48 



THE OOLOGIST. 



the Pigeon and Goshawks are some- 

 times seen, the former quite often. 

 There are also two or three others that 

 are here in fall and winter, which I have 

 not as yet bai a chance to indentify. 



The Owls are lepresented by the fol- 

 lowing: Gt. Horned (Bubo virginian- 

 us), Am. Long-eared Owl {Asio wilson- 

 ianus), Screech Owl and Short-eared 

 Owl. The first three I have found 

 breeding. The Gt. Horned is quite 

 common in all the larger blocks of 

 woods, one nest found April 28, 1898, 

 contained two young about one-third 

 grown. On the edge of the nest were 

 part of four large rats. The Owls had 

 taken possession of an old Red-tail's 

 nest which was situated in a maple 70 

 feet up. I Avas surprised to find a nest 

 of Bubo in such an open place, as you 

 could see right through the woods, and 

 it did not contain a single evergreen. 

 On May 4th while botanizing in the 

 edge of a large swamp,' I discovered a 

 full-grown young Bubo sitting in a sec- 

 ond growth maple. A little search 

 found the other young one in a hollow 

 pine stub. At the foot of the stub were 

 the remains of some previous feasts 

 —the hind quarters of a "Cotton tail," 

 the feathers of a Crow. The old ones 

 came quite near in their anxiety for 

 their young. I have found three nests 

 of Asio wilsonianus this year. The first 

 nest April 25th contained three young 

 and two eggs. The second nest found 

 same day, four fresh eggs. The third 

 nest May 9th contained five fresh eggs. 

 In every case they had taken posses- 

 sion of old Crow's nests, in second 

 growth pines. The Short-eared Owl is 

 often seen in the fall, generally in pairs 

 . when disturbed circling around in their 

 peculiar flight. The Snowy Owl [Nyc- 

 tea nyctea) is often shot along the shore 

 of Lake Erie during the winter, and I 

 have record of one being caught in a 

 steel trap in June, while extracting 

 young chickens from a coop. He had 



been visiting the coop night after night. 

 R. T. Anderson, 

 Aylmer West, Ontario. 



A Correction. 



Mr, W. Lindsay Foxball in the Feb- 

 ruary issue of the Oologist, page 27, 

 states that ihfl Chickadee, Parus at- 

 ricapUIus, it- a common resident of 

 EdgecoYdbe County, N. C, which is in 

 the eastern part of the state. 1 want to 

 ask if this is not a mistake, for this bird 

 is considered a rare and irregular win- 

 ter resident in this locality; and while 

 I am aware that it breeds in the moun 

 tains of North Carolina. I have never 

 seen the breeding range given so as to 

 include the ( astern part of the state. 



I presume he refers to the Carolina 

 Chickadee (Farus caiolinensis), a very 

 similar bird. 



Hoping you will coriect this error if 

 it should be one, I lemain, 



J. Harvey Riley. 



Egfg-s of Greater Yellow-leg's. 



On Apiil27lh, a female Greater Yel- 

 low-legs (locally called Tell-tale or Prai- 

 rie Turkey), was shot-neai this village.- 



It was observed that she was quite 

 plump and a slight pressure brought to- 

 light a pei feet and finely marked egg. 



The ground color is light grey, prof- 

 usely marked over the entire surface 

 with dots and heavy blotches of deep 

 lavender and dark brown. 



The egg measures 1.30x1.67 inches 

 and is somewhat similar in shape to the 

 egg of our Bartramian Sandpiper. 



The larger and heavier splashes of 

 rich brown, add a pleasing color and 

 serve to readily distinguish the egg^ 

 from those of our resident Sandpipers. 



Question: — Did this bird intend to 

 nest in this vicinity? Does the species 

 ever nest so far south as this, the 40th 

 parallel ? 



Isaac E. Hess, 

 Philo, Ills. 



