THE OOLOOIST. 



59 



places for the Screech Owl. It was 

 not long before I had pulled a sleepy, 

 ialf-dead looking Owl from the depth 

 of a hole, and took him to an open 

 space near the middle of the orchard. 

 I tossed him gently into the air. He 

 went up with closed wings, but when 

 "he started down his wings shot out, 

 and he started circling the orchard. 

 Suddenly he dove straight for a nar- 

 row hole in one of the trees, and, 

 closing his wings just before reaching 

 the opening, he slid through smoothly 

 and was gone. This was on a bright 

 day, with the sun shining brilliantly. 

 This at least seems to show that the 

 Screech Owl's power of sight by day 

 is not so weak as is thought by many 

 people. 



Sincerely, 

 DAVID E. HARROWER. 



From Ashtabula Co., Ohio. 



After leading in the Oologist so 

 many articles from dilferent parts of 

 the country on birds and bird life I 

 am persuaded to take up my pen and 

 send a few sketches of my own ob- 

 servation on ornithology in this coun- 

 ty. In all I have identified 120 species 

 of birds here. Although I am told 

 there are 125 species here. Be that 

 as' it may I have seen but the 120 and 

 many of these are not known to nest 

 here. Of the birds of prey we have 

 a good supply numbering about 20 

 species in all. Of these 20 species 

 the American Barn Owl is the great- 

 est rarity. I have never known of 

 but two specimens of this interesting 

 bird being taken in this county, one 

 of which is in my collection, and is a 

 fine specmen. Next on the list of rare 

 raptores' is the Snowy Owl (nyctea) 

 in 1M5 they put in their appearance 

 in November which is the earliest I 

 have ever known of their being here. 

 Four specimens of this noble bird 

 were taken near here last season, the 



first in Novemiber and the last the 

 later part of January. Of the Heron 

 family we have the gi-eat blue, the 

 green, the black-crowned Night Her- 

 on, American bittern and least bit- 

 tern. 



This summer bird lovers had the 

 pleasure of seeing the Great "\ATiite 

 Heron about the water of Grand river. 

 This bird has not been seen in this 

 part of the State before. I saw one 

 on several occasions and at one time 

 saw three about a pond. 



We have comparatively few game 

 birds. The quail and the grouse are 

 nearly all gone, in spite of strict 

 game laws and shrewd game wardens 

 which is a good thing, but for all that 

 these birds do not seem to increase 

 as winter is their worst foe. If this 

 finds' its way in print I will soon tell 

 you about a learned game warden. 

 S. V. Wharram. 



I recorded a wood thrush in a piece 

 of woods in the vicinity of Greenport 

 on Nov. 28th, Thanksgiving day. I 

 believe that this is about six weeks 

 later than usual for eastern Long Is- 

 land. As far as I can learn the 14th 

 of Octoher is their latest appearance. 



Very truly yours, 

 L. Is., N. Y. K. B. Squires. 



TAVERN CURIOS. 



Great Auk's Egg Fetches a Beggarly 

 Price. 



Part of the world-famous curio col- 

 lection removed from the Edinburgh 

 Castle tavern, London, England, ow- 

 ing to the recent death of its proprie- 

 tor, Mr. T. G. Middlebrook, was offer- 

 ed for sale yesterday at Messrs. Deb- 

 enham, Storr and Sons' rooms. Such 

 a strange mixture of objects has sel- 

 dom been seen in a London sale-room, 

 and many sightseers gathered to 

 watch the celebrated Great Auk's 



