THE OOLOGIST 



45 



security. They build large nests of sticks, ' 

 interspersed and commingled with grass 

 and roots, but forming withal, exceedingly 

 bulky and ungraceful structures. Like 

 all the Herons' nests, these are flat. The j 

 eggs are three to five, green, and some- 

 what pointed on the smaller end. They I 

 area trifle longer than a hen's egg. The ^ 

 tall scrubby tamaracks, and often spruce ' 

 trees are usually selected for their nests, 

 altho' hard-wood trees are sometimes re- | 

 sorted to. "When the young are old ' 

 enough to fly, they leave the nests, and to- . 

 gether.with the old ones, frequent the | 

 neighboring swamps, creeks and lakes un- | 

 til ready to go South, when they break 

 and perform their migration in scattered ' 

 flocks of four to commonly fiftv. 



Novelties in sets of birds' eggs, as 

 well as in birds themselves, have shoAvn 

 themselves to be quite numerous this year. 

 Especially may this be said of large sets 

 and oddly marked specimens. Collectors, 

 we think, have more generally come to 

 appreciate the value of abnormities of late 

 tlian a few years ago. 



General Items. 



— The pair of young White Robins, 

 mentioned last month, were taken from a 

 nest near Springfield, Mass., and carried 

 to the store of O. B. Deane, Taxidermist, 

 where they have since attracted great at- 

 tention among naturalists from the perfect 

 purity of their plumage ; the entire ab- 

 sence of black or even discolored feathers. 

 The birds continue in good health, grow- 

 ing finely. 



— A correspondent of Nature gave as 

 an opinion that a diffcrance in the note of 

 the Cuckoo told the sex. A reply says 

 "If all the minor Cuckoos about here are 

 males, and the single major a female, it 

 shows an instance of polyandry (if the 

 term can be applied to birds) such as 

 could scarcely be mentioned in natural 

 history." 



• — The Cape May Warbler should be 

 added to the list of Central New York 

 birds, upon the strength of a specimen 

 obtained there by Egbert Bagg, of Utica. 



— A gentleman writing from Unst, Eng- 

 land, tells of starting a Snowy Owl among 

 the stones near the cliff, says it was at 

 least in its third year, as 'shown by the 

 clear white j)lumage — previous to this age 

 they being more or less mottled. The 

 bird, he says, arises with the North 

 wind, shifting from Northern Europe at 

 the period of the 3'ear when ibod is scarce 

 in its hunting fields. It is never found 

 South of Unst, not even on the Isle of 

 Yell, separated only by a narrow stream 

 of three or four miles. Hermaness of 

 Unst is the only hill in Britain where the 

 Snowy Owl nests. 



— Mr. Ludwig KuirLEiu, Naturalist of 

 the Ilowgate Polar expidition of 1877-78, 

 says of Kavens : "In the capture of a 

 young seal the birds show great intelli- 

 gence. The first manoeuvrs is to sail leis- 

 urely over the seal, gradually lowering 

 with each circle till at last one of them 

 suddenly drops onto the seal's hole, cutting 

 off its retreat from the water. Its mate 

 then attacks the seal, driving it as far from 

 the hole as possible, striking it on top of the 

 head with its powerful beak and breaking 

 the tender skull. A seal I had watched 

 the Ravens kill, that I afterwards exam- 

 ined, had the skull fractui'ed in two places, 

 and no marks were visible elsewhere on 

 it. 



— MiGKATOUY Quail. — The Sprinfield 

 C7nio?i, under the head of Maine news, is 

 responsible for the statement that several 

 nests containing young Messima Quails 

 have been discovered in the suburbs of 

 Lewiston and Auburn, and as the farmers 

 are careful not to injure them in any way, 

 the prospect is quite good for a large fam- 

 ily of the birds in the State next year. If 

 any of our readers have any actual evi- 

 dence of these birds being seen or nests 

 found, we should be pleased to hear from 

 them. 



