Dec. 1889.] 



AXD OOLOGLST. 



187 



Minn. Collected by Geo. G. Cantwell. Nest 

 composed of bleached grass and weed stems, 

 sunken flush with the surface of the surround- 

 ing prairie. Four eggs, incubation slight. 

 Ecru-drab ground color, clouded with light 

 purplish shell markings, veined and spotted 

 with seal brown: .77 x.. ")."); .7;^x.."j6; .73x.56; 

 .75 X ..57. 



Set VII. May 26, 1889, Lac-qui-Parle County, 

 Minn. Collected by Geo. G. Cantwell. Xest 

 composed of grass and weed stems. Placed in 

 a clump of grass on the prairie. Five eggs, 

 fresh. Greenisli-white ground color, clouded 

 with drab and speckled and spotted with seal 

 brown." .75x.58; .72x.5(): .71x..)5; .6!)x.56; 

 .78X.58, 



Set VIII. May 22, 1889, Lac-qui-Parle County, 

 Minn. Collected by Geo. G. Cantwell. Xest 

 composed of bleached grass and weed stems, 

 sunken flush with the sui'face of the surrounding 

 prairie: .71x..')4; .73x.5.'>; .78x.57; .73x..5.'>. 

 —J. P. N.] 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGISTp,^00LOG1ST 



A >Ii)nthly Magazine nl' 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF 

 BIPIIDS, 



THEIR NEST.s AND EiUJS, 



anil to the 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS. 



Under the Editorial Management of 



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 J. PARKER XORRIS, 

 FRANK A. DATES, 



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PUBLISHED AT 



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 scriber. If vou fail to receive it. notifv us. 



With this issue we close Volume XIV. As 

 in the past our columns have been filled with 

 communications from collectors located 

 throughout our land. They have furnished 

 notes which have continued the chain of infor- 

 mation that has now been presented through 



our columns for fourteen consecutive years, 

 and which has not been an unimportant addi- 

 tion to American Ornithological Literature. 

 That the coming volume will not deteriorate 

 in importance let (uir friends judge from the 

 past. 



The suijport tliat the magazine has received 

 from many is a flattering endorsement of an 

 independent ijublication. 



Back volumes of this magazine, beginning 

 with Xo. IX., can still be furnished. When 

 the O. & O. came under the control of the 

 present publisher an excess over its circulation 

 was printed with the express design of being 

 able to furnish back volumes to new subscrib- 

 ers when desired. There has been a continu- 

 ous call and the surplus will soon be exhausted. 

 They should be in the library of every 

 naturalist. 



Brief Notes. 



We have been advised of the taking of seven Snowy 

 Owls to date, November 23, the first Jbeing the one re- 

 ported by Mr. White in last issue. By referring to Vol. 

 10, O. & O., page 192, we find in that year, 1885, they ap- 

 peared in October, and seven were reported by Novem- 

 ber 12, all in this state, showing that the flight was a lit- 

 tle earlier. There is nothing to indicate an unusual 

 number. 



A Western paper of recent birth announces the sus- 

 pension of the "Swiss Cross," and prides itself as lieing 

 the flr.st to make tlie fact public. We had not missed 

 it, in fact, did not know it was sick. Did it die of old 

 age? 



Every taxidermist well knows the difficulty of stuf- 

 fing a domestic cat and giving to it an expression that 

 will be satisfactory to its owner. Recently, while in a 

 neighboring taxidermist's establishment, we were a lit- 

 tle amused by a discovered defect. A large, well-pre- 

 pared cat was on the counter ; while admiring it and 

 C(mgratulating the proprietor of the place upon its ap- 

 pearance, in walked the owner. We stepped aside and 

 with curiosity awaited an opinion. After examining it 

 carefully for several minutes, the lady started back' 

 and with a dismayed look exclaimed, " Why, my cat was 

 cross-eyed, and this one is not ! " We sympathized with 

 the taxidermist, who no doubt had s]>ent considerable 

 time in order to succeed in getting a stuffed cat that 

 did not look crossed-eyed. 



A gentleman called at a taxidermist's place and asked 

 for a squirrel that he had left to be stuffed two years 

 previously. After considerable search one was pro- 

 duced. The gentleman looked at it carefully, and said, 

 "If I remember, the one I left was a younger animal." 

 " But, my good man," said the taxidermist, " you for- 

 get that two years have passed ; we all grow old." The 

 gentleman took the hint and settled for the squirrel. 



A good story was told us a few days since by a sports- 

 man. While out with a party on an old-time hunt, they 

 succeeded in getting a very large fox. While examin- 

 ing it one of the party suggested that they load it, and 

 get up a bet with some outsider. The day's sport being 



