THE OSPREY. 



89 



dates should be freely quoted if a record has 

 been kept, thouj^h general statements on this 

 score are always better than iione at all. The 

 cic'rid^r time of arrival and departure should be 

 j4"iven, followed where possible by a statement 

 of the limitinfj;' or extreme dates, with years 

 attached. 



In addition it is well to mention the favorite 

 haunts of a species, and state the manner oi its 

 occurrence — whether, at a g'iven season, it is 

 found sing-le, in pairs, or in flocks, is in full 

 sonj^ or voiceless, etc. Any new or interesting- 

 jjoints in its life-history, or any other facts 

 l)earinif on its distribution and mij^ration, are 

 of course also to be noted. 



Where a list of birds is the result of but a few 

 days' or weeks' study of a locality it is obviously 

 out of the question to treat each species as fully 

 as above indicated, but it is desirable to record 

 as much as possible concerninfc its abundance, 

 local distribution, haunts, nestinj^-, and manner 

 of occurrence during the period of observation. 

 The writer is of the belief, based on personal 

 experience, that a trained field observer can 

 i^'-ain a very fair idea of the characteristics of 

 the summer avifauna of a locality by a few 

 days' careful work in the heig-ht of the breed- 

 ing- season, with the probability of en'or reduced 

 to a minimum. Such a list, though necessarily 

 incomplete, is correct so far as it g-oes. and of 

 corresponding value. 



Faunal lists may be i^oughly divide into three 

 classes: first, those covering- a comparatively 

 restricted area and period of time, as above in- 



dicated; second, these covering- an area as larg-e 

 as a county for a year or more; and third, those 

 which asj)ire to summarize our kn<nvledg-e of 

 the birds of a state and which should always be 

 accompanied by a bibliography. It is scarcely 

 necessary to add that the last is by far the most 

 apt to be valueless and unsatisfactory, because 

 of its usual lack of precisicui. (General state- 

 ments are all rig-ht, of course, but should be ac- 

 companied by the particular facts upon which 

 they are based. Anyone who has ever attempt- 

 ed to map such records as "Breed regularly in 

 Southern New Jersey", "Nests sparingly in 

 the Northern and mountainous portions of the 

 State", "Breeds in [the] Northern Peninsula", 

 "Found all along the Atlantic seacoast". etc., 

 will appreciate the fact of this "sug-gestion. 

 There has been a marked tendency to improve- 

 ment of late years in State lists in this respect, 

 of which Mr. Amos W. Butler's "Birds of 

 Indiana" (Indiana (iec^log-ical Report for 1897, 

 pp. 51.^-ll(i5), may be cited as a conspicuf)us and 

 successful example. Mr. Harry C. ()berholser's 

 "Preliminary list of the Birds of Wayne County, 

 Ohio" (Bull. Ohio Ag-ricultural Experiment 

 Station, Technical Series, Vol. i. No. 4. July, 

 18%), may be mentioned as an example of a 

 properly prepared counts list, while Dr. Jona- 

 than Dwig-ht, Jr. "s paper on the "Summer Birds 

 of the Crest of the Pennsvlvania Alleg-hanies" 

 (Auk, ix, 18^2, 12')), is to my mind fairly illus- 

 trative of a model faunal })aper of more re- 

 stricted rang-e. 



NESTING OF STEPHEN'S WHIPPOORWILL. 



By Phii.o W. Smith, Jk., St. Louis, Mo 



Having- no recollection of ever having- seen an 

 article on the nesting- habits or eg-g-s of this 

 Whippoorwill, I will g-ive a few extracts con- 

 tained in a letter from a friend who collected ine 

 two sets this season. 



In camp in Caiion in Huachuca Mountains, 

 Mr. O. C. Poling- writes: "among- the rarer sets 

 and skins that I have taken for j'ou are two tine 

 fresh sets of the Stephen's Whippoorwill. 

 After three days of almost constant search. I 

 was startled by seeing- something- move rig-ht 

 under my feet; it prooved to be what I had been 

 so long; looking- for — Stephen's Whippoorwill. 

 The bird had to be driven from the nest, which 

 contained 2 fresh eg-gs which I secured, together 

 with the female; the nest was located on a steep 

 hillside, and consisted of a few oak leaves in a 

 slight depression ; date May 12, 1889. The second 



set was taken on May 22d, under almost tl e 

 same conditions, the female refusing to leave 

 the nest until driven off. 



The two sets, now in the writer's collection, 

 very much resemble in shape and color sets of 

 the common Poor Will in his collection, being 

 possibly a trifle larger, and one eg"g of each set 

 has a few almost imperceptible pinkish spots on 

 one end, the other egg in each set being un- 

 spotted. 



A few among the good takes which Mr. Poling 

 sent me were fine skins and sets of the following: 

 Lucy's and Black-throated (xray Warbler, Ver- 

 milion, Buff-breast, and Sulphur-bellied Fly- 

 catcher, Arizona Jay, (2 eggs spotted). Painted 

 Redstart, Strickland's Woodpecker, Lead-color- 

 ed Bush Tit, etc., etc. 



