14 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 8-No. 2 



Brief Newsy Notes. 



BoB-o-LiNKS. — Farmers informed J. M. 

 W. tliat Bob-o- links did not put in an ap- 

 pearance until May 17th, near Norwich, 

 Conn., last year, and but few then. ^ 



BoB-o-LiNKS. — In our long rides the past 

 Spring we did not see ten specimens. 

 Last Fall we clipped a piece from a Phila- 

 delphia i^aper apparently written by some 

 Bohemian more careful than the rest. 

 After describing all the methods of taking 

 them, and h^ whom he estimated the de- 

 stntction of Reed Birds and Rail from 

 Bombay Hook to the mouth of the Dele- 

 ware River at 1,000,000 during the month 

 of September alone, and the number of 

 gunners increase each year, while of 

 necessity the number of the Bobolinks are 

 becoming reduced, and this destruction is 

 on the first section of their flight alone, 

 while they have to run tlie gauntlet from 

 the Delaware to their extreme southern 

 destination, throiigh the Carolinas to the 

 West Indies, as the " Rice " and " Butter 

 Bird. " On their return in the Spring 

 the trapper lays in wait and takes 

 large quantities with the net, for which 

 they usually get about $3. per dozen alive. 

 It would seem as if the time was not far 

 distant when our cheerful Bobolink would 

 be a much rarer bird than at present, as 

 no law can reach such wholesale destruc- 

 tion through so many different States. 



Great-horned Owls. — Have just had an- 

 other Great-horned Owl brought in alive. 

 Caught in a steel trap. He (or she) and 

 my old bird take kindly to each other, and 

 so you see I expect to be able to suiDj^ly 

 the trade with eggs the coming season, 

 about the middle of February. Orders 

 received ; first come, first served — look 

 lively— Dec. 25, 1882, W. W. Coe, Port- 

 land, Conn. Mr. Coe has had such re- 

 markable luck that he can well afford to 

 throw a joke at the rest of us. We hope 

 they will lay in confinement and disap- 

 point him. 



The Taxidermist Show is postponed un- 

 til May 4, to be held in New York city. 



White-winged Coot. — Fred. T. Jencks, 

 Prov., R. I., reports a White- wing Coot, 

 probably Albinistic. 



Our Check List Incomplete. — It is an- 

 nounced that an Englishman has arrived 

 in New York with twenty-eight Ostriches 

 to be used in Ostrich Farming. As the 

 addled eggs at least will be thrown upon 

 the market it will be necessary to amend 

 our check lists. If not, why not ? 



Golden Eagle. — Jos. Skirm, Jr., Santa 

 Cruz, California, shot a Golden Eagle 

 (Aug. 3, 1882,) which measured six feet 

 from tip to .til? of wings, length three feet, 

 and weighed eleven pounds. It was feed- 

 ing on a Ground squirrel. Mr. S. collected 

 1500 eggs the past season, and sold and 

 exchanged nearly all before Sept. 1st. 



Wood Thrush. — Is not four an unusu- 

 ally large set of Wood Thrush? During 

 the i^ast season I have found in all thirty- 

 seven nests, and do not remember to have 

 observed more than three, either eggs or 

 young birds, in any nest. Also, what is the 

 farthest Southern limit that the Wilson's 

 Thrush breeds? I have not been able to 

 find any nest in Chester County as yet. — 

 W. 8. McDermond, West Chester, Pa. 



Ornithologically. — Previous to Novem- 

 ber 25th were taken near here one Snowy 

 Owl, one White-winged Crossbill, and a 

 bird called by the taxidermist Little Auk. 

 Probably he may be right but I can't say 

 from my limited experience with seabirds. 

 — TF. E. Saunders, PMla., Pa. 



Black Snowbird. — J^mco hyemalis — as a 

 cage bird? Mr. A. B. Bailey of Cobalt, 

 Conn., caught one some time last Febru- 

 ary, and it lived until the. middle of Au- 

 gust — said it would eat meal He is at the 

 Bank every few daj's and I enquire after 

 the bird each time. Quite a long time for 

 a bird to live here in a cage, as they breed 

 so much farther North — Jno. H. Sage, 

 Portland Conn. 



