THE OSPREY. 



97 



with every blow. After working" a little 

 he would swing- backwards as if on a 

 pivot, g-iving- his head a quick shake that 

 would scatter several more of the tell-tale 

 chips about the g-round. But one bird 

 would be about the tree the g'reater part 

 of the time, thoug-h when the male stop- 

 ped dig-g-ing- he would never remain in 

 the tree, but would fly off entirely out of 

 view, and very soon the female would 

 put in an appearance from some near by 

 tree. She, however, never stopped work 

 until she heard the mate outside the 

 cavity. 



Some days later I went down to collect 

 the set, and I will here copy from my 

 note-book: 



"May 20, clear warm day, almost like 

 July. * * * Went down at 6 p. m. to 

 the Downy Woodpecker's nest near Rifle 

 Rang-e. 



A little work with my hatchet and 1 

 secured a set of live nearly fresh egg's. 

 Male was setting". Height of nest twelve 

 feet. Entrance, a flat oval in shape, 

 measuring" 1.25x1.00 inches. 



Egg"s lay on chips seven inches below 

 entrance. Sides of cavity lead straig"ht 

 down, leaving" the bottom no larger than 

 the top. Interior finished up very 

 roughly. 



Male and female almost within arm's 

 reach while cutting out egg"s," fluttering" 

 wildly about, but uttering" no sound. 

 When just about to descend tree the male 

 evidently mistaking" my thigh for the 

 trunk ( as it was g-etting" dusk ) perched 

 upon it, and I could feel his sharp little 

 claws for a moment before he discovered 

 his error." 



Four egg"s of this set are perfectly nor- 

 mal, but the fifth would almost pass for 

 an eg"g" of the Hairy, it is so larg-e. 



The Downy is by no means a common 

 bird here in Worcester County, and I did 

 not see but one other pair until the col- 

 lecting" season was past. They had made 

 their home in a dead elm beside a brook 

 bordering" a ploug"hed field. I did not 

 disturb their eg"g"s. 



(Bencral IRotcs, 



NOTES FROM OLD OKCHAKD, MO. 



A g"reat migration of Sprig's, ( Dajila 

 acuta) which reached this vicinity last 

 Saturday, February 13, and about the 

 first Snipe ( Galliuago dclicata) killed in 

 St. Charles County, Mo., ( about 35 miles 

 north of St. Louis) last Wednesday, 

 February 17. 



I visited the marsh in St. Charles 

 County on the 18th, and saw thousands 

 of ducks, 4-5 Sprig"s, 1-5 Mallards, no 

 other ducks and no geese. Larg-e flocks, 

 mainly Sprig's, were on the wing", coming" 

 and g"oing", all day; but in the evening" 

 from 6 o'clock to 6:15, a steady stream of 

 flocks passed over, g"oing" north, and the 

 call of the Sprig- was in the air yet, when 

 it was too dark to see them. 



An unusual number of birds wintered 

 with us, especially Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker, Meadowlark, Rusty Blackbird, 

 Towhee, etc. Two species were entirely 

 new- to me as winterings in this neighbor- 

 116*6^1 — the Leconte's Sparrow, of which 

 I took two and saw others, December 29, 

 189(), in St. Charles County; and the Be- 



wick's Wren, which I had wintering" with 

 me at Old Orchard, and heard first song- 

 on February 14, about one mile from here. 

 Meadowlarks are heard sing"ing" in many 

 places since the 13th, the Robins have 

 taken to their old breeding" g"rounds, and 

 the Crows think of nesting". On a walk 

 of three miles around Old Orchard last 

 Sunday, February 14, I found caroling" 

 Bluebirds in six places about their nesting- 

 haunts. This is a promising outlook for 

 the species this coming" season. 



O. WiDMANN. 



February 20, 1897. 



FROM A COLLECTOR IN ALASKA. 



Have been here now a month and am 

 having" a "great" time. Am nicely located 

 in a cabin on the beeich with a good canoe 

 and enough to eat. Deer are plentiful 

 and I have four hang"ing in the shed. A 

 fine clam bed is in front of the house, a 

 salmon stream up the beach, a halibut 

 bank in the channel, and ducks, g"eese 

 and waterfowl everywhere. 



Bald Eag"les are numerous and I have 

 over a dozen nests located. I did not 

 bring" my climbers as I imag"ined that the 

 trees in this country were dwarfed, but 



