'ion J General Notes. 275 



coyote. A scattered flock, flying from sage-bush to greese-wood, across 

 the hills, was, in almost every instance, preceded by a " Government 

 Dog," and the killing of a rabbit several times per day was the inducement 

 to the feathered escort, which shared freely in the leavings of the wolf. 



Early in the spring of 1910 a male English Sparrow was seen 12 miles 

 from Vale, in the sage-brush, vainly attempting to induce a female Brewer 

 Blackbird to begin housekeeping with him. So far was the wanderer 

 from his fellows in Vale that I was surprised, never having seen one even 

 half a mile from town before. No more strays were seen until in the fall, 

 when on the upper Willow Creek, near the base of the Burnt River Moun- 

 tains, I found a small flock of from four to ten on every ranch. This 

 region is some 40 miles from the railroad, the nearest point being Hunting- 

 ton, where the sparrows are abundant. To reach the ranches mentioned 

 a mountain range must be crossed and long miles of sage plains and lava 

 mesas, a region as little to their liking as a wood-yard to a tramp. It is 

 more likely that they found their way up the valley from Ontario, some 70 

 miles, but through country that is entirely unsuited to the requirements of 

 this species as we have regarded them in the past. The ranchers told me 

 that they had not seen any sparrows until a month or so before, a state- 

 ment that was likely true, since only small flocks were seen, and there was 

 no evidence of their having been long resident. 



In the spring of 1909 a pair of Bullock Orioles, migrating through the 

 sage plains of eastern Oregon, paused to rest on the derrick of an oil well, 

 several miles from the nearest tree or shrub, save the ever present Arte- 

 misia. The drill was temporarily idle and hanging from one of the timbers 

 of the derrick was a frayed rope, resembling the end of a cow's tail. This 

 was taken as a homestead and the nest hung from the loose fibers. Mean- 

 time an Arkansas Kingbird selected the end of the huge walking beam as 

 a summer home and built. Before the eggs were hatched it became time 

 to renew operations on the drill and the nests were in danger of destruction. 

 The rope was cut and the end with the oriole's nest fastened to the corner 

 of the derrick out of harm's way, while the Kingbird's nest was removed 

 to a shelf some ten feet distant. Neither species objected in the least, 

 and the young birds were raised amid the clatter of machinery and smoke 

 of forge. In the spring of 1910 the kingbird returned and took possession 

 of the same nesting site, but the rope had been removed and the oriole 

 selected the branches of a sage-bush at the foot of the derrick, where the 

 young were raised in a nest only two feet from the ground. — A. W. 

 Anthony, Portland, Oregon. 



Notes on Some Birds Rare or New to Wisconsin. — In a neat little 

 pamphlet of 51 pages, entitled ' Birds of Oconto County," dated October 

 27, 1902, Mr. A. J. Schoenebeck of Kelley Brook, Wise, gives a list of 

 some 254 species, " identified, captured or seen " by him, most of which are 

 in his collection. This list contains the first authentic record of the Water 



