THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



47 



a guarantee of what we may expect in the future, 

 I think you will experience no difficulty in finding 

 liberal support so far as subscribers are concerned. 

 There ought to be room for a good live magazine 

 of its character. B. T. GaulT. 



"Glen Ellyn, Illinois." 



"It seems to me that there is at this time a 

 place for the Nidiologist. 



Frederick M. Dille. 

 "Denver, Colorado." 



''I wish you great success with the magazine, 

 which has a career before it. 



B. BUCKENHAM. 



"Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa." 



BRIEF NOTES OF INTEREST. 



A valuable work in the library of Otto Emerson 

 is a copy of Birds of Australia. It once belonged 

 to Audubon, and his autograph is plainly written 

 on the fly leaf 



"While living in Concho County, Texas, where 

 I resided some six years ago, Mr. J. A. Lomis, of 

 that couuty, and I killed a Quail which we took to 

 be the result of inter-breeding between the Cali- 

 fornia Quail and the Bob White," says a writer in 

 Forest mid Stream. "We sent the skin to the 

 Smithsonian Institution and received a letter in 

 return thanking us for the specimen, and stating 

 that we were right in our conclusion as to the 

 probable geneological tree of our Quail," 



Mr. W. A. Beeman, principal keeper on the 

 Farallone Islands, has introduced California Quail 

 on the island recently and reports they are doing 

 well. This and the Rock Wren are the only land 

 birds there. 



Cory Chamberlain has returned to his home at 

 College Park, Cal., after a term at college in 

 Colorado. At a recent meeting of the Cooper 

 Orn. Club Mr. Chamberlain gave an account of 

 the habits of the rare Gray-crowned Leucosticte. 

 He found a cave where the birds roosted iu large 

 numbers at night, by clinging to the sides, and he 

 secured several skins. These birds nest above the 

 snow-line. He also described several beautiful 

 nests of the Water Ouzel. 



Several years ago Mr. C. Barlow found a Cali- 

 fornia Towhee's nest containing eggs placed on a 

 beam in a deserted chicken shed. The birds 

 entered through the opening between the slats. 



Rev. V. B. Huard of the Province of Quebec, 

 Canada, will, on January i, continue the publica- 

 tion of Le Naturaliste Canadien, which was 

 edited monthly for many years by Abbe Provan- 

 cher, and which suspended publication at his 

 death. 



Dr. Morris Gibbs expects to spend from January- 

 to May in Florida. He has been taking in the 

 World's Fair, making his headquarters at the 

 Fisheries Building. 



P. B. Peabody writes (and we trust we won't get 

 him into trouble by printing it): "I am much 

 interested in your Ornithological Club. We are 

 the deadest lot, as a lot, here in Minnesota that 

 ever collected eggs in spring and then sat 'round 

 all winter." 



THE PYGMY NUTHATCH. 



BY LOUIS W. BROKAW. 



Almost ail}' where in the pine di.strict.s, 

 which cover the penin.sula on which Mon- 

 terey is situated, and in the immediate 

 vicinity, one may hear the pee tit, pee tit, 

 pee tit of the Pygmy Nuthatch, but they 

 seem to be noiser just previous to and dur- 

 ing the nesting season (which begins 

 about April 25 and lasts until June i) than 

 at any other time of the year. It is the 

 most common bird in that locality, and 

 nearly every "small boy's" collection con- 

 tains several eggs of this "Nutchip." 



The bird may be recognized by its small 

 size, short, square tail, dirty-white breast 

 and bluish or lead-colored back. I^ike all 

 members of its family it clings to the bark 

 of trees, but not so close as the Wood- 

 peckers. I have never found them gregari- 

 ous, and they seem to remain in pairs 

 during the year. One curious trait of this 

 species is, that whenever the female utters 

 the note pee tit, invariably and with almost 

 the rapidity of the telegraph, the male 

 utters the note poo toot, so that the note is 

 in the vicinity of the nest, pee tit, poo toot, 

 pee tit, poo toot. 



Another trait is that of covering the 

 eggs, when the set is complete, and leaving 

 them for a day or two. One will often 

 climb to and open a cavity and find it 

 apparently deserted, but by gently scraping 

 the litchins aside, he will find a nice set of 

 seven or eight eggs. This species posses- 

 ses a peculiar and agreeable odor, by which 

 its nests, in the absence of the birds, may 

 be distinguished from those of the Chica- 



dees. 



Another odd trait of the Pygmy Nut- 

 hatch is that of "dipping," after the man- 

 ner of Water Ouzels, when chattering near 

 their nests. Unlike the Slender-billed, 



