THIRD ANNUAL 5[EETING 45 



in exchange for a dead sandhill crane which some hunter had brought 

 in from a pond near the city. It was from a fiock of seven migrants 

 and had been killed "just for tun." 



The Green Heron is occasionally found nesting but the (jreat Blue 

 Heron and American Bittern are mig-rants only, so far as I know now. 

 A boy had two Franklin's gulls in a box April 21, 1900, that he had 

 caught after their wings had been shot to jjieces as they were passing- 

 over in migration. 



Of the timber birds the Chickadee is the most abundant resident and 

 breeder. They are not found away from the streams. T have seen many 

 ruby-crowned kinglets in winter and had a golden-crowned kinglet 

 brought to school. It had been caiight by a cat and rescued too late 

 to save its little life. I have only single nesting records of the Red-eyed 

 Vireo, the Wood Thrush, and Bobolink, and do not believe they are 

 common breeders with us. I once found a long-billed marsh wren's 

 nest containing one egg. This nest was over the water in the mill-pond, 

 within the city limits. The Bohemian Waxwing is an irregular winter 

 visitant and to a certain extent the American Crossbill is also. They 

 appear in flocks during some winters and then we do not see them 

 again for a year or two. 



June 7, 1896, I found a blackbird's nest containing two eggs in a low 

 elm tree near a pond west of York. Both the bird and the eggs were 

 so unusual that after waiting two days, and the nest being apparently 

 deserted, 1 took the eggs and blew them. Thej^ have been identified 

 by a good authority as those of Brewer's Blackbird. I have since 

 identified the bird as a migrant but have never heard of their breeding 

 here except that one time. 



The Lark Bunting is an irregular summer resident and breeder, being 

 observed most abundantly in 1896. Skipping a year or two occasionall3', 

 it seems to follow the seasons, becoming rare in rainy or wet years 

 and quite common during years of drouth. A black-headed grosbeak 

 was brought to school by a boy who had shot the bird by mistake for 

 an English sparrow. This was in the sping of 1897 and since I have 

 observed it only once or twice in late spring. 



I believe we are near the western limit of the Crow in Nebraska. We 

 have a few as permanent residents but they are not many. Sometimes 

 a person may drive a whole day and not see one. By far the commonest 

 summer resident we have is the Mourning Dove, and they seem to 

 increase in numbers with each season. I do not think a few men with 

 guns would do any harm if they were to kill nothing but doves, for 

 they are quite harmful to stacked grain in the fall and especially to 

 grain in the shock. 



I have about a hundred birds on my list which were observed or 

 examined without the shooting of a single specimen. The list is by no 

 means complete and only a few have been given here, but I hope this 

 may be of some interest to the members of the Union. 



