THE OOLOGIST 



199 



owls had been nesting, the birds had 

 been disturbed and when the male bird 

 was flying to the tree it was taken 

 for a hawk and was shot, shortly 

 after the female was seen, and it 

 soon disappeared in the hollow of the 

 tree. The tree was at once assented 

 and after a short struggle which re- 

 sulted in fracturing the wing of the 

 bird it was captured and the eggs 

 were also taken. 



After having this I took the two 

 birds and started for my home. When 

 I arrived I at once made a place for 

 the crippled bird. I had it for sev- 

 eral days; its food consisted of spar- 

 rows, which I shot and also mice. 



I was very much surprised one 

 morning to find another egg which 

 the captive bird had laid, and I also 

 noticed that the bird was making use 

 of the fractured wing. On May 14tli 

 the bird seemed to be in perfect 

 health and I opened the door of the 

 cage and restored the bird its free- 

 dom. C. F. Pahrman. 



"BLUE BIRD." 



We are in receipt of an announce- 

 ment that commencing with the De- 

 cember issue of this publication, it 

 will be owned and edited by Eliza- 

 beth C. T. Miller in co-operation with 

 the Cleveland Bird Lovers Associa- 

 tion, at 1010 Euclid Avenue, Cleve- 

 land, Ohio. 



We trust Blue Bird will prosper 

 under the new management. There 

 is room for such a publication and 

 we extend to its new owners our best 

 wishes. 



Notes on the Acadian Flycatcher in 

 the Vicinity of Philadelphia, Pa. 

 The Acadian or Green-crested Fly- 

 catcher has evidently decreased in 

 the vicinity of Philadelphia during 

 the past decade. It was formerly a 

 common breeder along the Schuyl- 



kill River above Manayunk during 

 the late '80 and early '90s, according 

 to the late Harry K. Jamison, as evi- 

 denced by the many breeding records 

 in his note book, but it is now a rare 

 bird in that region. 



Not knowing anything of the en- 

 vironment of the region in Jamison's 

 time, I cannot explain the cause of 

 the bird's disappearance, but the lo- 

 cality today appears well adapted to 

 the needs of this species, yet the 

 birds are rarely found there now. 

 Jamison also found the Green-crested 

 Flycatcher to be a common breeder 

 along Mill Creek, in Montgomery 

 County, two miles above West Mana- 

 yunk, and on the Wissahickon Creek, 

 in Philadelphia. It still occurs abun- 

 dantly along the latter stream, but is 

 rather uncommon on the former. 



The Acadian Flycatcher has almost 

 entirely disappeared as a breeder on 

 the Tacony Creek in Philadelphia 

 and Montgomery Counties but is rare 

 on the Poquessing Creek in Bucks 

 and Philadelphia Counties. It oc- 

 curs in small numbers only on the 

 Neshaniny Creek in Bucks County 

 and Crum Creek in Delaware County. 



According to my observations, it is 

 slowly disappearing everywhere 

 about Philadelphia except on the 

 Wissahickon Creek in Fairmont Park, 

 Philadelphia, where in the extensive 

 forests that covers the banks of this 

 stream with both coniferous and de- 

 ciduous trees, the species is appar- 

 ently increasing. 



The Acadian Flycatcher is not 

 found or occur rarely on the tide- 

 water streams in New Jersey in the 

 vicinity of Philadelphia according to 

 my observations. 



Richard F. Miller. 



Are Our Birds Becoming Fewer? 

 This is apparently a question hard 

 to solve without a comprehensive 



