March, 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



4? 



saving of time and temper. It is also well to rub 

 once with an oiled rag on arriving liome. — ]V. E. 

 SiiiiHik'ri, London, Out. 



C'assin's Vireo, (Lnnioireo aoUUirius cassini). 

 On Jime 2d, while collecting in a small grove of 

 Scrub Oaks, the report of my gun started a bird 

 of this species from a tree near by, and upon 

 shooting it, I was very much pleased to find it to 

 lie a female which had evidently just left the 

 nest — but to find that nest was the difficulty, and 

 it was some time before I at last came upon it, .so 

 well liidden b)' a mass of leaves that its discovery 

 was almost an accident. It was in a small Oak, 

 about seven feet from the ground, about four feet 

 from the body of the tree and hanging from the 

 end of the limb. It was a beautiful pensile affair, 

 composed of light colored strips of bark and dry 

 grasses, with several scraps of hornets' nests fast- 

 ened to the outside, lined with fine dry roots and 

 grasses. It contained four eggs, incubation just 

 liegnn; they were of a beautiful creamy color 

 with a ro.sy flush, which disappeared however 

 iifter the contents were removed; dotted on the 

 li\rge end with a few dark brown spots. This 

 liii-d, together with the Western Warbling Vireo, 

 can be foimd in every Alder or Oak grove about 

 lierc from the first of May to the first of Septem- 

 ber. They are very .shy, however, especially 

 CHmiii, and their nests are very hard to find. — 

 -•1. W. A., Bearerton, Oregon. 



Notes from Danvers, Mass. — The birds of 

 tin's section, during the last month, have been 

 driven quite do.se to the hou.ses by the fierce 

 storms and intense cold. A trip through the 

 Pine and Hemlock groves will reveal a large 

 inimber of our resident birds roosting upon the 

 l)ranches with their feathers puffed' out to .such 

 an extent you can hardly recognize them as our 

 sprightly little birds. This is the first Winter for 

 a great many years that the Robin has not been 

 seen about our woods. The Crows have come 

 within a few feet of the house several times to 

 feed upon the apples that were left upon the trees 

 al harvest time. On the 3d day of February, I 

 was called from my work to see a strange bird 

 which was picking away at a Locust tree at the 

 back of the house. I recognized it at once as a 

 Golden-winged Woodpecker, (CoUiptes auratus, 

 Swain.) I have met with this bird .so often for 

 several years and having had it described to me 

 by different persons so many times, I do not hesi- 

 tate to call it one of our resident birds, although 

 (|uite a number of them migrate by the first of 

 November. Small flocks of the Pine Grosbeaks 

 have at different times put in their appearance. 

 The Snowbirds, {Jiinco /ii/emidw, Sclater,) have 



been quite scarce here this Winter, and what 

 Hocks I have met with have been quite .small. 

 Their travelling com]ianions, the Tree Sparrows, 

 (Spizella monUcola, Baird,) have been more abund- 

 ant. On the 7th of February an unusually large 

 flock of Yellowbirds, (Astmgalinus tristis. Cab.) 

 settled upon the weeds by the side of the road, 

 making the air resound with their low Winter 

 warbling, or notes. The Redpolls, (.^^giotltuK 

 Una litis, Cab.) have been seen quite frequently 

 since the middle of December; the flocks for the 

 most part have been small and scattered. Along 

 the coast the Shore Larks have been seen in large 

 numbers fearlessly picking up stray oats, &<■.. 

 along the sides or the roads. The Butcher Bird 

 has been quite abundant, especially in the cities, 

 where it is lazily obtaining the English Sparrows 

 for food. — Andrew NiclwU, Jr. 



Screech Owls, — Since my last communica- 

 tion, I have four more city bred Screech Owls to 

 mount and heard of several more. They have all 

 been extremely fat and dingy looking, whilst 

 one I had from the country was very poor and 

 looked much smaller, but the plumage was very 

 bright in comparison with the others. 



On December 30th, I shot a Golden-wing 

 Woodpecker, and on 31st saw another. I have 

 not noticed them around here so late in the sea- 

 son, before. Is it an unusual thing ? — R. J. Toztr, 

 CU-reland, Ohio. 



An Albino Cardinal. — The following notes 

 were sent me by Mrs. C. W. Poole of Natchez, 

 Miss.: "I have now a very remarkable bird, a 

 true freak of nature. It was killed a year ago, 

 fifty miles from here. It is a 'White Redbird'; 

 it is unmistakably a Cardinal Grosbeak, (C. rir- 

 ginianus) but milky white, with the most beauti- 

 ful rose-colored wings, tail and crest, witli a dash 

 of pink on its l)rea.st." — W. W. Cooke. 



Owls. — The number of Owls .shot in Greenfield 

 and vicinity since May 1st, 1884, are as follows : 

 Three Arcadian, si.x Screech, five Barred, one 

 Horned and one Long-eared. A number of 

 Screech Owls have been seen about the town. 

 and a few Horned Owls in the woods and swamps. 

 One Screech Owl lives in a pigeon house on the 

 main street, and can be seen sunning itself all 

 through the day. Are Arcadian Owls common 

 or rare this Winter? — S. W. Comstock, Greenfield, 

 Mem. 



Captured one Richardson's Owl October loth, 

 1884. He flew against a store window and was 

 slightly stunned. Several Snowy Owls have 

 been shot. Several Northern Waxwings were 

 taken during the Winter of 1883-4.— J. E. Dkk- 

 inmii, Eoekford. III. 



