THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



51 



give in Fig. 3, the rear one of the two 

 shown, and even the veriest tyro in taxi- 

 dermy can appreciate the fact that it has 

 been stuffed and stretched to a degree that 

 has almost placed his penguinship beyond 

 the pale of recognition. Standing in front 

 of him is a mounted specimen of one of 

 recent acquisition, and mark j^ou, one of 

 the same species. Although fairly well 

 done, I am inclined to think that even it 

 can be improved upon, but there is an ex- 

 cuse for this, as good reliable models from 

 which to mount Penguins are not among 

 the commonest things in the world. To 

 this end a camera might be used with an 

 enormous advantage on the grounds where 

 these birds are found in nature. 



A LABOR-SAVING BIRD. 



In May of 1886, I found a nest of the 

 Western Flycatcher {Empidoiax difficilis), 

 situated on a rafter in a cow-barn, and only 

 four feet from the ground. As I approached 

 closely to the nest four young birds of this 

 species fluttered down to the ground and 

 shuffled along and out of sight. In the 

 bottom of the nest was a set of four eggs, 

 which upon being blown showed that in- 

 cubation had begun, in different periods for 

 each &gg, but the embryos had not formed 

 yet in any of them. Had the young birds 

 not been disturbed they would have re- 

 mained in the nest two or three days longer. 

 The mother had deposited the eggs so the 

 heat from the nestlings would save her 

 about a week's time sitting on the eggs. 



Alameda, Cal. D. A. C. 



Miss Milicent W. Shinn, editress of the 

 Overland Mottthly, propounds to us the following: 

 "I wish you would tell me how one learns Califor- 

 nia birds — where there is any descriptive cata- 

 logue or anything of the sort, by which one may 

 name and identify them. It is for the use of a 

 child that I am thinking of it— a three-year-old, 

 who asks, 'Fat kind of a bird is dat?' over and 

 over, 'Fat is his name?' — and none of her elders 

 can tell her when she gets outside of the Blackbird, 

 Linnet, Hummingbird, Hawk, and Owl." 



FIG 3— TWO EXAMPLES OF MOUNTED SPECIMENS OF 

 THE KING PENGUIN. 



VAUX'S SWIFT IN CHIMNEYS. 



Mr. C. Littlejohn of Redwood City, Cal., 

 has recorded the taking of a pair of Vaux's 

 Swifts at that town, which presented a 

 strong smoky odor, as though they had 

 been living in a chimney, like their relative 

 of the Eastern States. 



Captain Bendire, in a recent letter to the 

 Nidiologist's editor, remarks: "I have 

 heard that Vaux's Swift has been seen go- 

 ing in and coming out of chimneys, and if 

 you have any correspondents in localities 

 where this species is fairly common during 

 the breeding season, it would be well to 

 caution them to be on the lookout. They 

 are probably just about changing their nest- 

 ing habits, like the Eastern Chimney Swift 

 did in years gone by. From the nature of 

 the country about Alameda, it is not likely 

 that any nest in the vicinity, but in little 

 towns close to the redwood belt something 

 interesting might be learned about them." 



The October number of the NiDioivOGiST men- 

 tions the Bob White (introduced from the East) 

 breeding around Gilroy, California. A set of eggs 

 of this species was found this year by a school 

 boy near Sargents, which is six and one quarter 

 miles from Gilroy. 



