64 



ORIS^ITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-I^o. 4 



num) illustrated by colored plates. Number 1 

 is now ready, and contains many interesting 

 articles, including "A description of an appar- 

 ently new species of Warbler from Jamaica, 

 allied to the Palm Warbler"; "A description 

 of a supposed new species of frannet" (noticed 

 as Cory's Gannet, in March O. »fe O.), etc. It 

 is Mr. Maynard's intention to publish, in the 

 future, the results of his investigations in such 

 a form that they will be condensed, and not 

 then subject to the annoyance of being scat- 

 tered through various publications. 



A List of 7i/jv?,s of Buffalo ami VicinHy, by 

 W. H. Bcrgtold, M.D., a reprint of the Bulletin 

 of the Buffalo Naturalists' Field f;iub of the 

 B. S. N. S. The author states that no species 

 have been admitted when the least shade of a 

 doubt existed as to the autlienticity of the oc- 

 currence. The list includes 237 species. Com- 

 paring it with one of Central New York, by 

 Frank R. Rathbun, and others published in 

 187*.*, we find that it contains 24 species not 

 mentioned in it, while in the Rathbun list 

 there appear 23 of which Buffalo cannot boast. 

 Among them, and marked common, are the 

 Horned Grebe, Semipalmated Plover, and 

 Worm-eating Warbler. The Tennesee Warbler 

 is also marked as a regular migrant in small 

 numbers. Tlie comparison of the two lists, 

 publislied in neighboring localities, is very 

 interesting. 



T/)c Playtime of Naturalists, by Dr. G. E. 

 Taylor, F.L.S., 366 illustrations, 12mo., $1..50. 

 Published by D. Apploton ife Co., New York. 

 It is the author's aim to enlist tlie interest of 

 the young in the various branches of Natural 

 History. The manner in which, by the aid of 

 the illustrations, attention is called to many of 

 the curious and obscure ways of nature cannot 

 fail to interest both old and young. 



T/)e Curlew, Or monthly magazine of ornithol- 

 "SYi 6 pp. (size, 4 x 6), 2.5 cents per year. Pub- 

 lished by O. P. Hanger & Co., Orleans, Ind. 

 "Tall aclies from little toe corns grow." 

 David knocked Goliah out with a pebble, and the 

 upsetting of a lantern laid Chicago in ashes. 

 We never can tell what may result from small 

 beginnings. 



Correspondence. 



Editor of O. cfc ().: 



My Dear Sir: — In answer to D. D. Stone's 

 question in the February O. & O. as to wliy do 



Crows when pulling up corn almost invariably 

 take the soft kernel, if they are only after 

 after cut- worms, etc., allow me to say that my 

 article in September O. & O., 1888, was written 

 from my own personal observations and ex- 

 perience. Though comparatively a young 

 man, I am quite familiar with the food habits 

 of our New England birds, and especially those 

 of Crows, Hawks and Owls; and of the species 

 under consideration I have collected quite a 

 few, and always made it a rule to examine and 

 note carefully the contents of their stomaclis, 

 and of nineteen specimens dissected during 

 the spring of '87 and '88 I have not, in a single 

 instance, found any traces of hard or soft 

 kei-nels of corn, but on the contrary liave al- 

 most always found the stomachs full of large 

 white grubs, cut-worms, and other noxious 

 insects which are injurious to the healthy 

 growth of the corn plant. I have, on several 

 occasions in my tramps afield while passing 

 through a planted corn field, noticed the young 

 plants laying around, where the crows had 

 been at work, with the soft kernel still attached 

 to the roots, yet I have observed Crows feeding 

 in the dead of winter on coin which had been 

 carelessly left standing in the field; but as to 

 the above results I was led to believe that 

 insects constitute the principal food of Corvus 

 during the spring and summer months. If I 

 am in error, of course I am perfectly willing 

 to be corrected, and do not wish to be under- 

 stood as taking any decided stand in the mat- 

 ter, and would be pleased to hear from others 

 on the subject, but will say that, despite the 

 desperate efforts of man to destroy these birds 

 by the use of strychnine and gun powder, tliey 

 seem to hold their own without any serious 

 effect to the various crops; and I am yet to be 

 convinced that Crows are more injurious than 

 beneficial to agriculture, and remain 

 Respectfully, 



Edward TcnnaHt. 

 Attlebnro Falls, Mass., March 17, 1889. 



P.S. I wish to say in confirming Mr. John 

 C. Cahoon's argument in December O. & O., 

 1888, speaking from personal observation and 

 experience, that the food of the Great North- 

 ern Shrike here in winter consists principally 

 f)f insects, as the stomachs of seven, dissected 

 by me during January, February, and March, 

 1888, contained large quantities of white grubs 

 and other insects, with the exception of one 

 shot March 2, 1888, whose stomach contained 

 the body and a few feathers of what I thought 

 was a Tree Sparrow. Ediuard Tennant. 



