32 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



Another glimpse that I got of the bird, as 



with notes of disiipproval slie returned and 

 loolced at me, wliile I stood beside her pos- 

 session, convinced me that it belonged to a 

 species of which I had no previous personal 

 knowledge. I was also confirmed in this 

 conclusion by the song notes of a strange 

 bird near by, which I took to be her mate, 

 but when I tried to get a nearer view of 

 both, they darted off among the dense 

 foliage of the underwood. As 1 was anx- 

 ious to obtain the eggs of this species, and 

 also see more of the parent birds, I looked 

 again at the nest next day, but found that 

 no other eggs had been deposited. Fearing 

 that the one egg might be taken by some 

 •other species of egg collector, I removed 

 it, and put in its place an egg of the Red 

 start. Two days afterward I again revisited 

 the nest and found that two more eggs had 

 been deposited. These I also took, and 

 finding after another day or two that no 

 more eggs were laid, I took away the nest 

 and both it and the eggs are are now in my 

 collection. In size the eggs are as large as 

 those of the Red-eyed Vireo, which they 

 also resemble in form, the ground color be- 

 ing pure white ; they are marked with 

 irregular spots of reddish-brown on the 

 large end and toward the middle. Except 

 on the first day I did not see the birds, but 

 from reading I am led to believe that this 

 nest was that of the Gold-winged Warbler. 

 Wm. L. Kells, 



Listowel, Ont. 



The Fox Sparrow. 



mained on the margin of the woods near 

 where I was sugar-making, for several 

 daj's, and I then thought that their song 

 notes were among the most pleasing that I 

 had ever heard, having tlie resemblance to 

 the song notes, both of the Song Thrush 

 and the Song Sparrow. Mr. William Can- 

 per, naturalist, of Montreal, who visited 

 Labrador, in the spring of 1867, for the 

 purpose of collecting a series of birds eggs, 

 and determining the species that breed 

 upon that coast, maKes the following in- 

 teresting statement regarding this bird : 

 " The sweet song of the Fox-colored Spar- 

 row is pleasing to the ear, as we wande'' 

 through the open parts of these northern 

 forests, and it was with no little joy that 

 we discovered the nest on the loth of 

 June, and authenticated its eggs for the 

 first time. Audubon has made a mistake 

 in his description of the eggs of this 

 species. The egg is larger than that of any 

 other Sparrow found in this latitude, and 

 they are completely covered with blotches 

 of a ferruginous tint. Contrary to the 

 habits of Sparrows, this nest was built in a 

 low fir-tree, about three feet from the 

 ground." Wm. L. Kells. 



PASSERELLA ILI.\^CA. 



This species (.so called, on account of tlie 

 plumage on the upper parts resembling the 

 color of a Fox), is a rare visitant in the 

 vicinity of Listowel, and only as a spring 

 migrant does it occur here, being on its 

 passage from the South, where it has 

 passed the winter season to northern lati- 

 tudes, where it makes its summer home. 

 Last season, in the later end of March, I 

 observed one solitary individiial. but a 

 number of years ago. when residing in 

 i^ortb Wallace, a pair of these birds re- 



The Redhead. 



This Duck, which I think resembles a 

 Canvasback more than any other bird, and 

 in fact is said by some to be the result of a 

 cross between a Canvasback and a Scaup 

 Duck, is a somewhat rare bird during the 

 winter in this locality, but begins to make 

 itself quite conspicuous on our lakes and 

 ponds as the spring months waft out the 

 colder winter Ides. 



Its favorite haunts are large shallow 

 ponds, with water say from three to nine 

 feet deep, and the ponds are especially at- 

 tractive to this bird, if they are supplied 

 with a margin of high thick reeds or bul- 

 rushes. It delights to feed among this 

 latter growth during and often pulling up 

 tender young sprouts by the root, and 

 wherever you find a tolerably good sized 

 pond of water where bulrushes fringe its 

 mai-gin, there you may confidently look 



