THE OOLOGIST 



199 



which were certainly Towhee nests 

 and all of them were elevated. Pos- 

 sibly one reason for this is because we 

 have very little ground growth here 

 suited to Towhee nests. 



J. B. Lackey. 

 Clinton, Mississippi. 



Double Blackbird Nest. 



On June 17, a friend and I were ex- 

 amining a colony of Redwing nests 

 which were in a thicket of young wil- 

 lows growing in a dry pond near town. 

 There was a large colony of nests, de- 

 serted for the most part, as this is late 

 for Redwings here, but one discovery 

 we made was rare at least for us. In 

 one small willow a Redwing nest had 

 been built a month or so earlier and 

 then another had been built immedi- 

 ately above this one, so close that the 

 bottom of the top nest touched the 

 rim of the lower nest. Both were well 

 preserved and both were empty. I 

 think, however, that both at one time 

 held eggs. I would like to know the 

 history of these nests. We have no 

 Cowbirds here so the lower nest was 

 not deserted because a cowbird egg 

 was laid in it, and I can think of no 

 good reason for placing them so 

 close together. J. B. Lackey. 



Clinton, Mississippi. 



An Albino. 



Albert J. Kirn of New Cambria, Kan- 

 sas, reports an Albino Bank Swallow, 

 alsost pure white. Also a Red-headed 

 Woodpecker's nest containing five 

 eggs. August 13th which is late. Al- 

 so numerous hybrids Red-shafted plus 

 Golden-winged Flickers. 



The Wilson Bulletin. 



No. 88, Sept., 1914, contains three 

 things that especially caught our eye. 



First, a statement on page 119 that 

 the stomach of an Old Squaw Duck 

 found floating in Jackson Park, Chi- 

 cago, April 1, 1914, contained 140 



whole minnows averaging two inches 

 in length, besides many fragments of 

 others. Let's see; one hundred and 

 forty minnows two niches long would 

 be two hundred and eighty inches of 

 minnows. This equals twenty-three 

 and a third feet of minnows "besides 

 many fragments." Whew! Some fish 

 story to tell on a poor dead defenseless 

 duck. 



Second, Mr. Jones mourns on page 

 148, — "There are too few short field 

 notes." Right you are Professor. It 

 looks much like the published wails 

 of Ye Editor when we are short of 

 copy. But it is still true, "There are 

 too few short field notes." 



Thirdly and lastly, as the parson 

 would say, we note Brother Stephens 

 on page 157 has declared war on "W. 

 L. M." of The Auk's Book Review staff 

 because in a review W. L. M. charges 

 Brother Stephens with having publish- 

 ed certain matter relating to the con- 

 tents of birds' stomachs as the result 

 of "over enthusiasm." Stephens says 

 (uetween the lines) the reviewer is 

 after him because he has trespassed 

 upon "the peculiar domain of the Bi- 

 ological Survey," in presuming to 

 study the contents of birds' stomachs. 



We had supposed over enthusiasm 

 usually resulted from what one got 

 into the bird student's own stomach; 

 not from what they got out of a bird's 

 stomach. However, if Brother Ste- 

 phens will keep off the sacred pre- 

 serve, W. L. M. may let him alone. We 

 hope so anyway. As an ornithologist 

 we always had great respect for the 

 Dove of Peace. 



Ospreys. 



I had the opportunity to look over 

 the egg notes of the late William B. 

 Crispin not long ago, and found some 

 interesting reading in connection with 

 the taking of his Osprey eggs. 



His first set was taken in 1892. 



