24 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



ever enter a cabinet. I give a list : Two 

 young Owls, the leg and thigh of a grown 

 chicken and a half-consumed polecat. The 

 nest I found March 2d contained nearly a 

 whole rabbit, and one of the unidentitied 

 Owls taken out of a hollow tree had a ban- 

 quet spread in the shape of a dead rat and 

 a Cedar Waxwiug— quite a varied l)ill of 

 fare. 



Some of our birds, I. c. Turkey Buzzard, 

 Black Vulture and Hawks, are behind 

 time in nesting this year, owing, no doubt, 

 to the backward spring we are having. I 

 have held back this report until I could 

 take a few more species that generally fur- 

 nish their quota ere this. 



The arrivals to date (March 26th) are as 

 follows, given about in the order of their 

 coming, viz ; Purple Jfartin, Lark Finch, 

 Yellow-winged Sparrow, Bell's Vireo, and 

 on Sunday, March 22d, I saw the first 

 Swallow-tailed Kite. On the 21st inst., 

 while hunting in the bottoms, I saw plenty 

 of Robins and Cedar Waswings, in fact 

 "the woods were full of 'em." On the 

 23d I could not find a single bird of either 

 species, tlicy having started on their jour- 

 ney North. 



I have been looking over TuE Young 

 Ooi.OGisT to-day. Nos. 1 to 11 inclusive, 

 and, in the vernacular of the natives, must 

 say it has " come out right smart " in the 

 short time it has been published. The in- 

 crease in size is a good idea, and I think an 

 issue of twice a month instead of once, as 

 now, would be acceptable. 



A few remarks as to my experience with 

 some of the birds that liave been written 

 about in the back numbers of The Young 

 OoLOGiST may not be out of place. The 

 habit of the Orchard Oriole (mentioned bj' 

 Mr. Perry) of nesting with other birds has 

 been noticed by me. I have always found 

 them in company with the Scissor-tailed 

 Flycatcher. During '88 I was generall}' 

 accompanied by two young collectors on 

 my egging e.xpeditions. and it was a com- 

 mon expression of theirs, after finding a 

 nest of the Flycatcher, " Now, let's look 

 for the grass nest" ((. c. Orchard Oriole.) 

 Mr, Perry says of the Cardinal Grosbeak : 



"They only lay three eggs. " Here they 

 do sometimes lay four, as I have taken sev- 

 eral sets containing that number. Best of 

 all, one day while out egging, I found a 

 nest of this species with four eggs of the 

 Grosbeak and one of the Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo. Has any other collector ever 

 found the Yellow-billed Cuckoo to lay in 

 the nests of other species ? 



H. E. Deats mentions finding the eggs of 

 the Carolina Dove in the nests of other 

 species. I have taken out of the same 

 nest, first, a set of eggs of the Lark Finch, 

 next a set of Carolina Doves, and third and 

 last, another set of the Larlv Finch ; pretty 

 good for one nest. The Dove often takes 

 possession of the old nests of other species, 

 at least such is my experience. I find 

 many of their nests on the ground. 



The " Reunion of Hawks " mentioned on 

 page 85, October number of The Young 

 OoLOGiST, is a yearly occurrence here — 

 can be seen every autumn. 



The collecting season will open in earn- 

 est about April 1st, and then 1 will spend 

 the most of my time in the woods, doing, 

 as a severely practical ('/j friend of mine re- 

 marked, ' ' climbing tree.< after eggs, just 

 like a varmint." " Varmint " is the Texas 

 vernacular for wild cat, raccoon, opo.ssum. 

 &c. When I do get to work in earnest in 

 the pursuit of " our hobby," I hope to be 

 able to send you some interesting items. 

 J. A. Singlet, 

 Lee Co.. Texas. 



Data Blanks for Collectors. 



We now furnish Data Blanks ))ut up in 

 pads of 100 each, i. e., glued on tops and 

 sides, making them much more convenient, 

 as they are not so liable to be destroyed or 

 lost when in this book form. For the 

 present we shall make no extra charge, but 

 you should order at once if you wish to 

 gain this advantage. No collector should 

 be without them, as trusting 3'our memory 

 on so important a subject as identity ought 

 to be discontinued. Accuracy is what is 

 wanted, and you cannot obtain that with- 

 out the Data Blank. 



