50 



THE OOLOGIST 



An Important Commission. 



Milo B. Denny, the artist of Cedar 

 Rapids, Iowa, has just received a com- 

 mission from the "Bund denbscher 

 Forscher," a naturalist society of Han- 

 over, Germany, to furnish over two 

 hundred water color drawings of the 

 birds of this country to illustrate a 

 book "Near Arctic Bird Life" to be 

 written for said Society by Reverend 

 VV. F. Henninger of New Bremen, 

 Ohio, and concerning this employment 

 Mr. Denny writes us: 



"I also beg to state that my con- 

 tract to do this was landed through 

 the publicity in THE OOLOGIST." 



Anent Rough-Winged Swallow's Nests. 



Does the Rough-winged Swallow 

 ever line its nest with feathers? 

 Most of the Bird books say that this 

 material is used, but never in my ex- 

 perience have I found any feathers in 

 the many nests I have examined. Nor 

 has my friend, R. C. Harlow; and the 

 late Harry K. Jamison, another care- 

 ful observer, remarked upon the ab- 

 sence of feathers in the Rough-winged 

 Swallow's nests, that he and his 

 friends had found. 



Let us hear from competent observ- 

 ers regarding this subject. 



Is the picture in Reed's "North 

 American Birds' Eggs," purporting to 

 be a Bank Swallow's nest in situ, real- 

 ly a nest of the Sand Martin or is it a 

 Rough-winged Swallow's nest, (which 

 it certainly looks like) ? We should 

 like to know and expect to have more 

 to say at another time on the subject. 



Richard F. Miller. 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



Notes. 



Charles R. Keyes, one of Iowa's 

 foremost Naturalists, has returned 

 from more than a year's absence in 

 Europeon countries. 



It is with sorrow that we announce 

 that J. Claire Wood of Detroit, than 



whom few Michigan ornithologists are 

 better known, is now and has been 

 for the past three months, confined to 

 a hospital, suffering with tuberculosis. 

 We extend our stricken brother our ex- 

 treme sympathy. 



We are pleased to notice the im- 

 provement in "The Guide to Nature," 

 published by the Agassiz Association 

 under the management of Edward F. 

 Bigelow. Last summer we came 

 through its home town, Arcadia, Con- 

 necticut, and were much impressed 

 with the appearance of the place as 

 a desirable location for a naturalist. 



Observation of Bird Life in the Dom- 

 inguez Sloughs. 



By Alfred Cookman, Ornithological In- 

 vestigation, Southern Div., California. 



During the nesting season of 1913, 

 Professor L. W. Welch and the writer 

 spent most of our spare time on the 

 area known as "Dominguez Sloughs," 

 about four miles north of Long Beach. 

 The sloughs are not at Dominguez 

 proper, but about two miles south from 

 the junction. 



Recently a great waterway has been 

 built, which attracts many birds found 

 in bays and marshes. The slough is 

 about two miles in length and one hun- 

 dred yards in width. On the north- 

 western section there has grown a 

 dense growth of swamp willows so 

 compact one finds it difficult to go 

 among them. On the southern side 

 are small rolling hills, covered with 

 mustard stalks and grain. All through 

 the marsh are tules towering from five 

 to ten feet in height. The slough is 

 margined with a dense growth of water 

 plants. 



As we approached this region, the 

 air seemed filled with the songs and 

 call-notes of the marsh birds. The 

 San Diego red-winged black birds, 

 hundreds of them, seemed to be hold- 

 ing a meeting that reminded one of a 

 political convention. Their harsh 



