THE OOLOGIST. 



251 



liis ucfk, and cous^qucntl}' the cabinets 

 of several collectors in this locality con- 

 tained a well assorted collection of the 

 eggs of this species — in some instances 

 hoaored or dishonored by the names of 

 certain birds that happene'd to be im- 

 press3d on the collectors' vision as the 

 rightful owner glided noisely from the 

 opposite side of the nest ere her real 

 identity' could be established. 



The Catbird, however, was not dis- 

 couraged and is fast recovering from 

 the blow. 



Among m^'- best finds for 1800 was a 

 tine nest and set of eggs of the Ruby- 

 throated Hummingbird. 



The nest was built on the crotch of a 

 drooping apple-tree branch in an or- 

 chard. 



I al.so found a nest of the Cardinal 

 (Trosbeak containing two eggs. 



Upon approaching the nest a short 

 time after its discovery, I saw a snake 

 about two feet long, coiled up therein. 



I drove it out, but as Avas to be ex- 

 pected, the nest was abandoned by the 

 birds. 



The Cardinal has Ijeeome rare here. 



I can say and truthfully too, that a 

 single copy of the Oologist is worth 

 double the yearlj' subscription price to 

 the collector. 



Every pi-esent subscriber should in- 

 duce, at least, one friend to subscribe 

 and thus double its present circulation. 



When that has been done it would be 

 a good plan for to increase tJie OoLo- 

 GIST in size by about one-half. 



[If each of our present subscribers 

 would send us a single new subscriber 

 we would be able to double the i)resent 

 .size of the Oologist. — Pub.] 



I think I had better quit writing 

 before I depart any farther from the 

 subject. 



W. H. Olney, 

 Poland, Ohio. 



The Evening Grosbeak in N H. 

 It was Thursday, May 1, 1^90. ]\Iy 



school M'as to close the next day and I 

 had nearly all my movables packed, 

 preparatory U) spending my vacation 

 in Maine. My large gun was in the 

 bottom of my trunk. My small gun 

 was in an extension case, the pieces of 

 the gun being carefully wrapped in 

 pap(!r. The shells were somewhere in 

 the ca.se, which was well filled acd 

 tightly strapped. 



I arrived in front of the school build- 

 ing at just three minutes before one by 

 the town clock. School was to begi i: 

 at once. I heard a new and peculiar 

 note. I soon discovered the author in 

 a maple tree near by. 



I hurriedly threw my armfull wf 

 books to a scliohu- and asked him to 

 watch the biid, v\'hile I ran to my room 

 on the second floor of the hotel, about 

 twenty rods distant. The contents oi 

 my extension case soon covered the 

 floor. I seized a handful of shells and 

 the three parts of my gun, which I put 

 together while running luick. 



I had entirely forgotten my wanted 

 d)gnit3' and was the object of several 

 cutting remarks hy the bystanders. 



But what cared J? The bird was 

 soon pointed out to me. He had flown 

 to the other side of the I'oad and wa.s 

 hopping from branch to branch in an 

 old apple-tree. I made a lucky shot 

 and the gasping, quivering form was 

 soon in my hand.. Too bad? Yes, but 

 such v,'ork is necessary to an under- 

 standing of the science, and why 

 should not the birds of the wood and 

 air be subject to the wants of man as 

 well as the barn yard fowl? 



The bird proved to be an Evening 

 Grosl)eak. The tirst one I had ever 

 seen alive. I was a few minutes late to 

 school, but the scholars were interested 

 in the specimen and I felt well repaid. 

 Is this the first instance of the occur- 

 rence of this bird in New Hampshire? 



S. L. Crosby, a Bangcn- taxidermist, 

 showed me last summer the skin of an 

 EA'ening Grosbeak which he hisd taken 



