THE OSPREY. 



99 



NOTES CONTRIBUTED BY THE LEWISTOWN 

 (ill. ) NATURAL HLSTOKY SOCIETY. 



On October 20, 1894, a female Harris' 

 Sparrow was shot by one of our members. 

 Ridg-way, in his "Birds of Illinois," says 

 there is record of but two having- been 

 collected in this State, so that this adds 

 another to the list. 



Several flocks of Purple Finches have 

 been observed here this winter and 

 a number of specimens procured. All 

 the flocks have been made up of females 

 and young, the plumage being the same, 

 and not an adult male has been observed 

 among the number. 



Dr. W. S. Strode, through his collec- 

 tor, has procured three sets of Great 

 Horned Owls'eggs;two of the sets consisted 

 of three eggs each, collected on January 

 14 and January 31. The other consisted 

 of one egg, collected January 31, and was 

 incubated about two-thirds. 



Note and Comment* 



Mr. John V. Crone, of Marathon, Iowa is 

 now superintendent of Sheridan (Wyoming-) 

 city schooLs. 



Mr. E. A. Mcllhenney, of Avery's Island, 

 La., wants two assistants to spend a year with 

 him at Point Barrow, Alaska. 



Mr. Warren Williamson noted a flock of over 

 a dozen Bluebirds on February 27, near his 

 home, 10 miles from Galesburg-. 



Mr. Ora W. Knig-ht, of Bang-or, Me., is now 

 tilling- the position of Assistant Chemist at the 

 Maine Experiment Station. 



The editor of The Ospkev recently resig-ned 

 a nomination for Editor-in-Chief of T/tf Lom- 

 bard Revieiv, of Galesburg. 



Mr. Claudius W. West, of Galesburg'-, reports 

 a pair of the Swallow-tailed Kite, noted in 

 June on the Rock River in Northern Illinois. 



Mr. O. W. Howard, of Eos Ang-eles, Cal., is 

 enjoying- an extended trip in Arizona, and ex- 

 pects to g-et many fine specimens this spring. 



A series of comprehensive articles concerning 

 "Bird Protection," by Mrs. L. M. Stephenson, 

 is appearing- in The Arkansas School Journal. 



Prof. M. J. Elrod, formerly of the Illinois Wes- 

 leyan University, now has charge of the De- 

 partment of Biologj' at the University of Mon- 

 tana. 



"A List of the Birds of Maine, Showing- 

 Their Distribution by Counties," prepared 

 under the auspices of the United Ornitholog-ists 

 of Maine, will appear about May first. 



"Out Door Studies" is a little popular work 

 y Prof. James G. Needham. of Knox College, 

 Galesburg, to be soon published. It is sure 

 to contain the result of much original observa- 

 tion. 



Mr. Chas. K. Worthen has just purchased Mr. 

 W. W Price's entire magnificent collection of 

 Cape St. Lucas skins and eggs, containing the 

 finest series in the world of many rare species. 

 The collection comprises about 25,000 speci- 

 mens. 



A printed report of the Oolog-ists' Association 

 shows that the Association now has twenty 

 members and is constantly growing. The 

 officers for 1897 are :— President, I. S. Trostler ; 

 Vice President, E. A. Mcllhenney; Secretary 

 and Treasurer, W. E Snyder; Executive Com- 

 mitteeman, J. A. Dickinson. 



Prof. C. A. Babcock, the originator of "Bird 

 Day" for the schools, says that this movement 

 "is spreading- with almost the rapidity of a 

 bird's flight," and that he has had correspond- 

 ence from England, Italy and Spain concern- 

 ing- the plan. A movement of so great a rec- 

 ognized value could hardly be a failure. 



Our Animal Friends, the magazine published 

 by the American Society for the Prevention of 

 Cruelty to Animals, frequently contains inter- 

 esting articles relating to birds. The number for 

 February contains an illustrated paper by Mr. 

 Frank M. Chapman, which is of special inter- 

 est, entitled, "Recently Discovered Bird of 

 Paradise." 



In the death of Major Charles E. Bendire Thk 

 OSPREY loses a sincere friend. He was one of 

 the first ornithologists of eminence to send 

 encouragement to the magazine in its early 

 months. He advised the exercise of g'-reat care 

 that t)nlv strictly reliable observation should 

 be published, and also furnished several names 

 of persons whose reliability he deemed doubt- 

 ful. 



A letter from Simon Pokagon, the well-known 

 Indian Chief, says that he is preparing an- 

 other article for The Ospkev. He was lately 

 elected Honorary Member of the Michigan Or- 

 nithohjgical Club. The Chicago Tribune re- 

 cently sent two reporters to interview him, at 

 his home, and the results were given on an 

 entire first page of a section of the Sunday 

 edition. 



It will interest our readers to know that Dr. 

 Coues has finished his labors on "The Journals 

 of Alexander Henry the Younger, and David 

 Thomp.son," fur-trader and geographer, respec- 

 tively, and the work will be shortly issued by 

 Francis P. Harper. Thompson's maps will be 

 reproduced Unlike Dr. Coues' edition of Lewis 

 and Clark and of Pike, the body of this publica- 

 tion consists of matter never before in print. 



A "Bird Movement Chart" has been devised 

 by the Rev. P. B.Peabody of St. Vincent, Minn., 

 oil which to keep records, as those implied by 

 the name, of the mig'-rants and of the residents 

 and breeders. The records of the species, for a 

 period of five years, are placed in the most com- 

 pact manner by a series of symbols, each on a 

 separate chart a card about four by eig'-ht 

 inches in size On the opposite side of the card 

 the respective species is furnished blanks, also 

 covering five years' records, for copying*- semi- 

 annual reports like those requested of ornithol- 

 ogists by the U. S. Department of Ag'-riculture. 

 The convenience of this chart, especially for 

 reference purposes, is easilj^ recognized. 



