April, 1881.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



13 



charming vse could the well-to-do owners 

 of country places put a little money than 

 importing and acclimating the song birds 

 of the Old World. They would be confer- 

 ring a lasting blessing upon the people by 

 introducing the gkylark, the woodlark, the 

 titlark, the blackbird, the thrush, the lin- 

 net, the green, gold, bull, and chaffinches, 

 the nightingale, and other European warb- 

 lers so famed in song and story, and so 

 dear to every lover of rural life." 



We make the above extracts from a long 

 article by Mr. Hales, in the A^ Y. Sun of 

 March 28th, and we regret not, having 

 space for the entire article, and fear we 

 will not be able to see the birds while in 

 confiument. The mere mention of the 

 above list of birds bring us back to "Boy- 

 hood's happy days," when every bird men- 

 tioned was as familiar as the common 

 "Robin" of the U. S. we hope Mr. 

 England will be successful in his effort, 

 being liberated South of the "North Riv- 

 er," they will no doubt work down to 

 West Jersey, and possibly Deleware, as 

 ■« inter approaches. Should they ever be- 

 come plenty in this Country they are an 

 excellent bird for the young sportsman to 

 practise on. 



Scarlet Tanager. 

 Dates of the arrival of the Scarlet Tana- 

 ger, Pyranga rnhra^ for 25 years, in 

 Locke,Ingham County, Michigan. This spe- 

 cies is a common summer residenl, and 

 was first observed by me in the summer of 

 1842. It was found breeding for the first 

 time May 27th, 1878. The nest was built 

 on a horizontal limb of a beech tree, 25 

 feet from the ground. I'have only found 

 two nests since that date. 



May 4, 1856. May 14, 1864. May 6. 1873. 



May 18, 1857. June o, 1865. May 8, 1874. 



May 8, 1858. May 10, 1866. May 10, 1875. 



May 6, 1859. May 17, 1867. May 12, 1876. 



May 4, 1860. May 15, 1868. May 12, 1877. 



May 4, 1861. May 14, 1869. May 1, 1878. 



May 12, 1862. May 5, 1870. May 10, 1879. 



May 4, 1863. May 6, 1871. May 3, 1880. 

 May 2, 1872. 



Baltimore Oriole. 



Dates of the arrival of the Baltimore 

 Oriole, {^Icterus hddtimore,) for 25 years in 

 the township of Locke, Ingham County, 

 State of Michigan. This species is a com- 

 mon summer resident, and was first no- 

 ticed by me in the summer of 1842. 

 May 2,1856 May 8, 1865. May 8, 1873. 

 May 11, 1857. May 8, 1866. May 9, 1874. 

 May 5, 1858. May 5, 1867. May 10, 1875. 

 Apr.28, 1859. May 5, 1868. May 9, 1876. 

 Apr. 30, 1860. May 4, 1H69. May 5, 1877. 

 May 1, 1.S61. May 5, 1870. May 1, 1S78. 

 Mav 10, 1862. May 1, 1871. M.iv 5, 1.S79. 

 May 10, 1863. May 7, 1872. May 3, 1880. 

 May 8, 1864. Dr. H. A. Atkins. 



Bird Notes. 



A Hawk Owl, {Suruid ulula hndsonica.) 

 was killed at Gorham, N. Y. in Nov. 1875. 

 The young man who shot it informs me 

 that he was on horseback when the bird 

 was first seen and rode very near without 

 flushing him. Leaving his horse, he re- 

 turned with his gun and secured the bird. 

 The weather was very mild. I do not think 

 that the Hawk Owl has before been record- 

 ed as a bird of central New York. 



KiLLDEEK {Negialitis vocifervs) is not a 

 very common siunmer resident though 

 very well known, arriving from March 1st 

 to the 15th and departing the last of Octo- 

 ber. The following notes of its breeding 

 may be of interest : 1869 May 4, 1875 June 



I, 1878 Juue 12, 1879 April 23, 1880 June 



II, 1880 June 18. The eggs were four in 

 every instance, and in one case were laid 

 in the mellow ground of a corn-field with- 

 out uny mdication of its usually pebbly nest. 



Indigo Bird {Cyanospisa Cyonea.). — I 

 have taken the nest of this bird on the fol- 

 lowing dates: 1875 June 19, 1875 July 

 19, 1878 July 2, July 4 and Aug. 13, 1880 

 1880 May 30. The farmers formerly pas- 

 jbured the woods with sheep and there was 

 then no underbrush, but this custom is 

 now discontinued and the wo(xls are filled 

 with a dense growth of bushes, and this 

 bird is now abundant where, previous to 

 1874, they were rare or entirely unknown. 

 J. M. HowEY, Canadaigua, N. Y'^. 



