48 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 6. 



mice, squirrels and otlier small game. 

 There is but little known respecting the 

 nesting habits of this bird. The only re- 

 liable account I can find is given by Mr. 

 Lord, as quoted above. So far as I can learn, 

 the eggs have been found three times, and 

 are described as white, spherical and granu- 

 lated. 



Length, 6.8-5-7.50 ; alar extent, 14.00- 

 15.50 ; bill, cere and feet, greenish yellow ; 

 eyes, yellow ; facial disk, imperfect ; no 

 ear-tufts ; spot before the eye and extend- 

 ing over it, white. Upper parts, browish 

 with small circular spots of dull white,more 

 numerous on the head ; a partially con- 

 cealed collar of white on the back of the 

 neck, succeeded by another of black ;. throat, 

 white ; breast, mottled brown ; under parts, 

 white, with irregiilar longitudinal stripes 

 of dark brown ; wings and tail, dark brown, 

 with a row of round white spots on each 

 feather, largest on inner webs ; tarsi, thick- 

 ly feathered ; toes, covered with hair ; claws, 

 sharp and much curved. 



The Pigmy Owl. — We find the following 

 interesting note upon this bird by C. A. 

 Allen, in the Nultall niithological JBulle- 

 tin : — 



August 13, 1877, about dusk, I heard 

 near the house a great fuss among a lot of 

 Brewer's Blackbirds, which had nested in a 

 small clump of red-woods near by. On ap- 

 proaching the place a bird flew out to which 

 all the blackbirds gave chase. When all 

 had settled in a red- wood tree near by, I 

 saw a Pigmy Owl sitting on a limb — the 

 cause of all the noise. I had my gun 

 brought to me and shot the Owl, which 

 proved to be a female. Again on July 8, 

 1878, at nine o'clock, a. m., I heard a dis- 

 turbance among the Blackbirds in the same 

 clump of trees, and, suspecting the cause, 

 took my gun and went to see what was the 

 matter. On approaching the place, a lot 

 of birds of different species flew out, and 

 among them a Pigmy Owl, which after 

 much trouble, I shot as it was flying over 

 some low bushes ; this one was a male. 

 There were fighting the Owl one pair of 



Arkansas Flycatchers, one pair of Bullock's 

 Orioles, one pair of Bewick's Wrens, three 

 Ground Tits ( Chamcea^fasciata), one pair of 

 Pipilo oregonus, one pair of P. crisalis, 

 and about twenty Brewer's Blackbirds. 

 The bravest birds of the troop were Be- 

 wick's Wren and Bullock's Oriole, who kept 

 darting at the Owl's head as it sat on the 

 ground devouring a young Blackbird. I 

 have seen a Pigmy Owl dart down and lift a 

 chipping squirrel with ease and carry it off. 

 Wm. Wood, M. D. 



Collectors. 



John H. Sage, Portland, Conn., has spent 

 a brief season at the Lakes, in the state of 

 Maine, and he is now preparing notes for 

 a future number of our journal. 



Capt. Chas. Bendire has collected the 

 present season about two hundred and 

 sixty eggs of the Burrowing Owl, and has 

 given to them an amount of care and 

 thought, seldom devoted to one bird. The 

 result is an exhaustive article on the life 

 history of this Owl which will be foxuid on 

 the first page of our present issue. 



Wm.Fred T. Jencks of Providence, R. I.. 

 has returned from his three months' collect- 

 ing trip in Lidiana, with some rare sets of 

 Warblers' eggs, and over five hundred 

 Warblers' skins. What Mr. J. does is well 

 done, and his data can always be relitd en. 



Chas. F. Goodhue of Webster, N. H., has 

 spent the season with Dolos Hatch of Oak 

 Centre, Wis., and their success was some- 

 thing remarkable. It was not a question 

 of how many they cou.ld find, but of how 

 many they could prepare, taking in one 

 day three hundred and twenty eggs. 



Fred. Corey, Santa Paula, Cal., writes 

 that he collected ninety eggs of fifteen 

 varieties in about six hours. What a con- 

 trast this is to some of our Eastern collec- 

 tors who work hard six hours and return 

 with one or two sets, or perhaps as is of- 

 ten the case none at all ? 



Frank E. Bray of Boston, is spending 

 the seascn at Turner, Me. 



