146 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 12 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



— AND — 



OOLOGIST. 



A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF 



BIRDS, 



THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



DESIGNED AS A MEANS FOR THE INTERCHANGE OF NOTES 

 AND OBSERVATIONS ON EIRD LIFE.. 



FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher, 



PAWTUCKET, B. I. 



Editor's Notes. 



With this number, the first volume of 

 O. and 0. under our management is com- 

 pleted. We thank our . contributors very 

 cordially for their assistance which has en- 

 abled us to carry out the programme with 

 which we commenced with a degree of suc- 

 cess, of which our readers must be the 

 judges. The preparation of the monthly 

 number has not been unattended with 

 difficulty, and has involved an expenditure 

 of time which exceeded our first expecta- 

 tions. But this we do not regret, for the 

 interest has grown upon us and we 

 naturally feel pride in the success of our 

 undertaking. With increased space for 

 their contributions, we expect our next 

 year's volume to be more attractive to our 

 writers and instructive to our readers than 

 the Magazine has ever been before. 



We expect to continue next year the 

 communications of Prof. W. W. Cooke on 

 the Mississippi Valley Migrations. He 

 writes us that he has a vast mass of notes 

 upon which to base his deductions. The 

 subject is almost exhaustless, and has been 

 presented by Prof. Cooke in an attractive 

 form which has made his papers interest- 

 ing as they are valuable. Dr. Morris Gibbs 

 promises us an annotated Catalogue of 



the Birds of Kalamazoo County, Michigan, 

 the first instalment of which will appear in 

 our January number. 



The subject of our subscription list is 

 not one that we care to say much about, 

 but our Publisher naturally considers it of 

 the very greatest importance. It may not 

 be out of place for us here to ask our 

 Subscribers to renew their subscriptions 

 promptly and to assist us as opportunities 

 may offer, in bringing our Magazine to the 

 notice of their friends who are interested in 

 its objects. Our circulation is not large — 

 our constituency is necessarily limited — 

 hence the necessity for the increased price 

 of which notice has been given. 



With the October number, the "Auk" 

 completed its first volume. The number 

 contains as usual many valuable articles 

 and notes. This ornithological quarterly 

 is a thoroughly satisfactory publication, 

 and a credit to the names identified with it. 



Review of 1884. 



BOSTON AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Early in April there seems to have been 

 a very large flight of Red-tailed Hawks. 

 Many were taken in traps. At one market 

 stall in the city over a hundred were dis- 

 played at one time. 



The list of Albinos included a Cedar- 

 bird (already described by Mr. Whiting), 

 an English Sparrow shot within city limits, 

 and a creamy white Crow from near Lex- 

 ington. From the number of gunners 

 who describe " White Cranes " they have 

 seen, we feel quite confident that Snowy 

 Herons have not all been confined to the 

 South this season. Perhaps Mr. Talbot 

 may another season prove to his profess- 

 ional friends that he was not mistaken. 



The Taxidermist's business has been re- 

 ported unusually dull. In August a few 

 Terns were sacrificed on- the altar of 

 fashion. The plunrp Esquimaux Curlew 

 did not fail to form the centre of 



