.74 



THE OOLOGIST. 



study them. A bhxl of marvelous in- 

 telligence and barring his mania for 

 petty larceny makes a most entertaining 

 and interesting pet; some authorities 

 even go so far as to say tliat he may be 

 taught to talk, but my experience with 

 them does not carry that idea out to 

 any greater extent than to say Ah\ Ah\ 



Crows are veiy tenacions of life and 

 there is said to be an old male in the 

 London Zoo now about 100 years old. 



Just now they are at their thickest 

 around Omaha and every morning and 

 evening great flocks can be seen flying 

 over the city. 



In the evening their flight is from the 

 south or southwest towards Cut-oi¥ 

 Lake where they pass the night and scat- 

 tering out again at day-break towards 

 the south and southwest. For years 

 and years the birds have roosted on the 

 low willows east and north of Omaha 

 and when the sable host have congre- 

 gated in the evening, the] uproar from 

 the numei'ons tongues is so loud j'ou 

 can not hear yourself think and the 

 spectacle is a sight of a lifetime. 



I could go on like this for a day but 

 our Friend Lattin has not the room nor 

 I the time for it. 



ISADOR A. TrOSTLER, 



Omaha, Neb. 



termined the sex by dissection. The 

 first was a female the other a male. 

 The bird is normal in all respects ex- 

 cept the bill. The normal bill has the 

 commissure almost straight, curving 

 downAvard toward the tip; in the cross- 

 billed specimens, both mandibles are 

 curved, the upper a little the more. 

 The upper mandible is crossed to the 

 right, which is true of the three or four 

 Crossbills [Loxia ao'riros) that I 

 have. I wonder if the same bird can 

 cross them either waj'V Looked at 

 from above, it seems that the upper 

 mandible wei"e merely bent to one side 

 as the culmen lies in a straight line; 

 but viewed from the side, the mandibles 

 coincide past the ramus, but from there 

 on they cross and curve till the tip of 

 the upper is .15 of an inch lower than 

 that of the lower. Has any one else 

 found a similiar birdv 



Cloud R utter, 

 Doane College, Crete, Neb, 



A Peculiar Bird. 



On February second I went 

 hunting on the Blue River for Birds. 

 One of the students Avent along with 

 me as I was unacquainted with the re- 

 gion. For two or three miles we scar- 

 cely saw anything but Sno"wbirds and 

 Tree Sparrows. We then came to a 

 bend in the river which w'as well grown 

 up with timber, and hei'e^ w*e found 

 birds, plentj' of specimens if not spec- 

 ies. A number of specimens were sec- 

 ured among' which was a Spi7ius trislis 

 with a cros.sed bill. Another was sec- 

 ured which had a normal bill. The 

 Winter plumages being the .same. I de- 



Barly Nesting of the Great Horned Owl. 



Thinking that it might be of some 

 interest to the readers of the Oolo- 

 GIST to learn of some early finds, Wal- 

 ter Truitt and myself have decided to 

 give a short sketch of our Januar3''s col- 

 lecting Great Horned Owls eggs. 



The tw^enty-third of January we Avent 

 to the woods to seek locations in which 

 we might expect soon to find nests. 

 Hawks of various species were noted, 

 and numerous nests were located. 



The sight of an occasional Great 

 Horned Owl, as it silently left its roost 

 on some neighboring tree and hurriedly 

 fled to some hidden retreat, urged us 

 on. Finally we noticed one of these 

 birds fly away from an elm Lu a manner 

 which attracted particular attention. 

 Investigation revealed some feathers 

 around a cavity in the elm. Curiosity 

 impelled us to climb up the tree to gain 

 a closer view. Truitt, who was first to 

 put on his climbers, began to ascend, 



