THE OOLOGIST 



149 



and a few young Redwings; date 

 July 30th. I saw an old male here 

 May 30th, this season, but have never 

 found any nests in this locality, about 

 fifteen years ago I recorded a male 

 here and in 1896 I found a colony 

 breeding in a slough eighteen miles 

 south of here, but, although I return- 

 ed later for some sets of eggs and 

 nest, I got none, for the sets were in- 

 complete, and I did not get time to go 

 back again. 



One thing I always regret seeing in 

 THE OOLOGIST is a record like this, 

 such and such a bird, nest in a tree, 

 three eggs, fresh; such and such a 

 bird, nest in a brush, two eggs, fresi. , 

 now that may sound pretty good, but 

 how little help to anyone; it would 

 be better to wait a few days and 

 make sure of the completment of the 

 set and then record something like 

 this, such and such a bird, five eggs, 

 incubation commenced, nest in a crab- 

 aiiple tree, up five feet on a limb, com- 

 l)osed externally of sticks and twigs 

 and lined with weeds, stems and hair. 

 [ think tliat would be better, as then 

 :. ou know the set had been completed 

 and something about the situation and 

 the construction of the nest and can 

 n^ake your datas as complete as cir- 

 cumstances will permit. 



This present season has produced a 

 good large crop of White rumped 

 shrikes about here. 



A •'evv days ago a Barn Swallow 

 Hew over my head warbling as hard as 

 anv Bluebird I ever heard; that it 

 was a Barn Swallow I am positive. 



Among the skins in the collection of 

 the Hillside Home School, Hillside, 

 ^Vi3consin, is an albino skin of a 

 Flicker. 



I begin to consider myself quite a 

 missionary, as I have converted young 

 farnieis to the protection of the birds, 

 Vvho a few years ago thought they 



were of little account. I find that 

 many of the farmers are in favor of 

 the birds, but the sportsmen (?) here- 

 abouts are shooting a great many 

 Quail out of season, there is at pres- 

 ent a continuous closed season until 

 1912. 



I was told of a House Wren's nest 

 that was robbed of the young by the 

 Blue Jays, and I see a Kingbird's nest, 

 from which some bird had killed and 

 thrown out the young. I noticed the 

 old Kingbird making a great fuss at 

 about the time it was done. 



Geo. H. VosBurgh, 



Columbus, Wis. 



Books Received. 

 Description of a new Spotted To- 

 whee from the Great Basin. No. 8, 



volume 7, August 24, 1911 of the Uni- 

 versity of California publications of 

 Zoology, describes a new Towhee un- 

 der the name Pipilo maculatus curta- 

 tus — Nevada Towhee. Professor Grin- 

 nell gives the distinguishing features 

 of this latest candidate for a place in 

 the geographical races of the recog- 

 nized towhees as follows: 



"Most nearly like P. m. montanus 

 (Swarth) from which it differs in 

 f.hoiter Aving, much shorter tail, and 

 slightly darker coloration; differs 

 from P. m. arciticus (Swainson) in 

 darker coloration, slightly longer tail 

 and hind toe and claw; differs from 

 P. m. megalonyx in much greater ex- 

 lent of side markings, in paler colora- 

 tion, smaller bill and much shorter 

 hind toe and claw." 



We trust if our readers should meet 

 with this stranger, that they will re- 

 cognize him at once from the above 

 description. 



The Migratory Movements of the 

 Birds in Relation to Weather, by 

 Wells W. Cooke. A separate from the 

 year book of the Department of Agri- 



