THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



143 



Cooper Ornithological Club. 



(Those desiring to join will please communicate with 

 the Secretary, C. Barlow, Santa Clara, Cal.) 



THE regular monthly meeting was held 

 May 5. A paper on the Western 

 Horned Owl, by Mr. Schneider was 

 read. He took the stand that they 

 were much more beneficial than injurious. 

 The usual nesting site, in his experience, 

 has been in old Hawks' nesfcs, and occa- 

 sionally in cavities of trees. In 1893, a 

 nest of the Western Red-tail was observed, 

 to which the bird was adding material. It 

 was visited later, but no Hawk left the nest 

 in response to a volley of rocks. In the 

 middle of March of the same year the nest 

 was again visited, and a Western Horned 

 Owl left it, and it proved to contain three 

 downy young. Undoubtedly the Owl was 

 on at the first visit, but it was exceptional 

 in an Owl occupying a fresh Hawks' nest. 

 On the 22nd of February, 1894, Mr. Schnei- 

 der re-visited the nest and tried to flush 

 the Owl, but in vain. On climbing to it, 

 the female left aud was not seen again. 

 Three eggs, in which incubation was be- 

 gun, were found resting on bare sticks. 



Mr. Silliman of Watsonville found a nest 

 April 15, 1892, containing slightly incu- 

 bated eggs, and Mr. Beck of Berryessa 

 notes one found in an old Hawk's nest, in 

 an open field, June 4, 1892, containing 

 young two weeks old. Mr. Judson of Pa- 

 sadena found a nest in the top of a pine on 

 March 17, 1890, containing three young, 

 and on re-visiting it Feb. 23, 1891, it held 

 two eggs and one young bird. Mr. Taylor 

 notes their nesting in cliffs, and took a set 

 from such a location this year. 



" The Least Vireo " was the subject of a 

 paper by Mr. Wilbur, based on notes taken 

 at Riverside, Cal., and at Fort lyowell and 

 Fairbanks, Arizona. They nest from the 

 latter part of April, through May to the 

 first of June, placing their finely- woven 

 nests generally at a height of from two to 

 eight feet in willows or alders. The nests 

 are made of strong fibers, bark-strips, 

 leaves, grasses and even pieces of paper, 

 and are always compact. ISTests may often 

 be located by following the bird after its 

 clear, unmistakeable song. In Arizona this 

 bird was found breeding as late as June 19 

 (1893). This seems to be a second brood, 

 as immature young were shot in May and 

 June. On May 24th, 1893, two nests of 

 the I^east Vireo were found, in mosquito 



bushes, each containing one egg. On May 

 28 the egg in the first had been replaced by 

 a Dwari Cowbird's egg and the nest seemed 

 deserted. The second contained one 

 Vireo 's egg picked full of holes, two badly 

 broken ones and two fresh eggs of Dwarf 

 Cowbird. This nest was also deserted. 

 May 31a nest was found containing three 

 fresh eggs, and one taken June 9 contained 

 three badly incubated eggs and one egg of 

 Dwarf Cowbird. The eggs of the L,east 

 Vireo are a beauntiful transparent white, 

 lightly speckled with red and brown. The 

 average size of four sets collected at River- 

 side is .68 X .47. 



A paper on "Woodpeckers" by H. M. Hall 

 was read, dealing with seven species he has 

 met. Cabanis' is classed as rare. Four 

 sets of eggs vrere taken by Mr. Hall, one 

 set being runts and measuring .87 x .64, 

 .72 X 56 and .71 X .56. The birds may be 

 distinguished by the white stripe down the 

 back, and size. Gairdner's was found to be 

 common and many nests were taken from 

 fence-posts, the nests being about five feet 

 from the ground. The bird is similar to 

 Cabanis', but smaller. 



Mr. Judson 's paper on the California 

 Thrasher concluded the program. Refer- 

 ence was made to the beauty of the 

 Thrasher's song. The usual nesting site 

 is on the brushy sides of hills or in the sand- 

 washes where there are plenty of cacti. A 

 large nest is built of sticks with a lining of 

 fine grass or roots, and usually three eggs 

 are laid, sometimes two. April seems to 

 be the month for nesting, but the birds are 

 variable. A nest with three j^oung was 

 found on April 13, 1894. 



Members will please note that the obser- 

 vations on the Wrens are to be in by June 

 20, and those on the Vireos by July 20. 

 If properly prosecuted the observations will 

 be of value. C. Barlow, Secretary. 



The editor of the Nidiologist finds his 

 entire time occupied by the interests of his 

 magazine, and is, in consequence, no longer 

 editor of the Lantern, a society and literary 

 weekly which he published at Alameda for 

 two and one-half 3^ears. 



The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle 

 has a two-column descriptive article on 

 Frank H. Lattin, his large collections and 

 business; dwelling particularly on his 

 latest acquisition, the famous Jewett col- 

 lection of shells, numbering 50,000 speci- 

 mens and 10,000 species. 



