THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



123 



carefully prepared, and among others dealt 

 with were the Plumed Partridge and White- 

 throated Swift, of which skins were shown. 

 Mr. Taylor read some interesting notes on 

 the nesting habits of the Golden Eagle. 



Two skins of the California Pygmy Owl 

 which had been sent in by Mr. Grinnell of 

 Pasadena were shown. Both were females 

 and were taken near Pasadena in the 

 mountains on the i8th and 24th of Febru- 

 ary of this year. It is probable that they 

 nest there. When perched on the syca- 

 more trees they are described as appearing 

 to be small yellow balls. Both specimens 

 were taken in broad daylight while sitting 

 on trees in a canyon. 



Upon a suggestion of Mr. Arnold an ar- 

 ticle was added to the by-laws providing 

 for the holding of auxiliary meetings of the 

 Club in Southern California for the benefit 

 of members there. These meetings are in 

 all respects to be under the guidance of the 

 Club proper. A meeting of the Southern 

 Californian members will shortly be called 

 to begin the work. 



C. Bari<ow, Secretary, 



Santa Clara, Cal. 



COLLECTING IN VERMONT. 



Vermont is one of the smallest of the 

 United States, and its borders present no 

 formidable barriers to the free passage of 

 birds. Hence, we may infer that the State 

 possesses no distinctive ornithological char- 

 acteristics. And this inference we find 

 upon investigation to be correct. No bird 

 is found in Vermont which is not found in 

 one or more of the adjoining States. It is, 

 no doubt, owing to this fact that the study 

 of the ornithology of Vermont has been 

 somewhat neglected. Yet it may be ques- 

 tioned if any State in the Union, of no 

 greater area, or, indeed, if any portion of 

 the United States, of similar dimensions, 

 possesses a greater variety of birds. 



Thompson, more than fifty years ago, 

 catalogued and described one hundred and 

 forty-two species of birds, which were then 



known to inhabit the State, and since that 

 time no complete list of Vermont birds has 

 been published; so that we are somewhat 

 in the dark, at the present time, in regard 

 to the actual number of species which now 

 inhabit the State. For, since the publica- 

 tion of Thompson's list, in 1842, three 

 species have become totally extinct, and at 

 least three other species are practically so. 

 As an oflFset, however, more than forty 

 species of which he made no mention are 

 now known to breed in the State, while a 

 few others are known as occasional visitors; 

 and it is safe to assume that there are at 

 least one hundred and seventy-five different 

 species of wild birds now inhabiting the 

 State of Vermont. This, considering the 

 limited area of the State, the density of its 

 population, and the length of time which 

 has elapsed since its settlement, is a re- 

 markable showing. 



Those who are familiar with the game 

 laws of Vermont, and the stringency with 

 which they are enforced, may, at first 

 thought, be inclined to ascribe this fact to 

 the natural operation of those laws, but a 

 moment's reflection will convince one that 

 such is not the case; for it is scarcely a 

 dozen years since the first game law, pro- 

 tecting birds, was passed; and the first law 

 protecting other than game birds was passed 

 in 1892. Hence we must ascribe the abun- 

 dance of species to the natural and physi- 

 cal features of the State. 



It is true that, for more than one hun- 

 dred years, some species have been most 

 unmercifully slaughtered, and the indi- 

 viduals of those species are, in consequence, 

 somewhat rare, yet anyone may count from 

 thirty to fifty different species during a 

 day's ramble through the woods and fields 

 of Vermont; and at the proper season the 

 expert nidiologist will have little difficulty 

 in discovering the nests of a dozen or more 

 different species during the same length of 

 time; and of the more common varieties he 

 may easily find as manj' specimens as he 

 can reasonably desire. 



Yet, to the collector in Vermont, all is 



