THE OSPREY. 



^3 



away with wild screams of exultation. 

 *To m\' surprise the Ospre}" came falling- 

 like a ball- but a short distance in the rear 

 of the pirate, not to reg-ain the eel, but 

 to allure and catch another fish for its 

 offspring-, while the Eag-le was yet di- 

 viding- its ill-gotten g-ain among- her 

 young-. 



*It is the nature of the Osprey never to make 

 an attempt to regain a stolen fish, or one that 

 it may drop on lake or land; and unlike the 

 Eag-le it will not feed on putrid meat or fish of 

 any kind. — S. Pokagon. 



(Bencral IRotcs* 



YELLOW-BKEASTED CHATS AT BEAVER 

 DAM, WISCONSIN. 



On June 1st, 1896, took two Yellow- 

 breasted Chats, which on dissection, 

 proved to be $ and 9 • They were among-st 

 the thick bushes on a partly cleared tract 

 adjoining- a heavy wood on the shores of 

 Beaver Dam Lake, three miles from this 

 city. Authentic records of this bird's 

 occurrence in Wisconsin are few and far 

 between. The skins are in my collection. 



W. E.' Snydek. 



THE LONG-TAILED JAEGER AT STEPHEN- 

 TOWN, NEW YORK. 



A Long--tailed Jaeg-er ( Stercorariiis 

 longicaudus ) was broug-ht to me on June 

 12th, 1896, by a young- man who found it 

 dead in the middle of a larg-e cultivated 

 field. Judg-ing- from the condition of the 

 specimen it could not have been dead 

 many hours when found. It showed no 

 marks of violence, and probably died 

 from hunger and exhaustion. It seems 

 strang-e to find this species so far inland, 

 especially at this date. 



Benjamin Hoag. 



KILDEER NOTES FROM RHODE ISLAND. 



I have been successful in collecting- 

 eg-g-s of the Killdeer in Rhode Island, be- 

 ing- the second party obtaining- them in this 

 State, and only three sets have been taken 

 of which we have a record. It is a rare 

 bird east, but perhaps not so rare as it is 

 hard to locate a nest. Have also a set 

 of Red-shouldered Hawk that I rode 

 ninety-six miles on my wheel to collect, 

 only to show that eastern as well as west- 

 ern collectors have perseverance. 



Providence, R. I. F. E. Newbury. 



HIGH NESTING OF THE INDIGO BUNTING. 



July 4, 1895, I found a nest of the Indig-o 

 in a sycamore tree, 19 feet, 10 inches from 

 the g-round. It was placed on a horizon- 

 tal limb, about 6 feet from trunk of tree, 

 and was built around a clump of small 

 sprouts growing- up from limb. It held 

 four slig-htly incubated egg-s. 



Baltimore, Md. Wm. H. Fisher. 



NIGHTHAWK CATCHING INSECTS BY ELEC- 

 TRIC LIGHT. 



About the middle of Aug-ust last (1896) 

 I happened to be spending- several days 

 in Evanston, Wyoming, and there wit- 

 nessed the following- interesting- and ap- 

 parently confirmed habit of the Western 

 Nighthawk in availing- himself of an 

 artificial food supply. The approach to 

 the hotel at which I was stopping- was 

 lig-hted by two powerful electric lig-lits, 

 placed on hig-h poles and perhaps twenty- 

 five yards apart. The lig-ht of course, 

 attracted the usual insect audience, and 

 while seated on the veranda near by, 

 just out of the glare of the lights, I no- 

 ticed a number of these Nighthawks ply- 

 ing- industriously about. They would 

 pass throug-h the ring- of lig-ht thrown by 

 the reflector, visiting- both lig-hts, then 

 make a sharp turn within a few 3'ards 

 and come back. This turn was repeated 

 at the other end, and thus they flew back 

 and forth for an hour throug-h the cloud 

 of insects. There could be but one in- 

 terpretation of their actions — they were 

 feeding on the abundant insect life 

 broug-ht tog-ether by the lig-ht. 



This adaptabliity may have been noted 

 before, but it was new to me and I do not 

 remember to have seen it in print. 



F. H. Knowlton, 



Washington, D. C. 



Notes From Nebraska. 



From J. R Bonwell, Nebraska City, Nebraska. 



A look into a millinery establishment 

 this fall will show that feather trimming-s 

 are becoming- the style ag-ain, and like- 

 wise that our birds will become scarcer, 

 the question is 't how can we prevent the 

 destruction of native birds by State leg-is- 

 tion?" Our only hope would seem to rest 

 with Congress, as it will be a long- time 

 before the individual States -can prevent 

 this evil. 



