20 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



It has been stated that our bird (Perdix 

 Virginianus, Bob White, or Partridge) is 

 more closely allied to the European quail 

 than to the English partridge, but such is 

 not the fact, as our bird resembles the 

 quail in no one particular save in the habit 

 of partial emigration, which it exhibits at 

 the running season 



The meat of the European quail is dwrk, 

 and often loaded with fat, while that of our 

 bird is lohiU. and invariabh' lean. 



Quails seldom form themselves into 

 coveys, while our bird almost always does. 

 The quail is also less prolific than our bird. 

 When quails migrate they assemble in large 

 numbers, but as soon as they arrive at 

 their destination they separate and each 

 one seeking his own food and guarding his 

 own safety. How widely, different is all 

 this from" the habits of our bird ! Is not 

 this enough to convince one that our part- 

 ridge is not a quail ? 



Our bird should be called partridge. Bob 

 White, or by the scientific name, Perdix 

 Virginianus. 



Hoping that the readers of The YonN(i 

 OoLOGisT will no longer call our partridge 

 by the very common, but unmistakal)ly 

 wrong name of quail, (as we have no quail 

 in our couutrv), 1 remain, your obedient 

 servant, " N. S. H. S., 



Concord, N. II. 



BROAD-'WINGED HAWK. 



To the friend from Chester county. Pa. , 

 who wants to know how far the nest 

 of the Broad-winged Hawk has been 

 found I can tell him that I found one on 

 the shore of Lake Harney in Florida with 

 four eggs in it. I think that Charles J. 

 Maynard found some there last season. 

 J. T. J., Maiden, Mass. 



Mr. Nehrling (ii.uk) gives the Broadwing 

 Hawk as nesting in the vicinity of Hous- 

 ton Texas. G. H. R., 

 Gainesville, Tex. 



ORCHARD ORIOLE. 



If from tliis description you can name 

 this bird, will you do so in The Young 



OOLOGIST. 



Locality, Waterloo Alabama. Nest 

 built in the top of a mulberry tree tweiUy 

 feet from the ground, and compo.'^ed en- 

 tirely of fine dry grass, cup-shaped like a 

 Baltimore Oriole, perhaps not quite so 

 deep. The nest contained four eggs. The 

 one 1 now have has lines and blotclies like 

 an Oriole but is smaller, lueasuring .85 by 

 .58. The bird was yellowish color. 



Yours truly, ,1. C. W. 



Orchard Oriole. — [Ed. 



ENCOURAGEMENT vs. CLIIVIBERS. 



One day a friend and I went to a place 

 called Carr's Thicket, near Ridley Park, 

 Del. Co. , Pa. As we were hunting around 

 we spied a nest about 50 feet up in a large 

 black oak tree. My friend put on his irons 

 and commenced to'ascend, as he got higher, 

 he got more frightened, but my telling him 

 that if he could not go up, there was not 

 one in Morton that could. By coaxing 

 him in this manner a while, he reached 

 the nest, and had to grab hold of it and 

 pull himself up so that he could look over. 

 The first thing he said was, the are five 

 large eggs, as big as flour barrels. We 

 went home with our prize to tr}' and find 

 out what kind they were. The only thing 

 we thought the}' were, were Qsprey's. 



The nest was in a large black oak tree, 

 about 50 feet from the ground. The nest 

 was about as large as half a flour-barrel, 

 made of coarse sticks, lined with shreds of 

 bark. The eggs, five in number, were 

 about 3.35x1.75 in., color dirty light green, 

 one egg had fine small specks on liutt end. 



As we got near the nest the bird sat very 

 erect, like an owl. add was al)Out 10 inches 

 high. We don't think it was any species 

 of heron, for it had sharp lalo is and a 

 hooked beak. What was it V • 



W. I. D.. Morton, Pa. 



Nates From Philadelphia. 



Large-billed Water Thrush.— .May 31st, 

 1883, while going through a thick woods, 

 I 'discovered a nest of this bird in the dead 

 leaves under a lam-el bush. It contained 

 four eggs, almost incubated ; they were 

 brittle and very hard to blow. The nest 

 was situated on the side of a hill near Wis 

 sahickon creek. 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo.— .July 12, with a 

 friend I visited a nest of this bird at Mill 

 creek. It was in a tree, 13 or 15 feet up, 

 and contained two young and four eggs. 

 The nest was right over the road and only 

 about twenty yards from a railmad. 



Acadian Flycatcher.— .June 8tb, 188-1, 

 found a nest containing two eggs, which 

 had been set on about four days. This 

 was a very pretty set, one egg having spots 

 on it as large as a Wood Pewee's. This 

 year I have found about eight of these 

 nests, and all but two contained two eggs. 

 Last year all I saw containeil three eggs. 

 E. C. E., 

 Manavunk, Phila. 



