Aug. 



1890.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



L27 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGlST.^^OdL0GIST 



A. Monthly Magazine of 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF 



BIPIIDS, 



THEIR NESTS AND E(50S, 



and to the 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS. 



Under the Editorial ManaKement of 



FUAXK ]?. WEHSTER, 

 J. rAUKEIl NORRIS, 

 FRANK A. HATES, 



Boston, Mass. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



Bo-ston, Mass. 



PUBLISHED AT 



FRANK B. WEBSTER'S 



N A T U R A L I S T S' S U P T L Y DEPOT, 



Bo.sTON, Mass., U. S. A. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every paid sub- 

 scriber. If you fail to receive it. notify us. 



EditoriaL 



Plain English. 



In tlie future we sliall drop the scientific 

 names, usinj? only the best common names and 

 the A. O. U. numbers except in exceptional 

 cases. We believe this course will save mnch 

 valuable space. This putting- into execution an 

 old threat will no doubt cause intense suffering 

 on the part of a few ; we weep for them ; but it is 

 better that a few should suffer for the good of 

 many. We suggest to some of our friends who 

 have found such relief in the shortening of a 

 few common names with which they were 

 familiar from the time they could first lisp, 

 if they will follow our example and let up on 

 the Latin names, whose mutilated corpses so 

 Ijelabor their comnmnications, they will find 

 still more relief and show less evidence of an 

 uphill struggle. 



The numbers given by the A. O. IT. mean 

 something or nothing, and at least for the 

 present we will make the most of them. 



Brief Notes. 



A ninnber who delayed sendiii;;- for Capen's Oology 

 until after the time for the advance in jiriie may con- 

 gratulate tlicniselves on getting it at all. Those who 

 have obtained it from us received the benefit of a spec- 

 ial arrangement, the regular price being $15. 



Harry (Gordon White, of the U. S. Fish Commission, 

 Woods Holl, Mass, is engaged in the study of the mor- 

 phology of the head in theSternida>, and would be pleased 

 to correspond with any person having embryological 

 material for exchange. The later stages of embryos of 

 sea-birds and reptiles are particularly desired. 



We still have some copies of Davies' work, and con- 

 tinue the offer of June. This opportunity to obtain a 

 work so useful to ornithologists, at cost price, shouicl 

 not be overlooked. 



During the Orand Army parade in this city on the 

 12th, while passing our office, which took tliem over 

 five hours, a little English Sparrow, who had a nest on 

 an opposite window, continued her maternal duties, 

 quite oblivious of the stir below. 



On the same occasion the City Hall had in quite a 

 l)rom)nent position a large brassy eagle, decorated with 

 a vermilion beak. The design must have been sug- 

 gested l)y the beaks of many of the officials. 



A. W. Purcell, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has received 

 from the Rocky Mountains two heads of the Rocky 

 Mountain Ooat and one of the Sheep, which will on 

 exhibition prove to be the largest specimens ever shown 

 to the Lower Provinces, if not to the Ui)per Canadas, 

 from the Rockies. "Anon," Halifax. 



One of the new signs on our Museum building is a 

 rei)r()ductiou in colors of the Fish Hawk on our cover 

 page. We were a little chagrinned as well as amused a 

 few mornings since in overhearing a conversation 

 betwet- n two sisters from the Emerald Isle, in which 

 one explained it to the other as " Sure and it wuz th 

 Carrier Pigeon with th' mail." 



While on a fishing excursion down the Susquehanna 

 I saw a beautiful pair of Bald Eagles between Wyalus- 

 ing and Saceyville. They probably breed there, as I 

 have seen them in that vicinity for the last three 

 years. I failed to get a shot at them. I also saw what 

 I supposed to be two young Eagles ; they were of a 

 uniform dark color and very large. Screech Owls were 

 plenty at night. Noticed one J Wood Duck. Green 

 Heron very common, and a few Mourning Doves. C. 

 W. Kucker, Athens, Pa. 



A few days since one of our snakes succeeded in 

 getting out. As we do not wish to be accused of any 

 fancy snake stories we will merely deal out from the 

 Boston Globe. 



Snake Didn't Rain Down.— Washington Street 

 Passers Alarmed and Amused.— The unexpected 

 appearance of a healthy looking black snake upon the 

 pavement in front of .395 Washington street, immed- 

 iately after this morning's heavy shower, caused for a 

 time no little speculation and alarm to a good-sized 

 crowd of spectators. 



The swiftly falling raindrops, driven by the brisk 

 wind at a slant of 40 degrees, kept the attention of 

 most pedestrians busily fixed upon their umbrellas, 

 and but for a leaky pair of shoes upon a very tall man 

 carrying a very small umbrella, his snakeship would 

 most likely have been trod on. 



The tall stranger with the perforated cowhides was 

 seen to look down carefully on the pavement, as if to 

 avoid a puddle, and then suddenly halt. An agonized 

 look spread over his face, then he uttered a good war- 

 whooj) of the first-class, at the same time flinging his 

 unilirella to the winds and leaping a good three feet 

 into tlie air. 



When he came down his feet were fully four feet 

 apart, and he continued yelling like an Indian. 



