84 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 11. 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



— AKD — 



OOLOGIST 



A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED 

 TO THE STUDY OF BIRDS, THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



J^OS. m. WAltE, Editor, 



S. L. WILLARD, Assistant, 



With the CO operation of able Ornithological 

 Writers and Collectors. 



Subscription — $1.00 per annum. Foreign stib- 

 scription $1.25 — including postage. Speci- 

 men Copies Ten Cents. 



J08, M. WADE, 



Nornricb, Conn. 



Entered at Norwich P. 0. as Second Class matter. 



:ErHTORIJLL. 



Bird Surgery. 



During the present fall Mr. Benjamin 

 Earle, of Providence, shot two birds, with 

 broken legs, and both wounds carefully and 

 thoroughly dressed with feathers. The 

 first one taken, a " Green-headed Plover," 

 had its leg broken, which it had carefully 

 bandaged with feathers, as we are assured 

 by Mr. Earle, the feathers being wrapped 

 around the leg carefully. The second bird 

 shot was a Woodcock, which was saved for 

 the writer, the leg of which has been pre- 

 served. It was broken below the knee, and 

 thoroughly dressed with feathers, and the 

 wound was healing nicely when the bird 

 was again shot and the same leg again bad- 

 ly broken above the old wound. This is 

 no accidental dressing, but shows evidence 

 of skill and understanding. 



Those Cuckoos. 



In another part of this magazine will 

 be found a very interesting article on the 

 breeding of our two cuckoos in the same 

 nest. The fortunate observer of this 

 peculiar freak. Dr. H. A. Atkins, of Locke, 

 Michigan, is one of the unpretending 

 but thorough observers of our present 

 time. Each trip to this nest cost him three 

 miles of travel, and when a man past the 

 middle age of life will take such trouble, it 



shows that he is thoroughly in earnest and 

 that his observations can be relied on. He 

 is possessed of a large fund of knowledge 

 of this kind, which we hope to draw on 

 from time to time. 



RosE-KREASTED Grosbeak. — Our inter- 

 esting pet commenced shedding his head 

 feathers Nov. 24th, and at this writing, Dec. 

 i6th, his head is two-thirds black, which 

 change has been made almost impercepti- 

 bly. He has not yet cast any of his larger 

 feathers. It would be interesting to know 

 if these birds make a complete moult in their 

 winter home in the south as this bird has 

 done in the cage for the past three winters. 



Publications. 



Dr. Coues' New Check List. — At our 

 request we have been furnished with ad- 

 vance sheets of Dr. Coues' New Check List 

 of which we shall have something to say in 

 our next issue. 



Diary of a Bird. — We have received 

 from Mr. Minott a copy of his " Diary of a 

 Bird" and have read it several times. It is 

 brief but interesting. The bird is made to 

 tell the story, which it does in a very pleas- 

 ing way, and a very observing bird he must 

 have beeu. The book contains matter that 

 is interesting, and much food for thought. 

 We always read with interest anything 

 from Mr. Minott's pen, for he is an earnest, 

 honest observer of nature. 



Birds Nesting. — We have received a 

 circular announcing the publication of a 

 work, with the above title, by Ernest In- 

 gersoll, and published by Geo, A. Bates. 

 "We are informed that two numbers are al- 

 ready issued but we have not seen them. 

 We hope Mr. Ingersoll will make this work 

 as accurate as he can make it interesting. 



Addition to our Collection. — We 

 have received from Mr. Edgar A. Small 

 an oil painting of a Sharp-shinned Hawk, 

 and from Mr. S. L. Willard a water color 

 drawing of a Chimney Swift. For want of 

 room we defer notice to next number. 



