The Oologist. 



VOL. XVI. NO. 12. ALBION, N. Y., DECEMBER, 1899. 



Whole No. 161 



The Oologist. 



A Monthly Publication Devoted to 



05L0GY, ORNITHOLOGY AND 

 TAXIDERMY. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and Items of Interest to the 

 student of Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited 

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Mrriue *t the post Ofrict ^^ a^hc* 



Some Winter Birds of Yates Co., N. Y. 



The winter of 1895 was remarkable 

 for the large numbers of American 

 Crossbills that remained here all winter. 



Almost every coniferous woods support- 

 ed a flock of twenty-five to one hundred 

 birds. They show adocidoii preference 

 for second growth hemlocks bordering 

 and growing in deep ravines. 



Their food consists quite intirely of 

 seeds, which thoy extract from cones, 

 with wonderful dexterity. I havo seen 

 them break off cones and hold them 

 with their claws while extracting the 

 seeds within, but this is a wasteful 

 method, as they do not soem to bo able 

 to get but few .^joeds, for thev soon drop 

 the cone and go for another. Their vis- 

 its seem to be regulated by the supply 

 of cones 



Throughout the winters of 1896-7 they 

 were abundant, but none came in 1898. 



The White-winged Crossbill is of com- 

 paratively rare occurence, the only time 

 that I ever noted them here was on 

 February 23d, when I met a few ming- 

 ling with the American Crossbills. 



On January, 22d, I caught a Cooper's 

 Hawk in a barn and, upon dissection, I 

 found him jam full of English Sparrows, 

 a good deed worth recording. 



January 25th I saw a Meadowiark, 

 and on February 16th, a Wilson's Snipe 

 flying about in the storm. Robins were 

 noted throughout the winter. 



During the winter of 1896 large flocks 

 of Cedar Waxwings and American Gold- 

 finches were much in evidence. 



On December 8, '95, I paw twenty-five 

 Waxwings, and on the 11th, seventy-five 

 sitting quietly in the tops of some locust 

 trees in the street. 



Oq the evening of December 27th, 

 while walking along the lake shore, I 

 was surprised to hear the noisy cries of 

 a Killdeer, whose form I could distin- 

 guish gliding about in the moonlight. 



Song Sparrows are a regular winter 



