46 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 3 



ORNITHOLOGISTi^^^OdLOGlST 



A Monthly ^lagazine of 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTEP TO THE STUDY OF 



THEIR NESTS AND EGGS, 



and to the 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS. 



Under the Editorial Management of 



FRANK B. WEBSTER, 

 J. PARKER NORRIS, 



Hyde Park, Mass. 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



PUBLISHED AT THE 



NATURALISTS SUPPIY DEPOT 



FliAXK BLAKE WEBSTER COMPAXY, 



INCORPORATED, 



Hyde Park, Mass., U. S. A. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every paid suh- 

 scriber. If you fail to receive it. notify us. 



EditoriaL 



The egg collecting season is here again. 

 Aheaily the records from the Great Horned 

 Owl di.stricts are coming in and will soon be 

 followed by others. Many will begin their 

 experience with the season of 1892. To those, 

 as well as older collectors, we would advise 

 that a special effort be made to u.se all possible 

 care in preparing the specimens that are pro- 

 cured, and to making proper records; to the 

 last give your most careful attention. We 

 believe that many charges of dishonesty that 

 are continually made arise from mistakes that 

 are made through carelessness, which when 

 discovered by others are hard to refute. To 

 the ornithological collectors we advise that 

 you pay careful attention to the sexing of the 

 specimens. If there is the least shadow of a 

 doubt; do not jump at a conclusion. Mark 

 your opinion on the label but state that there 

 is a doubt, in so doing you may be spared 

 a future annoyance and increase the value of 

 your collections. 



It should be distinctly understood that the 

 O. & O. is not antagonistic to any association 

 or publication. To the contrary, it is always 

 ready to advocate any plan that will facilitate 

 the study to which it is devoted. As an inde- 



pendent journal it will not hesitate to criticise 

 whenever the occasion demands. 



There is an indication that considerable 

 preparation is already being made in the taxi- 

 dermists' line, looking forward to the Colum- 

 bian fair in 1893. We hope that the occasion 

 will mark an increase in the interest through- 

 out the country. All hands should unite to 

 further such a result. How would it do to 

 have a space secured and all hands, profes- 

 sionals and amateurs, each send a specimen 

 of their work, and let it be a general exhibit 

 from the collectors and taxidermists of 

 America? 



Brief Notes. 



By a misunderstanding on the part of a 

 clerk a number of bills were sent out to sub- 

 sciibers of the O. & O. for fractional parts of 

 the year. .Subscrijitions are renewed in full if 

 not otherwise requested. 



Nov. 24, 1891, I received a fine male White- 

 winged Scoter {Oideuiia deglandi). This, with 

 due other, was obtained from a tlock of five at 

 Lost Island Lake, Iowa. The duck is said to 

 be common in the East, but so far as I can 

 learn this is the first record of its appeaiance 

 in this state. I would like to heai- from others 

 on this subject. It is a beautiful bird of a 

 velvet black, except the white wing speculum 

 and a small white patch under and beliind tlie 

 eye. Bill and feet black and red. Frank W. 

 .Sheldon, Des Moines, Iowa. 



We wrote to C. F. Newell a few days since, 

 asking him to procure a wild-cat for us. In a 

 (lay or so back came a cat. He had shot it in 

 the barn-yard of a neighbor. This could 

 hardly be called a miracle, but like Abraham's 

 ram was on hand just at the right time. 



Edward Tiiayer reported that Robins were 

 seen on Morris' Island, Cliatham, Mass., 

 Jan. 16. 



A Pigeon Story of By-Gone Days. — 

 Chronicled in my memory, many years now, 

 I recall the time, not so long ago as when deer 

 and bears were abundant in New Hampshire, 

 but quite long enough to make one regret the 

 days when wild Pigeons were plentiful in 

 Carroll County, the writer in company with 

 two companions, tired after a long day's hunt 

 after Pigeons, were sitting, together with a 

 number of country folks, one evening in early 

 fall, before a huge log fire in the main room of 

 tlie tavern at West Ossipee, then kept by 

 "Jeff" .Jewell. Our pipes were lighted and 

 we were all just beginning to get well 

 "toasted" when the ever-welcome George 

 Wliiting entered, the veteran stage-driver of 

 this section and who, though now on the 

 sliady side of sixty, is still hale and hearty in 



