96 



THE OOLOOIST. 



mer with us. Most ornithological wri- 

 tei's say but little about the uotes of the 

 Shrike, passiug over them as unattrac- 

 tive and uniraportait; but to me, as I 

 hear them from some tall tree-top of a 

 wintei"'s morning, they constitute a 

 warble, which is, indeed, sweet, pleas- 

 ing and somewhat continued. 



Perched on the very topmost twig (as 

 he ahvays does) of some tall tree by the 

 roadside, giving vent to his pecidiarly 

 entertaining warble, on some bright, 

 crisp, February morning; he is, indeed 

 a pleasant feature of our winter land- 

 scape. 



But the^most interesting of his per- 

 formances, is -lo watch him as he pur- 

 sues some unlucky sparrow, diving 

 madly at him and generall}' catching 

 him and pecking out his brains, — ap- 

 parently from pure spite. 



Be thatjas it may,— I know of no 

 bird brains that we can better spare 

 than those of Passer domesticus, and so 

 I say "Long live the Shrike from the 

 North." 



Neil F. Posson, 

 Medina, N. Y. 



Horned Grebe on St- Clair Flats. 



In the Deeember2 Oologist, Mr. Da- 

 vidson of this city criticises my article 

 on the Horned Grebe and saj's that they 

 do notfoccur in this locality. In a re- 

 cent letter, Mr. J. Claire Wood, of this 

 this city, sajs 'I have often watched 

 these Grebes through a strong opera 

 glass, and noticed that they frequent 

 deeper Avater, are more expert divers, 

 and faster swimmei's than the Pied-bill- 

 ed species. Their nests are nearly 

 similar, but the eggs average larger." 

 Mr. Wood is well acquainted with the 

 ornithology of this region, and 1 can- 

 not do better than refer Mr. Davidson 

 to him. Nearly all authorities give the 

 St. Chiir Flats as a breeding place for 

 this Grel)e. Rev. Langille in "Our 

 Birds in Their Haunts" .speaks about 



them there, and T. Mcllwraitb in the 

 "Birds of Ontario," found them there. 

 The coming season, I hope to take a 

 few more sets of their eggs from this 

 vicinity. 



B. H. Sw^ALES, 



Detroit, Mich. 



Report of the Secretary of the W. N- Y. Nat' 

 uralists Association. 



On February 3, 1893 was held a meet- 

 ing of the aforesaid society in the Court 

 Hoiise at Rochester, N. Y. At the busi- 

 ness meeting the following was dispos- 

 ed of. 



T. R. Taylor, of 90 William St., Roch-. 

 ester was elected secretaiy and treas- 

 urer in the place of E. B. Peck resigned. 



N. F. Posson, Medina; G. F. Guelf, 

 Brockport and T. R. Taylor, Rochester 

 were appointed a committee to di'aft 

 objects of the Association for publica- 

 tion. 



MoA'ed that for one year members 

 will be admitted on the recommenda- 

 tion of any active member. Passed. 



In the evening papers from B. S. 

 Bowdish, Talapoosa. Ga., Dr. A. G. 

 Prill, Springville, N. Y. and E. H. 

 Short, Chili, N. Y. were read. Exhibits 

 were made l)y T. R. Tajdor, Rochester, 

 N. F. Posson, Medina and E. H. Short, 

 Chili. Altogether we had a good meet- 

 ing and hojje to have a better one at 

 Brockport, N. Y., Oct. 6, 1892. 



T. R. Taylor. 

 Secretary. 



World's Fair Notes. 



The Province of Ontario, Canada, 

 will make an extensive mineral exhibit. 



Mr. S. J. Hunter, of Nevada, Mo., 

 has a collection of ovei- 11,000 varieties 

 of wood.N, ])('trilieatioiis. etc., which h3 

 purposes exhibiting at the Fair. 



A herd of live elk will be taken from 

 Idaho to the Exposition. In the Mon- 

 tana exhibit will be sliown about 100 

 spceimens of wihl animals and bii'ds, 

 native to that Slate, and set up by a 

 skilled taxidermist. 



