92 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 6 



poles and pounding on the wire as it passes 

 over the glass insulation. The result is a loud 

 singing sound that can be heard a long dis- 

 tance. While the wire is vibrating they will 

 stretch out their necks or cock their lieads to 

 one side as if enjoying the sound hugely. 

 Sometimes several will be scattered along the 

 line "telegraphing" to each other. Any 

 resonant body will be selected on which to 

 " drum " as it is called, such as loose shingles 

 and tin coinices of houses, or hollow limbs 

 of ti-ees. I once saw one go so far as to light 

 in the stack of an old locomotive and sound 

 the key note of that. Geo. G. Cantwell. 



Lake Mills, Wis. 



Further Notes on the Cowbird, with 



Remarks on the Nesting of the 



Prothonotary Warbler at 



Quincy, Illinois. 



Until the season of 1S89 I had not been 

 aware that the Cowbird (3Iolothrns ater), ex- 

 cept on rare occasions, laid its eggs in Wood- 

 peckers' nests or similar cavities used as 

 nesting sites. 



During a two weeks' collecting trip to Lima 

 Lake in May, 1889, while searching for Warblers' 

 nests, and in particular those of Protonotaria 

 citrea. I found, out of some seventy or more 

 nests of this species examined, that no less 

 than eleven nests contained the egg or eggs of 

 this parasite. 



While usually these nests were in holes 

 more or less enlarged and not deei>, I noted 

 on two or three occasions that, while tlie Cow- 

 bird's eggs were in the nest the cavity was just 

 large enough to permit the Warbler to enter 

 and apparently too small for the Cowbird. It 

 is also chai'acteristic of this Warbler to re- 

 main close about the nest at all times to avoid 

 being deprived of their home by some neigh- 

 boring pair, for there are more birds than 

 nesting places in the localities searched. 



On several t)ccasions a hole would contain 

 a nest and frcsli eggs with still another nest 

 built on top of it, also ct)ntaining eggs, thus 

 showing that some pair liad driven off the lirst 

 occupants. Several of these two-story nests 

 which I brought home with me got somewhat 

 crushed in packing, and the eggs were found 

 broken within tliem. 



Still another nest was found, in which two 

 females had laid, contained nine eggs wliich 

 were of two different typos and piled up on 

 top of each other. Both females were near 



and they appeared quarrelsome during the 

 time I watched them. 



On this trip I found one nest of the Ken- 

 tucky Warbler containing but a single Cow- 

 bird's egg which the female was patiently 

 incubating. (There was one chipped egg of 

 the Warbler on the ground near the nest.) I 

 passed the nest daily for a week, each time 

 flushing the female at close quarters, and 

 Anally I destroyed the egg, which was then 

 nearly hatched, and took the nest. Another 

 remarkable instance was reported to me by my 

 friend George L. Toppan, Esq. of Chicago, 

 Illinois. In this case the Cowbird had 

 deposited its egg in the nest of a Cliff Swallow. 



Otho C. Poling. 

 Fort Huacliuca, Arizona. 



Are the Changes in the Common 

 Names by the A. O.U. Popular? 



FAV015S THE OLD. 



Editor of O. <£• O.: 



In A^jril number of O. & O. youi- request an 

 expression of preference in regard to old and 

 new names of four birds. 534 has always been 

 known here as Snowflake, so I like the change. 

 The other names I prefer as they formerly 

 were. One name may sound more pleasing 

 than anotlier. My neiglibor's name is "Sam," 

 should I call him "Ben" every one would 

 laugh. J. W. P. -Perm. 



APPRECIATES EXPRESSION OF POPULAR OPINION. 



Editor- of O. & O.: 



Your invitation in April number for a pop- 

 ular vote on tlie names of the four birds men- 

 tioned, renders good service to ornithology. 

 Beginning with the Snow Bunting, A. O. U. 

 5;»4, the change of the name to Snowflake does 

 not ajipear to me a change for the better in 

 any way. In the flrst place the old name 

 Snow Bunting is the generally accepted one 

 both in America and Britisli Islands. A bird 

 with a common name so well established, it 

 seems to me, should retain it. Altliough it is 

 often called Snowflake, the flrst name is the 

 one by which it is most widely known and 

 always has been. Considering the difficulty 

 often of understanding what bird is meant by 

 its common name, it is better to keep the one 

 most used or established, especially when such 

 name is tlie best descriptive one. The name 

 Snowflake might not be nlways understood to 

 mean a bird, which Bunting always does. 

 The bird itself cannot be fairly compared to a 



