THE OOLOGIST 



15 



for both will save the collector many avoid- 

 able and valuable steps. At first it seems 

 difficult to reconcile the strange note of a 

 young bird with that of its parent, and they 

 may be so widely different that the study 

 may be a prolonged one. Parent birds 

 themselves also often utter peculiar varia- 

 tions to their own songs, which are indeed 

 confusinji when heard for the first time. 



General Items. 



Notes on Sitta canadensis. — The note 

 of the Red-bellied nuthatch is similar to that 

 of its White-bellied congener, but is some- 

 what prolonged and apparently uttered with 

 great difficulty. The bird is rather shy 

 and ceases its note as soon as it discovers 

 itself to be seen, retreating also to the denser 

 or more concealed portions of the tree. Al- 

 ways restless, active and independent, it 

 seldom seems to cease its work on the 

 trunks and branches of the trees, and when 

 it does, only for the purpose of arranging 

 its feathers and sleeping. They are not a 

 solitary bird, for often bands of half a doz- 

 en or more work together in the trees, when 

 their notes, uttered at intervals, sound quite 

 peculiar. 



Young birds possess all the traits of their 

 parents. They do not attain the full red- 

 dish-brown of the under parts until Septem- 

 ber. In all cases, this species prefers heav- 

 ily timbered localities, being seldom seen 

 in open places. It breeds in suitable places 

 in all the Northern States, quite abundant- 

 ly in the wilder portions, placing tlie nest, 

 according to authors, in a hole iu some 

 dead stump a few feet from the ground. 

 The eggs are white with red dots and spots. 

 It seems to rather replace the White-bel- 

 lied Nuthatch, for where it is found in num- 

 bers, the latter species is not commonly 

 seen and vice versa. It is much smaller 

 in size than S. caroUnensis ; and appears 

 to prefer the vicinity of lowland and water. 



Induce your collector friends to subscribe 

 for this journal and thus increase its scope 

 and usefulness. 



— Besides the seeds of the sunflower and 

 digested grain. House Sparrows are fond 

 of berries. A number have been observed 

 in the mountain ash trees in this city eat- 

 ing quite eagerly the red berries which grow 

 in clusters upon the branches. This, of 

 course, does not directly condemn the Spar- 

 rows, but the problem which has thus far 

 been unsolved is : Why can this bird, being 

 insectivorous to the extent claimed for it, 

 utterly ignore the myriads of caterpillars 

 upon our walks and eat fruit and grain in- 

 stead ? As yet it has not been demonstrated 

 that the House Sparrow is as much an en- 

 emy to the caterpillar as to grain and )na- 

 nure deposits. 



— Reed Birds (Bobolinks), Rail and 

 other marsh birds are reported by sports- 

 men to be abundant. They are killed by 

 hundreds in the marshes along the Atlantic 

 coast, especially on the Delaware River. 



— During the latter half of August the 

 Night Hawks commence their flights, ap- 

 pearing before a storm or at dusk often in 

 large numbers. In the Southern States, 

 where they go by the name of Bull Bats, 

 their sudden presence in dark weather is 

 quite surprising, for thousands may be seen 

 flying in the air in every direction as far 

 as the eye can reach, not in a flock, but 

 widely scattered and each seemingly inde- 

 pendent of the other. 



— The tongue of the Humming Bird is 

 a wonderful piece of mechanism aside from 

 the tiny body of the bird. It is long, slen- 

 der and forked, and in appearance might re- 

 semble a white horse-hair. The two prongs 

 are semi-transparent, as is in fact the tongue 

 proper, and under the magnifier sparkle and 

 shine as if of glass. If examined closely, 

 each of these tiny prongs will be seen to be 

 hollow tubes, and the tongue proper will 

 also be observed to be a transparent tube, 

 in which sometimes linger drops of honey 

 after the bird is killed. The tongue is the 

 one-hundredth of an inch iu diameter. 



