58 



THE OOLOGIST. 



one taken at Canfield, Ohio; Decem- 

 ber loth, one taken near Girard, Ohio; 

 December 20th, one taken at West 

 Williamsfield, Ohio: December 27th, 

 one seen near Canfield, Ohio; January 

 15th, one taken at New Springfield, 

 Ohio. Of these five records for the 

 past winter, four were December loth, 

 and later, so that my statement that 

 November is early for the Snowy Owl 

 to appear in this locality is sustained 

 by the facts for the winter that has 

 just passed. 



One reason, it seems to me, that the 

 Snowy Owl should come here some- 

 what later than Western New York 

 is because of the difference in lati- 

 tude. Canfield, Ohio, where the 

 Snowy Owl in question was taken, is 

 almost exactly on the 41st parallel of 

 latitude, while Albion, New York, is 

 above the 43rd parallel, farther north 

 than Southern Canada. 



Previous to 1883, I resided in Ca- 

 yuga County, New York, and as I now 

 lemember the Snowy Owl came there 

 nearly every winter, while we have it 

 only at intervals of three to five years. 



I did not keep notes at that time, 

 as I do now, and for that reason can- 

 not say what months it was most 

 common. I do remember definitely 

 of having seen one on New Years Day. 

 but do not remember what year it 

 was. 



If any readers of the Oologist can 

 give records of the Snowy Owl near 

 the 41st parallel of latitude, I would 

 very much like to hear from them. 



I think it would be of interest if 



you would add to it yourself, giving 



any reasons you may have why the 



Snowy Owl does not come every year. 



Yours very truly, 



GEO. L. FORDYCE. 



[Well! I think all these gentlemen 

 are partly right. I get Snowy Owl 

 records and birds all through the sea- 

 son from November to March. As a 

 rule they come from New England 



first, New York, Pennsylvania and On- 

 tario, etc., next, and the great bulk 

 from Minnesota, Dakotas and Mani- 

 toba in January and February. Think 

 the snowfall affects the migration 

 more than other causes. — Ed.] 



Santa Ana, Cal. 

 My Dear Mr. Short: — 



In all the books on birds that I have 

 read, and also all those I have spoken 

 to about it, say that all the nests of 

 the Kildeer they have found contained 

 eggs in May and June. In '"Birds of 

 California,'* it gives the breeding sea- 

 son as May and June. I found a nest 

 the 8th of March, 1906, the eggs were 

 well marked and make a nice set. 

 There were four of them. The nest 

 was a slight depression lined with 

 rootlets. They had been set on about 

 five days. 



I would like to know if any of the 

 readers of the Oologist have had any 

 similar experiences. 



W. J .CHAMBERLIN. 



[Let us hear from others in Calif. 

 In the east this would be practically 

 impossible. — A''/.] 



Perry, Ohio. 

 Dear Mr. Short: — 



Reading Mr. Hess' article in the 

 March Oologist, also Mr. Fordyce's 

 article of before, calls me to give my 

 experience of my finds of the Red- 

 tails. Out of twenty nests I have ex- 

 amined, eleven contained three eggs, 

 seven two eggs, one four and one of 

 of one and was incomplete; two sets 

 of two were perfect fresh, and five 

 sets of two could positively be sure as 

 being complete sets of two. In 1902 

 was the only year I took second sets 

 from. 



April 13th, 1902, took 3 eggs, incu- 

 bation well along; on May 11 I took 

 the second set of 3 eggs, incubation 

 just begun. 



April 20th. 1902,1-4, incubation far 

 along. On May INth, took the second 

 set of three, and no doubt but the 



