86 



THE OOLOGIST 



adees feeding together. In shade trees 

 along a resident street of Vermillion 

 for several nights I have seen Bronzed 

 Grackles, English Sparrows and 

 Robins roosting side by side on the 

 same branch. What affinity between 

 different species prompted these ac- 

 tions? 



At present 319 species and sub- 

 species are recorded in the state. 

 Further study and observation will 

 add a few more to the list. 



W. H. Over. 



A Mistake 

 A few days ago I discovered a pair 

 of Blue Birds building a nest in the 

 eaves of the well house and there were 

 also English Sparrows nesting in about 

 the same places. As it is a well known 

 fact that if a person expects to have 

 a native bird build around his home 

 he must get rid of the English (Pirate) 

 Sparrow. So the only thing in sight 

 for me was to get a good 22 rifle for 

 the job. I got the rifle out one morn- 

 ing and was slaughtering the spar- 

 rows right and left, when I saw what 

 I took to be a sparrow (with straw in 

 its bill) light right by the nest. Think- 

 ing that it was one of those well 

 known "Pirates" I let go at long 

 range shot hitting it in the center of 

 the head. But to my surprise I found 

 out that I had killed the female Blue 

 Bird instead of a Sparrow. I sure felt 

 badly over my mistake because I was 

 taking so much pains to see ti_it this 

 pair of Blue Birds would not be 

 bothered by the pesky Sparrows. 



Well, this happened about 9 o'clock 

 in the morning. The male Blue Bird 

 called in vain for its mate for an hour, 

 then disappeared. At 15 minutes af- 

 ter twelve (same day) he returned 

 with another mate, and twenty-eight 

 minutes later his new mate flew into 

 the nest with a straw in her bill, now 

 the nest is complete and ready for the 



eggs. What do you think of this for 

 speed? Have any of our readers 

 laeard of such quick case of mating as 

 this one? What is your view, Mr. Edi- 

 tor? 



Earl E. Moffat, 

 Marshall, Texas. 



My first set of the season (1920) is 

 the little structure of an Anna Hum- 

 mingbird which I "spotted" setting on 

 her two small white eggs on March 

 25th. The nest was placed on the 

 first limb of a small pepper tree about 

 eight feet up. 



Emerson A. Stoner. 

 Benicia, California. 



Mr. Moore, of Vernon, Texas, in 

 his letter in the current number of 

 THE OOLOGIST, expresses, better 

 than I could do it myself, my own sen- 

 timents regarding the dear little mag- 

 azine, a copy of which I never pick 

 up without experiencing a rush of 

 fond boyhood memories. We will 

 never let THE OOLOGIST die! 



E. F. Pope. 



Bohemian Waxwings have been 

 abundant here this winter. The win- 

 ter of 1916-17 is the only other record 

 that I have for the species on the 

 west side of the Cascade Mts. in 

 Washington. J. H. Bowles. 



Tacoma, Wash. The Woodstock. 



Notice 



With this issue of the Oologist all 

 subscription cards numbered less than 

 393 are removed from our filing list. 

 Look at the label on your envelope 

 and renew at once without fail, if it 

 shows a number less than 393, other- 

 wise you may not be able to get a 

 complete file because with the ever in- 

 creasing price of paper, plates and 

 printing costs we cannot print many 

 extra copies. Editor. 



