THE OSPREY. 



29 



day an elaborate monog-raph on the nesting- 

 habits of the North American Warblers This 

 work will contain a colored plate of the '^' and '^ 

 of each species of Warbler, photog-raphs when 

 practicable of the nest and eggs /;/ sifu, and 

 numerous colored plates of the eggs which will 

 be the best obtainable. The text will be partly 

 original, and partly compilations froui the best 

 account of each species so far written. 



There will be about 175 figures each of the 

 species of Warblers' eggs that show enormous 

 variation, such as Kentucky Warbler, Ovenbird, 

 Prothonotar^' Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Pine 

 Warbler, Maryland Yellow-throat, Chat, etc.; 

 about 50 to 75 fig'-ures of species that show great 

 variation, such as Yellow Warbler, Nashville 

 Warbler, Black Poll Warbler, etc.; while a doz- 

 en would suffice for species such as Swainson's 

 and Bachman's Warblers, which are normally 

 unspotted. Of course such a work would be 

 very expensive, and as it would be larg^el)' a 

 labor of love, it maj- be quite a long- while be- 

 fore it is started, but it shall be started at some 

 time even if I have to wait ten years. 



In spite of my taking this large series, I have 

 not decreased the number of pairs of Warblers 



in the least. On the contrarj' I notice an in- 

 crease every year. The reason for this is that 

 but seldom did I take my second sets from the 

 same pair. 



I can substantiate this statement by affidavits 

 to this effect from Messrs. Samuel B." Ladd and 

 Thos. H. Jackson of West Chester, Pa., who are 

 thoroughly familiar with the habits of all War- 

 blers in my locality. 



Messrs. Ladd and Jackson are generalh' con- 

 sidered the two best Ornithologists and "Oolo- 

 g-ists in Pennsylvania and their reputation for 

 field-collecting- and veracitv makes their state- 

 ments absoluteh' conclusive. 



In conclusion, let me state that no person who 

 has ever seen a large collection of eggs can 

 truthfully say there is no use in collecting- in 

 large series. It will give me the greatest pleas- 

 ure to prove this assertion by showing my col- 

 lection to anybody' who desires to see. 



I also wish to say that I did not start this di.s- 

 cussion and dislike writing so much about mj'- 

 self, but I cannot allow mis-statements to be 

 made without contradicting them. 



J. Pakkek Norkis, Jr. 



Notes. 



The Bicyci.e and Natxtrai, History have 

 been correlated! According to the Evening- 

 Post (New York), "at last a publisher has been 

 found to bless the bicycle. A couple of years 

 ag-o bicycle riding was made responsible for the 

 falling off of many persons (no pun intetided) in 

 literary enthusiasm. The wheel took them 

 away from books, and overcame the allurements 

 of the librai-y. Now, however, one publisher 

 has divcovered that the bicycle has at least been 

 the means of awakening an interest in Natural 

 History, and reports as a direct result an in- 

 creased demand for books on that subject". 



The Fossil Birds of North America have 

 been counted up by Dr. O. P. Hay, and a census 

 taken (not yet published). He has found 102 

 species representing 59 g-enera. Of course this 

 must be a ver^- small fraction of those that have 

 lived. This small number results from the 

 ability of birds to escape some dangers that envi- 

 ron mammals, and the consequent rareness of 

 their remains. Although doubtless thej' have 

 been more numerous in species from an early 

 time than mammals, the remains of the latter 

 are vastly more numerous. More than 1,100 

 species of the higher class, representing over 400 

 genera, are known from fossil finds. 



Note of the Spotted Screech Owl (Me- 

 gascops trichopsis). — Mr. Charles K. Worthen 

 sent me a fine male of this species in July, which 

 had been taken on Maj- 27, 1899, in the Huachuca 

 Mountains, Arizona. The same had the follow- 

 ing- measurements: bill, 17 mm.; length with- 

 out bill, 175 mm.; wing, 139 mm.; tail, 75 mm.; 

 tarsus, 27//^ mm. These measurements were 

 taken with a pair of compasses. It will be seen 

 that this specimen is a trifle larg"er than those 

 mentioned in the Aak, Vol. xv, No. 2, page 186, 



by Mr. Wm. Brewster, but still is not near as 

 large as his type specimen from Mexico. 



W. F. Henninger. 



Yellow-headed Blackbird. — In the January 

 OSPREV, C. L. Webster speaks of this species, 

 g-iving" an experience much like my own. Until 

 the spring of 1892, I had seen but three speci- 

 mens of this bird, tho' m^- father — a close ob- 

 server of birds from the days when Carolina 

 Parakeets were comnion here told me they were 

 strays from Iowa, where they were common. In 

 18'^)2, I visited the swamps of Henry County, 

 about 20 miles distant, and found them nesting- in 

 great numbers in the cane patches; but they did 

 not seem to leave these for any distance. Why 

 they were not seen more commonly during- mi- 

 g-rations I do not know, especially- as thousands 

 of Blackbirds used a fine grove on the farm as a 

 roost. No doubt Mr. Webster will find them if 

 he will visit any large marsh during the nesting 

 season. — Dr. A. C. Murchison, Toulon, 111., 

 Apr. 3, 1899. 



A New Extinct Type of Birds was des- 

 cribed by Mr. C. W. Andrews at the meeting- of 

 the Zoological Society of London on June 20th. 

 It was of Lower Eocene ag'-e, having been found 

 enclosed in a nodule in the London clay of 

 Sheppej'. "The specimen indicated a bird 

 which was nearly related to the tropic-bird 

 (/Viat'f/ion). but in some respects approached the 

 other Steganopods (<'.,?■. Si//a) more closely than 

 Phacthon did". The new form was named Pro- 

 phacthoii Sliruhsolei. 



A Fossil Egg from South Dakota has 

 been described and illustrated with good plates 

 by Dr. O. C. Farring'-ton. The monog-raph ap- 

 pears as "Publication 35" of the Field Colum- 



