88 



THE OOLOGIST. 



from my notes of last summer, it was 

 June 6. I was walking a long the bank 

 of a creek when my attention was 

 attracted by the peculiar motion of a 

 Kingfisher seated on a snag in the 

 creek, he was moving his head back- 

 ward and and forward, it made a shad- 

 ow on the water. He continued this 

 for sometime and I was wondering 

 whether he had a "jag" on, so to speak, 

 or whether he had swallowed a fish 

 crosswise, when suddenly' he I'ose ob- 

 liquely in the air to a distance of about 

 15 feet when he turned and made a dash 

 for the water almost perpendiculai'ly 

 coming up with a good sized perch. I 

 am inclined to think that the shadow 

 attracted the fish. I have also seen 

 them fall on pieces of flesh from dead 

 animals near rivers and creeks. I at 

 first thought they were after the meat, 

 but after seeing them capture three or 

 four small fish which were attracted by 

 the carcass, I concluded it was the fish 

 and not the meat they were after. 



The Kingfisher, all in all, is a very 

 interesting bird and of whose peculiar 

 habits I have never grown tired of 

 .studying. 



John VV. Mykhantz, 



Ashland, Ohio. 



The English Sparrow. 



A number of years ago few English 

 Sparrows were to be seen in Nebraska 

 City. When the packing houses locat- 

 ed here, they constructed a large num- 

 ber of sheds and yards. This was a per- 

 fect paradise, for the Sparrows, for food 

 could be procured easily. Their whole 

 time was occupied in constructing nests 

 and rearing young. Soon this place be- 

 came to small for their numbers. Some 

 ejected the Blue-birds and Martins 

 from their homes, others laid claim to 

 the woodpecker's holes, still others 

 took possession of the Bank Swallow's 

 burrows along the river. 



In the fall of 1889 two lonely Spar- 

 rows were seen to alight on my Grand- 



fathers farm which is a distance of six 

 miles from the city. Early in March 

 1890 they returned and immedit'tely 

 established themselves in a nest, that 

 had been built and occupied for years 

 by a pair of Barn Swallows. When 

 the Swallows returned they were 

 promptly driven oflf by the squatters. 

 Instead of the pleasant twittering and 

 flash of gay wings, we heard nothing 

 but the'''harsh rasping scold of Passer 

 domesticus throughout the whole sum- 

 mer. After the breeding season Avas 

 over 1 found b^' a cai'eful examination, 

 that the flock contained fifteen mem- 

 bers. But a sad day came, — they left. 

 Over the side of their old brood-uest an 

 unfortunate Sparrow swa3'ed, to and 

 fro, in the breeze, hung by a horse hair» 

 I send the following newspaper clip- 

 ping, hoping the readers of the OoLO- 

 GiST who have the future safety of our 

 native birds at heart, will try this way 

 of exterminating this free-booter, Avho 

 evidently thinks this whole universe, 

 with all it's Wi"eu, Blue-bird and Martin 

 boxes were constructed for his especial 

 benefit: "Dr. S. B. Collins, the noted 

 o]Mum and morphine habit doctor of 

 the world, gives a sure and safe way of 

 exterminating the pesky English Spar- 

 row. He says feed them corn-meal and 

 salt, one pint of salt to one peck of corn 

 meal. The salt should be dissolved in 

 water and throughly mixed with the 

 meal, then dried. The best time to des- 

 troy them is in cold weather, when food 

 is scarce. Within thirty days every 

 Sparrow in the United States can be 

 exterminated." 



J. Ellis McLellan, 

 Nebraska C\iy, Neb. 



A Few Articles for the Collector. 



An article which will be found very 

 convenient in collecting, is a cheap fish 

 reel and one hundred feet or more of 

 strong small line. This will be found 

 very useful in hauling up a collecting 

 box, etc., to a high nest, also in meas- 

 uring height of nest from the ground. 

 It IS well to have a small snap hook 

 fastened to the end of the line. 



