6 



OE:^^ITHOLOGTST 



[Vol. 14-^o. 1 



late as the first of April, after which date no 

 more were seen until August, when small 

 numbers were observed flying overhead and 

 well identified by their manner of flying and 

 peculiar sharp note, something like that of a 

 young chicken in fright. 



Early in the spring of 1887 a single speci- 

 men in the flesh was handed me by a friend, 

 who found it dead. This specimen (a male in 

 very poor plumage) proved to be the only 

 record for 1887. This winter there will doubt- 

 less be an abundance of them as I have already 

 seen a number of small flocks of from eight to 

 a dozen. 



Out of a large series which I have collected 

 or examined, all the specimens from this state 

 are much brighter, especially the red phase, 

 than those received from the east. 



I wish also to record the occurrence in this 

 state and the northern Missouri of the Even- 

 ing Grosbeak. This species has been reported 

 from neighboring States, Iowa, Missouri, and 

 Kentucky in the winter of 1887, and it is there- 

 fore not surprising that it should have oc- 

 curred here. I found them in some numbers 

 at that time in the eastern suburbs of this city 

 and just across the river in Missouri where 

 several small flocks remained for some time. 

 Specimens of this species in the flesh were 

 brought me from other neighboring localities, 

 and most of them proved to be females. 



The Northern Waxwing has not been person- 

 ally known to occvir here, but a friend of mine, 

 a German taxidermist of many years' experi- 

 ence, in the year 1870, shot and mounted 

 several dozens of them. Large flocks re- 

 mained during the winter in the bottoms and 

 fed on a small red berry which grows abun- 

 dantly in all the lower lands and below the city. 



0th o ('. Poliiu/. 



Quincy, 111. 



The Retention of Eggs. 



The reason that the bird whose nest is invaded 

 by the Cowbird goes to brooding as soon as ever 

 the Cowbird' s egg is laid is because the Cow- 

 bird's egg being large fills up the nest and makes 

 the laying bird feel that she has her usual com- 

 plement. As to what becomes of the rest of the 

 eggs in the ovary, they turn black, and slough 

 off, and if anybody in dissecting an old hen finds 

 some rough uneven substances floating around 

 loose in the abdominal cavity he may set them 

 down as blasted embryo eggs that had all or 

 part of the yolk formed and there stopped. 

 Any egg that has once entered the oviduct and 



has the shell partly formed will be laid some- 

 time. It is laid as a soft-shelled egg. and the 

 hen eats it. 



Hens do not want food for three days, gener- 

 ally, after they begin to set. This doing without 

 food helps to dry up the egg supply on hand, 

 and to keep others from forming. As to the 

 bird that only raises one brood, being deprived 

 of her eggs and then laying again, it is in- 

 stinct, pure instinct, she is built that way and 

 cannot help it. She has a feeling that her 

 race of birds will soon be extinct if she does not 

 exert herself, so she eats some hot berries or 

 peppery worms (this, too, by instinct) and goes 

 to laying again in a week or ten days. 



As to Walter Hoxie's old hen in the tub with 

 the hard egg in her for a week, I would like 

 to ask him how he knows that was the 

 same hard egg that she laid when she escaped 

 from her owner's coop? She most probal)ly 

 laid the hard egg that the little Irish boy felt 

 and ate and matuied another after that, the 

 food supply being cut oft', the other lacking 

 nutriment, would slough off and go to waste. 

 And I, too, think it often happens that one egg 

 is laid after the Cowbird' s egg is deposited. If 

 it was already in the oviduct it is sure to be 

 either as a hard-shelled egg when it is hatched 

 with the rest, or a soft-shell, when it is thrown 

 out of the nest or eaten. These are my 

 thoughts. Mahala B. Chaddnck. 



Vermont, Fulton fo., II). 



A List of the Birds of Colorado. 



[All Rights Rescrveil.] 



101. Colihiihii /((.sridta (Say.). Band-tailed 

 pigeon. A rare summer visitant in extreme 

 western portion of the state. Most abundant 

 in the southwestern part, in districts covered 

 with a growth of scrub-oak, feeding princi- 

 pally upon acorns, which are swallowed whole. 

 The nest is placed upon the ground, or in the 

 oak bushes in high altitudes, but lower down 

 where reptiles are abundant, it breeds from 12 

 to 80 feet from the ground. One egg is most 

 commonly found, but two are sometimes de- 

 posited. They are pure glossy white, averaging 

 1.0:5 by 1.09. According to Drew it breeds from 

 5,000 up to 8,000 feet. I find no record of E. 

 migratorius occurring in the state. 



102. Zenuidura marrnura (Linn.). ^louming 

 Dove. Very abundant summer visitant. 

 Breeds everywhere, upon the ground or in 

 bushes and trees. Eggs, two, sometimes 

 three. 



