48 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. W-No. 3 



a whole the work reflects mucli credit upon the 

 author, w/io has done more to advance the study 

 of oology in North America than any other limnrj 

 naturalist. John C. (Jahoon. 



New York, N. Y., Feb. 26, 18i)0. 



Editor O. & ().: 



Ill this land of long summers and sunny 

 days we liave practically no small l)irds. The 

 Eagle, the Hawk, the Kingfisher and the Crow 

 are all represented, but the merry warbling 

 birds are singularly absent. The few small 

 birds that make their homes here are songless 

 and dull in color. Birds of bright plumage 

 are rarely seen. 



No two men seem to agree as to the cause 

 of the scarcity of small birds. fSome say it is 

 lack of food, but this can not be as wild ber- 

 ries and seed grasses are abundant. The 

 Eagles and Hawks are so plentiful tliat 

 tlielr deadly work of extermination is the 

 only cause. The only birds tliat make a 

 fight for existence are the crows, and they are 

 the losers in many a battle. We shall have 

 to be in a land without birds until the coun- 

 try becomes better settled. 



Robert G. Muckay. 

 Vancouver, B.C. 



Editor O. <t- O.: 



Through tlie kindness of Mr. William 

 Thompson at oSo Washington St., Boston, I 

 was shown a very beautiful partial albino spec- 

 imen of our common Robin {]\Ierula migra- 

 toria). It was shot at Farmington, Me., from 

 a flock of noinial colored birds of the same 

 kind about Nov. 1st of last year (1889) by Mr. 

 Alexander Forsytlie, a resident of the above 

 place. To describe the bird roughly I migiit 

 say, breast, mottled-wliite and reddish-brown; 

 tliroat, primaries, secondaries and central tail 

 feathers, white, the entire upper surface with 

 this exception, of a very light chocolate color. 

 Partial albinos of our well-known Robin are 

 not of rare occurrence, and from my experi- 

 ence occur as often in this species as in any 

 otiier, yet it strikes me such freaks of nature 

 are worth recording. Shelley W. Denton. 



Wclleslev, Mass. 



On March Sth, while duck shooting at 

 Scpiantuin (7 miles from Boston) I had the 

 good fortune to secure a Wilson's Snipe. On 

 severing it I found it to be a 9; very lean, and 

 nothing in the crop except a very little green- 

 ish substance resembling eel grass. It flew 



within Ave yards of me and lit in a snow bank, 

 where I easily procured it with dust shot. 



S. K. Patten. 



Edito;/- of O. <k O.: 



Allow me to add my mitf; in regard to that 



"cheeky Cowbird." That is, a set of four 



Catbirds which contained two of the Cowbird; 



taken near Saginaw, Mich., in 1887. 



Ed. Van Winkle. 

 Mareli 0, 1890. 



Perhaps He'll be Editor Some Day. 



Dear Uncle Frank: I note with pleasure 

 that you have added a personal column to 

 your esteemed publication. Now I have had 

 ?i personal experience, and I want to give the 

 benefit of it to the readers of the O. & O. 



While traversing the woods last summer I 

 was fortunate enough to witness a curious 

 fight between a black snake and chipmunk. 

 The snake was at least 5 feet inches long. 



When I first saw them the snake was coiled 

 to strike. Chippy was quietly gnawing a wal- 

 nut, apparently not aware of his dangerous 

 enemy. Suddenly the snake uncoiled, but his 

 poisonous fangs did not touch Chippy, who 

 witli a quick boiuid was out of harm's way. 

 Now comes the most curious part of all. Tlie 

 chipmunk, instead of fleeing to a place of 

 safety, suddenly turned and with his puny 

 paws hurled the nut he h.ad been gnawing at 

 the snake, striking him on the head and 

 instantly killing him. Fred C. Stone. 



P.S. If any one of your readers wishes for 

 further particulars refer them to me. F. C. S. 



Great Gray Owl. 

 I had a (ireat Gray Owl come in to-day. It 

 was shot at Wells, Me., last week. I thought 

 you would like to know about it for the O. A O. 



E. P. Wonson. 

 Gloueester, Mass. 



New Publications. 



A new and revised edition of Lessons in Jlotany 

 by Alphonso Wood, has lately appeared from 

 the press of A. S. Barnes & Co. 'J'lie worth of 

 the old edition issued some 20 years ago is 

 well known to all stiulents and educators in 

 this science, and this revised edition cannot 

 fail to occupy a still higher place in the Bibli- 

 ography of Botony. It is especially adapted 

 to the young student as a primary stej) to the 

 study of the science in its advanced stages. 



