98 



THE OSPREY. 



some of the trees these Eag"les have found 

 has lead me to send for the irons and 

 and straps. 



I have been so busy with various odd 

 jobs and away on prospecting- trips that 

 I have not really settled down to collect- 

 ings as yet, but I have taken some nice 

 birds — Kowak Chickadee, Aleution Song- 

 Sparrow, Alaska Winter Wren, Alaskan 

 Three-toed Woodpecker, and others. A 

 few Harlequin Ducks are about but hard 

 to shoot. Ptarmig-an are plentiful, but I 

 have not obtained any 3'et and do not know 

 of what species they are. Cormorants 

 are abundant, they "line up" on a rock 

 just opposite the house, and one shot will 

 g-enerally kill as many specimens as can 

 be put up in a day. They are mostly 

 Violet-g-reen and White-crested, but there 

 is also another kind that I have not 

 been able to capture as yet. Marbled 

 and another species of Murrelet are very 

 common on the open water in company 

 with the larger Guillemots. The Petrels 

 and Puftins, and many other varieties of 

 shore birds will not be here ag^ain till 

 spring-. 



I have not as yet observed any Redpolls, 

 Leucostictes, or Snowflakes,but expect to 

 when the weather turns colder — if it does. 

 Thus far there has been no snow, and I 

 have not worn an overcoat since I came 

 here. Geo. G. Cantwell. 



Howkan, Jackson P. O. Alaska. 



Feb. 1, 1897. 



REMAKKABLE CONFIDENCE OF THE 

 GUADALUPE JUNCO. 



It is probably a well known fact that 

 the birds peculiar to Guadalupe Island, or 

 any island for that matter, are remarka- 

 bly tame. Imagfine a bird so rare in 

 collections as Junco insiilaris baffling an 

 attempt to collect it by trying- to alig-ht 

 on the end of the g-un barrel. 



In September, 1896 I saw this happen, 

 and only reg-retted that this almost per- 

 fect confidence could not be rewarded by 

 the bird beings allowed to live. 



Horace A. Gaylokd. 



Pasadena, Cal. 



The pupa was encased in its cocoon, and 

 Dr\'obat€s first punctured a hole in the 

 upper end, then in order to g-et at the 

 pupa enlarg-ed the puncture until it be- 

 came a narrow slit the entire leng-th of 

 the cocoon. The bird permitted me to 

 approach within four feet and appeared 

 as unconcerned as thoug-h accustomed to 

 being- watched. W. E. Snyder. 



Beaver Dam, Wis. 



late sojourners. 



On January 24, a Belted King-fisher was 

 shot on the banks of the Embamas creek, 

 three miles west of here. He seemed to 

 be quite alone and not in the least incon- 

 venienced by the severe weather. A 

 Jack Snipe was secured near the same 

 place January 2, and a Mallard on Janu- 

 ary 6. These tardy fellows are now in 

 the collection of Dr. R. L. Jessee. A 

 Meadowlark was seen skulking- in a 

 hedg-e on January 26 ( a very cold morn- 

 ing), probably a cripple, unable to leave 

 in the fall with his kindred. Our lati- 

 tude is 40® . Cedar Waxwing-s are quite 

 common for the first time in several win- 

 ters. Isaac E. Hess. 



Philo, 111. 



late visitors. 



January 2 a Robin was seen on our 

 coUeg-e campus; and on December 23 a 

 flock of 25 Red-winged Blackbirds visited 

 us. Geo. a. Morrison. 



Fox Lake, Wis. 



MORE ALBINISM. 



DOWNY WOODPECKER FEEDING ON PUPA. 



January 19,1 saw ?i Drvobatcs piihc^rcii^' 

 feeding- on the pupa of a Cecropia moth. 



There are within a few miles of this 

 place some hig-h, rag-g-ed cliffs marked by 

 many deep fissures, where for years the 

 Turkey Vultures have roosted in g-reat 

 numbers. A few years ag-o there was, 

 among- the Vultures roosting- on these 

 cliffs, a pure white one, somewhat smaller 

 in size than any of the others. But this 

 one seemed to be a leader among- them, as 

 he was always conspicuous at the head of 

 the flock when leaving- the cliffs, and was 

 a beautiful sig-ht with the sunlig-ht on his 

 snowy wing^s. P^or more than a year this 

 white Vulture could be seen almost any 

 day somewhere in the sky, but he sud- 

 denly disappeared and was never seen 

 since. Chas. S. Reid. 



Walhalla, S. C. 



