Oct. 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



147 



Miiy 13lli, slowly increasing, almost height of sea- 

 son. May 19th, about as numerous as it gets 

 here. Waukon, la. First, April 29th. Mitchell, 

 la. Numerous April 29lh. Has'ings, Minn. 

 May 2d, first nest; on ground, two eggs, no nest, 

 only a few slicks. When visited May 28tli, the 

 birds had hatched and gone. Elk River, INIinn. 

 First were a pair seen ~Ai)ril 14lh. Argnsvillc, 

 Dak. First, April 22d, 



KiLLDEER, (0.vyechus imcifcrua). Fayetteville, 

 Ark. The first one was heard after dark, March 

 1st. Anna, 111. According to Mr. Ilidgway, is 

 resident in mild Winler,s. St. Louis, Mo. First 

 were four seen March 10th ; a flock was also seen 

 April 6th. Manhattan, Ivans. First, March 1st ; 

 by March 10th, abundant. April 7th, only four 

 or five seen in a five mile walk. Liter, 111. First, 

 March 2d, in tiocks. Ellsworrti, 111. First, March 

 nth. Osceola, 111. First, April 1st. Coralvillc, 

 la. First, April 4th. Polo, 111. First, March 

 22th. Racine, Wis. First, March 19th. .lef- 

 ferson, Wis. First, March 17th; only three 

 or four seen for the next three week.s. 

 Mitchell, la. First were three seen on 

 April 3d. Elk River, Minn. First, April 3d. 

 [Average speed twenty miles a day from Fayette- 

 ville, Ark., to Elk River, Minn., a distance of six 

 hundred and si.xly miles]. 



Woodcock, {P/iiMiclK inidur). Fayetteville, 

 Ark. So far as I know personally, tliey are tran- 

 sients here, nor did I see any before March 1st, 

 but I suppose they had come before that date, as 

 I killed one last year in February. Anna, 111. 

 Resident. Osceola, 111. First, April 20lh. Not 

 common here. Racine, Wis. First, April SOlh. 

 .Teffer.sou, Wis. First, April 7th. 



Wilson's Snipe, (Qallimigo media icilsoni). 

 Fayetteville, Ark. Mostly transients, though a 

 few stay during warm Winters Killed fourteen 

 on February 27th, though I could not find any 

 the week before. On March 1st they were mov- 

 ing north in goodly numbers. Anna, III. Resi- 

 dent, but irregular. St. Louis, Mo. Ariived 

 March 14th, in small numbers in the bottomlands 

 of the Mississippi ; two hunters killed eight Snipe 

 in six hours' hunting. Numerous April lijth, and 

 continued common until after April 20th. Man- 

 hattan, Ivans. First, April 16lh; twenty-seven 

 on May 4lh. Jacksonville, III. Began to fly 

 over March 26th ; a good many April 9th. Coral- 

 villc, la. First, April 30th." Polo, III. First, 

 April 20th. Racine, Wis. First, March 10th. 

 .Tefferson, Wis. First, April 14th. Elk River, 

 Minn. First, April 12th. [Average fifteen miles a 

 day from Fayetteville, Ark., to Elk River, Minn]. 



Sandhill Crane, {Grm caiiadcmix). Man- 

 hattan. Kans. First, April 14th. Osceola, 111. 



First, March 31st. Polo, III. First, April 15th. 

 Waukon, la. First flew over on the evening of 

 April 8lh. Elk Iliver, Minn. First, April 4th 

 Argusvillc, Dak. First, April 26th. 



DOUKLE-CRESTED CORMORANT," (PludKCruCoriU 



dihphui'). Anna, III. First^was April 1st, when 

 a flock sailed into BluB Lake. St. Louis, Mo. 

 First, April 8lh ; two also seen on April 20th. 

 Manhattan, Kans. First, April 28th. Grand 

 View, la. First, March 27tli. Coralvillc, la. 

 April 21»t, fifteen passed norlh. Hastings, Minn. 

 First seen on April 18tli. Elk River, Minn. 

 First, April 17th, quite a number seen and a iiair 

 killed. 



Notes from Silver City, N. M. 



BT CHAS. H. MARSH. 



A favorite nesting place with many birds in 

 this vicinity is the " buckhorn" cactus, found in 

 great abundance upon the prairies and near the 

 foothills. In some instances dwarfed in size and 

 of apparently small importance; in others rearing 

 its gnarled and twisted branches bristling with 

 needle-like points to a height of ten or twelve 

 feet and spreading in every direction from the 

 main stalk to a distance of twenty feet or more, 

 it presents an almost impenetrable thicket, for- 

 midable alike to man and beast. In this inviting 

 spot the Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrush, 

 Cactus Wren, House Finch, Canon Towhec, 

 Black- throated Sparrow, Cassin's Kingbird, 

 Road-runner and Mourning Dove build their 

 nests and rear their young. 



Of these the nest and eggs of the Mocking- 

 bird are too well known to call for a description. 

 They are i)erhaps the most common of the birds 

 breeding here and their nests are not confined to 

 the cactus, but are found everywhere on the 

 hillsides in the Scrub Oaks, Mountain Mahogany, 

 Box Alder and similar dwarfed trees and bushes. 



A near relative, the Curve-billed Thrush, seems 

 to confine its nesting to the Cactus, nor do I re- 

 member to have found its nest in any other 

 place. The nest is a rather bulky structure com- 

 posed of intertwined sticks and twigs, prefer- 

 ence being given to the thorny "cat's-claw," as if 

 the spines of the cactus not being in themselves 

 a sufficient protection, this added terror was 

 needful to keep intruders at a distance. The 

 lining is for the most part fine roots with occa- 

 sionally a mixture of horse-hair. The size of 

 the nest varies from a mass large enough " to fill 

 a half-bushel measure," to one of six or eight 

 inches in diameter, and is usually placed some 

 five or six feet from the ground. The eggs are 

 from three to five, in most cases lour, of a light 



