26 



THE OOLOGIST. 



of gettinig a set ibut no eggs were ever 

 laid in either. 



Messrs. Jackson and Sharpies of 

 West Chester, paid me a visit the first 

 of June. We found some good sets 

 and Mr. Jackson got some -good pho- 

 tos in situ of a numher of nests in- 

 cluding Junco, Bobolink, Savana Spar- 

 row, Solitary Vireo, Chestnut-sided 

 Warbler and best of all the Mourning 

 Warbler. Two nests of the Mourning 

 Warbler were found but for some rea- 

 son the female was sitting on one 

 egg at the first nest, but the second 

 nest contained a fine set of four and 

 excellent views were taken of it. Mr. 

 Jackson was well pleased with this 

 find, as one of the oibjects of his trip 

 was to study up the Mourner, which 

 is a rather uncommon s'U'm'mer resi- 

 dent here. We also found two pairs 

 of the Olive-sided Flycatchers, a very 

 rare bird in this state and seldom 

 noted even as a migrant. By watch- 

 ing the .birds both nests were found. 

 One of these nests was deserted, but 

 later on I secured the other and a 

 handsome set of three eggs. It was 

 fully 12 feet out on the horizontal 

 limb of a young hemlock and I had 

 much trouble in scooping them safe- 

 ly. Both old birds were very bold 

 and repeatedly came within a few 

 feet of my head. A few pairs of Pi- 

 leated Woodpeckers were nesting, 

 but as there is so much wild land and 

 the birds roam about so it is a hard 

 matter to find the nesting site. I al- 

 so noted several pairs of YellowJbel- 

 lied about during the summer. Be- 

 sides these mentioned I found nests 

 or Hairy Woodpecker, Hummer, Rough- 

 winged Swallow,. Warbling Vireo, Yel- 

 low-throated Vireo, Parula, • Black- 

 throated Blue, Magnolia Warblers and 

 a lot of common stuff. Got a nice 

 male Carolina Wren Sept. 29th, a bird 

 seldom seen this far north. 



This winter bird life is rather 



scarce. Besides the few common win- 

 ter residents, a few flocks of Am. 

 Crossbills and Pine Finches are 

 about. A Snowy Owl was shot a few 

 days ago. No water fowl have ap- 

 peared as yet, the river is too open 

 and slushy. A number of bear were 

 killed this fall. One fellow got eight, 

 another 5. A friend borrowed a bear 

 trap of mine and landed a 250 lb. bear 

 in a few days near the big timber on 

 Four Mile. 



At present I have four or five pairs 

 or Horned Owls spotted, also several 

 very large nests and hope to land a 

 set or two soon. , 



, Wishing you a prosperous year, I 

 remain, 



Yours sincerely, 



R. B. SIMPSON, 

 ^ Warren, Pa. 



The Biota of the San Bernardino 

 Mountains. 



JOS. GRINNELL, 1908. 



Univ. of Calif. Zool., Vol. II, No. 1, 

 comprising 170 pp., 2 colored maps 

 and 24 plates, showing 31 fine half- 

 tones, $2.0-0. 



One of the most readable and valu- 

 able biological lists the Editor has 

 seen. Chapters on the Plants, Birds, 

 Animals and Reptiles; Colored Life 

 Zone maps and a fine series of illus- 

 trations . 



Of special interest to readers of the 

 Oologist are the articles on Town- 

 send's Solitaire, Sierra Creeper, Gray 

 Flycatcher and Dwarf Flammulated 

 Screech Owl and the plates showing 

 colony of Cliff Swallows nesting on a 

 pine tree near Bear Lake. 



ERNEST H. SHORT. 



GREBES. 



These birds are all water-fowl, ex- 

 pert swimmers and divers, and known 

 locally as Waterhen, Dab-chick, Hell- 

 diver, etc. 



The most common and widely dis- 



