24 



THE OOLOGIST 



General Items. 



— About two weeks after writing to you 

 I was again near the saw-mill, where, on 

 the apron of the dam is a resort for Sand- 

 pipers. At the time there was a single 

 Spotted Sandpiper looking about for in- 

 sects ; near it was a very large frog, and 

 when I saw it was slowly creeping toward 

 the bird. When the bird seemed to notice 

 it or move forward, it would stop motion- 

 less, but as soon as the bii'd stopped it would 

 again move toward it, acting like a cat 

 crawling upon a bird. I watched them a 

 few minutes till the bird flew away. 



August 29 saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 

 which is very uncommon, having seen only 

 one or two in this locality. 



D. D. Stone, Oswego, N. Y. 



— A LETTER from Mr. G. A. Board- 

 man, Milltown, N.B., is quite brimming 

 full of notes on the occurrence of species 

 there which are very rare in that neighbor- 

 hood. Not only have the Black Skimmer, 

 and Black Tern been observed there, but 

 following closely upon one another were the 

 Gull-billed or Marsh Tern, a White Heron 

 and Black Vulture, all stragglers which 

 New England ornithologists may soon find 

 it necessary to include in their local lists. 



— On May 30, 1879, I secured a fine 

 adult specimen of the Pomariue Jaeger, 

 taken at Figliting Island, in Detroit River, 

 about seven miles below this city. It was 

 chasing Black Terns when shot. The skin 

 is in the possession of Greene Smith, Esq., 

 of Peterborough, N. Y. 



W. H. Collins, Detroit, Mich. 



— If one occasionally sees a Night Hawk 

 sitting transversely upon his perch, he 

 should not consider the occurrence as nev- 

 er having before been witnessed, for this 

 species has been noticed sitting in this po- 

 sition. The habit however is probably 

 rather transitory than permanent. 



— At this time of the year immense 

 flocks of Crows are to be seen in some parts 

 of the country, at sunrise, winging their 



way rapidly to their feeding grounds, some- 

 times many miles away. Just a little be- 

 fore sunset, the entire throng, often num- 

 bering thousands, retire to their roosting 

 places. If the distance to the feeding ground 

 is very far, they start on their homeward 

 journey early enough to reach their roost- 

 ing place at sundown, and this often neces- 

 sitates departure at noon or a little after. 

 Every day, until it becomes time to mate 

 and nest, these foraging expeditious are 

 made, frequently for fifty or a hundred 

 miles. In clear, warm weather, they pass 

 at a great hight, but on cold, damp, or 

 windy days, they sometimes fly within a 

 few yards of the earth. The mingled caws 

 of the vast multitude sound very peculiar 

 when the passage is being made high in 

 the air. 



— The fall migrations, now approach- 

 ing, if closely watched, may reveal some 

 coveted material to the collector. Rare or 

 occasional Warblers and Sparrows among 

 small birds may be looked for in flocks of 

 the commoner species, and for this reason 

 close scrutiny of passing flocks is advisa- 

 ble. Among the larger birds, look for 

 Ducks, Geese, Terns and Gulls. 



— The Chipping Sparrow {Spizella so- 

 cialis) may not be generally known to sing 

 in the night. We have on many occasions 

 heard the clear *■' se-se-se," trilled quite me- 

 lodiously, during the night and early morn- 

 ing. 



— Sandpipers and other LimicoJce are 

 often found during May and June, many 

 rods and not infrequently a mile or two 

 from water. They seem to delight in search- 

 ing the grass of the meadows and pastures, 

 where they no doubt obtain large numbers 

 of insects, grubs, etc. 



— A recent issue of the London Field fig- 

 ures a Parrot's upper mandible which had 

 grown long and curved almost upon the 

 throat. It is said this was caused in near- 

 ly the same manner as the extraordinary 

 growths of rodents' incisors sometimes seen, 

 — by non-usage, and hence its constant 

 and rapid growth had not been checked. 



