THE OOLOGIST. 



27 



them and iucubation was well advauced. 

 The nest was somewlmt compact and was 

 composed of diy grass, horse hair, etc. 

 Will you please oblige me by telling me the 

 name's ? H. S. Mallory, 



Akron, Ohio. 

 Your tirst nest described is that of the 

 Great Crested Flycatcher ; second one, 

 Wood Thru.sh. — [Ed. 



pyraiY nuthatch. 

 I notice in vol. II, p. 44, Y. O., an ac- 

 count of the breeding of the Pj'gray Nut- 

 hatch in South Carolina and Georgia. It 

 is doubtless a mistake, for the Brown- 

 headed Nuthatch, Sitta pvniUa, which is a 

 common species through that region. Sitia 

 pygmiva is strictly western in its distribu- 

 tion. Chas. F. Batchelder, 

 Caiubridge. ]Mass. 



On January loth I found a uest of the 

 Great Horned Owl, it was in a dead .snag 

 about ten feet high, had two fresh eggs. 

 The snow was then two feet deep, and a 

 cold day. The old Owl could be plainly 

 seen from the ground ; I had noticed her in 

 the snag frequently but did not think of 

 her laying any eggs so soon. Last season 

 I found one nest of the Great Horned Owl, 

 eight of the Red-tailed Hawk, and one 

 Whip-poor-will. James C. Jat, 



La Hoj't, la. 



On February loth I saw a flock of about 

 twelve or fifteen Cedar-birds. I knew 

 from their size and manner of iiight that 

 they were not Engli.«h Sparrows, and con- 

 cluded they must be some other bird, and 

 watched them until they had alighted and 

 soon found out what they were. They are 

 the first migratory birds that have been 

 seen about here, to my knowledge, with 

 the exception of a Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker. One was seen here on February 

 2d, and, by the way, is the Red-headed 

 Wood-pecker strictly migratory '( 



F. W., 

 Dowagiac, Mich. 



I saw a Robin on the 21st of January 

 this year. He was prubably brought here 

 by the Avesterly wind and storm of a few 

 days since. Fred. C. Test, 



Richmond, Ind. 



Yesterday while out walking (Jan. 28th) 

 I saw five Bluebird's fiyiug around as if 

 they had come to spend the rest of the 

 winter with us. Is not this rather earlv for 

 them? H. W.,' 



Passaic, X. J. 



W. E. Brewster, of Rochester, X. Y., 

 says that he has seen several robins this 

 winter, and others have been seen in differ- 

 ent parts of the cit}'. 



F. O. H., Grass Lake, Midi., wishes to 

 know the number of Ijirds which are annu- 

 ally slain for milliner}- purposes. 



H. S. Meigham, Mamaroneck, N. Y.. re- 

 ports first Blue-birds on St. Valentine's 

 Day. 



Is it onij- the males of the Rub3'-lhroated 

 Humming-birds that have ruby throats '? 

 Do the young males have the ruby throat 

 until the .second season V. B. C, 



Port Hope, Ont. 



Ans. 1. Males only. 



2. Young males are sometimes said to 

 have some ruby on their throats the first 

 season. 



An Old Letter from "Davie." 



My Dear Friend Lattin : 



Allow me to congratulate you on the 

 May number of your magazine. This num- 

 ber makes it at once rank with any other 

 publication of the kind in the country. I 

 am ixirticularly pleased with Mr. Parker's 

 article, and no doubt every young collector 

 who reads the Young Oologist will de- 

 vour every word in that of Mr. Chamber- 

 lain's. On the whole it is " tip-top," and I 

 do not think the quality of this number 

 could be much improved on. 



Your magazine occupies a place that no 

 other one does, and it must succeed. I, at 

 least, shall do all in my power to increase 

 your list of .subscribers, and that is what 

 will support a periodical longer than 

 praise. I am hard at work on the second 

 edition of my Check List. 



Dr. J. C. Merrill, U. S. A., who is .sta- 

 tioned here at present, is assisting me in 

 the preparation of my M.S. With him, Mr. 

 Brewster and Dr. Wheaton, I will have 

 aljout as accurate and complete a work as 

 can be issued. I regard Dr. Merrill as one 

 of the best ornithologists in this country. 

 He has made some rare discoveries in nests 

 and eggs, and was Dr. Brewer's special 

 correspondent when he was stationed in 

 the extreme Southwest. He has given me 

 some new and original notes, and is very 

 much taken with my first effort. He says 

 1 "have got the field and I must keep it." 

 I am yours truly, 



Oluver Davie. 



