90 



THE OOLOGIST. 



J. P., Kansas City, Mo.— In reply to 

 your query in last number Ave have 

 reeeived light from some of our 

 readers. J. H. Fisher, Jr., Baltimore, 

 Md., writes that he thinks birds give 

 their young, water in some way. He 

 says he has tried to raise some young 

 crows without water and they all died 

 and again he raised some by giving 

 them water. Charles L. Weeks, New 

 York City, tliinks that the birds 

 moisten tlie food given to their young 

 and thns supply their thirst. Claude 

 Bell, of York. Neb., is of the opinion 

 that the parent birds vaiTj water in 

 their bills and with this idea agrees the 

 testimony of E. K. C, who write.s: "I 

 have seen Canary Birds water their 

 3"oung. They would go to the water 

 and till their bills, and give it to their 

 young the same way they feed them. 

 I think other birds do the same." 



H. H. R , Middle Granville, N. Y.— 

 The name "Hen Hawk" is applied to 

 nearly all the larger Hawks. The 

 "Hen Hawk" of yonr locality is proba- 

 bly either the Ked-tailed or Red-should- 

 ered. The "Shitepoke" is ilonbtless 

 the American Bittern. 



B. S. B., Rochester, N. Y.— There is 

 a stringent State Law restricting the 

 taking of birds and eggs, but as it is 

 rarely enforced we hardly think it will 

 interfere with anyone who is collecting 

 from a purely* scientitic stantl-point. 



J. H. H., Hammondsport, N. Y. — 

 Persecution has made the Passenger 

 Pigeon and Raven raue in almost all 

 parts. As to the other birds you men- 

 ti(jn, think a careful search will reveal 

 them. 



R. S., Kansas Citj", Mo. — Yonr yel- 

 lowish eggs spotted with chocolate 

 markings and pencilings and found in a 

 hole in an apple tree, are donbtless the 

 eggs of the Crested Flycatcher. 



C. T. D., Racincy, A\'is. and many 

 others. — It is impossii)le man3- times to 

 identify with certainty, either birds or 

 eggs withont having the specimen 

 bcft)re us. 



August, 1884 — l)age oU. Or you can 

 obtain bird lime already i)re})ared, 

 from almost any natural history dealer. 



J. V. C., Marathon, la. — In replj- to 

 yonr query concerning the general 

 colors of the kSolitary Sandpijjer, we 

 quote from Maynard's Bii-ds of Eastern 

 N. A.: "Adult. Above, dark- brown, 

 streaked on head ami neck, spotted on 

 back, and widely bantled on tail, with 

 white. Beneath, white, streaked on 

 neck and breast, and Ijandcd on sides, 

 under wing coverts, abdomen, and 

 under tail coverts, with dark-brown." 



W. I. C, Norwalk, Conn. — The nests 

 and eggs of the larger hawks are so 

 similar in description, that it is impos- 

 sible to identify j'ours from description 

 given. Isn't it the Red-tailed or Red- 

 Shouldered? 



J. P. J., Kelton, Pa.— The bird, nest 

 and eggs described by you are referable 

 to the Hairy Woodpecker. 



P. E. R., Sewickley, Pa.— As to how 

 to make i)ird lime, we would refer j'ou 

 to an article in the Yu'Duj Oologist of 



S. E. D.,- 



-The eggs of 



the Down}' Woodpecker are deposited 

 during the second or third Aveek in 

 May, in New York and New England, 

 but much earlier as we proceed south- 

 ward. 



P. C. S., Simcoe, Ont. — Your large 

 hawk of an ash-blue color, barred witli 

 darker on the back, well feathered 

 down the leg, and having red iris, ac- 

 cords more nearly with the American 

 Goshawk tlian any other. 



P. H. H., Wenham, Ma.ss.— 1. Would 

 like to know if Woodpeckers, Chicka- 

 dees and others birds nesting in cavities 

 in trees, use. their excavations more 

 than one season. Who will tell usv '2. 

 The Cooper's Hawk nests in 3'our vicin- 

 ity about the middle of Ma^*. 



Name mislaid. — "If we collected a set • 

 of eggs and did not kill the liird, how 

 would we write the 'identitj' in the 

 data, if we were positive what kind of 

 eggs they wereV" Well, I think we 

 would be tempted to wiite, as we have 

 often seen it, "s-h-u-r-e." 



W. H. P., Ashtalnda, O.— Have used 

 cotton batting in egg cabinets for 



