I70 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



feet from the ground, while the lowest was 

 only two. 



'l"he 19th of May was a cold, wet day, with 

 snow falling. It seemed strange indeed to see 

 it snowing and vegetation so far advanced. 

 While noting the effect the cold seemed to 

 have on the Bobolinks I espied a bird as white 

 as the snow itself beating up against the wind. 

 It alighted in a small marsh close at hand and 

 appeared very wild. However, Mr Mummery 

 soon took it in out of the cold. It proved to 

 be an American Egret {Ardfa cgrctta) in its 

 breeding plumage. The waders are plentiful 

 this year. Golden and Black-bellied Plover, 

 Dunlin, Stilt Sandpiper, stayed with us till after 

 June I. 



I write this letter while encamped on the 

 bank of the Red River of the North, just be- 

 low Fort Pembina. We have just finished a 

 trip trom Cirand Forks by n\eans of a canvas 

 boat manufactured by ourselves. Brewer's 

 Blackbirds nest along the river at various points, 

 but all have young on the wing. Perhaps the 

 rarest bird noted for this season of the year was 

 a Redjjoll. While en route, we fell in with an 

 old trapjjer familiarly known as "Scoop," who 

 will guide us to a good collecting ground. 

 While on the river we would occasionally shoot 

 a Duck to add to our bill of fare. Mr. Mum- 

 mery spied a fine Mallard, as he supposed, and 

 immediately knocked it over. "Scoop," as he 

 drifted past it, picked it up, and when down 

 the river several miles announced it as a tame 

 duck much to M.'s chagrin. But "Scoop" 

 assured us it was eatable, and so it proved to 

 be. Edwin S. Bryant. 



Pembina, N. Dak., June 19, 1895. 



pied it. This was the only pair of Crackles 

 about the place, and I have never seen them 

 there before. 



There were plenty of coniferous trees in 

 which they could have built within a stone's 

 throw of the old buttonwood. Last year, in 

 May, I took a set of four of Robin's from this 

 same hole. F. E. Newbury. 



Providence, R. I. 



* * 



Disappearance of Bluebirds. 



Editor Nidiologist. 



De.\r Sir: The June Nidiologist is at 

 hand, and it seems to get better, if such a thing 

 were possible, with each issue. 



I notice a statement of Charles K. Worthen 

 on page 132, and also of B. Hail Swales on 

 page 139, making note of the scarcity of the 

 Bluebird this year. Formerly the Bluebird was 

 one of the most common residents of this 

 county, and nested in abundance in the or- 

 chards and yards and outbuildings in the 

 neighborhood of this town. 



It has been gradually getting scarcer for the 

 past ten years, until this year it is a thing of 

 the past. 



I have been in the field considerable this 

 season, and have failed to see a single Bluebird 

 within the county. 



I wonder if the bird is becoming extinct 

 from some unknown cause, or whether because 

 of its nesting places being occupied by the 

 English Sparrow it has been compelled to seek 

 new homes in some distant and unsettled part 

 of this country? R. M. Barnes. 



Lacon, 111., June 17, 1895. 



Three Families — One Hole. 



Editor Nidiologist. 



Dear Sir: Having read in the " Nid " sev- 

 eral instances of unusual nesting sites, I men- 

 tion the following: 



On the evening of May 17 last I went into 

 the country about twelve miles from Provi- 

 dence for the pur[K)se of a daylight start on 

 the i8th to look for Killdeers. As I passed an 

 old buttonwood tree, thetoj) of which is broken 

 off about thirty feet from the ground (and 

 whi( h I knew had been the home of numerous 

 I''li( kers), I threw a stone at top of tree, and 

 saw a bird fly out. As it was after dark I did 

 not investigate until the next morning, when I 

 climbed to the top and found a nest of the 

 Purple Crackle containing five eggs, built in 

 an old deserted hole of a Flicker. The wood 

 around the hole had rotted away, making the 

 hole much larger than when the Flicker occu- 



An Albino Pallid Horned Lark. 



NOT long ago, while out for a stroll with 

 my gun, I came across a pair of Pallid 

 Horned Larks {Otocoris alpestris leuco- 

 leama), the $ in the distance appearing to 

 be pure white. They were at the time busily 

 engaged in feeding a brood of young. Being 

 desirous of procuring the entire family, I soon 

 began the work of destruction, and in a few 

 minutes had secured all six birds. The 9 , 

 upon examination, was found to be almost 

 pure white, inclusive of the beak, legs, and 

 claws, there being, however, a slight trace of 

 yellow on the chin and a few spots of natural 

 color on the tail feathers. The $ and four 

 young were in no way peculiar, being in a per- 

 fectly normal state of plumage. 



Willoughby p. Lowe. 

 Pueblo, Colo. 



