THE OOLOGIST. 



41) 



The Owl. 



A boy's composition. 



Wen you come to see a owl cloce it has 

 offie big eyes, and wen you come to feel it 

 with your {ingers, wich it bites, you fine it 

 is mosely feathers, with only jus meat enuf 

 to hole 'em to gether. 



Once they was a man thot he would like 

 a owl for a pet, so he tole a bird man to 

 send him the bes' one in the shop, but wen 

 it was bro't he lookt at it and squeezed it, 

 and it diddeut sute. So the man he rote to 

 the bird man and said, I'll keep the owl 

 yoii sent, tho' it aint like I wanted, but wen 

 it is wore out yon mus' make me a other, 

 with littler eyes, for I s"pose these eyes is 

 number twenties, but I want number sixes 

 and then if I pay .you the same price yon 

 can afford to put in more owl. • 



Owls has got to have big eyes cos tha 

 has to be out a good deal at nite a doin 

 bisnis with rats and mice, wich keeps late 

 ours They is said to be very wise, but my 

 sister's young man he says raiy boddy could 

 be wise if they would set up nites to take 

 notice. 



That feller comes to oar house jest like 

 he used to, only more, and wen I ast him 

 wy he come so much he said he was a man 

 of sience. like me, and was a stndyin arni- 

 thOjj;aly, wich was birds. I ast him woe 

 birds he was a stuilyin, and he said anjils, 

 and wen he said that my sister she lookt 

 out the winder and said w^ot a fine day it 

 had turn out to be. But it was a rainiu 

 cats and dogs wen she said it. I never see 

 such a goose in my life as that girl, but 

 Uncle Ned, wich has been in ol parts of the 

 woii, he says they is jes that way in Patty- 

 gmuy. 



In the picte alphabets the is some 

 times a owl, and some times it is a ox, but 

 if I made the pictei's I'de have it stau for 

 a oggur to bore holes with. I tole that to 

 ole gaffer Peters once wen he was to our 

 house lookin at my new book, and he said 

 you is right, Johnny, and here is this H 

 stans for harp, but who cares for a harp, 

 wy dont they make it stan for a horgan? 

 He is such a ole fool. 



A Crow duandary. 



The remark of J. O. S . , in the December 

 OoLOGisT, that in his locality, the Crow "is 

 undoubtedly becoming less abundant each 

 year, ■' suggests an interesting subject for 

 investigation; for it is generally supposed 

 that the Crow can "hold his own" any- 

 where. 



Here the gradual disappearance of the 

 Crow is not so evident; on the contrary, 

 they seem to be increasing, and the large 

 flocks, which, with him are " things of the 

 past," sre eminently things of the 

 present. 



All through the mouths of October, 

 November and December, flocks are seen 

 here almost daily, migrating in a leisurely 

 manner toward the south. By the first of 

 January, most of the migi'ants have dis- 

 appeared and only the resident Crows 

 remain; but about the first of March the 

 van of the large flocks may be again looked 

 for. 



Since, in the last few yeai-s, the Crows 

 have seemingly increased here, the decrease 

 in J. O. S' locality may be occasioned by 

 the gradual removal to some other point; 

 and the increase here, be attributed to the 

 same cause. 



A change, similar to this, was noticed 

 in the nesting habits of the Crows here, 

 during 1887-8. In '87 nesls were very 

 common and many eggs were taken; but in 

 '88, although there were as many Crows 

 about, they had evidently taken warning 

 by their experience of '87, and scarcely a 

 nest was found. 



The migration of the Crows south in 

 autumn has given rise to some puzzUng 

 questions. Why do some Crows migrate 

 while others do not ? It has been suggested 

 as an explanation of this question, that it is 

 the females, and perhaps the young males, 

 who migrate, and that only the old males 

 stay all winter in their summer haunts: but 

 this has not been proved. 



I should be pleased to hear from our 

 oologists in regard to the Crow's northern 

 range in winter and also how far .south the 

 large flocks go. 



WiLLAED N. Cltite, Binghnmton, N. Y, 



