April 



1.SSl>.] 



A N 1 > ( »( )LOGLST. 



Ill 



incubated set. Hold tliem up to the lig-lit, 

 brother collectors, and if cloudy pass theia 

 by. The same fij'round can be cov(>r('d next 

 year with (n'ery prospect of Kuccess. 



Not often do we find sets of Whijipoor- 

 will's eggs, yet the birds are reasonalily 

 common, and in some places abundant. 

 For instance, while riding in the early 

 evening of Saturday. June 4, '81, through 

 Centre Groton. from Poiiuonnoc to Led- 

 yard Centre, a distance oi four miles. I 

 saw and heard eighteen of these Goat- 

 suckers. 



Collectors will do well to take long rides 

 or drives on country and sirrburban roads 

 in Winter, while the trees are bare, and 

 before snows and the late Winter winds 

 have beaten down the nests. He will note 

 the nesting-places of many birds, which 

 will again be tenanted, and which it will 

 "pay" to visit next season. In an after- 

 noon drive near Norwich lately I marked 

 down for future reference the homes of 

 three •• Downies" a fine site Lii white birch 

 stul)s for chickadees, and in Vnishy pastures 

 by the wayside on cross-roads, nests of In- 

 digo Bird, Prairie and Chestnut-sided 

 Warblers. In three rows of roadside Ma- 

 ples and Ashes, where last .July I sujjposed 

 three or four pairs of Goldfinches were 

 baffling me, can now be counted twenty 

 perfect nests easily got at. Now one can 

 work intelligently for them in '82. On 

 one low limb of an elm was an Oriole's nest 

 in fine conilition, an '80 nest well battered, 

 and the shreds of the '7!) nest, all within 

 three feet of each other. Will 82 add 

 the fourth in the series ? Let not the nov- 

 ice in oology suppose that a collector's 

 field-work is all done in the breeding sea- 

 son. — -A ^f. ^V., N'onrirh. Com). 



Brief Newsy Notes. 



Sxow Bn!D.— The 25th of -Tune. 1878, I 

 found a nest of •Timoo hi/etjiniis in the side 

 of a knoll with four eggs, nearly fresh, 

 the l)ird flying off as I approached. I oc- 

 casionally see the black snow bird all Sum- 

 mer, but this was their first nest I ever 

 found.— .1. L. Reed, Centre Lisle, X. Y. 



GuMMEi> Paper. — Mr C. W. Stnimberg, 

 Galesliurg, 111., has sent us a specimen of 

 gummed paper which he uses to mark eggs. 

 It is first punched into a small wafer by a 

 cartridge shell, then put over the hole. It 

 can then be niunbered or lettered, and if 

 necessary easily removed by wetting. It 

 is often very difficult to remove the num- 

 bers when made on the shell — especially of 

 those that have a rough surface. Send ten 

 cents for a large sheet. 



Red-he.\ded Woodpeckers have been quite 

 common the present Fall about Providence, 

 a number of both adults and young being 

 taken. Usually we hear of but one or two 

 specimens being taken in a year. — J^. T. J. 



Mottled Owl. — We have received a fine 

 specimen just between the Red and Gray 

 Plumage. It came from Birrington, R. I. 

 Have had large quantities in past seasons, 

 but none not readily attributable to Red 

 or Gray.— .S'. & J. 



Red-headed Woodpecker. — On December 

 11, I saw an adult specimen, also a Winter 

 Wren on the 4th, near Hartford. — •//. T. G. 



Sea Dove, (Alle nujric'inx.) November 

 30, 1881 — I received a fine specimen of 

 tlie Sea Dove killed here on Detroit River, 

 by one of our market hmiters. It was 

 swimming among his Decoy Ducks. It 

 proved to be a young female. How it got 

 so far from salt-water is a question. — W. 

 jr. Collins, Detroit, Mich. 



Cedar Birds and Robins. — A pail' of Ce- 

 dar Birds nested in a tree in the yard of 

 Edward Srtfford of this place who took the 

 eggs. A few weeks later, on looking into 

 the nest it was found to contain a set of 

 Robins' eggs. Was not this unusual? — If. 

 J}. Kiinjsle)/, Riithiiid. J'{:r)no7it. 



MoNKEv Headed Owl. — These Owls are 

 not Barn Owls, as you suppose. Their eyes 

 are not larger than a hawks : their faces 

 have a queer Monkey like apjjearance. The 

 l)ill, feet, size and plumage agree quite well 

 with the Barn Owl. There is a pair of 

 them, and they are quite tame and will eat 



