198 



THE OOLOGIST. 



ing of Oologists, to be held in Washing- 

 ton next Fall. With the steady increase 

 of our membership list a good attend- 

 ance is promised, and this, our initial 

 meeting, should be one of the greatest 

 interest to the members, and of the 

 greatest benefit to the Association. 

 The exact date and the whereabouts of 

 the meeting will be decided upon im- 

 mediately, and all members promptly 

 notified of further plans. Washington 

 will probably be the place of the meet- 

 ing, however. It will no doubt be left 

 with the members to decide. 



A printed list of members will soon 

 be forwarded to all in good standing, 

 for the sake of convenience, as also a 

 slight step toward causing a closer 

 touch of members with one another, 

 that one member may know where the 

 others reside. Correspondence among 

 members will probably do much to 

 awaken a warmer fraternal feeling, and 

 no doubt will result in mutual benefit 



It is hoped that during the year the 

 Association will commence to publish 

 reports of value. In fact, this is assur- 

 ed. All members are invited to con- 

 tribute matter for reports. 



When the treasury becomes larger a 

 magazine will probably be published. 

 It is hoped that this may appear soon. 

 However, certainly it is that many re- 

 ports and publications of an original 

 nature will mark this year as one of 

 progress and life. Let us all take a 

 new and enthusiastic interest in our 

 Association. Send in your notes, cor- 

 respond freely with your brother mem- 

 bers, and seek for new members. Oolo- 

 gists are few and far between. We 

 need all of the right kind that we can 

 get — help us to get them. 



With greetings of the season, and sol- 

 iciting your close communion in our 

 efforts to bestir the life and enthusiasm 

 which breed and win success, I am. 

 Very cordially yours, 

 Jno. W. Daniel, Jr., 

 Secretary-Treasurer 

 "The Oologist Association," 

 Lynchburg, Va. 



The Mocking-bird in Central Iowa. 



I do not want you to think for a min- 

 ute that I am giving you here a des- 

 cription in full of the habits of the 

 Mocker, for it would be impossible for 

 me to do so from experience. No, I 

 will ask some southern ornithologist to 

 do that. But I find that Davie gives 

 the range of the Mocker as, "rare or 

 local north of 38° ;" so I presume I am 

 justified in attaching some importance 

 to the record of the nesting of this spec- 

 ies in south-central Iowa, about 41 ° 

 20'. 



On May 8, 1898, while rambling 

 through a tract of pasture land divided 

 by osage fences, I started from the 

 hedge, a bird which attracted my clos- 

 est attention by the striking color-effect 

 of the white-wing markings in its flight. 

 I followed this bird and soon identified 

 it as the Mockingbird [Mimzcs polyglot- 

 tus). It led me a short distance to an 

 old forsaken orchard — an ideal place 

 for bird-nesting, for the old apple trees 

 were in all stages of growth and decay, 

 and it was sheltered on two sides by 

 tall osage hedges. There my new 

 friend, the Mocker, joined his mate who 

 watched me silently in a guilty, secret- 

 burdened manner; and I soon discov- 

 ered the secret— an unfinished nest 

 tucked snugly away in a tangle of 

 hedge twigs. Immediately after gain- 

 ing this knowledge I left the place 



In ten days I returned to the nest and 

 found that incubation had been com- 

 menced on three eggs. The female slid 

 silently from the nest at my approach 

 and remained quietly peering at me 

 from the top of the hedge while I de- 

 spoiled her home. The set, I find from 

 Davie, was typical, as was also the nest. 



During the interval between my first 

 sight of the bird and the taking of the 

 set, the male Mocker was seen twice at 

 my home one mile distant and once 

 near the public road one-half mile dis- 

 tant from the nest. He was heard to 



