44 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. G. 



ORNITHOLO&IST aiiJ OOLO&IST. 



A. MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE STUDY 

 OF BIKDS, THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



JOS. 31. WADE, 

 S. L. WILLABD, 



Editor 

 Ass't Editor 



With the co-operation of able Ornithological 

 Writers an<l Collectors. 



Subscription. — 'i.oo per annum Foreign 

 subscription ^'i 25 including postage Specimen 

 copies 10 cents each 



JOS. 31. WADE, 



Norwich, Conn. 



Entered at the Norwich P. O. as second-class matter. 



EDITORIAL. 



Rare Finds. 



During the present season (1881) quite 

 a number of rare sets have been found and 

 added to various collections throughout 

 the country. Among them are a set ox four 

 of the Saw-whet Owl {Nyctale acadica) 

 by Mr. W. Perham, Tyngsboro, Mass., 

 (see Nuttall Bulletin., page 143) One set 

 of five of the same by Capt. Chas. Bendire, 

 at Camp Harney, Oregon. Also, several 

 sets of Scops asio which if not Kinnecot- 

 ti or MaxwellicB, may prove a new variety. 

 Mr. Fred. T. Jencks was fortunate in se- 

 curing several sets of Kentucky, Worm- 

 eating Prothonotary, and other rare 

 Warblers. He also found three nests of 

 the Black-crested Tituuuse, but they were 

 in trees too large for any ordinary climber. 

 He not only saw them building their nests, 

 but watched them almost daily until the 

 young were able to fly. This was in the 

 heavy timber of Southern Indiana. Mr. 

 James C. Merrill, M. D., stationed at Fort 

 Custer, Montana, secured some very rare 

 sets although working to great disadvan- 

 tage in various ways, preventing his reach- 

 ing the desired breeding grounds until late 

 in the season. We connot do better than 

 make an extract from Mr. Merrill's letter : 

 "I found a superb set of eight fresh Iieg\i- 

 lus calendula [Ruby-Crowned Kinglet], 

 one set of five Dendroeca auduhoni [Audu- 

 bon's Warbler], one addled e^g in a nest- 



full of young of Parus rnontanus [Moun- 

 tain Chickadee], ^gg pure white, vide Ben- 

 dire, Belding and Brewer ; Sphyrapi- 

 cus nuchalis^ one set of five ; Jutico, prob- 

 ably annectmus., five eggs ; female sent to 

 Mr. Ridgway for identification. Also, four 

 sets Pipilo arcticus [Northern Towhee] 

 and Ganace richardsoni [Richardson's 

 Grouse]. Eggs of Sphyrapicus and 

 Junco are, I think undescribed, though I 

 have not yet had time to look this up. 

 Found several pairs of Harlequin Ducks 

 breeding, but could not find their nests, 

 which were doubtless in hollow trees. All 

 were found almost exactly on the Montana- 

 Wyoming boundary line. All the above 

 were breeding abundantly, and if next year 

 I can have five or six weeks in the same lo- 

 cality I know that I can do splendidly, as 

 I am now familiar with the ground. I re- 

 gret exceedingly my poverty in duplicates, 

 as I hoped, and expected to be able, to 

 make many exchanges." 



Birds of the Hudson Highlands. 



The six parts of Dr. Mearns's "List of 

 the Birds of the Hudson Highlands," that 

 have been published in the "Bulletin of the 

 Essex Institute," at intervals from 1878 to 

 the present time, carry the subject to the 

 Quail ( Ortyx virginianus) and will, when 

 completed, be one of the best of the many 

 local lists that have appeared from time to 

 time in different parts of the country. In- 

 teresting field notes are given and much 

 scientific value is found in the compara- 

 tive tables of measurements of more than 

 nineteen hundred (1900) specimens that 

 the author has collected in the Highlands. 



Addition to the R. I. Fauna. 



Messrs. Southwick & Jencks of Provi- 

 dence, R. I., received July 27, to be mount- 

 ed, a fine specimen of Caspian Tern (fe- 

 male) which measured twenty-one inches 

 in length and fifty inches in alar extent. 

 It was shot by Mr. J. B. Dunn at Wester- 

 ly, R. I. 



