'IHE OOLOGIST. 



133 



quest that they either overlook or tear tLcm 

 out. 



lllLi. We have several hundred subscribers 

 ihat would rather pay us au additional 50c. 

 l)er year than to have the Ooi.dGisT pi;b- 

 lished without its advertising pages. 



12th. 'J'hat inasmuch as over four hun- 

 dred of the Oolo(!ist's si;bscril)crs have 

 already jiaid in advance for Davie's JS'eir 

 Check List and fullj' as many more are anx- 

 iously awaiting its issue, wo know from ex- 

 perience that anything that conveys an idea 

 to iLe waitii g cclc^gist that the wojk is ever 

 to be issued, is of decided interest. 



loth. As to the Oologist "degenerating 

 ir;to a third-cla.'-s jiapcr,' we would simply 

 say that we me willing to submit the last 

 twelve issues of our little magazine to a 

 cou:mittee of live liVe ooloffi.st.s and if from 

 their verdict it is deterniiuf d that the avrr- 

 affc value of ciie7u is-siie is net greater I'rom 

 an oological and ornithological standpoint," 

 than all the issues of any four-page ama- 

 teur publication in America during the same 

 period, we will donate to any school or col- 

 lege they may name a collection of biid's 

 eggs worth not less than fifty dollars. 



As a reply to the editoiial we might sug- 

 gest the following letter, as it handles the 

 subject with much greater ability and fair- 

 ness than could possibly be done by the 

 editor of the Oologist. Much value and 

 weight is added to the letter from the fact 

 that it was written unsolicited by a disin- 

 terested party, and that further the gentle- 

 man is not only an oologist, but an editor of 

 one of the leading newspapers of Vermont, 

 viz: Hie 8t. Johiinbury Ua]'H>ni,(iii. 



We purposely omit the name of the sheet 

 publishing this "trash' as we have no de- 

 sire to give it the benefit of "our rei^ly" as 

 au adveitisemeiit. 



St. JohiisLuiy, May 18, ■yi). 

 Mr. Lattiu, 



Dear Sir:— The last 



has sr.ch an unwarranted as well as false at- I 

 tack on the merits of your little magazine, 

 that I want to offer an unsolicited tribute to 

 its value and meiit. From a newspajoer 

 standpoint, and nij' business makes me view 



it in that light, what can any one think of a 

 paper which jirints such rot as this? 



"We aie advised that a certain publisher 

 is passing criticisms on the last number of 

 this paj^er. If we are able to find out who 

 the Ifuock- kneed, long-legged, gamble - 

 shanked, big footed, blear-eyed, dilapidated 

 spec'imeu of a man is we wont leave enough 

 of him to fill a humming-bird's egg. 



I took this from the under 



the head of editoriaU. 



Your magazine is well edited, its adver- 

 tisements have built up my small collection 

 of e<.'gs, as you w<'ll know, aud the idea 

 that is a third-class paper is false. Success 

 to the OoLocJisT. 



Yours Truly, 



Arthur F. Stone. 



This is the editorial (?) I refer to. 



Tlic slool)ologist of Albion is degenerating. 

 It used to be second to none, Init has now 

 degenerated inuj a third-class paper. About 

 one-half of each issue is taken up with its 

 bargain lists, which bargains no body wants, 

 oue-eighth to Davie's new check list and the 

 rest to some scientific discussion which in- 

 terests no one but the pers<m wliu writes it. 

 "Wake up'' Mr. Mattin and sM'e your pa- 

 per's reputation. 



Ground Dove. 



Having seeu a good deal about the nest- 

 ing habits of this bird, I will tell what I 

 know aboiit it. I noticed au article by L. S. 

 Morrison, Lake Helen, Flirida, in which Mr. 

 Perry says: "Have been collecting for 

 fifteen years aud never found nest of this 

 bird on the ground'. Out of five sets that 

 I collected in 1888, four were laid on the 

 ground, the nest being simply a slight hol- 

 low in the ground, lined witli a few straws, 

 its nesting season is any time frcm Feb- 

 ruary to October. The bird is veiy abund- 

 ant in this county. They become very 

 t.'une - and stay around a house like the 

 Mockingbird. There were two nests birilt 

 within 75 feet of my house last season. 

 Hoping to hear more about this beautiful 

 lird. 



W. E., Thonotosassa, Fla. 



