June, 1881.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



29 



Ruby Throated Hummingbird. — {Trochi- 

 jUS colubris Linnceus.) Late in Septem- 

 ber, 1879, near noon, a gentleman brthugo 

 me a female of this bird, apparently quite 

 dead and limp, and with the tail feathers 

 all missing, rendering it imperfect. I re- 

 fused to mount it on account of its missing 

 appendage. The bird was left lying in a 

 large bay window, full of choice house- 

 plantSjin my place of business, upon a slop- 

 ing belt of damp green moss, surrounding 

 a fountain basin. The weather being quite 

 cool, necessitated a fire in the room. There 

 the bird lay and w^as forgotten for about 

 an hour and a half. When I picked it up? 

 quite damp from the spray, I was aston- 

 ished to see a sort of gasp. I could scarcely 

 believe my own eyes, since the bird had 

 been found lying upon his back under a 

 porch early that morning and was not no- 

 ticed until swept off. After a pause this 

 was repeated again and again. I placed the 

 bird in the sun, where these gasps gradu- 

 ually became quicker and softer, until 

 within an other hour, these approached 

 natural breathing, and soon after it could 

 be seen flying about the room uttering its 

 low chirp, while sipping nectar from the 

 many flowers; now and then it would come 

 to a button -hole bouquet in the lapel of my 

 coat. The next day being warmer, the 

 bird was given its freedom. 



I have had live birds of this species, of 

 both sexes, brought me on several occa- 

 sions, which would fly about the room and 

 feast on the flowering plants, as above, 

 never missing a button-bole bouquet or 

 flowers held in the hand by any one stand- 

 ing near, while quiet. 



The above remarkable incident was wit- 

 nessed by several prominent business men 

 and my family. — A. H. Mundt, Fairburv, IlJ. 



Great Auk. 

 A few months ago, the interest of orni- 

 thologists and oologists in the Great Auk 

 was again aroused by the discovery, in a 

 collection of eggs which had been sold for 

 a small sum by auction at Edinburgh, two 

 rather damaged specimens of the eggs of 



the Great Auk. The lucky purchaser sent 

 them to Stiven's Auction Rooms in Lon- 

 don, and they were sold, one for one hun- 

 dred pounds, and the other for one hun- 

 dred and two pounds. 



The late Mr. Proctor of Durham, went 

 to Iceland in 1833 and 1837, in search of 

 this bird, but was not able to find it, 

 though he stayed at Gramsey, a small 

 island forty miles north of the mainland. 

 There are in this neighborhood two speci- 

 mens of the bird, one in Durham and one 

 in Newcastle Museum. There are thirty- 

 four birds and about fifty eggs in various 

 European collections. Several years ago, 

 during the cleaning of the museum of the 

 Royal College of Sui'geons, London, a box 

 was discovered, and on examination it was 

 found to contain several eggs of the Great 

 Auk. 



In 1878 some caves were discovered near 

 Whitburn, a village on the coast of Dur 

 ham, in which were found a large quantity 

 of human and animal remains, among them 

 were several bones of the Great Auk. This 

 is the more interesting as only one authen- 

 ticated instance of the bird having occurred 

 in the neighborhood had before been re- 

 corded. — J. T. T. Reed, Ryhope, Durham 

 Co., England. 



Small Green-crested Flycatcher. — 

 Dates of the arrival of the Small Green- 

 crested Flycatcher {Empidonax acadicus) 

 for 25 years in Locke, Ingham Co., Michi- 

 gan. This species is a common summer 

 resident, but I have never found it breed- 



ing. The first one 

 taken May 3d, 1857 

 May 3, 1857 Apr. 

 Apr. 29, 1858 Apr. 

 May 2, 1859 Apr. 

 Apr. 21, 1860 May 

 Apr. 23, 1861 Apr. 

 Apr. 26, 1862 Apr. 

 Apr. 30, 1863 Apr. 

 May 5, 1864 May 

 Apr. 26, 1865 



ever met with here was 



28, 1866 May 

 30, 1867 May 



29, 1868 May 

 2, 1869 May 

 25, 1870 Apr. 

 29, 1871 Apr. 

 25, 1872 Apr. 

 4, 1873 Apr. 



Dr. H. a. 



5, 1874 



9, 1875 

 7, 1876 



10, 1877 



25, 1878 

 30, 1879 



26, 1880 

 24, 1881 



Atkins. 



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