82 



THE OOLOGIST. 



depositing their eggs in the nests of 

 other and smaller representatives of the 

 feathered tribe.' 



This yarn has been going about the 

 Cuckoo for many years and some people 

 have supposed that it applied to the 

 American bird; and such cases may 

 have happened on either side of the 

 Atlantic, but it is not the custom with 

 either bird in this country. 



The female of the Cow Blackbird, 

 Red-winged Blackbird and Bobolink 

 differ so much from the male in appear- 

 ance that many people have wondered 

 when they found nests of these 

 birds with the female on the eggs. The 

 writer has seen scores of nests of the 

 Cow Blackbird, sometimes three or f oni- 

 on one willow overhanging the Missis- 

 sippi river, where the birds were so 

 numerous and tame that they would 

 often ride on the same. log with a man 

 and pick off insects that were exposed 

 by the log being rolled over." 



January Prize Article Contest- 

 Owe hundred and seven (107) Judges 

 sent in their decisions as to the merits 

 of the articles in January Oologist. 

 In determining the results of these 107 

 • decisions we allowed the articles named 

 by each judge, credits as follows: The 

 articles named as deserving the 1st 

 prize we allowed live credits^ 2d prize, 

 four credits; 3d prize, three credits; 4th 

 prize, two credits; and the 5th prize, 

 one credit. 



Upon this system of credits, the arti- 

 cles winning the prizes and the number 

 of credits received by each were as fol- 

 lows: 



1. Bird Nesting in North-west Can- 

 475. 

 Two Birds of Western Kansas. 



ada 



2. 

 280. 



3. 



4. 



5 



The Bronzed Grakle. 253. 

 The Blue Grosbeak. 244. 

 Summer Tanager. 155. 

 Seven other articles received credits 

 ranging from 7 to 67 each. 



All future awards will be made on 

 the same credit system. 



The decisions of the 107 Judges were 

 numbered from 1 to 107, consecutively, 

 as received. Three of these lists or 

 decisions were exactly as the awards 

 were made and to these three were 

 awarded the Judges prizes. The earliest 

 list taking 1st prize; second, 2d prize; 

 third, 3d prize. 



The successful Judges and the num- 

 ber of their decisions as received by us 

 were as follows: 



1. Geo. H. Gray, Baltimore, Md. 

 No. 16. 



2. R. M. Miller, New Chester, Pafj 

 No. 38. 



3. Frank H. Shoemaker, Hampton, 

 Iowa. No. 101. 



All prizes were mailed the succesful 

 winners on March 7th. 



"No~o Ma'am 1-1 d-d-on't w-want any 

 b-b-irds." 



The above is a reduced fac simile of 

 one of "Lattin's" valentines; it most 

 faithfully portrays his prowers as a 

 sportsman. 



The following from W. Raine is self- 

 explanatory: "In answer to numerous 

 enquiries as to when "Bird-Nesting in 

 North-west Canada" will be out I wish 

 to inform subscribers that the book is 

 now being printed as rapidly as possi- 

 ble, and that this delay cannot be avoid- 

 ed.. The twenty plates of Birds' Nests, 

 Prairie, Swamp Scenes, Indian Camps, 

 etc., have taken considerable time to 

 execute, and it has been decided to 

 color the plates of Birds' Eggs by hand, 

 which is a slow and expensive process." 



"Our Birds in Their Haunts." 



A letter from our Friend Langille ad- 

 vises ms to again extend the* time for 

 receiving subscriptions at only $1.60 to 

 the new edition of this valuable work, 

 till April 1st, after which date the price 

 will positively be $2.50. 



A sufficient number of subscribers 

 has been received to guarantee the pub- 

 lication of the work and he expects to 

 have it out by May 1st. 



