July, 1889.] 



a:n^d oologist. 



109 



SiiARP-SHiNNED Hawk and Cooper's Hawk, 

 Blue-tailed Hawk, Blue-tailed Darter. Any 

 large Hawk, Goshawk, Cliickenliawk, Hen- 

 hawk. 



Cuckoo, Raincrow. 



PiLEATED Woodpecker, Logcock, Wood- 

 cock, Woodhen, Good God (from the ci'y), 

 Indian Hen, and also most names applied to 

 the Redhead. 



Red-headed Woodpecker, Red, White and 

 Blue Woodpecker, Shirt-tailed Woodpecker, 

 Redhead. 



Flicker, ixniversally known as Yellow 

 Hammer. 



Woodpeckers in general, Peckerwoods, 

 Sapsuckers. 



Night Hawk, BuUbat, or more frequently 

 simply "Bat." 



Kixcjp.iRD, Beemartin. 



Bobolink, Ricebird. 



The large Sparrows are known as Bull- 

 sparrows. 



Chipping Sparroav, Tree Sparrow, from 

 situation of nest. 



Field Sparroav, Ground Sparrow and Bush 

 Sparrow, from situation of nest. Supposed to 

 be different species by most boys here. 



Cardinal, Winter Redbird. 



Blue Grosbeak, Big Indigo. 



Summer Tanager, Summer Redbird. 



Purple Martin, Black Martin, House Mar- 

 tin. 



ViREOs in general, Hangers, from the nest, 

 the birds are not known. 



Maryland Yellow-throat, Briarbird, a 

 name applied to any small yellowish bird 

 found in thickets. 



Yellow-breasted Chat, Joree, Pompey, 

 Joreeper; Pompey is the commonest. 



Pipit, Skylark, a name also applied to the 

 Horned Larks when they appear. 



Brown Thrasher, sometimes called Swamp 

 Sparrow or Swamp Robin, names apijlied to 

 any brown bird with a speckled breast. 



Carolina Wren, House Wien. 



Bluegray Gnatcatcher, Mossbii'd, from 

 its nest. 



Wood Thrush, invariably known as Swamp 

 Robin. 



The above list includes most local names of 

 any importance that are used here, but a great 

 many others are used on the coast, and jjrob- 

 ably others in other localities. 



In this connection it may be worth while to 

 notice a few peculiar notions about some birds. 

 I have frequently been asked whether Snow- 

 birds (Juncos) did not turn into Sparrows in 



summer; a still stranger metamorphosis (sup- 

 posed) is that of the Bluepeters (coots) down 

 east, according to residents of that section 

 they turn into Bullfrogs in the summer. A 

 third victim of superstition is the Blue Jay, 

 who, according to good authority, " totes fire 

 to the devil" every Friday. 



C. S. Brlmley. 

 Raleigh, N. C. 



A Prisoner from Greediness. 



A few days ago, while walking in the gar- 

 den, I saw a Chipping Sparrow (SplzeUn socially) 

 make several attemps to fly from the ground. 

 I thought at first the bird was wounded or 

 had become entangled in a string or horse- 

 hair, and was therefore unable to get free, 

 but what was my surprise on going to the spot 

 to see a green blade of grass protruding from 

 the bird's bill while it was still fastened at the 

 root end where it grew. I easily took the bird 

 in my hand, and plucking the blade of grass 

 brought the bird indoors. I endeavored to pull 

 the blade from the bird, but after extracting 

 an inch or more it broke off, and compared 

 with while I was pulling, the bird seemed 

 relieved. 



On dissecting I found a grasshopper in the 

 stomach and fully two inches of the grass 

 blade wrapped around it. 



The bird in its eagerness to catch and swal- 

 low the grasshopper had also swallowed a part 

 of the growing grass blade on which it doubt- 

 less rested, thus becoming a prisoner by its own 

 greediness. Shelley W. Benton. 



Brewster's Museum, Cambridge, Mass., June 26, 1889. 



Nests that Perished in the Storm. 



On May 29 and 30, 1889, we were visited by 

 a severe cold northeast storm. It rained with 

 unabated fury, without a single break, for two 

 days and one night, and after it was over I 

 went out to see what had become of the young 

 birds. 



The first thing that met my view as I left 

 the door was a young bird lying dead in the 

 path. I next examined the nests of a Meadow 

 Lark and a Song Sparrow, that I knew con- 

 tained young, and found them all dead in 

 their nests. I then went to a swamp where I 

 knew a great many Red and Buff-shouldered 

 Blackbirds were breeding and made diligent 

 search ; and among all the nests that I exam- 

 ined that contained young birds, not one was 

 living. All were dead in their nests. 



