216 



THE OOLOGIST. 



ing the other songsters, which it does 

 with great energy and accent. 



Mrs. Lillie Pleas, 

 Clinton, Ark. 



A Timely Letter. 



Editor Oologist: — A young advertiser 

 in your columns recently sent me a 

 mixed lot of Tern eggs, marked with 

 ink, most of the holes i inch in diame- 

 ter; most of the holes chipped, and data 

 partial and imperfect) I notified 

 sender to forward postage for their re- 

 turn. They are still on my hands. 

 The joke of it is that the young gentle- 

 men wanted once-and-a-half their value 

 in nice specimens. 



Another advertiser to whom I sent 

 for a series of E. S. eggs forwarded fif- 

 teen specimens, nicety selected, indeed, 

 but with the holes in most of them at 

 least as large, by actual measure, as the 

 holes in the Murre eggs which I sent 

 him in exchange. I remonstrated with 

 the following reply. "I know the holes 

 were large, but that doesn't hinder the 

 eggs being first-class." Now will you 

 kindly say to this young person, and to 

 all his genius, that with a large class of 

 -careful and fastidious collectors it does 

 make a difference, a great deal of dif- 

 ference. 



A third advertiser has presented the 

 best joke of all. A much grey speckled 

 egg of English Sparrow, well blown; 

 and marked as follows, in pencil: — "E. 

 S. — 8-5." Now some body has written 

 in ink, above the hole the number 85, 

 and sent out the egg as that of the 

 Nashville Warbler. A better example 

 of ignorance and impudence kissing 

 each other was never seen — even in the 

 collection of an ornithologist. 



Your paper has done much for young 

 Oologists, will it not add another favor 

 by way of warning them against the 

 tricksters that are prostituting orni- 

 thology for gain? And will you not 

 emphasize the fact that large drill holes 



save where incubation is nearly com- 

 plete are unnecessary, unsightly, slov- 

 enly? I hereby pledge myself to hold 

 tor postage and return all received spec- 

 imens prepared thus, unless by special 

 arrangement and I trust that all who 

 feel as I do in this matter will send 

 their names to the Oologist for publi- 

 cation so that any of you egg-collecting 

 fellows that are too lazy to drill small 

 and smooth blow-holes and rinse thor- 

 oughly, may give us a wide berth. You 

 dont want anything to do with us un- 

 less you decide to turn cranky and join 

 our army. In the cause of honest and 

 careful oology I beg to remain 



Yours very sincerely 



P. B. Peabody 

 [Every true oologist will enroll him- 

 self in Bro. P.'s brigade. Ed.] 



No. 



Western Eobin. 



761a, Merula migratoria prwpin- 

 qua, Ridgw. 



Habitat. — Western United States, Pa- 

 cific Coast, from Mexico northward. 



This species is very abundant, and 

 from this fact I judge not much ap- 

 pears in print, concerning it. However 

 it is an interesting bird It brings to 

 us the balmy spring days and awakens 

 us from our winter slumbers, with 

 thoughts of the near approach of nest- 

 ing season, and we proceed to prepare 

 for work. 



The Western Robin is a resident of 

 Oregon the entire year, and the largest 

 numbers are seen during winter or the 

 rainy season. 



They congregate in large numbers in 

 the fall (generally about November), 

 near some small stream lined with 

 bushes and trees, and from my observa- 

 tion, remain there the whole w r inter. 



In the morning early they may be 

 seen leaving these roosting places, and 

 spreading out to feed for the day, re- 

 turning again about five or six o'ciock 



