136 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 16-No. 9 



on lai'ger end. Nest placed in yellow birch 

 and well identified, as I got the male bird witli 

 eggs. 



Flicker (C. auratus), May 24th. Set of six 

 fresh eggs. .June 2d, set of seven more from 

 the same pair. 



Song SpaiTow (3/. melodia). May 24th. Set 

 of four eggs, partially incubated ; May SOtli, 

 set of five; .June 5th, set of five; June Stth, set 

 of five. 



Bank Swallow (II. riparia), May 26th. Tlirec 

 sets of fresh eggs of four, five and six eggs 

 respectively. 



Spotted S.andpiper (Trlnijoiiles maciilarius), 

 Mayolst. Set of four fresh eggs. This pair 

 of birds are old friends as tliey liave built in 

 my garden every year for five years. 



Chipping Sparrow (S. socialis). May 31st. 

 Set of four fresh eggs. Other nests noted. 



Robin (T. mujratorlux). Xests common here 

 as anywhere in New England, but have noticed 

 that all the nests this year have only three 

 eggs. Have seen quite a number, and have 

 taken some sets wliich were partially incubated. 



Catbird (J/. caroUnenxix), June Gth. Set of 

 four fresh eggs. 



Pewee (S. fuscus), June 7th. Set of five 

 fresh eggs. 



Wilson's Tlirush {T. fuscescens),.T ane i)th. Set 

 of three fresh eggs. Nest placed on the upper 

 side of fallen spruce, very neatly made of 

 leaves, birch, grass and hair. 



Wood Pewee (C. virens), .Tune 0th. Set of 

 tliree pretty eggs. Have never felt more satis- 

 faction tlian when I found the neat little domi- 

 cile of these interesting fly catchers. The nest 

 was in a grove of maples about twenty feet 

 from the ground built on a limb the width of 

 tlie nest and neatly covered with lichens the 

 color of the limb. 



I^east Flycatcher (E. miniinun), June 10. Set 

 of four fresli eggs. 



Slate-colored Snowbird {J. Injemnlls), June 

 nth. Have also seen the young with tlie old 

 ones flying about. 



Field Sp.arrow (.S. pusilhi), June 12th. Set of 

 five fresh eggs. 



Golden-crowned Thrush (8. anrncapilhiK), 



June 12th. Set of five fresh eggs. 



./. ir. Na>!l,. 

 N. Conway, N. H. 



Skunks. 



In reading your article in regard to your 

 skunks attracting so much nt)tice, would say 

 tliat among my collection the skunks attract 



more attention than iinv other mammal, espec- 

 ially the live ones. I have about twenty young 

 (^nes, and when I bring out an armfull of them, 

 the visitors usu.illy keep at a proper distance, 

 until I tell them that the scent sack is removed, 

 and that they are perfectly harmless. Then 

 they think they are the prettiest little anim.als 

 they ever saw. I agree with them. I have 

 had and raised a great many kinds of native 

 nnimals, but never saw a prettier siglit 

 than it is in the early evening, when they are 

 all at pl.ay or feeding. A. E. Kibbe. 



Mayville, N. V. 



Some Notes on the Western Winter 

 Wren. 



On .Saturday afternoon. May 9, 1801, I 

 arrived at Port Kells, a new town site some 

 ten miles above New Westminster, on the south 

 bank of the Frazer River, British Columbia, 

 where I remained the following week and took 

 some notes of the ain fauna of that locality. 

 Tlie next evening in company with my friend, 

 from whom ''the port" is named, I was pass- 

 ing along a path through a deep wood com- 

 posed largely of firs, alders and cedars, when 

 from out its deep shade came the soft, tremu- 

 lous song of a species of bird, which from the 

 close resemblance of the notes to those of its 

 congener of Ontario I at once recognized as 

 that of the Western Winter Wren. The time, 

 the place and the circumstances, all combined 

 to render this little effect of the Columbia wil- 

 derness imijressive on my memory. It was the 

 evening twilight, the second that I had seen in 

 that wild, strange country, and though it had 

 been warm through the day the evening air 

 was chilly, and as we came into " the open " air 

 the sun w.as disappearing behind the snow- 

 capped Cascades on the opposite side of the 

 Frazer, the whole scenery making one of the 

 most charming natural pictures that it is pos- 

 sible to conceive of, but I was weak and nerv- 

 ous from the combined effects of illness and 

 the excitement of the journey over the Selkirk 

 Mountains and down the awful and dangerous 

 canons of tlie Thompson and Frazer Rivers. 

 I was a stranger in a strange land, felt lonely, 

 was taking but little interest in the strange 

 and varied scenes around me, and at that 

 moment the chief desire of my heart was 

 to be back across the "Rockies" and home 

 again, when the song notes of this little "west 

 land " musician arose iii the pathless wood, and 

 falling (Ui my ear vividly recalled to my mem- 



