April, 1892.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



63 



THE 



ORNlTH0L0GIST.i^'OOLOGlST 



A Monthly Magazine 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. 

 Phila<leli>hia, Pa. 



PUBLISHED AT THE 



MUSEUM AND NATURALISTS SUPPLY DEPOT 



FRAXK BLAKE WEBSTER COMPANY, 



INCOK.PORATED, 



Hyde Pakk, Mass., U. S. A. 



connection with the subject of the A. O. U. 

 during Professor Allen's administration, we 

 take the occasion to present to such — and our 

 readers — the now tjuite popular classification 

 of our birds, believing that while all should 

 have the abridged check-list from which it is 

 taken, such a consolidated extract will be of 

 practical service. We have marked the 

 varieties that are easily obtained and recom- 

 mend them to use in beginning. Fair speci- 

 mens such as Warblers, Bluebirds, Thrushes, 

 etc., can be obtained at $10 per dozen; Ducks, 

 Hawks, etc., at §18 per dozen and the larger 

 birds at .$2.50 and $4.00 each. This does not 

 mean the highest grade, but birds well 

 mounted (not distorted) and with plumage 

 that best represents the average condition as 

 found. 



We are ready to give any requir«d informa- 

 tion and earnestly recommend this subject of 

 study to all interested in the instruction of our 

 youth. 



The extermination of the Ocneria dispar, or 



Brief Notes. 



Gypsy Moth in Massachusetts, 

 expended in 1891: 

 By the old commission, 

 new commission, 

 Board of Agriculture, 



Total amount 



$ 630.9.5 

 12.826.51 

 55,790.09 



The American Ornithologists' Union, — 

 A Seven Years' Retrospect (an address 

 delivered by the retiring president, Prof. J. A. 

 Allen^. The proceedingsof this organization is 

 a subject that cannot fail to be of interest aiui 

 importance to all our ornithologists. While 

 tlie active Tuembership, being limited, prevents 

 it from being a true union of the American 

 ornithologists acct>rding to our American 

 ideas, it is to-day exerting an intluenee tliat 

 has been unequalled, in the attention that it 

 has attracted, and tlie information that it has 

 imparted. Beginning with a sketch of its 

 origin (and of course it could only originate 

 from Boston, our readers will please take off 

 their hats, and fall on tiieir faces towards the 

 east), he next carefully and fully explains the 

 code aiul system adopted, and gives a brief 

 and concise history of what has been accom- 

 plished. The association is extremely fortu- 

 nate in having the active assistance of many 

 of our leading ornithologists, and, in our 

 opinion, to none is it more indebted than to 

 him who has presided over their deliberations 

 during the past seven years. We recommend 

 to all our readers that they apply to Mi'. L. S. 

 F(»ster, 3") Pine street, N. Y., for a copy of 

 Prof. Allen's address, and give it a careful 

 perus'al, and that w^e all give a sjood Methodist 

 amen to his closing toast. "May the success 

 which has thus far rewarded our efforts pres- 

 age a long career of ever-increasing usefulness 

 and prosperity ! " 



We have of late been called upon by a 

 number of teachers connected with tlie schools 

 of this Sta^e who have asked our advice as to 

 what birds would be best adapted for use in 

 in-itructino: their pupils in ornithology, also to 

 estimate the price of a general collection. In 



$69,247.55 

 no money in 



Who says that there 

 entomology ? 



E. H. Forbush, P. and M. D., W. N. H. S. and 

 W. S. S. of N. H., and A. M. A. O. U., is 

 director of field work, and receives from the 

 state a salary of $1500. They could not have 

 selected a belter man. 



Was out yesterday looking for concretions 

 containing remains of animals in the way of 

 bones and teeth. These concretions are found 

 at the base of the high bluffs bordering the 

 Missouri River, which, in Kansas City, belong 

 to the Loess formation. After securing a 

 number of very fair specimens, I visited 

 J. L. McClain's farm, in the East Bottoms. 

 Here I found a bird house occupied peacefully 

 by both Martins and English Sparrows. Last 

 year the house was simil irly occupied, both 

 birds raising broods. After the Martins 

 went south last fall the Sparrows occupied the 

 whole of the house all winter. The Martins 

 arrived this spring on April 2, and immedi- 

 ately took possession with apparently no 

 opposition, though evidently the Sparrows had 

 to give up their parlor and best bed-room. 

 R. B. Trouslot. 



The mounted Pheasant sent me was the 

 finest male I ever saw. I had a pair of pet 

 Pheasants drowned in the Thames River. I 

 found the only nest seen last year on Fisher's 

 Island, where a few were introduced. J. M. W. 

 Some sportsmen recently had great shooting 

 at Macon, Ga. One party of sixteen bagged 

 over 2000 Mourning Doves. Another party of 

 four took 525. The birds must locate there 

 in great numbers. 



Troup D. Perry, Savannah, Ga., reports a set 

 1 of Wookcock's eggs taken Feb. 22. 



