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ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 12 



ber first, and is observed after the last of the 

 month. A hardy species. Never summers here. 



221. [636.] Mergus merganser mnericanus 

 (Cas.s.) Ridgw. American Sheldrake. I have ob- 

 served tliis bird every month of the year except- 

 ing June, July and August. It may nest here, as 

 it certainly does less thau fifty miles north, but I 

 have failed to prove it. It frequents open streams 

 in Winter, and appears at home in our ice-cold 

 rivers in January. Is quite abundant in early 

 April and November. 



222. [637.] Mergus serrator Linn. Red- 

 Ijreasted Sheldrake. A rare and irregular migrant. 

 Not often taken. 



223. [638.] Lophodyies cucullatus (Linn.) 

 Reich. Hooded Sheldrake. An irregular mi- 

 grant. Occasionally abundant during Spring and 

 Fall. Appears more often on our rivers than on 

 the lakes. Arrives the first week in April. A 

 very handsome bird, but not good for the table by 

 any ordinary course of cooking. 



224. [660rt.] Larus argentatus smithsonUtuus 

 Coues. American Herring Gull. Common dur- 

 ing Spring migration, when considerable numbers 

 are seen feeding around the edges of the lakes on 

 the ice. Not so many seen in the Autumn. Ob- 

 served iu February some seasons, although gen- 

 erally seen first in March. Remains until May 

 first in some instances. Appears in late Septem- 

 ber and remains for a month in pairs or singly. 



325. [675.] Larus philaddphm (Ord.) Gray. 

 Bonaparte's Gull. A rather rare species, occa- 

 sionally taken around our inland lakes. Never 

 summers. 



226. [686.] SIcnmfluriatilis Naum. Couunon 

 Tern. A rare straggler. In May 1884, about the 

 middle of tue month, fifty or more appeared at 

 Long Lake, where they had never been seen be- 

 fore. They all left soon after. On the 24tli of the 

 mouth two more were seen, one of which was shot. 



227. [732.] Dgks auritus (Linn.) Ridgw. 

 Horned Grebe. A rare transient, only a few times 

 captured during Spring and Autumn. Found on 

 our lakes and ponds, and like the next, an expert 

 diver. Have seen it as late as June 1st, once. 



228. [735.] Podilymhus podiccps (Linn.) Lawr. 

 Thick-billed Grebe; Ctmimon Grebe; Dabchick; 

 Hell Diver; Carolina Grebe. A very abundant 

 species Spring and Autumn, arriving as early as 

 March 10th some seasons. Remains as late as 

 May 20th in some numbers. A few remain to 

 breed, but I have never taken the eggs, allhougli 

 they have been taken in an adjoining county. Re- 

 mains until Nov. Isi, generally ; sometimes until 

 December 20th. 



229. [736.] Colymhus torquatus'BiuTin. Loon. 



A common resident from April 1st to Nov. 1st. 

 Often arrives in February in open Winters, and 

 remains till Christmas some years. Nest, laying 

 two large eggs, which are lain in a roughly formed 

 hollow on a bog well out from shore. 



230. [740.] Colymbus septentrionalls Linn. 

 Red-throated Diver. Almost a yearly visitor to 

 our rivers. Have never observed them later than 

 April 25lh. Only remain so late after severe 

 Winters and the streams are frozen to the north. 

 Usually appear iu Januaiy or early February, and 

 remain until March SOth. Never seen on the 

 lakes and ponds to my knowledge. Nearly always 

 seen in flocks of five to ten, sometimes more. A 

 swift flyer and very wary. 



This concludes the list of Kalamazoo County 

 birds. If any of the readers detect errors, it will 

 be considered a favor by the writer if corrections 

 are offered. As new species are added to this 

 catalogue the same will be presented through the 

 colunms of the O. and O. G. 



Sketches from Terrebonne Parish, 

 Louisiana. 



A pair of Little Screech Owls, last Spring, 

 made their residence in my Pigeon house. I 

 visited the house April 6th, and, as I looked 

 through the door, perceived a pair of yellow eyes 

 staring at me from the darkness within. I re- 

 moved their owner, a female Little Screech Owl, 

 who was complacently sitting in a Pigeon's nest. 

 I liberated her, and appropriated the eggs — the 

 usual complement of four. 



Those versatile songsters, the Mockingbirds, 

 build their nests in forest, field and town, at alti- 

 tudes between two and fifteen feet. The Mock- 

 ingbird's breeding season begins about the 15th 

 of March, but this year, owing to a late Spring, 

 I did not observe a clutch of eggs until Ajiril 6lh. 



Contemporary with the Mockingbirds in sea- 

 son of breeding are the House Wrens. I observed 

 the first completely fledged young of this species 

 tills year on the 9th of April. These Wrens 

 breed here in profusion ; and Ihey are not par- 

 ticular as to where they build their nests, for I 

 have found them breeding in woodland stumps, 

 mortices in fence posts, old cattle skulls, and two 

 of my friends, not given to oological inquiry, 

 have found a nest apiece in the pockets of their 

 respective coats which hung, unused, on pegs in 

 their rooms. 



The Maryland Yellowthroat, that vivacious 

 little member of our avi-fauna, finds the black- 



