March, 1S93.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



J3 



Eggs, 3 or 4, sometimes 5. 



Color, bluish white, usually without mark- 

 ings, but sometimes a set or egg would be 

 handsomely marked with lines and spots of 

 drab and red. 



IV. S. Cobleigh. No. 33, 34. 



Summer resident. Arrive middle of March. 

 Tolerably common. 



Nests in tall timber, composed of small 

 sticks, lined with pieces of bark, placed in 

 tall wild cherry or other tall, straight trees 

 about 40 feet from the ground. Nest about 

 2 feet in diameter. Nests about the middle 

 of May. 



Eggs, 3 to 5, usually 3. 



Color, pale bluish white, sometimes spot- 

 ted with reddish brown. 



Set of 3 measure 2.00 x 1.50, 2.00 x 1.60, 

 2.05 X 1.55. 



B. F. Bolt. No. 34. 



Resident, not wholly. Arrives from south 

 about April 10. Tolerably common. Nests 

 commonly. 



Nests on high grounds or where there is 

 plenty of oak. 



Generally an old Crows' nest is fitted up 

 in an oak from 15 to 40 feet from ground. 

 Laying begins about May 10 but often earlier. 



Set generally 4, but 2, 3 and 5 are found, 

 5 rarely. 



Color, light blue or dull blue, usually spot- 

 ted with reddish brown. 



(Continued.) 



This has been a cold dreary winter for 

 the birds. .\ flock of 300 Crows are winter- 

 ing in Highland Park, roosting in the ever- 

 greens and picking up what they can get to 

 eat. The Ducks are very common at the 

 foot of the main streets now, where the ice 

 is open, and here they can be seen at any 

 time. A Robin was reported February i 7 , 

 and the Horned Larks, Juncos, etc., are here. 

 A Red-shouldered Hawk and Screech Owl 

 have remained all winter in a large yard in 

 the north end of the city, and the Hawk is 

 very tame and easily approached. A rusty 

 Blackbird was shot November 19, which is 

 very late for them. B. H. Szca/cs. 



Detroit, Mich. 



Some Holiday Trips. 



[Read before the Linnaean Society of New York, April 20, 1892/ 



A business man who tries to study birds 

 usually has a hard time of it, especially if he 

 aspires to something more than " closet orni- 

 thology." He labors under the disadvan- 

 tage of being unable to choose the days for 

 his collecting trips ; for outside of his vaca- 

 tion, usually of short duration, he has very 

 little time during the year to call his own 

 except the seven or eight holidays. So he 

 finds himself, after a while, measuring time 

 by holidays, and no sooner has one passed 

 than he begins to look forward to the next, 

 and devise some fresh scheme or seek a new 

 field of operation ; and it affords, I assure 

 you, a very pleasant diversion from business 

 cares to look up a time-table or write a let- 

 ter to one's friend in the country, telling 

 him when we are coming, and planning out 

 all the details of the trip. 



Dependent thus on certain fixed days, it 

 often happens that the weather is too wet or 

 too dry, too hot or too cold, although I be- 

 lieve with Dr. Coues that "all times are 

 good times to go a-shooting." As exam- 

 ples, New Year's Day and the Fourth of 

 July are proverbially rainy, which makes it 

 unpleasant for the collector, although he is 

 just as likely to get a good bag as on a dry 

 day, and a little more so, I think. 



Another drawback to collecting in the 

 near vicinity of the cities is the ever-present 

 " would-be " sportsman, more properly 

 " pot-hunter," who turns out in such amaz- 

 ing numbers on a holiday when the weather 

 is good as to very nearly monopolize what 

 little game he doesn't scare out of reach. 



But such is the fascination that the study 

 of nature has for its followers that, in spite 

 of all obstacles, every holiday finds the 

 student in the field, eager for fresh knowl- 

 edge and new specimens ; and no matter 

 how little success he may have or how dis- 

 couraged he may get, I doubt not that, if he be 

 a ir/ic natitralist, he will be ready to start 



