72 



THE COLOilST. 



B. H. B., Cedar_ Rapids, la. aiul 

 others. — It i.s aliiio.st impossible, exeei)t 

 ill some stnlviiif? instanees, to identify 

 iie.st and eo'gs witliout some deseription 

 of tlie l)ird. 



(4. H. G., Baltimore, Md.— The nest 

 and eggs you deserilje are those of tlie 

 Indigo Bunting. Tlie female Indigo 

 liird is of a general brownish eoh)r 

 thi-ouo-hout. 



¥. C S., Baltimore, ]\Id. — Your nest 

 found in a eavity of an oak containing 

 five eggs spottetl with i)inkish is un- 

 donlitedly that of the ^\■llite-l)reasted 

 Nuthateh. 



,F. H. I)., Fayville, Ma.ss.— Can hardly 

 identify your nests from descriptions. 

 Think No. 1, is English SparroAV. 

 Would not be surprised to hear of this 

 l)ird nesting anywhere. 



A. W. H., San Jo.se, Cal.— The bird 

 called "Linnet" in your locality, and 

 described by you is probably the House 

 Finch (RidgV. No. 170.) 



F. (". H.. Whitby, Out.— The ''Ank'' 

 is i)ublished quarterly in New York 

 City and is the oi'gan of the A. C). U. 

 Tht^ subscription price is $3 per annum, 

 sample copies 7.5 cents. 



The '•Ornilhologiat and (Jologist" is 

 published monthly at Boston at $1 per 

 year. 



We will take subscriptions for either. 



H. G. P., Cazenovia, N. Y.— The 

 Woodpeckers fn'quently excavate in 

 trees in winter for the })ur])ose of pro- 

 viding places of shelter for themselves. 



Mr. V. N. Marsh, of Mt. Union, ()., \7^ 

 relates a novel incident in connection 

 with a Woodcock. He writes: — "About , 

 seven o'clock the other evening, a 

 Woodcock llcw into town and ih'W 

 straight against the electi'ic light in the 

 square, and was instantly killeil. 1 

 never before knew of a Woodcock com- 

 ing into a town." 



Stray Feathers. 



Mr. Geo. H. Gray, of Baltimore, gives 

 an account of' .several queer nesting 

 occurrences, the most intetesting of 

 ■which is in regard to a Chii)ping Spar- 

 row which l)uilt its nest in a jK'ar tree 

 -when the fruit was j'oung. As the fruit 

 grew, one of the pears proti'uded itself 

 into the nest and broke the eggs into 

 bits. He also writes of a Hou.se Wren 

 which built its nest in the nest of a 

 Barn Swallow. 



We feel a smile coming unconsciously 

 over our features as we read the inquiry 

 of one of our correspondents, wishing 

 information concerning the "habits and 

 plumage of the '(iopher'.'' For his en- 

 lightenment we would say that the 

 "Gopher" (whose eggs are listed in our 

 catalogues) is a turtle of the Southern 

 States. 



Another simple contrivance for secur- 

 ing eggs from excavations in trees vX 

 without tearing away the nest is brought 

 out by J. W. Mykrantz of Faol a, Kan- 

 sas, who writes: — "A friend of mine i 

 obtained a line set of eggs of tlie Screecli \ 

 Owl from a ilitRcult nest without de- 

 stroying the hole by taking a small 

 hickory stick and bending it to ht the 

 hole. Around one end of the stick he 

 tied a ball of cloth, over which -was a 

 thick coating of liquid glue; and he 

 drew the eggs out safely." 



A. B. (irindell, of Platt.sville, Wi.scoii- s/^ 

 sin, writes that there have l)een a great 

 man}- Snowy Owls ship])e(I into that \ 

 place this sea.son for sale. 



J. H. Fisher, Ji-., of Baltimore, R'.d.," 

 reports having taken last season a nest 

 of the Rough-winged Swallow contain- 

 ing four eggs, from a ledge underneatii 

 an iron railroad bridge almost over the 

 middle of the stream and a few feet 

 from tlu' water, a rather unusual place 

 for the nest. 



Under date of February 27th, Mr. F. y"^ 

 Jones, of Martin's Fei-ry, O., writes us 

 that Robins and Bluebirds are building. i 



