106 



THE OOLOGIST. 



of my Wren houses are vacant, except, 

 perhaps, tenanted by a few spiders, etc. 



The Evening Grosbeaks came this 

 year January 29th, a warm cloudy day, 

 some soft snow; at first a flock of a few 

 individuals, later large flocks, some- 

 times nearly a hundred. They stayed 

 with us until May 2d, when I saw a fe- 

 male, the last one seen; the main part 

 of the flock left about the middle of 

 April; two pair stayed around in the 

 evergreens in our yard so close and 

 acted like breeding birds so much, that 

 I actually was foolish enough to climb 

 an evergreen in the vain hope of tind- 

 ing a nest; but then, the fools aren't all 

 dead yet. 



The beautiful, or I rather say the dear 

 little Bobwhite, are getting bred in 

 hereabouts again quite plenty, owing to 

 a protecting law of five years, and either 

 two or five years longer. (Am not cer- 

 tain.) I call my dog by a short, sharp, 

 quick whistle; one day he flushed a pair 

 of Bobs. Later one called and I answer- 

 ed; we answered back and forth several 

 times. The dog would look at me, tfien 

 toward where the Quail was, then at 

 me, etc., prick up his ears and could 

 not make out who the other fellow was 

 calling him. 



One day while my dog and I were out 

 I found a Pinnanted Grouse's nest, bird 

 on. 1 watched her some time and as 

 she did not ofi'er to leave, I sat down by 

 the nest and after a little manouvering 

 she allowed me to stroke and pet her to 

 my hearts content, and to csunt her 

 eggs, a fine set of sixteen. 



Any one wishing to secure, perhaps, 

 one hundred fine colored photographs, 

 size lOi X 14, of Audubon's Birds of 

 America, taken direct from Audubon 

 plates, can do so by buying the Sunday 

 Chicago Record-Herald, 5 cents. The 

 pictures come to your news dealer not 

 folded, or in other words, flat, and if 

 you stand in with your newsdealers you 

 can have him save out yours before his 

 delivery boys fold them; one plate 



comes every Sunday as a supplement. 

 The series began June 16th. I do not 

 intend this in any way for an advertise- 

 ment of the Chicago paper, but as a help 

 to my brother naturalists, whom it may 

 concern. 



A good way to trap English Sparrows 

 is to place a large cage, with a small 

 open door, on the (jrouu'i near chicken 

 coops, putting some feed inside. 



Any one having a singer Canary 

 should never feed it lettuce; and if in 

 the habit of feeding it lettuce, should 

 stop off gradually. 



How many species of birds, 1 esides 

 the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, eat the po- 

 tatoe beetle? I made a statement sev- 

 eral years ago in the Oologist that I 

 wish to correct, that the Cedar Wax- 

 wing eats the potatoe beetle. It should 

 have been Rose- breasted Grosbeak, a 

 female. 



Geo. W. Vosburgh, 

 Co.umbup, Wis. 



Notes On Two Birds of South Jersey. 



Fish Crow— This little relative to the 

 American Crow can oniy be identified 

 from its larger relation at a clrse range 

 They inhabit the trends of the coast and 

 bay, and do not go far from brackish 

 water. 



As nesting sites, they prefer a more 

 or less wooded island marsh to the 

 dense woods that set farther I ^ack. Their 

 nests are as bulky as the American 

 Crow, but the depression where the 

 eggs are laid is much smaller. The 

 height ranges from ten to forty feet at 

 times in the top of a small gum or cedar 

 tree, while at others against the trunk 

 of a large tree. 



Complete sets may be taken with 

 three to five eggs between the first and 

 latter part of May. I have never col- 

 lected a full set in April yet. The young 

 of the American Crow are most always 

 ready to leave the nest, when the Fish 

 Crow completes her set. 



