14 



THE OOLOGIST. 



the "Colony" again but the pair had. 

 deserted the locality. 



Although the Yellow-bellied Wood- 

 pecker is a fairly common migrant it 

 rarely breeds in Western New York 

 therefore the taking of a set of their 

 eggs here would have been of unusual 

 interest. 



Potter Swamp is our main collecting 

 ground. We have hunted along its 

 edges, explored its jungles and went 

 astray several times. At the south end 

 the rookery uf the Great Blue Heron 

 looms up in the highest ash tree and 

 near here we have taken sets of the 

 American Bittern, Rails and Marsh 

 Hawks. Farther on we come to the 

 "Woodpecker Colony" and it is near 

 here that the Scarlet Tanagers, Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeaks and Maryland Yel- 

 low-throats breed. There is much to 

 learn of the "avi fauna" in its sylvan 

 retreats, therefore you may again hear 

 from yours truly, C. F. Stone, 



Branchport, N. Y. 



The Passeng^er Pigeon. 



Among the birds becoming rarer 

 each year is the Passenger Pigeon {Ec- 

 topistes migratorious), especially so in 

 Minnesota. On the twenty-first of 

 June. '95, it being a very bright day, I 

 took my kodak and wandered out in 

 the woods back of what is known as 

 Oak Park, in Minneapolis. I was sit- 

 ting on a log near the outer edge of the 

 woods, listlessly thinking. Imagine 

 my surprise when a Passenger Pigeon 

 alighted on a limb not twenty feet from 

 where I was sittting, It did not stay 

 there long however, but flew farther 

 into the woods. I followed the course 

 it took as nearly as possible, examining 

 every tree carefully. I had probably 

 gone about two hundred vards when I 

 found the mate upon its nest, which 

 was situated in a red oak tree. 



The nest was unusually high, being 

 about twenty feet up, in the fork of a 



horizontal limb. It was a very frail 

 structure, consisting of v.. few long 

 sticks, not quite as large as a clay pipe 

 stem, on which were placed still small- 

 er sticks, also two gi-een leaves. It 

 had one very badly incubated egg in it, 

 which was pure white and nearly oval. 



After marking the spot I went home 

 for a shot gun to procure the birds. I 

 got the female and egg and consider it 

 one of the richest finds of the season. 



I have not read or heard of the Pas- 

 senger Pigeon being reported breeding- 

 in this state for several years, and am 

 almost positive there has not been a set 

 taken in Hennepin county within the- 

 last three years. 



On dissecting the bird I found the- 

 stomach contained three acorns, sever- 

 al grains of wheat, also a number of 

 white berries. 



As near as I can learn (in former 

 years) about the fifth of April is the 

 time of their arrival and they have 

 principally left the country by the first 

 of November, although individual birds 

 remain as long as the abundance of: 

 food is uncovered by snow. 



Oliver V. Jones, 

 MinneapoliSj Minn. 



The Wheaton Ornitholog-ical Club. 



On the evening of Oct. 14, 1896, at. 

 the Ohio State University, Columous, 

 O., a club was organized for the pur- 

 pose of systematic study and research 

 in ornithology and oology. Fifteen 

 names of professors and students were 

 enrolled at the first meeting and the 

 future of the society looks very prom- 

 ising. Raymond C. Osburn was elected 

 president, E. B. Williamson vice-presi- 

 dent and J. B. Parker secretary for the 

 ensuing year. 



The club was named in honor of the 

 late Dr. J. M. Wheaton, of Columbus, 

 whose extensive collections of skins- 

 and eggs he bequeathed to the univer- 

 sity. 



