VOL VI. 



ALBION, N. Y., DEC, 1889. 



NO. 12 



Birds of Niagara County, N. V. 



We are imlehted to J. L. Uavidsoii, 

 Ksq., of Lockpoi-t, N.Y., fur a repnut- 

 ed list of the .same, Avhieli prepared 

 with annotations was for the Forest 

 iiiul Stream, Se])teniper, 1889. It is a 

 valnuiric ])apei- aiul liad we the 8i)a.('e 

 wouUl repi-iiit the same in tiie OcLo- 

 <il.ST. Niagara eonnty joins Orleans 

 eonnty on the west and the list in main 

 is similar to the • one published in the 

 OoLOGiST last May. 



From Mr. Davison's list Ave take the 

 following whieh Avill ])rove of interest 

 to our readers: 



In presenting the following list 

 I do so knowing that it is not eoinplete, 

 as the lSj:3 speeies given are onlj- sueh 

 as have come under my own oljserva- 

 tion within the past teii years. I think 

 it is generally claimed that about 2'M) 

 species occur in this Aicinit,y. There 

 are many sections of the county tliat I 

 haA-e not visited. In fact, most of my 

 collecting has btnMi confined to the cen- 

 tral part. Among a collection of be- 

 tween 800 and 400 mounted specinu'us, 

 154 species are secured in the county. 

 A few of the many species given as 

 migrants may possi))ly remain through 

 the summer, but I luiA-e found them 

 (Uily during migration. 



FROM THE LIST OF BIKDS. 



35. Brarita canadensis (Linn.), Can- 

 ada Goose (180). — A common migrant. 

 Mr. Nornnm Pomeroy, living al)out 

 four miles from Lockport, captured 13 

 a few year.s ago, Avhich had alighted 

 among his flock of tame geese during a 

 severe storm, and all taking shelter in 

 the barn, Aviien the door Avas closed on 

 them. Tliey mated AAith his tame geese 

 and he keeps a flock of 40 to 50 of the 

 hyljrid geese. 



80. Bubo vir^inianus ((lUiel.), Great ! 



Horned Owl (375).— -A common resident. 

 Feb, 35, 1884, a iiv(i specimen was 

 brought to my son to be mounted. It 

 was killed l)y chlorotorm but not skin- 

 ned I'oi- a. week afterward. T\h' bcnly 

 was a mass of fat, and my son w<uuler- 

 ing Avhat it got to live on to keep in 

 such good condition, thought he would 

 make an inspection internally, and on 

 cutting it open the knife passed tln-ough 

 on egg just ready to lie laid. Had she 

 beeii ke])t alive she wcudd have laid tlie 

 egg'diu-ing the day. 



84. Cocryziis erijthr o ]> !i t li a I m u s 

 (Wils.), Black-ljilled Cuckoo (388).— A 

 c.nmnon summer resident. 1 have of- 

 ten found the eggs of this species in th(> 

 nest of (\ a-incric(()ti;s, l)ut only oiu-e 

 liave I found it in the nest of any otlier 

 Inrd. June 17, 188,:3, I found a l)lack- 

 billed cuckoo and a mourning dove 

 sitting on a. rol)in's nest togethei'. The 

 cuckoo was thi* first to leavi' the nest. 

 On securing the nest I found it coirtain- 

 ed two eggs of the cuckoo, two of the 

 mourning dove and one robin egg. . 

 The )-obin had not quite finished the 

 nest when the cuckoo took i)ossession 

 of it and tilled it nearly full of rootlets, 

 IJut the robin got in and laid one t^gg. 

 Incubation had commenced in the 

 ro))in and cuckoo eggs, l)ut not in the 

 mourning do\'e eggs. I ha\e the nest 

 and eggs in my collec-tion. See Forest 

 and Stream, Aug. 24, 1882, ])a,ge 65. "A 

 Strange Story." I am also quite cer- 

 tain that I have seen the black-billed 

 and yellow-billed cuckoo feeding young 

 in the sanie nest, an account of which 

 was pulilished in Forest and Stream, 

 since Avhen I have found a, nmnlier of 

 nests containing the eggs of both spe- 

 eies, and have come to the conclusion 

 that I Avas not mistaken in that obser- 

 vation. On Sept. 10, 1883, I found a 

 nest of the black-billed cuckoo contain- 



