THE OOLOGIST. 



25 



bird in Fulton county. The only speci- 

 mens that I can really vouch for were 

 noted by myself, June 23, 1903, south 

 of Gloversville, N. Y. There were two 

 males and they were feeding on the 

 seeds of some species of deciduous 

 tree. 



,0n Jan. 1, 1909, I noted several other 

 birds, of more or less interest to a 

 bird student, in the woods where the 

 Crossbills were found: Pine Siskin, 

 Spinus pinus, Wilson, about 25 were 

 feeding in hemlock trees; Redpolls, 

 Acanthis linari. L., about 50 were feed- 

 ing on birch seeds at edge of woods. 

 Brown Creeper, 5; Chickadee, 30; 

 White-breasted Nuthatch, 5; Downy 

 Woodpecker, 2; Hairy Woodpecker, 

 1 ; and Blue Jay, 6, were observed 

 here. 



CHAS. P. ALEXANDER. 



The Crossbills appear common or 

 rare in New York State in winter, just 

 according to the' status of hemlock 

 trees. From personal observation I 

 would put them as rare in Monroe 

 Co., but common in Orleans Co. in the 

 North Hemlock district, and a com- 

 mon winter bird in Yates Co., prac- 

 tically confined to the hemlock lined 

 gullies. I have also noted their erratic 

 flitting and return when feeding. — 

 Editor. 



The Kind We Want. 



Warren, Pa., Feb. 2, '09. 

 Editor "The Oologist." 



Dear Sir: — January "Oologist" re- 

 ceived, which reminds me that my 

 subscription has expired. I take 

 pleasure in renewing and as you 

 offer a few specials, I would like a 

 copy of "Penikese." 



A brief review of some of my most 

 interesting finds during 1908 may be 

 of interest to some of the readers of 

 the Oologist. 



To begin with it was a poor year 



for birds. Spring arrived early. There 

 were no large flights at all, and all 

 of the dilTerent northern nesters were 

 much scai^cer than usual. The fall 

 migrations were a fizzle, owing to the 

 dense smoke from the fires that burn- 

 ed over most of the wild lands in this 

 part of the state. 



Added but few birds to my collec- 

 tion ; nothing really rare except a Yel- 

 low Rail that was sent by a friend ^t 

 Erie. 



I found a Horned Owl's nest March 

 22, and after a hard climb found two 

 young just hatched and a third just 

 breaking out; also a freshly killed 

 rabbit and a large brown rat lying on 

 the nest. I never disturbed them 

 again and hope soon to climb to the 

 nest with better results. Found a stub 

 that had blown over and crushed two 

 fresh eggs of the Barred Owl. Also 

 found several nests of the Red-shoul- 

 dered and one of the Red-tailed Hawk. 



The most interesting thing in the 

 raptore line was the discovery of a 

 pair of Goshawks in May. These birds 

 were located in the wildest part of 

 our county. • They were in a heavy 

 tract of virgin forest of mostly hem- 

 lock and beech, consisting of eight or 

 ten thousand 'acres, lying mostly on 

 a large stream (The Four Mile) and 

 its tributaries and owned by the 

 trust (Pennsylvania Tanning Co.) I 

 paid two visits to the particular place 

 freciuented by the hawks and both 

 times both birds were very ugly and 

 aggressive, flying all about me and 

 constantly screaming. They certainly 

 mu.st have had a nest nearby, al- 

 th(nigh I failed to find it. I saw a Gos- 

 hawk in the big timber New Year's 

 Day, so this season I will look them 

 up in time. While looking for their 

 nest in May I found Winter Wrens 

 not uncommon and four two fresh 

 nest-; and several old ones underneath 

 logs in the gullies. I was in hopes 



