The Oologist. 



VOL. XVI. NO. 12. ALBION. N. Y., DECEMBER, 1899. 



Whole No. 161 



The Oologist. 



A MontWy Publication Devoted to 



OOLOGY, ORNITHOLOGY AND 

 TAXIDERMY. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and items of Interest to the 

 student of Birds, Uieir Neats and Eggs, solicited 

 from all. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: 



Single subscription 50c per annum 



Sample copies : sceacti 



The above rates Include payment of postage. 



Each subscriber Is given a card good for a 

 Want, Exchange or For Sale Notice. (This card 

 is redeemable at any time within one year from 

 date thereon.) 



Subscriptions can begin with any number. 

 Back numbers of the Oologist can be furnished 

 at reasonable rates. Send stamp for descrip- 

 tions and prices. 



^r"Remember that the publisher must be noti 

 fled by letter when a subscriber wishes his paper 

 stopped, and all arrearages must be paid. 



ABVERTISING RATES : 



5 cents per nonpareil line each insertion. 



12 lines in every inch. Seven inches in a col- 

 umn, and two columns to the page. 



Nothing Inserted for less than 25 cents. No 

 "special rates." 5 cents per line Is "net," "rock 

 bottom," -Inside," 'spot cash" rate from which 

 there ts no deviation and no commission to 

 agents. If you wish to use 5 lines or less space 

 It will cost you 25 cents; 100 lines, $5.00; looo lines, 

 $50.00. "Trade" (other than cash) advertise- 

 ments will be accepted by special arrangement 

 only and at rates from double to Ave times cash 

 rates. Due Bills and Cards payable in advertis- 

 ing will be honored only at regular rates In force 

 at the date of issuance of said bUl or card. 



Remittances should be made by Draft, Express 

 or Postofflce Money Order, Registered Letter or 

 Postal Note. Unustd U. S . Postage Stamps of 

 any denomination will be accepted for sums un- 

 der one dallar. Make Money Orders and Drafts 

 payable and address all subscriptions and com- 

 munications to FRANK H. LATTIN, 



Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. 



igmUUB AT TMt POST OFF.Ct AT A.^I>MI 



Some Winter Birds of Yates Co., N. Y. 



The winter of 1895 was remarkable 

 for the large numbers of American 

 Crossbills that remained here all winter. 



Almost every coniferous woods support- 

 ed a flock of twenty-five to one hundred 

 birds. They show a decided preference 

 for second growth hemlocks bordering 

 and growing in deep ravines. 



Their food consists quite intirely of 

 seeds, which they extract from cones, 

 with wonderful dexterity. I have seen 

 them break off cones and hold them 

 with their claws while extracting the 

 seeds within, but this is a wasteful 

 method, as they do not seem to be able 

 to get but few seeds, for they soon drop 

 the cone and go for another. Their vis- 

 its seem to be regulated by the supply 

 of cones 



Throughout the winters of 1896 7 they 

 were abundant, but none came in 1898. 



The White-winged Crossbill is of com- 

 paratively rare occurence, the only time 

 that I ever noted them here was on 

 February 23d, when I met a few ming- 

 ling with the American Crossbills. 



On January, 22d, I caught a Cooper's 

 Hawk in a barn and, upon dissection, I 

 found him jam full of English Sparrows, 

 a good deed worth recording. 



January 25th I saw a Meadowlark, 

 and on February 16th, a Wilson's Snipe 

 flying about in the storm. Robins were 

 noted throughout the winter. 



During the winter of 1896 large flocks 

 of Cedar Waxwings and American Gold- 

 finches were much in evidence. 



On December 8, '95, I saw twenty-five 

 Waxwings, and on the 11th, seventy-five 

 sitting quietly in the tops of some locust 

 trees in the street. 



On the evening of December 27th, 

 while walking along the lake shore, I 

 was surprised to hear the noisy cries of 

 a Killdeer, whose form I could distin- 

 guish gliding about in the moonlight. 



Song Sparrows are a regular winter 



