144 



THE OOLOGIST. 



two or three feet of him. As the last 

 one was lighting, the singer rattled off 

 his notes with great rapidity, and then 

 ceased. Immediately swelling his 

 feathers, he began walking around the 

 new comer, uttering a low peculiar 

 noise similar to that made by a' male 

 tame pigeon when woing its mate. A 

 slight noise made by me in endeavoring 

 tp get a better view of their actions, 

 caused both to take wing. Now how 

 can we account for this action? 



Do the male Whippoorwills thus call 

 the females to them, as do turkey gob- 

 blers? Or do they mate like Robins and 

 Blue Jays? 



Will the "Arkansaw Hoosier" or 

 some other observer note if the song 

 does not always cease after the quick 

 notes; and is not this an evidence of the 

 arrival of the female ? 



Let us hear from others on these 

 points. 



J. C. Elliott, 

 Swanwick, 111. 



A Better Report from Texas. 



While perusing the February number 

 of your publication I noticed an article 

 from the Lone Star State by Mr. J. H. 

 Strecker, Jr., ' of this city, which does 

 Texas an injustice, and I hope that you 

 will allow me the space in your very 

 valuable monthly to correct same and 

 give Texas a better "send off" than Mr. 

 Strecker, Jr., did. 



The gentleman's obsei - vations most 

 certainly were not very close, as he 

 names a very few of the feathered in- 

 habitants of this part of the country. 



Texas is a very rich ornithological 

 field and if his "niblets" will take a lit- 

 tle stroll up the Brazos and Bosque 

 rivers he will find something besides 

 "Turkey Buzzards" and "Field Larks," 

 for in my stroll I found in abundance 

 the Robin, Red Bird, Blue Bird, Black 

 Bird, Jay Bird, Blue Finch, Sparrow, 

 Dove, Wren, Quail, Prairie Chicken, 



Kildeer, Snipe, Plover, Ducks of many 

 varieties, Swallows, Crows, Geese, 

 White and Blue Crane, Pelican, Hawks 

 and Owls too numerous to mention. 

 Buzzard, Carrion, Crow, Chapparells, 

 Birds of Paradise, Wheat Bird, Snow 

 Bird, Field Lark, Woodpecker, Red- 

 head and other varieties, Martin, King 

 fisher, Humming Bird, Rain Crow, 

 Oriole, and the Mocking Bird. 



Not being an ornithologist am unable 

 to give the scientific name of our birds, 

 but their common names. 



Hoping to hear from other Texas cor- 

 respondents, I remain yours, 



Very truly, Ed. N. McDonald, 



Waco, Texas. 



Items of Interest from Florida- 



Fla. Blue Jay; a common bird here, 

 breed abundantly but the nests are 

 hard to find as they are always well 

 hidden in a bunch of moss. The most 

 common nesting site is in tall pines 

 about fifty feet from the ground. It 

 also nests in oak trees and orchards. 



Between April 13th and May 20th, 

 '89, I took fifteen nests, all except one 

 contained four fresh eggs. The color i s 

 a greenish ground rather evenly dotted 

 with bronish spots more numerous near 

 the large end. The average size 1.12 x 

 .65. 



Fla. Screech Owl; a common bird, 

 and a friend to man because it carries 

 on a relentless warfare against roaches 

 and vermin of all sorts. The 'Sereech- 

 er' begins nesting the last of March and 

 I have taken full sets on the 29th of 

 March, but fresh eggs may be found as 

 late as the 15th of April. The deserted 

 hole of the 'Flicker' is its faA'orite nest- 

 ing site, usually about ten feet from the 

 ground, but I have taken them as high 

 as fifty feet up. The full set is three 

 pure white eggs, nearly round, the 

 average size is 1.30 x 1.13. 



Fla. Nighthawk: this is a rather smal- 

 ler species than the northern bird, it 

 nests in the month of May; have taken, 



