THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



19 



eggs, and from the testimony received 

 spotted Robin eggs can hardly be called 

 " very, very rare." 



PUMP THUNDER ; BROAD-WINGED 

 HAWK. 



The " Pump Thunder " enquired about 

 by J. W. L., Brandon Vt. , is undoubtedly 

 the American Bittern ; through central 

 New York it is properly styled the 

 " Thunder Pumper " from its peculiar 

 note, supposed to be made by the bird 

 immersing its bill under water, and 

 ■ ■ pumping " the air out of its lungs. 

 Answering the question about the southern 

 limit of the nesting of the Broad- winged 

 Hawk, I would say two nests with eggs 

 have been tiAen in this county, about 20 

 miles west of Philadelphia. I have not 

 the data at hand, but will endeavor to 

 obtain it and report. 



I have received the copy of "Davie's 



Check-list." and consider it a very valuable 



addition to the literature of the subject, 



and worth far more than the price asked. 



Very truly, C. J. C, 



Kennett Square, Pa. 



• FROM MINNESOTA. 



On the 2yth I found a new nest of the 

 Red tailed Hawk, nearly completed, hav- 

 ing been made since the}' arrived on the 

 2.5th. They will probably begin to lay in 

 about two weeks. In a recent number of 

 the Y. O. I noticed that your correspon- 

 dents at Durand and Milwaukee, Wis., ob- 

 served no Pine Grosbeaks and Northern 

 Waxwing.s in their respective localities this 

 winter, 1 would say they, as well as the 

 Evening Grosbeak, (a regular winter visi- 

 tant here) have not i)een seen in this vicin- 

 ity this winter. I cannot see any reason 

 why tliey should not visit us this winter, 

 unless it may be on account of the un- 

 usual cold. Let us hear from others on 

 the subject. G. H. S., 



Lake City, Minn. 



FROM MASSACHUSETTS. 



Dear Sir : — Cannot you give a few notes 

 on Larks in Tuk You.ng OiiLocisT. It 

 would be of interest to me, and, I think to 

 manj' otlier readers. If you would give 

 a description of the different kinds, stating' 

 the locations where they breed. We have 

 the .Meadow Lark here ; it builds in 

 meadows, making a very neat and con] pact 

 nest out of dead grass, ic. It is covered 

 over, something like the Golden-crowned 

 Thrush's, having an opening in the side. 

 Will you please state if the Meadow Lark, 

 Horned Lark, and Skylark are all different 



birds. Will you also state if the Black 

 and Purple ilartin are the same. 



I have a word to say in regard to the 

 English Sparrows. I had nothing against 

 them until last spring, I found a nest May 

 16th, in a dead limb of an apple tree. 

 After taking out the nest, which was com- 

 posed of feathers mostly, I found a White- 

 bellied Swallow dead. My opinion was, 

 that after the swallow had chosen that place 

 to build, the sparrow had interrupted 

 them, and finding one in the hole, had 

 picked it until they succeeded in killing it. 

 Then, as they could not get their murdered 

 victim out, they built their nest on it. 



Is not the " Baltimore Oriole" a properly 

 used name ? Id a book by J. D. Champlin, 

 Jr., it is given as "Baltimore Bird," 

 saying it is wrongly called Oriole as there 

 are no Orioles in the United States. 



C. W. S., 

 Tyngsboro, JIass, 



The Larks mentioned are different 

 descriptions in future issues. Black and 

 Purple Martins are the same. 



"A LOONY' LOOKING BIRD." 

 I have before me a "loonj'" looking 

 bird which I would describe about as fol- 

 lows ; Throat and underparts white ; 

 nucha and cervix hoary gray ; vertix, oc- 

 ciput, wings, tail and back (which has a 

 few small whitish spots) are about the same 

 color, a pale black, perhaps the occiput is 

 more of a drab ; the primarys are black. 

 The bill, which I think is faded, resembles 

 in form that of the Western Grebe and is 

 about three inches long. The anterior toes 

 are palmate, the outer ones being the long- 

 est and measure 3f inches. Length, 36i ; 

 ext., 42i ; wing, 19+ ; tail, 2}. 



I was not able to determine sex, the bird 

 having been shipped in from an adjoining 

 town nearly a week ago was not in a con- 

 dition to invite close scrutiny. Perhaps 

 some of the numerous, and no doubt bet- 

 ter posted readers of Thf Yovng Oolo- 

 GiST could tell me " what is it '!' 



R. B. T., Valparaiso, Ind. 



THE AMERICAN PARTRIDGE NOT A 



QUAIL. 



TO THE EDITDH OK THE YOUNG OOLOCilST. 



Dear Sir: I noticed in the March num- 

 ber that E. T. M. speaks of flushing Jl'jcks 

 of Quails. 



As for speaking of tlocks of Quails it is 

 an error. Flock should be applied to wild 

 ducks, shore birds or wild fowl of every 

 description, teal and reed birds (bobolinks). 

 But calling our bird a quail, it is most de- 

 cidcdlv a mistake. 



