160 



THE OOLOGIST. 



iiad a greater number of migratory 

 waders, and swimmers than ever be- 

 fore. 



On May 15tli I secured Avhat I think 

 is an American Avocet, but not having 

 a Key I could not classify it positively. 

 The bird measures twenty inches from 

 tip of bill to end of tail, 24 inches spread 

 of wings, and the bill is 3^ inches long 

 and curved upward. 



The bird is colored as follows: Head, 

 neck and breast, salmon buff; wings, 

 streaked with l)lack ontheback;the wing 

 coverts are black; the remainder of the 

 plumage is white. It has web feet and 

 the legs, Avhich measure 81 inches in 

 length are light olive green. 



I have found two sets of four, of 

 Prairie Horned Lark, one on the 6th 

 and the other on the 12th of May. I 

 secured both eggs and nests. "Plover" 

 or Bart. Sandpipers are very plenty 

 this year. I have secured the skins of 

 several pairs. I got a Snowy Owl Apr. 

 12th, pui'e white, was not this rather 

 late for them? The English Sparrow 

 has appeared here this spring, and in 

 large numbers. He is seen on every 

 house top and occupies every unoccup- 

 ied building in town. 



Bluebirds abound, and Robins, Larks, 

 and Sparrows are also very plentiful. 

 Several Great Horned Owls have been 

 seen in the timber claims near town. I 

 should like very much to correspond 

 with every ornithologist and taxider- 

 mist in South Dakota for purposes of 

 mutual satisfaction. Would also like 

 to hear from any one familiar with the 

 ])ird I have trietl to describe. 



Merlin C. Johnson, 

 Aberdeen, S. D. 



Some of our Visitors and Neighbors- 



It isn't every person who gets ac- 

 quainted with the Yellow-breasted Chat, 

 even Avheu living near its haunts. Al- 

 though a constant singer of many notes 

 it is a shy and quiet bird, usually lurk- 



ing in some low thicket, but sometimes 

 mounting to the tree tops, singing as 

 it goes, it drops oif, beating its wings 

 loudly, as if pounding out the curious 

 notes it so fondly utters, settling to the 

 bushes again. He is easj'^ in his man- 

 ners and when approached, instead of 

 flying away he skulks thi'ough the bush- 

 es or brush pile upon which he was sit- 

 ting, and as he keeps on singing you 

 think you are getting up to him, while 

 he is as far off as at the first. It is dif- 

 ficult to tell from the sound, whether 

 he is two or six rods away. In fact, 

 he is a sort of ventriloquist, and even 

 when you have him located in a certain 

 brush pile he keeps his back to you and 

 is indeed hard to see. My first Chat 

 slipped from a bunch of bushes to the 

 top of a tall tree without my being able 

 to get a glimpse of it. He is a splendid 

 mocker, and here, is the earliest bird to 

 signal the coming day, beginning liis 

 mimicry at 3 a. m. In the hottest noon- 

 time he is busy in song, and I've heard 

 it said that one could make moi'e noise 

 to the square inch than anj^ other bird. 

 It often sings at night. 



It breeds throughout its range, though 

 I have never been able to discover its 

 nest. It arrives about April 15th. 



Another bird which arrives about the 

 same time is the Rose-breasted Gros- 

 beak, which secludes itself in the tree 

 tops and unless one knows its voice he 

 is rot sure to meet with it, as it keeps 

 high up and only makes short stays. 

 Here, it is only migratory and we never 

 heard it sing, though it often repeats its 

 note which much I'esembles the squeak 

 of a piece of machinery. 



At the same time, and almost as re- 

 gular as the song of the Summer Warb- 

 ler, are the chirruping, grasshopper- 

 like notes of the Philadelphia Greenlet 

 to be heard. Then too, the Kentucky, 

 and Yellow-masked Warblers have kept 

 up an incessant intermingling of song 

 and scolding, while the Black-throated 

 Green Warbler has for weeks been 

 passing his song off for that of the 



