Mar. 1890. J 



AXD OOLOGIST. 



:3r> 



cally tliat "tlie little boys round here give 

 most all tliein birds incknanies."' 



I have on several occasions heard persons 

 asseverate most solemnly that Mockinjjbirds, 

 which rarely occur here, were very corninon 

 in the liills where they livi", wliiili struck me 

 as very ivmvrkable until one day I was shown 

 one of the famous singers which I recognized 

 at once as the C'alifoinia Thrasher. X»>t every- 

 one would know, I venture to say, that the "Big 

 Cat Owl" is what we are j)leased to call the 

 Western-liorned, nor that the euphonious title 

 of " Monkey-face"' belongs to our usefid yet 

 long-surt'cring friend Sfri.r iirdflncohi. 



Just why tlie snuill boy fraternity should 

 call the Western Lark Spanow a "Tic-tic 

 Kohin," or use many other e(pialiy j)ecuUar 

 (k'signalions is beyond nu', but the study of 

 this enatic barbarous nomenclature is not 

 without its compensations — amusement any- 

 way, and i)erliai)s some 1)its of useful 

 knowledge. //(//■/■// 7/. TaijUir. 



Alaiueila, Cal. 



A Kite New to the North American 

 Fauna. 



A small lot of kite skins from Fh)rida have 

 recently come into my possession, and with 

 them a specimen of Jclin'ui plnnihen (Plumbeous 

 Kite). This bird, which I should judge to be 

 an adult J, was taken on Palm Hammock 

 (heek, Palm Hammock, Dade Co., Southwes- 

 tern Florida, between April 25 and May 10, 

 l,s>S."), by Prof. J. H. Batty, and is entitled to a 

 place in the list of N. A. birds. The only 

 work that I have to refer to is ■•Pidgway\s 

 Manual of X. A. Birds." and for comparison 

 I give his description of both. iiii.ssisNijipiennin 

 (.VFississippi Kite), and /. iihunhcn (Plinnbeous 

 Kite), which is as follows: 



Common characters. Adults: Uniform 

 plnm})eous, becoming lighter (whitish) on head 

 and darker (blackish) on epulis iind tail: inner 

 webs t)f (piills partly rufous. 



r(i. Adidt: Wings lighter than tail, the sec- 

 ondaries hoary whitish; inner webs of (piills 

 with indistinct sjxits of rufous, and cniter webs 

 with very indistinct stiijjs of same; tail with- 

 out white markings. Length i;].()0-].")..jO, wing 

 10.00-12.;50, tail 0.00-7.00. Hab. : More 

 southern U.S., east to Rocky Moiuitains, north 

 regularly to (Georgia, southern Illinois, Kansas, 

 etc., casually, or irregularly to Pennsylvania, 

 Wisconsin and Iowa, .south, through ea.stern 

 Mexico, to Guatemala. /. iiii.sKissippiensif;, 

 ( Mississip]>i Kite). 



n^. Adult: Wings concolor with the tail, 

 the secondaries black; inner webs of jirimar- 

 ies almost wholly rufous, the outer webs with 

 only a trace of this color; tail with about three 

 narrow bands of white, across inner webs. 

 Wing 10..-JO-12.20, tail o.tKMJ.SO. Hab.: Trop- 

 ical America (except West Indies), north to 

 Sontliern Mexico, south to Paraguay. /. 

 plninbea, (Plumbeous Kite). 



My example ot /. pJinnhea differs from the 

 above description in having the upper parts 

 darker (blackish slate), the neck and head are 

 slate-gray, more sharply defined across the 

 shoulders with lesser, wing-covert region 

 bluisli-l)lack; inner webs of ([uills and the sec- 

 ondaries brownish, no rufous; a longitudinal 

 stripe of white on the inner web at the base of 

 the first and second primary quills, becoming 

 grayish on the others. Shafts of piimaries 

 underneath, white at base, becoming brownish 

 at tips (in two adult siJecimens of 7. iinssisslppi- 

 eiLsis, that I have before me, one from Florida 

 and one from Texas, the shafts are brown); 

 lower parts dark cinereous becoming lighter on 

 neck; upper surface of tail feathers black 

 crossed by three bands of white, on the inner 

 webs, the first near the tip being about .2-"), the 

 second .40 and the third near tlie base .(50 and 

 uniform in shape; under surface of tail grayish 

 with shafts white half the length. The notch 

 on the cutting edge of upjier mandible is so 

 slight as to be scarcely perceptible to the eye. 

 As near as 1 can measure from the dry skin 

 the length is 14.00, wing ]l.."iO, tail 6.00. 



The kite was noticed several days about a 

 marsh before it was shot, apparently catching 

 beetles and other insect-s as it was seen repeat- 

 edly to dart down into the grass. When shot 

 its stomach was empty. Another specimen of 

 / inls.'iisftipjnensis from Florida is rather small, 

 dai'ker, and shows but little trace of rufous on 

 webs of ipiills. So far as I am able to ascer- 

 tain, the Mississippi Kite is quite rare in 

 Florida. It is occasionally seen on the islands 

 and keys along the southwest coast of Florida, 

 especially those that lay off the everglades. 



John C. Call 00)1. 

 New York. X.Y. 



A Set of Five Eggs of Swainson's 

 Warbler. 



I have lately received a set of five eggs of 

 Swainson's Warbler (Heloncea f^waintioni) 

 which were collected by Arthur T. Wayne, 

 near Charleston, South Carolina, on May 7, 



