THE OOLOGIST. 



15 



"Wolverine Naturalist," we answer 

 with the old saying "the good die 

 young." 



Mr. C. Tunisou, of New York, asks: 

 "Could you suggest to me some local- 

 ity in the vicinity of New York City to 

 which I could go this coming spring 

 that would be a good place to collect 

 eggs in? especially those eggs of water 

 birds that breed inland." 



A peculiar incidence of adoption was 

 noticed and spoken about by many of 

 our town people last winter. During 

 the whole winter a small bird resem- 

 bling closely the Yellow-headed Black- 

 bird, made it his home with a flock of 

 English Sparrows, and most any day 

 could be seen with them about the 

 streets. 



Speaking of this peculiar incident 

 brings to my mind another. Last 

 spring a flock of Sparrows came regu- 

 larly to our hen park to feed with the 

 chickens. Among their number was a 

 bird having exactly the same appear- 

 ance of a Sparrow, accept being of a 

 dark blood red color. Now to what 

 species did this individual belong? I 

 secured him anh have him in my col- 

 lection. 



Geo. L. Thornton, 

 Alma, Mich. 

 . [Last winter a young male Cowbird 

 stopped with its foster parents, the 

 Sparrows, in our back yard. — Ed.] 



F. C. V., Topeka, Kans. From col- 

 lectors who have "been there" we learn 

 that three eggs usually, if not almost 

 always, constitute a full set of the Wil- 

 son's Plover. The collector you men- 

 tion as taking sets of four we do not 

 consider strictly reliable, for we have 

 known him to continually and persist- 

 ant^ send out the eggs of Wilson's 

 Plover for those of the Piping after he 

 had been informed of his error. 



H. B. A., Gibbon, Neb., writes: 

 "While out for a walk this season I 

 discovered the nest of. an American 

 Goldfinch placed in a crotch of an apple 

 tree. In this nest, which was built as 

 usual, I found first at the bottom an 

 egg of the Cowbird, over this a heavy 

 lining and on this a set of the Gold- 

 finch. I allowed these to remain. 

 Those of the Goldfinch were incubated, 

 but that of Cowbird did not, probably 



due to unusual amount of lining." 



N. L. Davis, Broekport, N. Y., says: 

 "On September 19th, I received a 

 woodchuck to be mounted. Its fur was 

 finer than others of the same species 

 and black as jet all over. Can anyone 

 give me a reason why it is so black? It 

 is quite a curiosity." 



[Taxidermist Kibbe, of Mayville, N. 

 Y., had a fine black woodchuck in his 

 collection last August, when we had 

 the pleasure of inspecting it. — Ed.] 



In writing of frequently hearing of 

 "an egg within an egg" of the domestic 

 fowl, A. B. F.,Bennings, D. C, says: 



"I once found a eantalope seed im- 

 bedded in an egg partly in the white 

 and part in the yolk. The fowls had 

 been eating over ripe and cracked mel- 

 ous, but how it came in such a plac e 

 puzzles me yet." 



B. S. B., Phelps, N. Y., comments as 

 follows: 



"In the April Oologist, E. S, G. in 

 an article on "Queer nidification," asks 

 a question which I have never seen an- 

 swered. I therefore offer a possible ex- 

 planation. I do not believe there was 

 any third party to the Crow's nest, un- 

 less he saw two on the nest. Sets of 8 

 eggs of the Crow, while not common, 

 have been found. I took a set of 8 

 from a nest in a piece of woods where 

 there were no Crows but the one pair. 

 I also know of a nest of 8 young being 

 found, where the young were fed by 

 but two old birds. In sets of Crows' 

 eggs, as in others incubation is liable to 

 vary very much, so the nest which he 

 found may have had but a single female 

 parent, especially if the young it con- 

 tained had but just hatched." 



"Elanus," Augusta, Ga. Queries as 

 follows, who can answer? 



1st. Why is the name interpres ap- 

 plied to the turnstone, why is it a "go- 

 between?" 



2nd. I have in my collection a duck 

 which puzzles me considerably, it is a fe- 

 male. It is undoubtedly one of the Ftd- 

 igince. The description is as follows: 

 Crown of head, chin, a large patch on 

 each side of the neck and the whole 

 upper parts, including the fore breast, 

 slaty-gray. Rest of head, neck and 

 under parts, white; lining of Avings and 



