THE OOLOGIST. 



181 



record the songs of birds, and that one 

 while .sitting in one's own iiouse might 

 listen to the warhling of thi* least 

 neighborly feathered prima donna. 

 Tliat would seem to put within the 

 reaeh of sluggards the delights of the 

 morning eoiieerts that have l)een tlie 

 peculiar perquisites of the naturalist, 

 who gains his luxury at the cost of toil. 

 But we faney that a true lover f)f birds, 

 like oneOf our contributors, would say 

 that the phonograpii could not repro- 

 duce the gorgeous morning sky, the 

 si)arkling dew, the freshness oi tlie air, 

 which give to the concert its setting, 

 and that he would remind us that ef- 

 fort is always an essential ingredient in 

 the full enjoyment of anything." — 2'hc 

 Golden Rule. 



We commend to the earnest attention 

 of our readers, the article i-ommenced 

 on the first page of this i.ssue, on "The 

 U.se of the Camera in the Field" by E. 

 S. Cheuej' of Pitrodie, S. D. It is well 

 worthj' the careful perusal of all. The 

 use of photography in the study of oi-ni 

 thology presents a new line of study 

 which has only begun to be exercised, 

 and one which promises much and has 

 great possibilities before it. Mr. 

 C heney tells us in this number some- 

 thing of what may be accomplished. 

 We hope to illustrate the October chap- 

 ter of his article with several life-like 

 engravings from the bird-world. 



We are greatly indebted to Mr. 

 Cheney for being able to present this 

 interesting and important subject to 

 our readers in so vivid a waj'. 



Popular Pot-pourri. 



N. L. Davis, Brockport, N. Y. writes: 

 "It has been thought bj' several of 

 our ornithologists that the Sharp-shin- 

 ned Hawk did not breed in this local- 

 ity, but on June 4tli, while on a short 

 collecting trip, 1 took a set of four fresh 

 eggs of this bird. The nest was situ- 

 ated in a cedar tree about twenty' feet 

 from the ground. 



[Mr. L. Reed, of Gaines, N. Y., 

 l)rought us a beautiful set of four eggs 

 of this bird C(dlected within one mile of 

 that village in '89. The first Hawk we 

 ever shot was a Sharp-shin netl and in 

 the month of June. Eu.] 



A. D. Pierce, Denmark, N. Y., relates 

 the taking of a M'A?7c swallow. It was 



wounded but slightly and is in captivi- 

 ty • 



The conjecture of (t. M. W., Gibbon, 

 Neb., in last issue that the bird called 

 "Kink" was the Chewink, is doubtless 

 correct as it has been confirmed by 

 several others. 



C. B. Vandycook, Odin, Ills., states 

 that he has frequently heard the Che- 

 wink called by that name as well as by 

 th(! name "Crank-Crank," which re- 

 sembles the note of the male. 



"At a recent meeting of the American 

 Ornithological Union,Ernest E. Thomp- 

 .son, of Canada, said that some birds, 

 especiallj" sparrows, have ventriloquial 

 powers. Birds, when surprised in the 

 act of singing, will be silent for a 

 moment, and then give forth a faint 

 song that seems to come from a dis- 

 tance, though the singer be not further 

 than ten feet away. Thrushes and 

 robins, the lecturer said, also have this 

 p< )wer ." — GUpinng. 



William Brown, Hebron, 111., reports 

 the taking of an albino Meadowlark 

 which was entirely white above and 

 pale yellowish below, with pink eyes 

 and very pale pink bill and feet. 



Ed. Van Winkle, Caro, Mich., writes: 

 "While out for a walk to-day, (Aug. 

 10th,) I found a nest of the American 

 Goldfinch placed in a crotch of a small 

 maple, consisting of three twigs in 

 which was placed; first, an ^^^ upon 

 the bare twigs, and over this was built 

 the nest which contained five eggs. 

 The egg (out in the cold) being plainly 

 visible and, upon my lifting the nest, it 

 rolled out into my hand." 



Sets of five eggs of the Prairie 

 Horned Lark are apparently not so 

 unusual after all, judging from the 

 number that have been reported. 



H. C. Mark, Davenport, Iowa, re- 

 ports a set of five fresh eggs of this 

 bird taken May 11, 1890, in Douglas 

 County, Nebraska. 



A. O. G., Lawrence, Kansas, writes: 

 Several days ago, upon breaking 

 open an egg of the humble and de- 

 spised (in the Oologist's opinion) Qal- 

 l7(s Domedicus, I was somewhat sur- 



