10 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 1 



large embryos ; 4 nests containing young 

 birds nearly able to fly. Jnly 6, 1 set 4 

 eggs, fresh ; nest placed in a small pine, 

 three feet from the ground, in a heavy 

 bunch of timber; July 18, 2 sets 4 eggs, 

 fresh ; 1 set 5 eggs, fresh. This is the 

 first and only set of 5 eggs of this species 

 I have ever found. 



Amebian Titlark (Anthus ludovica- 

 nus.) June 24, shot a female, with par- 

 tially developed eggs. 



July 25, a friend told me he had found 

 a nest on the ground with four pretty, 

 dark-colored eggs. He was going to take 

 them up for me, li but the old bird flut- 

 tered around and felt so bad," that he 

 didn't. To-day I got him to go with me 

 to the nest, and, alas! no eggs, but four 

 chicks instead. As I exrjected, it was a 

 Pipit or American Titlark. I took the 

 nest, substituting a handful of dry grass. 

 It is entirely of dry grass, lined with fine, 

 why grass. Outer diameter, five inches ; 

 height, two inches ; inner diameter, two 

 and one-half inches; depth, one and one 

 quarter inches. 



Pine Grosbeak (P. enucleator.) While 

 on my way to the Pipit's nest, a pair of 

 Grosbeaks commenced flying about, utter- 

 ing their peculiar notes. Not having 

 time to watch them and the female being 

 the handier, I shot her and went on. The 

 gula being unusually puffed out, I ex- 

 amined it and found it was filled with 

 berries and small green larvae. Evident- 

 ly they had young near by. Since then I 

 have seen a number of pairs ranging along 

 near timber line. 



Red-shafted Flicker (C. auratus Mexi- 

 canus.) June 27, 1 set 5 eggs, incubated 

 eight or ten days. 



Striped-backed Three toed Woodpeck- 

 er (-P. tridactylus dorsalis.) July 10, 5 

 young birds. 



Arctic Bluebird {Sialia arctica.) July 

 15, 5 young birds. 



Robin {M. migratoria.) June 27, 1 set 

 3 eggs, incubated 6 or 7 days. Robins 



are not as musical here as in the East. 

 Although abundant, I have listened in vain 

 for their "kill 'em, cure 'em, kill 'em, cure 

 'em, physic" 



Western Yellow-billed Flycatcher (E. 

 difficilis.) July 4, 1 set 4 eggs, fresh. 

 Nest in bank of railroad at Murphy, two 

 and one-half miles below here. Ground 

 color creamy white, with fine dots of 

 black and lilac, and larger spots of pale 

 lilac, generally distinct, but in some 

 places blended together, and tending to 

 form a ring about the larger end. Aver- 

 age, .60X.70. Nest mainly of moss inter- 

 woven with rootlets, grass and small 

 pieces of tow string. On account of its 

 position it is one-sided. Outer diameter : 

 longer, five inches ; shorter, three and 

 one half inches; height, two and one- 

 half inches. Inner diameter, two inches ; 

 depth, one and one-eighth inches. July 

 18, 1 set 3 eggs, eight or nine days incu- 

 bated. This nest was about half a mile 

 from where the other was found. It was 

 about half way up a cut bank of hard 

 wash, in a small cavity, almost entirely 

 of roots and strips of bark from roots, 

 lined with a small quantity of grass. 

 Outer diameter, three and one-half inches ; 

 height, two inches : inner diameter, one 

 and three-quarter inches ; depth, one inch. 

 Eggs same as above described. (Dr. 

 Coues, in his Birds of N. W., gives the 

 eggs as pure white, unmarked. One of 

 the parents of the first set was very kindly 

 ilentifiedby Mr. R. Ridgway.) I). D. Stone. 



Short-eared Owl. 



In the August number of the 0. and O. 

 you give Mr. H. A. Kline the credit of 

 giving the most interesting information 

 respecting the Short-eared Owl so far 

 placed on record. You would not have 

 made that assertion if Familiar Science 

 had not died out when it changed hands. 

 I had completed an exhaustive history of 

 all the birds of prey of N. E., a part only 

 of which was published in that magazine. 



