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THE OOLOGIST 



If you will look in Birdlore for Jan- 

 uary-February, 1916, you will see a 

 colored Mexican Chickadee. This 

 Chickadee is all black on the sides 

 (like the throat) where the Mexican is 

 so much lighter colored. But this must 

 be a Black-capped Chickadee; it does 

 not seem at all possible that the Mex- 

 ican could be way up here. 



This roof garden of mine is located 

 near a lot of pine, maple, and red cedar 

 trees, so it is quite woody and spe- 

 cially attractive to many species of 

 birds. 



Although my wife says "our" front 

 porch and "my" roof garden is a dis- 

 grace to the place, yet nevertheless, 

 just the same, I shall maintain this 

 roof garden all the year and offer a 

 menu that will meet the varied tastes 

 of every bird from the lowly old Eng- 

 lish Sparrow to Warblers and King- 

 lets, with everything served on the 

 European plan with no prices at- 

 tached. 



So far as I have obtained five nega- 

 tives of Hairy Woodpecker, Downy 

 Woodpecker, White-breasted Nut- 

 hatch, Chickadees, Junco, Tree Spar- 

 rows, Song Sparrows, many in groups 

 all leading a gay life on my bird roof 

 garden. C. F. Stone. 



Branchport, N. Y. 



Painted Bunting. 

 A. O. U. 601, Cyanospiza ciris. 

 The Painted Bunting is the most 

 beautiful bird nesting in this county. 

 They are five and one-half inches long. 

 The male has a red breast, blue head, 

 green back and red rump. Female 

 has bright green back, and greenish, 

 yellow breast. Unlike most birds 

 where the male is brightly colored and 

 the female is duller these birds are 

 both as pretty as a painting from 

 which I suppose they got their name. 

 They arrive here in April. I have of- 

 ten seen them on phone wires singing 



as good as any canary I ever saw in 

 a cage. They spend considerable time 

 in and around town before looking for 

 a nesting site. In May they are found 

 visiting thickets and hedges, after de- 

 ciding where to place the nest it is 

 built of grass, paper and rootlets at a 

 low distance from the ground. I find 

 that they have no good way to stick 

 the nest securely to the branches, and 

 are often blown from the tree or bush 

 by strong winds, destroying many eggs 

 in this manner, although the nest is 

 well made and stays together. Usual- 

 ly four eggs are laid, measuring .78 x 

 .58, having a white background, thick- 

 ly specked and blotched with brown. 



R. Graham, Taxidermist. 

 Ft. Worth, Texas. 



Welcome The Thrushes. 



That Thrushes — the group of birds 

 in which are included Robins and Blue- 

 birds — do a great deal of good and 

 very little harm to agriculture, is the 

 conclusion reached by investigators of 

 the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture who have carefully studied the 

 food habits of these birds. Altogether 

 there are within the limits of the 

 United States eleven species of 

 Thruslies, five of which are commonly 

 known as Robins and Bluebirds. The 

 other six include the Townsend soli- 

 taire, the Wood, the Veery, the Gray- 

 cheek, the Olive-back, and the hermit 

 thrushes. 



The Robins and Bluebirds nest close 

 to houses, and even the shyest of the 

 other species are content with the se- 

 clusion of an acre or two of woodland 

 or swamp. For this reason the 

 Thrushes are among the best known 

 and most carefully protected of native 

 American birds, and at times their 

 numbers become so great that it is 

 feared they will do much harm to 

 crops and fruit. The recent investiga- 

 tions of the Department of Agricul- 



