144 



THE OOLOGIST 



wing Teal, Mallards and Black ducks 

 were seen. A few Coots were In the 

 ponds, also a few Pied-billed Grebes. 

 Also saw a few Sora Rails and Bit- 

 terns. Wilson's Snipe were scarce. 



Of land birds, I saw many. Eagles 

 were in sight most of the time. Some- 

 times four or five were seen at once. 

 There were several nice adults among 

 them. There were a very few Yellow- 

 bellied Flycatchers, and I was so for- 

 tunate as to secure a fine, female 

 Olive-sided Flycatcher, which is, I be- 

 lieve, the only record from this re- 

 gion. 



I shot one Orange-crowned Warbler, 

 a very rare bird in this state. Also 

 secured Philadelphia Vireo. Gray- 

 cheeked Thrush and Pigeon Hawk. 

 The Hawk was in pursuit of flickers 

 when I killed it. The most interest- 

 ing small land bird to me was the 

 Nelson's Sparrow. A few of them 

 were found in the long grass in the 

 meadows about several of the ponds. 

 They kept well hidden until flushed. I 

 secured three on the first day I saw 

 any. 



R. B. Simpson, Warren, Pa. 



Miscellaneous Bird Notes From the 

 Journal of a Bird Crank. 



Richard F. Miller. 

 The method of feeding young Swal- 

 lows by their parents, as described 

 by Mr. H. E. Bishop, in the June 

 OOLOGIST, is customary with the 

 species and not an unusual proceed- 

 ing as he seems to think. I have of- 

 ten seen young on the wing of the 

 Purple Martin, Barn, Bank and Rough- 

 winged Swallows fed in the same 

 manner and have no doubt but that 

 it is a common family trait. In fact, 

 I thought the habit was of such a com- 

 mon occurrence that it was known to 

 every ornithologist, and consequently 

 was surprised to read Mr. Bishop's ac- 

 count of it. The Flycatchers feed 



their young also in the same way. 



An unusually early record of the oc- 

 currence of the Snowy Owl in Penn- 

 sylvania is the capture of one on Oc- 

 tober 25, 1910, in Bradford County, 

 near the city of Towanda, one of the 

 northern tier of counties in this com- 

 monwealth. It was nearly pure white 

 in color, weighed about five pounds 

 and measured five feet five inches in 

 extent. This species is supposed to 

 be a rare winter visitor in Pennsyl- 

 vania, occurring only during the se- 

 verest weather, yet we have the rec- 

 ord of one shot before the occurrence 

 of any regular wintery weather. 



Another early occurrence of an owl 

 shot in Pennsylvania, is the record of 

 one killed on the Delaware River 

 meadows, at Bridesburg, Philadelphia 

 county; a Short-eared Owl in this in- 

 stance, which was captured by a gun- 

 ner on October 1, 1910, about two or 

 three weeks earlier than they usually 

 arrive here. This bird constituted my 

 earliest record of its occurrence, yet 1 

 have the assurance of the gunner, a 

 reliable man, that he saw two birds 

 during the last week in September 

 (about the 27th or 2Sth) at the same 

 locality. 



During the gunning season this fall 

 (November) sportsmen have had un- 

 expected sport in the vicinity of North 

 Wales, Montgomery county. Pa., with 

 a flock of twenty-seven English or 

 Ring-necked Pheasants (Phasianus 

 torquatos) that escaped from an En- 

 glishman's preserve. One gunner bag- 

 ged four of the noble birds and a 

 friend of the writer succeeded in kill- 

 ing one, whose wings I cured for mi- 

 lady's hat. 



It is a well-known fact that the 

 Swamp Sparrow is a gregarious breed- 

 er, in limited numbers at least, but it 

 was not until 1909 that I found two 

 nests nearer than within three feet 

 of each other. On July 6th of that 



