Feb., 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



23 



to be a male. The gizzard contained frag- 

 ments of seeds which, were kindly identi- 

 fied by Prof. D. C. Eaton of Tale College, 

 as seeds of the red cedar. — C. K. Aver-ill, 

 Jr., Bridgeport, Conn. 



The Great Northern Diver or Loon, 

 {Colymbus torquatus.) One of our well- 

 known writers on ornithology gives this 

 bird " as known to breed occasionally 

 within the limits of New England," " but 

 more conspicuous in Winter than Summer." 

 If this is the case, our section must be one 

 of those favored places ; for with us it is a 

 common Summer bird and rarely seen in 

 Winter. It is known to breed regularly at 

 Bow Pond, Strafford, where numbers of 

 birds and nests are annually seen. I my- 

 self possess an egg which was obtained 

 from there, measuring 3^x2^, and of the 

 usual color. — W. E. Jenkins, Northwoocl, 

 AT. B. 



A Summer Home of the Black Snowbird.— Here, 

 where the mercury seldom rises above eighty degrees, al- 

 though on the 35th parallel, the hardy Junco hycmalis finds 

 a congenial, and— I judge by the solicitude manifested, 

 even at this season, if an old nesting place is approached — 

 a permanent residence. Having always resided in Massa- 

 chusetts up to the Fall of 1SS2, I never, until the past Sum- 

 mer, heard the song of these birds, which consists princi- 

 pally of a long, loud trill, about a medium between that of 

 the Pine Warbler and the familiar " Chippy." The latter 

 bird, by the way, is rather scarce here. The Snowbird has 

 also a very pretty lisping and disconnected warble of its 

 own, hardly audible at a greater distance than fifteen or 

 twenty feet, and during the performance will cock its head 

 on one side and glance at the listener in a very knowing 

 and pleasing manner. They are very abundant here and 

 exceedingly tame and trustful, coming, sometimes, right in 

 to the doorway and building their nests under piles of old 

 lumber, rails, brush, etc. In the majority of instances, 

 however, tbey make a rude nest of fine rootlets and sticks 

 placed just under the projecting roof formed by the sides of 

 roads, ditches, and other excavations, where the thin top- 

 soil, matted together with roots, often projects several 

 inches beyond the sub-soil. My set of three, in size, equal 

 or exceed, being longer, those of the Song Sparrow, but in 

 coloration more resemble the eggs of the lonely Field 

 Sparrow. — IV. Blanchard, Highlands, Macon Co., North Car- 

 olina, (4,000 feet above the sea.) 



Bird Caught bt a Spider— Albino English Sparrow. 

 You encourage correspondence, so I will venture to relate a 

 little incident of last Summer which may not be new to old 

 ornithologists, but was of interest to me. "While endeavor- 

 ing to add a few skins to my collection, I was attracted to 

 the border of an open wood, last June, by a great commo- 

 tion in a tree-top. Cautiously approaching. I found quite an 

 excited assembly of little birds regarding with great anxi- 

 ety a little yellow friend, who was fluttering and crying in 

 great distress. He seemed to me to be hanging in mid air, 

 but upon climbing the tree, I found that he was entangled 



in a spider's web, from which his most violent struggles as 

 I approached could not extricate him. The spider, one of 

 those large yellow-bellied fellows, was actively engaged in 

 winding him deeper and deeper in the meshes. The bird (a 

 Maryland Yellow-throat) was caught by the legs, head and 

 one wing. I stayed near by until he was nearly done out, 

 then broke him loose with a branch, and had the satisfac- 

 tion <if having him sit quite near to me and relieve himself 

 of the remains of the web, and also observed the discom- 

 fiture of the spider. Dec. 12th I saw an Albino English. 

 Sparrow. Saw him again several times loafing in front of a 

 feed store with a dozen or so companions. They did not 

 seem to regard him as anything of a curiosity. He was per- 

 fectly white, or as nearly so as a bird could be in this city. 

 I left instructions at the feed store for his capture, but he 

 shortly afterward disappeared. — T. L. Hazzard, M. D., Alle- 

 gheny, Pa. 



A Strange Battle. While collecting on the Santa Anna 

 River a few weeks ago, I noticed a flock of Cinnamon Teal, 

 flying in my direction. Thinking they might pass within 

 range, I stepped into a small clump of bushes from which I 

 witnessed a strange battle, which may interest some of the 

 readers of the O. and O. Just before the Ducks had reached 

 my position, I was surprised to see a large Duck Hawk 

 swoop down into the centre of the flock, scattering them in 

 every direction, and seize a large Duck which it carried to 

 the opposite embankment. When it was about to alight, a 

 new actor appeared on the scene in the shape of a Marsh 

 Hawk, which at once commenced swooping down on the 

 Duck Hawk and endeavoring to snatch the Duck from the 

 latter, which at once set up a loud cry and tried to beat off 

 its antagonist with both beak and wings. At length, being 

 hard pressed, it dropped the Duck. Then commenced a 

 fight to see which could snatch the Duck from the ground 

 and get away, each being prevented by the other. How 

 long this would have continued, or which would have been 

 victorious, I do not know, as being anxious to secure the 

 Hawks for my collection, I stepped out and taking advan- 

 tage of the Hawks being so intent on fighting for the Duck, 

 I advanced to within easy range before they discovered me, 

 when I secured them both. On advancing to the place of 

 combat, I found the Duck's head torn entirely off the body 

 and otherwise mangled by the Hawks in their struggle.— R. 

 P. Chandler, Tax., Riverside, Cal. 



MAGAZINES RECEIVED. 



The Auk. A quarterly Journal of Ornithology. Vol. I., 

 No. 1., January, 1884. Published by Estes & Lauriat, Bos- 

 ton, Mass. 



This is the first number of the New Series of the Quar- 

 terly Journal for some years published as the "Bulletin of 

 the Nuttall Ornithological Club." The title, objections to 

 which the Editor is careful to anticipate, reminds one of 

 "The Ibis," the useful organ of the British Ornithologists' 

 Union, as this is stated to be of the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union. This first number is an attractive magazine. 

 It abounds in Notes of various kinds, and many references 

 which must be of great assistance to every student of Bird 

 Life. If any fault can be found with the Articles, it will be 

 that they are rather too technical— to understand several of 

 them one needs a knowledge, not merely of Ornithology, 

 but of Latin and Greek. But, as the Editor is good enough 

 to remind us, this is a professional — as opposed to an ama- 

 teur — publication— whatever these terms may mean in mat- 

 ters ornithological. None the less, however, is it a produc- 

 tion from which even amateurs may learn much and which 

 will well rep.^.y them for careful study. 



