Feb. 1890.] 



AND OOLOGrST. 



29 



THK 



ORNITHOLOGIST^OOLOGIST 



A Moiitlily Magazine of 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPEt'IAI.l.V DKVOTKI) TO TIIK STl'DY OF 



BIRDS, 



THKIU NESTS AM) E(;<iS, 



and to the 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS. 



rnder the Editorial Manaseiiient of 



FRANK B. WEBSTER. 

 J. PARKER NORRIS. 

 FRANK A. RATES. 



Boston, Mass. 



I'liiladelphia, Pa. 



Boston, Mass. 



ITBLISHEn AT 



FRANK B. WEBSTER'S 



XATFK ALISTS- S C I' P L Y DETOT 



Bo.sTox, Mass., IT. 8. A. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every pai<l sub- 

 scriber. If vou fail to receive it, notify us. 



Brief Notes. 



Among the numerous suggestions that we have re- 

 ceived from subscribers regarding what they consider 

 would be an iniprovenieiit in the O. »!t O. was one that 

 we had alreaily (•ontenii)lated. He writes, "Why don't 

 y<ni add a personal column so that we can know what 

 our naturalists are doing?" The Brief Note column is 

 open to just such informati<jn. We would like to hear 

 from subscribers when they are about making a collect- 

 ing trip, when they get anything new. if they are 

 making private collections, what success they are meet- 

 i ng with, and if they fall overboard and get wet who 

 helped them out. Let it be a free and easy department . 

 A starter : 



Dear Sir— Your thrilling adventures in January 

 O. i*;- O. remind me of a narrow escape of an old friend 

 of mine who annually spends a month deer hunting in 

 the wilds of Canada. Here it is as told by himself. One 

 day while standing in a runway waiting for a deer he 

 saw the noble monarch of the forest tearing down the 

 mountain side straight toward him. Taking a bead on 

 the approaching deer he let go and was surprised after 

 a moment's lapse to hear the bullet hum by his ear and 

 bury itself into a tree behind hiui. Upon investigation 

 he founil the deer hail received the bullet full in the 

 breast, but upon seeing the shooter had turned right 

 about face so suddenly that the bullet in ccnning out of 

 the deer's ham had sped directly back to the .shooter 

 with almost serious result. Providence willed it so we 

 trust. Yours truly. 



(!. E. Harrison. 



Butfalo, N. Y. 



We have received from time to time from our sub- 

 scribers and patrons photographs of themselves and of 

 specimens of their work, which is assuming ()uite an 

 interesting collection. A short time since Harry 

 Austen, Halifax, Nova Scotia, sent a series, showing- 



groups of birds that he had been mounting which make 

 a tine display. They indicate a superior grade of work- 

 manship. 



While at that locality last fall we called ini Major 

 Thomas 1. Egan. After viewing a large collection he 

 handed us a photo of a large moose that he had just 

 preserved. Andrew Downs, the pioneer taxidermist in 

 the same city, has just sent us a large photo of himself. 

 As we look at it, seated with favorite stag iKuinds on 

 each side of him, it is a picture of nature itself. 

 Another i)hotograph, entitled "In the Temple of Na- 

 ture," a hillside, shows our friend .los. .M. kVade (former 

 proprietor of the O. & O.) in the foreground. 



Baldwin Coolulge, the Boston photographer, has for 

 some time been giving attention to the study of horns, 

 antlers .and tusks. When he sees a remarkable s|)e(M- 

 men he photographs it. A series of nine, size 8x9, 

 which he left on our desk, taken from specimens we 

 loaned him, are from horns of the woodland caribou 

 (Newfoundland), showing a remarkable, heavy struc- 

 ture and number of points. Rocky .Mountain shee)). 

 goat, etc. Duplicates can be obtained. 



We intend in future to jdiotograph mounted speci- 

 mens that pass through our hands. Now that the art 

 of photography is so general we think that the taxider- 

 mists would find it of profit to photograph what they 

 consider their "boss jobs." It will serve as a pleasant 

 reminiscence, and also will enable them at all times to 

 show what they can do. 



There is still another benefit that may be derived; 

 a i>liotograph shows any imi>erfection in the outline 

 and will enable them to see defects which they can 

 improve. 



A (ireat Gray Owl was shot, .January 14. in Yermont 

 near the Massachusetts line. It was a O and very jioor 

 in flesh. The stomach contained the remnants of a 

 mole. A Snowy Owl was taken,. January 13, between 

 Boston and Worcester; it also did not show high living. 

 C. K. Reed, Worcester. 



The promptness with which a large proportion of our 

 1889 subscribers have renewed or signified a wish for us 

 to continue, has exceeded any previous year. As usual 

 we have received many very pleasant postscripts. 



City Belle. " 1 hoi)e your stay in our city will not be 

 short, Mr. de Science." 



Mr. de Sciencte (a member of the A. O. V.). "Thank 

 you, but my sojourn must be brief, 1 am here attending 

 the Ornithological Convention at the Museum of Nat- 

 ural History, and the session will soon be over." 



C. B. " What kind of a convention did you say?" 



Mr. de S. "Ornithological, about birds, you know." 



C. B. "Oh yes, yes. How simple of me! Do you 

 think they will be worn much next season?" — [The 

 Cottage Hearth, Boston. 



I have a wild cat in my collection of wild animals 

 that weighed 3\ lbs. when caught. It killed eight sheep 

 belonging to a fanner in the mountains the niglit 

 before it was killed. R. E. Best, Kingston, N. Y. 



Prof. L. L. Dyche, curator of the I'niversity of Kan- 

 sas, has just returned from a six months' collecting 

 tri]) in British America. He obtained a number of 

 Rocky Mountain sheep and goats, a pair or more of 

 nearly all the animals in that section. We think that 

 he will have a few duiilicates to dispose of. It will be 

 remembered that we rejiorted a successful triji after 

 buffalo last year. 



Fred .1. Mrezee. the Conncil Blurts taxidermist, is 

 now located at Lincoln. Neb., as curator at the state 



