THE OOLOGIST 



49 



pied by the sparrows. The Swallows 

 are becoming quite scarce about here, 

 only a very few barns are now inhabit- 

 ed by them and then but a very few 

 nests in a i)lace. The Barn Swallows 

 are also being imjjosed upon by the 

 Sparrows but the Purple Martin seems 

 to be holding out with this nuisance. 



S. V. Wharram. 

 Austinburg, Ohio. 



The English Sparrow has driven the 

 Cliff Swallow entirely out of Marshall 

 Co., 111. Formerly they were here 

 every summer by thousands. None 

 have nested in the county within ten 

 years. — R. M. Barnes. 



Bird Books. 



Perhaps some of the readers of THE 

 OOLOGIST will be interested to know 

 that a few days after Christmas, 1913, 

 when I was in a Boston book store, 

 I saw a set of eight volumes of the 

 small edition of Audubon's "Birds of 

 America," which were offered for sale 

 at Fifty-seven Dollars for the set. The 

 books were, of course, second hand, 

 but they were in fine condition. 



Some time ago, in another book 

 store in the same city, I saw D. G. El- 

 liott's large work in two volumes on 

 the "Xew and Hitherto Unfigured 

 Birds of North America," which was 

 offered for sale at Ninety Dollars. 



Whenever I visit the city and have 

 any spare time, I look around the 

 book stores to see what bird books 

 they have on hand. Occasionally T no- 

 tice a coiiy of Wilson's Ornithology. 

 Studer's "■Pirds of America" was form- 

 erly not uncommon in two of the larg- 

 er stores but 1 haven't seen a copy on 

 sale there for the last three years. 

 However, it is not so rare as the others 

 anyway and usually sells for less than 

 Ffteen Dollars. 



The last copy of Studer's which T 

 saw on sale was in a small store which 

 deals almost exculsively in seconcJ 



hand books, and the price asked was 

 Thirteen Dollars, but the proprietor 

 of the store finally said he would let 

 them go for Seven Dollars. The book 

 was bound in leather and was un- 

 doubtedly a bargain at that price, but 

 I did not care especially for it so did 

 not take it, but I understand that it 

 was sold shortly afterward. 



I thought that possibly some of the 

 collectors in other parts of the United 

 States would like to know the prices 

 at which some of our old bird books 

 could be obtained by watching close- 

 ly the Boston stores. The prices quot- 

 ed above are the lowest I have found 

 on the books mentioned and are con- 

 siderably lower than I usually find 

 them. 



H. O. Green. 

 Stoneham, Mass. 



Newspaper Ornithology. 



We are in receipt of a marked copy 

 of the Santa Ana (Cal.) Daily Regis- 

 ter of February 26, 1914, wherein some 

 person by the name of Andrew .Toplin 

 gives a hair raising descrijition of the 

 manner in which the Road Runner is 

 exterminating the California Valley 

 Quail, by eating up the young. And he 

 describes an imaginary contest be- 

 tween a pair of old birds and a Road 

 Runner to save their brood; all of 

 which is pure fiction, and has a ten- 

 dency to do a vast amount of harm. 

 Publications of this kind are distinct- 

 ly injurious to real ornithology and 

 firoper game protection. 



The Road Runner is a beneficial 

 bird, living largely upon insects, small 

 reptiles and lizards. As illustrative 

 if the mighty knowledge possessed by 

 the aforesaid .loplin, it is but necessarv 

 to call attention to the fact that in 

 the article above referred to, among 

 other misstatements will be found the 

 following, viz: 



"The Mountain Quail lays WHITE 

 EGGS!" 



