48 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 8-No. 6. 



Climbers and Climbing. 



This subject received some attention in 

 our columns but was dropped too soon, as 

 there was much more that might have 

 been said in the way of a proper outfit and 

 how to use it. If Ave ever get time, we 

 may have something further to say on this 

 subject. At present we desire to call at- 

 tention to a new fire escape, invented by 

 Mr. A. P. Sturtevant, of Norwich. It is 

 very cheap, portable, and will enable the 

 collector to climb the largest tree with cer- 

 tainty, safety, and quickly. It consists of 

 a cotton rope and a belt to strap around 

 the body. A small twine, with a weight at 

 one end, could be used to throw over the 

 desired limb, when the rope could be 

 pulled over the limb, when in one min- 

 ute's time the nest, if near the limb, could 

 be reached, and the eggs safely brought to 

 the ground. No climbing irons are used 

 and no danger attends the operation, if 

 proper caution is used. 



OspEEYs' Eggs. In your October issiie 

 appear some notes on number of eggs laid 

 by Ospreys, and it has occurred to me to 

 ask if the number in a clutch influences 

 the size of the eggs. The clutch of four 

 mentioned as having been sent to England 

 by Mr. Worthington is in my collection, 

 and the eggs measure as follows: 2.26 X 

 1.75, 2.31 X 1.75, 2.28 x 1.8. 2.27 X 1.76. A 

 clutch of two, received from the same gen- 

 tleman, measured 2.42x1.81, 2.43x1.79; 

 and a clutch of three collected by Mr. 

 Griffing, and sent to me by Mr. Snowdon 

 Howland, measure 2.5x1.82, 2.5x1.86, 

 2.56x1.83. If at any time I can an- 

 swer, for any of your readers, questions 

 relating to Birds of the British fauna which 

 ajjpear in your lists as accidental Adsitors, 

 it will give me great pleasure to do so. — 

 W. Wells Bladen, /SUme, ^Staffordshire, 

 England. 



Teqdixquia.catzanatl is one of the 

 names given to our Purjale Grade in Pen- 

 nant's Arctic Zoology. 



An Icy Nest. April 3, saw the first 

 House Phoebe and took my first Barred 

 Owl's ^g^ — the double event being quite 

 ten days late. This owl's hole of ancient 

 domain is barrel-shaped and now open at 

 the top, and on the 24th of March there 

 was such a heavy slab of solid ice in the 

 bottom that for one year at least it seemed 

 as if the tenant must secure quarters else- 

 where. But, April 3, I took the first Q^g^ 

 substituting a hen's q>^^ for the rest of the 

 clutch which can be safely reckoned upon. 

 Except a dab of wet feathers the &^^ was 

 in the middle of the slab of ice which had 

 begun to melt very slightly under the 

 heat of the owl's body. We read of strange 

 nesting-places, and queer material used in 

 construction, but isn't this the first in- 

 stance of a collector finding his eggs on 

 ice ? — J. M. W., Norioich, Conn. 



Woodpeckers, Snow Birds, Jays, Creep- 

 ers or Sap Suckers, and a very few Quail 

 have been seen. Quail have died by the 

 thousands further up North. Prairie chick- 

 ens have scarely been seen since December 

 last, and the inference is they have frozen 

 also. I saw tracks of a grouse the other 

 day. Thermometer much of the time 

 twenty to forty-two degrees below zero, 

 and mean temperature of January six be- 

 low. But 'tis a clear, beautiful atmosphere 

 and we look for early Spring. — JRev. Geo. 

 B. Pratt, Hastings, Minnesota. 



Purple Finches. C. C. Kichards, Nor- 

 wich, Conn., reports eight joairs of PurjDle 

 Finches feeding on the seeds of the tulip 

 poplar, eating only the base or the part 

 containing the seed. He noticed them 

 frequently and, at times, feeding Avith 

 House Sparrows. 



Ipswich Sparrow. I noticed in March 

 O. and O. that Mr. Griffing took three 

 Passerculus princeps in November last 

 near Shelter Island, L. I. I have taken 

 eight out of ten I have seen on Great 

 South Beach, Long Island, since Jan. 1, 

 1883. — Wni. Dutcher, 304 Second-avenue., 

 New York, March M. 



