72 



THE OOLOOIST. 



General Items. 



—The Canada Jay. The nest and eggs 

 are not so often met with in collections, 

 simply because these birds' nest, as a 

 general rule, in sections of the country 

 in which there are few observers or col- 

 lectors. At any rate this remark holds 

 good for Canada. The Canada Jay is 

 one of the most abundantly met with 

 birds in the pine forests of the upper 

 Ottawa and Gativeau River. My camp 

 in the Gativeau district last summer 

 was ever attended by these birds dur- 

 ing every month of the season, and 

 their eggs could have been collected 

 by the score. They build generally in 

 low bushes, and often close down to 

 the roots of the bush. The material 

 used in constructing the nest is in most 

 cases a coarse, dried marsh grass. They 

 also often occupy the abandoned nests 

 of other birds, and sometimes even 

 nests that have not been abandoned, 

 and which yet contain the eggs of the 

 true owner. These eggs the Canada 

 Jay either rejects or devours. I in- 

 tend t;:» collect the eggs of this bird 

 next season for exchange. — Henry G. 

 Vennor, Montreal, 1879. 



— To ascertain the number of insects 

 a Martin consumes, Mr. Florent 

 Prevail, French Naturalist, obtained at 

 different times between the middle of 

 April and first of August, 1879, eight- 

 teen birds, and carefully dissected them 

 to find the contents of the crop. The 

 average number for the single bird was 

 466; the greatest number, 704 (May 1). 

 The sum total for the lot, 8390. He 

 repeats that no single atom of corn, 

 fruit, or seed of any plant was found. 



— Twenty-eight Prairie Hens( Tetrao 

 cupido), caught in Kansas, were start- 

 ed to New Zealand via San Francisco. 

 Seventeen arrived in good condition, 

 and were liberated upon the estate of 

 J. T. Brown, near Canterbury. 



— The Ibis has settled in great num- 

 bers on the shores of Lake Balaton, 



Hungary. A local paper says, '• The 

 bird has a long beak, bright steel col- 

 ored feathers, and resemb'es the snipe 

 in its habits. The nests are of dry 

 twigs, or of peat and reeds, are built 

 in long rows close to one another, and 

 in straight lines. The eggs are nearly 

 as large as duck eggs and of a bright 

 sky blue color. 



— Orange Crowned Warbler. Two 

 specimens of the ab;>ve were shot in a 

 swamp near Locke Mich., by Dr. H. A. 

 Atkins, only one of which was secured. 

 — Hallock on Coiies. The bibliography 

 of Dr. Elliott Cou.es, j^ublished in a 

 recent issue, calls up a reminiscence to 

 Mr. Charles Hallock, who writes: "It 

 is always with me a pleasant remini- 

 scence that Dr. Coues and myself were 

 co-workers on that Labrador exj^edi- 

 tion of 1861, when his labors were first 

 begun, and that I helped him jerk his 

 puffins out of their holes, and reach 

 with my rifle some specimens beyond 

 the ranjste of his shot-gun. I have al- 

 ways felt cause for gratitude that we 

 Avere not all poisoned by the arsenic he 

 used in preserving his skins — for the 

 skins went to his collection, and the 

 carcasses into the pot invariably." — 

 Chicago Field. 



— Birds Catching Fish. The eccentric 

 Chai'les Waterton probably had a more 

 thorough experience with the Barn 

 Owl than any other ornithologist ; he 

 writes of this owl as follows : — " This 

 bird has been known to catch fish. 

 Some years ago, on a fine evening in 

 the month of July, long before it was 

 dawn, as I was standing on the middle 

 of the bridge, and timing the Owl by 

 my watch as it brought mice to its 

 nest, all of a sudden it drc-pped per- 

 pendicularly into the water. Thinking 

 that it had fallen down in epilepsy my 

 first thoughts were to go and fetch the 

 boat : but, beft)re I had well got to the 

 end of the bridge, I saw the owl rise 

 out of the water with a fish in its 

 claws, and take it to the nest." 



