90 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 7 



W. W. Gilman asks, June O. and O. " the scientific name 

 of what is called the Hell-diver round here. " In this sec- 

 tion that name is given to the Dabchick—Bodilymbuspodieeps 

 — Linn. Podiceps carolinensis—Lath.—Wm. Wood, East 

 Windsor Hill, Conn. 



Duck Hawk's Nest.—.?. W. Comstock, Greenfield, Mass., 

 sendB us a graphic description of two visits by members of 

 the Greenfield Natural History Society to Mt. Sugarloaf, 

 when they were fortunate enough to secure two sets of 

 Eggs of the Duck Hawk. He says : 



"This site has been used many years by the Hawks, two 

 nests of young having been taken, and one of two eggs 

 besides those of ours, and all but one have been taken from 

 the same shelf. This shelf was a slightly curved rock, 

 slantin'g downwards, with but a few feathers and nothing 

 else. 



The eggs, two in number, were of a reddish brown color 



with finely spattered spots of darker shades of the same. 



The only places in Massachusetts to my knowledge, where 



these hawks breed, are Mt. Tom, Mt. Holyoke, and Mt. 



Sugarloaf. In Connecticut, only Talcott Mountain." 



Nest op the Swallow-tail Kite.— Some years since I 

 was informed that Swallow-tailed Kites nested on Indian 

 Creek in the lower cross-timbers, about seven miles east of 

 Gainsville, Texas. 



During a recent visit (June 2d) to a friend in that locality, 

 I was informed where I could see a nest which had been oc- 

 cupied this season. It was in the extreme top of a large 

 Cottonwood tree, the stem supporting the twigs on which 

 the nest rested being only two or three inches in diameter. 

 The nest was quite small and shallow, reminding one of 

 that of the Green Heron. I could not ascertain definitely 

 that a brood had been raised there this season, but my 

 friend was under the impression that it had, but this is 

 doubtful as one of the birds had been shot. None were to be 

 seen about the nest on June 2.^6*. H. Ragsdale, Gainsville, 

 Cook Co., Texas. 



Another Nest for Identification.— J?. C. Niceivancr, 

 Baltimore, Md., sends us a drawing of a nest which he des- 

 scribes: "The nest was exactly six feet from the ground 

 situated in a horizontal fork of a species of maple, was com- 

 posed entirely of the bark of some weed, had lining of the 

 same sort, only finer, it had about 30 or 40 long strings 

 hanging from the nest and there was quite a lot beneath it 

 on the ground, nest was slightly pendulous, much like a 

 Vireo's, but lacked the compactness of this bird's and was 

 not woven so nicely ; when I approached nearer the bird 

 flew off and darted toward me frequently, uttering a sharp 

 cry. She was about the size of a Wood Pewee, was olive 

 colored on back, black eyes, {very large) white belly, had 

 two white bars on shoulders, was slightly yellow just under 

 the wings. The eggs, three in number, were of a creamy 

 white ground, with foxy-red blotches around the larger end. 

 They measured .74x.54, .74x.55, .73x55." 



Our correspondent thinks it possibly Traill's Flycatcher, 

 but it differed somewhat from the descriptions of the nest 

 of that bird given by Mr. Tracy in February O. and O. Balti- 

 more also seems too far south for it. 



A Summer Yellow-bird Feeds a Young Robin.— To- 

 day I saw a summer Yellow-bird flitting among some locust 

 trees, with a large worm in his beak. I followed him up 

 until I saw him go to a locust tree where a young Robin was 

 perched. He fed it just the same as its mother would, and 

 went after another worm. He fed it quite a good while, and 

 then sat on the same limb the young Robin was on. When 

 he caught an insect he would always feed the robin. I do 

 not see how the Robin could eat so much. I watched them 

 quite a good while, until I got tired, and left them both 

 perched on the same limb.— J. P. Loose, Bagerstown, Md. 

 Cedar Bird in Iowa.— J. W. Preston says he found on 



June 12, near Iowa City, a set of Ampelis cedrorum, "the 

 first set recorded from this locality." 



Stray Notes. — I am often very greatly amused at the 

 way many people have of expressing themselves. I noticed 

 in No. 6 of the O. &. O. a paragraph from D. A. K., Sturgis, 

 Mich., in which he speaks of an island in Lake Huron, as 

 abounding with "every species of fresh water duck known." 

 Ye Gods ! I thought to myself, what a spot for a collector, 

 has anybody else ever been there? I am pleased to hear 

 from Ornithological friends, Dr's. Atkins and Gibbs, 

 through the O. & O.; hope they will continue to enlighten us. 

 This spring I shot a male Meadow Lark with a peculiar 

 shaped bill, the upper mandible being as much curved at the 

 end as a Commorants. Did any of you ever see the like ? 



I also discovered a Warbling Vireo's nest which contained 

 three Cow Blackbirds' eggs, and one Vireo. The query is 

 "did the same Blackbird lay the three eggs, or were they 

 laid by separate birds?" So far as my observation has 

 been the Cowbird never lays but one egg in nest, that is, I 

 never found more than one in a nest, and my opinion is that 

 they were laid by separate birds. 



I wish the Black-and- Yellow Warbler was as easy to ap- 

 proach in this section as they are where the Rev. W. E. Hill 

 resides. I have had great difficulty in securing a few, and 

 always shot them from the tops of the tnll trees, and observ- 

 ing that they were exceedingly restless little fellows.—-!. H. 

 Boies, Hudson, Mich. 



Correspondence. 



Purple Finch. — (Carpodacus perpureus), C. E. Prior 

 asks us why the Purple Finch is so called. The origin of 

 the misnomer is probably correctly given by Stearns, (New 

 England Bird Life, part 1, p. 216). "There is little, if any 

 "purple" tinge, the name "Purple" Finch, and the use of 

 the word in old descriptions, having been due to the very 

 faulty coloring of Catesby's plate." 



White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows. — 

 Ira B. Henry, Mason, Texas, writes : " Prof. W. W. Cooke 

 speaks of the White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, 

 {Z. leucophrys and Z. albicollis), as wintering "from the 

 northern part of the Southern States to southern Illinois." 

 Both these birds are abundant in winter, in this locality, 

 which is nearly ns far south as New Orleans, pretty well to 

 the southern part of the Southern States. Perhaps it is 

 different farther east, as this _ia a hilly country, and subject 

 to severe northers." The other matter referred to by our 

 correspondent was corrected in the regular edition of the 

 January number. 



Spotted Robin's Eggs. — Robert Linton, Pine Bend, 

 Minn., and J. P. Loose, Hagerstown, Md , write us that they 

 have found sets of Spotted Robin's Eggs. 



Odd Shaped Eggs.— Delos Hatch, Oak Centre, Wis., 

 writes us that he has this season taken a set of L. B. M. 

 Wren measuring about .75x.50 and another of F. Galinules 

 2.xl.06 and 1.95x1.25. He finds sets of eggs have generally 

 averaged smaller this year. 



Food for Screech Owls.— J. P. Loose says he is keep- 

 ing three young Screech Owls in confinement, and asks 

 what is the best food for them. 



W. 0. Emerson writes to say that Myiodioctes Pusilhts 

 (O and O VI, p. 62) should be M. p. pileolatus, the Pacific 

 coast form, also that his Scops asio eggs are variety 

 Bendirei. 



The following communications have been received : 



"Notes" from W. Otto Emerson; "The Shore Lark'' 

 from H. G. Smith, Jr. ; " The Brown Thrush" from A. M. 

 Drummond; "Broad-winged Hawk," by F. M. Goodwin; 

 "Arrivals for Spring of 'S4," by S. R. Ingersoll; "Notes 

 from Jewett City," Conn., by Chas. Edwd. Prior. 



