48 



THE OOLOGIST 



General Items. 



— On December 9, an incident came un- 

 der my observation that was a surprise to 

 me. I shot into a flock of Snow Buntings 

 aud winged one of them, and as I was pick- 

 ing up another, the wounded one fluttered 

 along ahead of me, which so attracted tlie 

 attention of tlie flock that it canie back over 

 my head, wheii one of tlie flock alit on the 

 b;ick of the wounded one, picked it up and 

 flew ott" with it. 1 was within a couple of 

 paces of the wounded bird when the other, 

 took it up. Delos Hatch. 



— PcNE Gkosbkaks, Lesser Red-polls, 

 Snow Buntings, and Sparrows of various 

 species have been abundant all winter in 

 the Middle States. They frequent the gar- 

 dens of th.e cities for seeds and crumbs, I'rom 

 which we would infer that they have ditli- 

 culty in obtaining food. 



— The following incident will sliow tiie 

 fondness of the Rufled Grouse for a partic- 

 ular roosting place. Not far from the city 

 there is a rather open wood, intersected by 

 what is termed the Ravine, on one side of 

 which there is a small, rather thick clump 

 of cedars, beech saplings, and wild gnipe 

 vines. A Grouse was flushed from there 

 about dusk by a youthful hunter last fall, 

 on two successive days. On the third oc- 

 casion of his visit to the wood, it was flush- 

 ed in the viciuity of the same place, and it 

 became evident to the young hunter, that, 

 in order to obtain a Grouse and surprise 

 his friends, he might sit down upon a stump 

 at dusk and wait till his prey came to roost. 

 So whilst we were beating the woods in ex- 

 pectation of flushing the bird, our shrewd 

 hunter sat still for ;i few moments, when the 

 bird came, dropped upon the ground a few 

 yards away, and scratched about under the 

 shrubbery preparatory to going to rest, 

 when a trembling hand shot it. Acting 

 upon this experience, the successful hunter 

 with a companion returned to the spot a 

 few days after, thinking tliey might shoot 

 another in the same place, and they had not 

 been long deposited upon the stump before 



another Partridge came and was sacrificed. 



Both these birds were started from the 

 same covert again and again by people who 

 frequented the wood, but notwithstanding 

 their wonted shyness, they could not be 

 driven from their favorite clump of trees. 



— Robins have been observed to winter 

 in the vicinitv of Utica. 



Recent ^HtbUcHtlous. 



Sciente Neivs — is a new publication de- 

 voted to the exposition of general science ; 

 published fortnightly bv S. ¥j. Cassino, Sa- 

 lem, Mass. Subscription, $ 2.00 per year. 

 INIen of prominence in the several branches 

 of science will contribute to the journal. 



Birch of Florida. — Part VI. of this work 

 has been published. It contains three col- 

 oi-ed plates, one of eggs, one explaining the 

 structiu'e of the different genera, and a plate 

 representing the Brown-headed Nuthatch 

 and the Yellow-throated W;irbler. The 

 text has advanced to the one-hundred and 

 sixtieth page, and it is to be hoped the 

 work may be completed. 



Illustratinvs of the Nests avd Efjf/s of 

 the Birds of Oliiu^ by Genevieve K. Jones 

 and Eliza J. Siudze. — The first part of this 

 folio work, containing tiiree plates of the 

 eggs and nests of Ohio birds, and the cor- 

 responding text, has been issued. The fig- 

 ures are natural size, and are excellent, both 

 in artistic and natural effect. The price 

 of the work is $5.00 per part for the col- 

 ored co[)ies, and $ 2.00 I'or the uncolored 

 ones. Such a work merits a generous sup- 

 port, especially as its value as an original 

 work is very high. If the scientific read- 

 ers of this country were better able to offer 

 pecuniary aid to publications of real merit, 

 and the weak, fictitious literature of the 

 times could be partly superceded by such 

 substantial works, many libraries would be 

 enriched, and many youthful readers would 

 be benefited. 



Chas. W. Gunn's Naturalist and Fan- 

 cier has appeared for 1879, 



