. 

 White- throated and -crowned Sparrows 

 have nested for the first time witliin dis- 

 tricts south of their usual breeding ground, 

 and Crossbills have been observed about the 

 towns and villages since the middle of Feb- 

 ruary. 



General Items. 



— The Tufted Titmouse is a resident spe- 

 cies here (Washington, Pa. ) and quite com- 

 mon, but I have never yet I'ound one of their 

 nests. About the 12th of April, a pair 

 were seen carrying bits of straw and other 

 materials into a small box that I had nailed 

 up among the branches of a cherry tree in 

 the garden. The next day they were driv- 

 en away, after a slight skirmish, by a pair 

 of Bluebirds who had been inspecting the 

 box a few days before, but, dog-in-the-mau- 

 ger^ike, they did not nest there themselves. 



'% W. T. Warwick. 



Jlcccnt ^xtMi cations. 



Notes ON Certain Species of New England 

 Birds, with additions to his catalogue of the 

 Birds of New England : by T. M. Brewer. 

 — Since the publication of his list of the 

 Birds of New P^ngland, in 1875 ,Dr. Brew- 

 er has found it necessary to issue a supple- 

 mentary list. There is no portion of North 

 America as thoroughly studied and inves- 

 tigated in ornithology as New England, 

 and the seeming rivalry existing among the 

 naturalists of those States, forms a means 

 which rarely fails to bring to notice the oc- 

 currence of a doubted species, if proven by 

 the capture of a single specimen. Dr. Brew- 

 er enumerates twenty-one species in this 

 list, making a total of three-hundred and 

 fifty-six species known to occur in the New 

 England States. Among those whose pres- 

 ence in this part of the country is of much 

 interest, are Audubon's Warbler, the Lou- 

 isiana Tanager, Chestnut-collared Bunting, 

 Oregon Snow Bird, Scissor-tail, etc. 



