64 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 4 



I. A. Hathaway reports a double-headed 

 calf, albino Crow and albino Grovind Squirrel. 



E. A. Preble, North Woburn, Mass., and 

 J. Alden Loring, Oswego, N. Y., have both 

 received appointments in the Department of 

 Agriculture, and will collect for the same. 

 They are both good men. 



F. L. Farley has started for Alberta, and we 

 expect to have notes from him. 



On Marcli 19 I took a set of three fresli 

 Bald Eagle eggs from a nest discovered last 

 year at English Lake, Ind. The nest was in a 

 sycamore tree sixty-tive feet up. Jos. E. 

 Gould, Columbus, O. 



Paul Van Riper, Niles, Mich., writes that 

 he has a pet coon. It is very tame and gentle, 

 and one wanting a pet of that nature will do 

 well to write to him. 



I received a white mink last evening, a male, 

 killed along the Minna river in Montgomery 

 County, Ohio. Tlie female has been seen, and 

 is of a spotted color. Do you know of any 

 freak of this kind before? 1 shall endeavor to 

 get the female, though it is not for sale at 

 present. I just write to know more of this. 

 There is not one single colored hair on it. It 

 has pink eyes and is as large as a regular mink. 

 W. O. Jones. 



Here are a few winter bird notes. Two 

 Bald Eagles have been hanging around near the 

 foot of Woodward avenue, on the river, for 

 some time. Hundreds of Ducks and Mergan- 

 sers are in the river in fronc of tlie city and 

 can be shot from the docks. Tliey have been 

 driven down from tiie St. Clair flats by the ice. 

 A Ribiu has remained here all winter, althougli 

 we have had some very cold weatlier. This is 

 quite unusual. B. H. Swales, Detroit, Mich. 



A flock of Bohemian Waxwings visited iis 

 on March 12. A. M. Farmer, Amoskeag, N. II. 



In the January O. & O. you mention an Owl 

 of the Long-eared species being impaled on a 

 barbed wire fence. I would like to note the 

 fict of a similar occurrence on April 20, 1S91, 

 when I found a Great Horned Owl killed in 

 preciselj'^ the same way. W. P. Lowe. Pueblo, 

 Col. 



Birds of all kinds that usually visit this 

 locality during the winter have been very 

 scarce. A few flocks of Snow Buntings were 

 seen. Hardly an Owl reported as beins: seen. 

 Last winter five Barred Owls were taken in 

 this town. But one Screech Owl has been 

 taken in three years. There are a number of 

 small flocks of Quail wintering here. J. W. 

 Jackson, Belchertown, Mass. 



Birds of TiOXG Life. — From the small 

 island of St. Kilda, off Scotland. 20.000 young 

 Gannets and an immense number of esgs are 

 annually collected, and although this bird lavs 

 only one egg per annum, and is four years in 

 attaining maturity, its numbers do not dimin- 

 ish. London Speaker. 



Received a Bob-white last month in very 

 peculiar plumas:e. The feathers are white, 

 shaded with yellow or buff at the tail, head 

 or throat, and sparsely spotted with more or 



less heavy spear or Y-shaped marks of dark 

 brown and black. The eyes and bill are dark 

 as common, but the plumage has a peculiar 

 white, spotted appearance. F. W. Sheldon, 

 Des Moines, la. 



I have just stuffed a (male) Broad-winged 

 Hawk brought to me by a lady from East 

 Whitman. He came into her possession in a 

 very uncommon manner. On Feb. 29, just at 

 noon, she heard a crash in the parlor. When 

 investigation was made a pane of glass, tliirty 

 inches square, was found broken and this 

 Hawk was found to be the rogue. What 

 caused him to tly through this large pane of 

 glass is more than I know, unless in pursuit of 

 game. His stomach contained the bodies of 

 what I called, by the shape of the bill and 

 legs, an English Sparrow, and the legs of 

 another bird too mucli consumed to tell what 

 it was. Is this a rare bird, at this time of the 

 year, in this locality, or not? C. C. F., West 

 Duxbury, Mass. 



[We usually get specimens about this time. 

 — Ed.] 



Another one of my feathered friends, the 

 Bluebird, has come fmm the sunny South. 

 Several reported to-day. Carl Fritz Henning, 

 March 3, 1S92. 



I was glad to see the article in O. & O. by 

 Dr. Strode, nnd hope that now, as a beginning 

 lias been made, we niav have more articles on 

 insects and shells. Many of your readers are 

 interested in one or the other and would send 

 many valuable notes if you would announce 

 that you would publish them. Please give it 

 a trial. E. J. Smith. 



[Dedicated to my friend, Will C. Brownell, M. D.J 

 As I wander alone among the leafless trees. 



And think of the joys too pure to last, 

 My thonsrhts of you and hvg-one days 

 Bring back sweet memories of the past. 



Where your name on the spreading beech you. wrote 



I note the ravages of time. 

 And can faintly see. on the sturdy oak. 



The scars of your climbers lelt behind. 



But when warm sprin<r suns shall melt the Pnow, 

 And the B irred Owl hoots fr-'m the hollow tree, 



I hope you will be here to go 

 And wander through the woods with me. 



When there among the gnarled old trees 

 We'd view Dame Nature free from vice ; 



We would rather dwell amonsr scenes like these 

 Than to walk the streets of Paradise. 



James B. Purdy. 



Plymouth, Mich. 



E. M. Hasbrouck of Washington, D. C, is 

 engaged in making a thorough study of 

 dicliromatism and requests the assistance of 

 all who have acquaintance with the common 

 Screech Owl (Menascnps nsio) by replyi^ig by 

 letter to tlie following questions: 1. How 

 raanv specimens have come under your notice, 

 and how many were in tlie red phase? 2. If 

 you have ever observed a pair of old birds 

 accompanied by young, state character of old 

 birds as to color, whether both red or both 

 gray, the male red and female gray, and vice 

 versa, also the color of young. 8. Give your 

 localitv, state, county and town. Address 

 E. M. Hasbrouck, 1610 15th street, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



