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THE OOLOGIST 



of this species, containing one egg in 

 a juniper bush about six inches from 

 the ground. Three days later it held 

 only three blue eggs being considered 

 a set. This is the latest date I have 

 found this bird breeding, nests usual- 

 ly being found during the latter part 

 of May. 

 George E. Gerald, Toronto, Canada. 



From One Who is Game. 



WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



I suppose that all the Ornitholog- 

 ists and Oologists in North America 

 well know this Nuthatch, top of the 

 head and front part of the back shin- 

 ing black; rest of the upper parts 

 bluish gray; inner secondaries bluish 

 gray, marked with black, wing cov- 

 erts and quills tipped with whitish; 

 outer tail feathers black with white 

 patches near their tips; middle ones 

 bluish gray; sides of the head and 

 under parts whiter; lower belly and 

 under tail coverts mixed with rufous. 

 The female is similar but the black 

 of the head and back vailed by bluish 

 gray. 



His way of providing food for him- 

 self and the nestlings is different 

 from the other birds. He flies to the 

 top of a tree and works his way down 

 to secure the eggs and various larvae 

 of insects and in this way is a great 

 preserver of our forests. 



I would like to know whether any 

 ornithologists or oologists had any 

 such experience as I have had on 

 April 28th, 1892, in nearby Sherkston, 

 Canada, — closely watching a male 

 Nuthatch, I finally located his home 

 in a basswood tree in a horizontal 

 limb about fifty feet from the ground. 

 It was a terrible climb, but I finally 

 got there. By bringing out those 

 pretty eggs, I also to my astonish- 

 ment brought out a Cow-bird's egg. 

 I have often taken the Cowbird's egg 

 in other nests, but all near the 



ground, for instance with the Yellow 

 Warbler, Hooded Warbler, etc., but 

 never fifty feet from the ground. 1 

 have taken another large set of seven 

 on May 10th. 1904, in Tonawanda 

 Swamp- about fifty miles from Buf- 

 falo. 



This swamp has been drained late- 

 ly and the nesting site of the Great 

 Blue Heron destroyed, which could 

 have been saved as a State Reserva- 

 tion at a very small cost. 



— Written by Edward Reinecke 

 shortly before he died. 



1915. 



With this issue, we close our la- 

 bors on THE OOLOGIST for the 

 year, and before doing so, we wish to 

 thank all of our friends who have 

 stood so loyally by The Oologist dur- 

 ing the past twelve months. 



It has been no little satisfaction to 

 know that at the time of our mis- 

 fortune, the good friends of this little 

 magazine rallied as one man to its 

 support. The Oologist during 1915 

 has not been what we would have de- 

 sired it, but it has been far better 

 than in many other years. It could 

 not have been as good as it was, had 

 it not been for our friends. To those 

 who have helped us make The Oolo- 

 gist in the last year, we feel under 

 deep obligations. 



1916. 



During the ensuing year The Oolo- 

 gist will be the same Oologist that it 

 has been in the years that have 

 passed, except we hope to make it 

 better with each issue. We have de- 

 termined to more closely group the 

 various articles relating to different 

 members of the bird family each 

 month than we have been able to do 

 in the past. This will be possible 

 only if our contributors will send us 

 an ample supply of copy. It really 



