56 



THE MUSEUM. 



that we were not doing our duty should 

 we allow the remarkable (?) advertise- 

 ment to go unnoticed, .^ur brother is 

 going to send all his friends and pat- 

 rons a Christmas present absolutely 

 free, not to cost a cent "except lo 

 cents for pastage. " Goes on and de- 

 tails scores of pretty things that can 

 be \\-a.A. absolutely free, "to all who will 

 send $i.oo for his paper for 'q6."What 

 a 7-eviarkable offer. Have any of our 

 patrons seen anything richer.' If so 

 clip and mail to us for review. But 

 after all it is really pardonable, and 

 nothing different could be expected, 

 from the l^'ioneer in the Natiwal His- 

 tory Business. We now await the fi- 

 nal result of running the business un- 

 der two different ''heads." 



Michigan Sparrows 



As a rule, it is generally conceded 

 that it is better to describe a single 

 species or at most a genus at one time. 

 However, there are many birds which 

 would never appear, in print if they 

 did not simply show themselves in a 

 local or state list. There are many 

 common species of birds, which are 

 well known as migrants, which are 

 never mentioned in your columns be- 

 cause observers have had no oppor- 

 tunity to study their nidification. This 

 is not fair to these birds, and as a par- 

 tial evidence of appreciation of the 

 merits of rare or little observed Spar- 

 rows, I am gomg to give a list of them 

 in our state; making it a point to dwell 

 on the rarer and little studied ones and 

 neglecting those which are well known. 



Evening Grosbeak, 

 Coeeothraustes vespertina. Coop. 

 This rare straggler from the far 

 north has been recorded in Lower 



Michigan but a few times. It is pre- 

 eminentl)- a rare winter visitant from 

 the north; coming generally when 

 weather is severe, but not always. 

 I have seen it in mild weather in Nov- 

 ember, and have known it to remain 

 into the month of May. On one oc- 

 casion I had the rare experience of ob- 

 serving this bird and the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak at the same time in the 

 woods in the spring. Truly an un- 

 usual sight, as the southern winter so- 

 journer, and the northern straggler are 

 separated in their limits of migration 

 by at least three thousand miles, if not 

 more. This Grosbeak was first taken 

 near Lake Superior by Henry R. 

 Schoolcraft in 1823. It was known 

 to the natives zs paush kaii di ;//c',and 

 was even considered a rare bird by 

 them so far south, about forty-seven 

 degrees. It was submitted to the 

 New York and Philadelphia scientific 

 societies and was pronounced a newly 

 discovered species. 



Pine Grosbeak, 

 Pinieola euucleator, Linn. 

 Another irregular visitor from the 

 far north. It was seen in southern 

 Michigan during parts of six years in 

 last twenty years or so. Feeds like 

 the last on buds and seeds. An inter- 

 esting bird, unsuspicious, and easily 

 observed. Of those recorded by me 

 there was only about one bright car- 

 mine specimen to every thirty or more 

 somber hued birds. Specimens which 

 were captured alive in the gray or drab 

 plumage, assumed a yellowish coat in 

 summer. This bird has a low and 

 agreeable series of notes during spring. 



Purple Finch, 

 Carpodaeiis purpurcus, Gmel. 

 Arrives from the south in late March 



