8 



THE OOLOOIST 



must have been made not far from 

 the 20th of May, for at this time the 

 party was making its journey through 

 the Platte country, and tlie birds liad 

 not been many days in tlieir summer 

 home. Mr. Townsend published his 

 description in 1837, and said they "in- 

 habit a portion of the Platte country, 

 east of the first range of the Rocky 

 Mountains." His scientific name was 

 fringilla bicolor. 



As Mr. Townsend wrote in his "Nar- 

 ative" they are strictly ground birds, 

 and they are unable to adapt their 

 mode of life to a country made into 

 farms and under cultivation, and they 

 have almost entirely disappeared from 

 the agricultural country. For a time 

 some of them tried nesting in the al- 

 falfa fields. At the time the birds ar- 

 rive from the South the alfalfa is 

 growing, and the fields look like a 

 suitable place to nest; but by the 

 time the nest is made and the eggs 

 laid, the fields are flooded for irriga- 

 gation, or the mower and hay rake 

 pass over the fields. 



The sexes are decidedly unlike in 

 their summer plumage. The male is 

 black with a large white patch on the 

 wing; the female more resembling a 

 sparrow, mostly grayish brown, but 

 with a white wing-patch, and this 

 white wing-patch is a distinctive mark 

 in any part of the season. When they 

 arrive in north-eastern Colorado about 

 the tenth of May, the males are in 

 this summer or breeding plumage. To 

 quote again from Dr. Coues: "The 

 male wears the black plumage only 

 during the breeding season, like the 

 Bobolink; when changing the charac- 

 ters of the two sexes are confused. 

 The change of the adult male from a 

 winter plumage resembling that of the 

 female to the full breeding dress is ac- 

 complished by aptosochromatism — 

 that is without moulting; for the 

 black comes to the surface by the 



wearing away of light tips and edg- 

 ings of the feathers, as in the Bobo- 

 link." 



Geo. E. Osterhout, 



Windsor. Colo. 



The Oologists' Exchange and Mart. 



We are very pleased to note the 

 progress made by our British contem- 

 porary, the O. E. and M., founded by 

 friend Skinner last June. Its new year 

 commences with the January number 

 and the subscription is $1.25 which in- 

 cludes one free advt. of 25 words. 



Mr. Skinner seems to have enlisted 

 most of the best men on this side as 

 well as in Britain with not a few in 

 the British Dominions overseas and 

 the European continent. The paper is 

 being conducted on very sound lines 

 and we can heartily recommend it to 

 any collector desiring relations with 

 other countries. No dealers are ad- 

 mitted to its subscription list and 

 those who wish to subscribe must be 

 proposed by some existing subscriber. 

 Mr. Skinner points to the fact that 

 no less than eight of our new list com- 

 mittee are subscribers so that any of 

 cur readers wishing to get on the sub- 

 scription list should be able to secure 

 the necessary nomination. 



We all like to get our bird papers 

 from No. 1 and we understand that 

 the back numbers for 1919 can still 

 be had for $1.00 though the supply is 

 limited. 



Subscriptions can be remitted in 

 dollar bills with one cent stamps to 

 make up the odd amount. 



R. M. Barnes. 



The Ornithology of Chester Co., Pa. 

 By F. L. Burns, 1919. 

 This splendid little volume of 122 

 pages is typical of Frank L. Burns, its 

 author in its thoroughness. Every- 

 thing Burns publishes is accurate, 

 thorough and reliable: witness his 



