Mak. 1891.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



47 



One (lay while in this tranquil state, all at onoc 

 he had a horrible iheaiii It seemed as if he 

 would Ipurst. tStartliiif; schemes that had been 

 slunil>erin<;' rajiidly developed. Thouj;hts that 

 he hardly entertained expanded, an<l as every- 

 thing .seemed to be ready to burst forth, with 

 a frantic start he awoke, to tind that an old hen 

 osti'ich had mistaken his head for an eKj;, set 

 upon it and nearly hatched him." 



C!onsulting the feelings, as far as we have 

 been able to, of our subscribers, we have 

 adopted the rule of continuing the (). & O. till 

 ordered to stop. We do not wish to force the 

 publication into the hands of anyone, and all 

 that is necessary, if you wish to discontinue it, 

 is to drop us a postal card to that effect. 



Au Arctic Horned Owl (Bubo viryinianiiK 

 arctiriis) was shot on the evening of April (i, 

 1880, in Bureau t'ouiity, Illinois. The weather 

 at the time was tine; snow disapppeared three 

 weeks before, and as this is a prairie state it 

 makes the taking of this specimen so much 

 more reiuarkable. The biril was an old male 

 i'l full plumage, almost clear white, aud in 

 goo<l condition. It is now in my collection. 

 VVm. KIbeau. 



The gentle spring is once more with us. The 

 twitter of the bluebirds is heard on every side. 

 Snow, slush and mud are knee-dee]!. While 

 we write a robin carols from our neighbor's 

 roof, on the very spot where his four tom-cats 

 sang to our editication the livelong night. We 

 greet everyone with a smile, and at the same 

 time, within, are struggling with the problem, 

 Isour worn thread-bare winter coat thin enough 

 now to pass for a sjiring (me? Our wasli- 

 woman called this morning. We gave her a 

 bunch of violets that cost us fifty cents, and 

 struck her dumb with amazement, e.sca])ing the 

 pressing of her sixty-cent service for the last 

 quarter. We are not discouraged for we are 

 comforted by the thouglit that the egg season 

 foi- '!tl is now on. 



Correspondence. 



Editor (if O. it O.: 



While looking in swamp. May HOth, 1 found 

 eight nests of I'arula Warbler, all in clump of 

 spruce trees in a radius of five rods. The nests 

 are beautiful little structures, and were almost 

 entirely concealed with the long moss of which 

 they were made. 



While in the same swamp the following 

 week I heard the note of a male Scailet Tau- 

 ager, and as I wanted a specimen I followed 

 the sound and got directly under the tree, 

 which was a large chestnut on a knoll near 

 edge of swamp. I again listened for tlie note. 

 I did not have to wait long for it was a rainy 

 morning and the Tanager was happy, but 1 

 looked of course for our bright red bird, and 



when I saw what looked to be a Baltimore 



Oriole with the notes of a Tanager I rubbed 



my eyes and looked again, but that did not 



change the color of the bird; but with a charge 



of dust shot I was soon examining what I 



thought a conundrum. It was certainly a 



Scarlet Tanager, but its plumage still puzzles 



me. It was badly shot in head so I could not 



mount it, but made a poor skin of it. I send 



you feathers from its breast and back. Its 



wings are of a faded black. Its outer tail 



feathers on outer edge are near a bronze. 



What do you think of it, is it an albino? 



.7. IF. JticlcKon. 

 Beleliertown, .Mass. 



[Immature male. — EtL'\ 



Editor of O. & 0.: 



Following is a short note on the capture of 

 an Albino Lark Bunting (Calamonpiza bicolor). 

 I shot it on the 24tli of August, 1800, near 

 Cando, Towner Co., North Dakota. It was 

 feeding on the prairie and in an oat field, in 

 company of about twenty other Lark Buntings, 

 which were in their usual plumage. Its 

 actions were the same. The plumage of this 

 specimen is pure white; bill and feet a pale 

 Hesh color, which faded to a dull white as they 

 dried. Tlie size was as follows: Length, 6% 

 in. : extent, lO^in.^ wing, ?>% in.; tail, 2Xin. ; 

 tarsus, ^ii in. ; toe and nail, J^ in. Iris, notice- 

 ably pink, whole eyeball showing very light 

 color. Sex uncertain, it being a young bird, 

 and a shot went through the body near posi- 

 tion of the sexual organs. There were the 

 remains of grasshoppers in stomach. The 

 outline and size of bill and feet and the gen- 

 eral contour of the body would show conclus- 

 ively that it is a Lark Bunting, and as perfect 

 an albino as is usually seen. 



Elmer T. Jiidd. 

 Bftliel. <'(Hili. 



Editor of (). A- O.: 



I had a very beautiful White Owl brought 

 me on Jan. 3, to be mounted. On examining 

 the stomach found it to eont.ain different vari- 

 eties of small weed seed, also some gravel 

 about the size of wheat kernels. The stomach 

 contained no animal matter at all. Would 

 like to ask if it is a common occurrence f(n' 

 White Owls to dine on weed seed and gravel? 

 Although the winter here is very mild there 

 seems to be (piite a large number of owls here 

 also. A. 1). Brown. 



Pipcstime. .Minn. 



