i8 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



March 3. Have heard several Lark 

 Finches singing around in the fields. 

 Heard the "scream" of a Red-shouldered 

 Hawk. 



March 9 . A flock of Cedar-birds alighted 

 on our grapevine. I shot one and was dis- 

 appoint'ed to tind it was not its cousin, the 

 Bohemian. Saw a Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker which had evidently wintered here. 



March 28. Heard a Bluebird. 



March 29. Found a flock of Red Cross- 

 bills in a tamarac swamp ; they were feed- 

 ing on the tamarac seeds and were very 

 tame ; I shot eleven of them. The male is 

 a yellowish-red mixed with dark brown. 

 Tlie female is yellow and gray. It is a rare 

 bird for this part of the country. 



E. L. B., 

 Durand, Wis. 



I thought perhaps you and some of the 

 readers of The Young Oologist would 

 like to know when ducks, etc., are tirst 

 seen at our Lake. Figures at the right lei I 

 how many seen in the flock : 



March 38, Gull (unknown species) 4 



" 29. Killdecr 6 



" 29, Golden Eyes 23 



■' 29, Sheldrake 10 



" 30, Red-heads 4 



30, Black-heads 11 



" 30, Teal (Blue-wing) 2 



" 31, Wood Duck 1 



" 31, Mallard 13 



" 31. Coot 1 



April l,;Butterballs 8 



•' 1, Ruddy Duck- 14 



'• 1, Wild Gee.se 41 



" 1 , Magansers 7 



' ' 2, Widgeon 2 



" 2. PintaiLs 8 



•' 2. Spoonbill 1 



" 2, Ring-billed Black-heads 4 



" 3, Canvas-back 10 



B. W.. 

 Lake Koshkonong, Wis. 



usually get a Great-horned Owl or two, but 

 have seen none this winter. 



H. H. M., 

 Oak Bay, N. B. 



FROM NEW BRUNSWICK. 



On June 1st, 1884. I found a Yellow- 

 shafted Flickers nest containing ten eggs. 

 It was the largest set I have ever seen, but 

 unfortunately they were too far advanced 

 to blow, so I left them to hatch. 



On June loth I took a set of four eggs of 

 the White-bellied Swallow from a hollow 

 fence pole. The nest was built on top of 

 an old nest, wliich also contained four eggs 

 with holes in them. 



A friend of mine found a Summer Yel- 

 lowbird's nest with five eggs. Was it an 

 unusually large set ? 



During the past winter I have taken three 

 Barred Owls, one Hawk Owl, one Rich- 

 ardson's Owl and one Saw-whet Owl. I 



FROM MANY. 



I saw my first robin on April 1st, first 

 blackbird April 1st, first Black Snowbird 

 April 2d, first Bluebird April 7th. 



T. C, SeaforthOnt. 



The Westfield, Wis., Union says a red- 

 winged blackbird has been staying on the 

 preniises of several farmers in that section 

 all winter. 



On April 4 I found a nest of the Red 

 tailed Hawk, containing three eggs, which 

 I took. April another nest I got contained 

 four eggs of same bird. Incubation far 

 advanced.' Is not that early for them ? 

 C. S., Des Moines, la. 



While in Florida about four weeks ago 

 (Feb. 10) I found a Loggerhead Shrike's 

 nest with four eggs in it. Isn't it right 

 early for birds to lay. I found several 

 other nests not completed. 



J. M. A., Jr., Murfreesboro, Tenn. 



AVhile walking along the western shore 

 of Con:inicut Island last summer I saw a 

 flock of Purple Grackles feeding on the 

 shore. Curious to know what they found 

 to eat upon a beach and in apparently 

 great abundance, 1 watched and saw that 

 they were small clams. The biids breed 

 veiy plentifully in ihe swamp just beyond 

 this beach. J. M., Newport. R. I. 



1 lliink G. H. S. is a little late on the ar- 

 rival of >the Red-tailed Hawk as in the 

 March number. On ilarch 30. 1884, I 

 found a nest of this species complete and 

 obtained the set on April 15. He st<ated 

 they arrived about the middle of April. 

 Yours truly, F. T. 



Lake City. Minn. 



On the first of this month (March) I 

 found a nest of the White Rumped Shrike 

 contiiining five eggs ; two days later I 

 looked in the nest and saw seven eggs. A 

 friend of mine found a nest of the Mourn- 

 ing Dove, two eggs which were fresh. I 

 think that is very early for a Mourning 

 Dove to lay. Yours truly, H. C. L., 

 Hanford, Cal. 



I saw in the ilarch number an account 

 of a friend seeing Meadow Larks upon 

 December 31. In "this part of the country 

 they are quite common in the coldest win- 

 ter weather, while the snow eo\ers^ the 

 ground several inches thick. W. S., 



Lewiston, Idaho. 



Fully a score of collectors informs 

 " Hawk " that Catbirds frequently lay five 



