26 



THE OOLOGIST. 



liand I descended without mishap. I 

 then "went back to the boat and rowing 

 out to the bushes in whicli the Grakle 

 nests Avere situated, eolleoted three 

 sets of four and two sets of three eggs. 

 Incubation was fresh in some, while in 

 othei's it was well advanced. The Boat- 

 tailed Grakle builds a large and bulky 

 nest of straw which they weave to the 

 bushes. In this is placed a quanity of 

 soft mud, and without waiting for it to 

 dry line the nest throughout with fine 

 grass. The nest when built, thus is 

 much deeper than when placed in trees 

 on shore. The reason being that when 

 built in the bushes if they were not 

 deep the Avind blowing the bushes about 

 would cause the eggs to roll out. Land- 

 ing the boat I started across lots home. 

 While walking along I noticed a Spar- 

 row Hawk fly doAvn and grasping one 

 of those striped lizzards that form a 

 principal part of their food at this time 

 a year fly to a dead tree. KnoAving 

 from the habits of this bird that if I 

 Avould AA^ait a little AA^hile I might be 

 able to find its nest. I AA^as right. In 

 a minute or tAvo he commenced calling 

 and soon the female left her nest and 

 flcAv to him for her dinner. The nest 

 Avas about forty feet up and the dead 

 tree in Avhich it Avas placed AA^as A'ery 

 hard to climb; but reaching it at last I 

 Avas rewarded by finding five nice eggs. 

 Going through an oat patch near home 

 I found tAvo Ground Doa'b nests; one 

 containing tAvo eggs the other two 

 young. The nests Avere simply slight 

 holloAvs scraped in the earth and lined 

 Avith a fcAV pieces of grass blades. I 

 enjoyed my supper that night and of 

 course Avent to bed like all other col- 

 lectors to dream oAer tiie events of the 

 day. 



T. G. Pearson, 

 Alachua Co., Fla. 



The Snowy Owl. 



My request for information as to the 

 winter home of the SnoAA-y Oaa'I {Nyctea 



nyctea), appearing in your issue of Nov. 

 28, 1889, has brought me such a consider- 

 able A-olume of information from many 

 Avilling correspondents that I am encour- 

 aged in attempting to further ascertain 

 all I possibly can concerning this bird. 

 I shall be exceedingly obliged to any 

 one Avho will send me facts about the 

 Snowy OavI, telling particularly of ear- 

 I3', late or extreme southern appear- 

 ances. 



I suggest the folloAving heads as con- 

 A^enient for grouping the information to 

 be sent, and as outlining the ground I 

 Avish to coA^er: 



1 Where and Avhen you liaA^e seen 

 the SnoAvy Owl. 



2. What you knoAV of the observa- 

 tions of others in your vicinity. 



3. If these birds occur in about the 

 same numbers annually with you, and 

 if they arrive and depart on uniform 

 dates. 



4. Of any local or common names 

 for this bird, also of names in other 

 hvnguages than English. 



Ti. Of the cry of the SnoAvy OavI. 



h. iwodof this OavI: state if infor- 

 uiatioM is from examined stomachs. 

 12 7. Ml ;;siirements and weights. 



8. Plumage of adults, albinos or 

 melanistic specimens. 



9. If its flesh is ever used as food by 

 man, or by other animals, i. e., its ene- 

 mies. ' 



10. If at any time they are gregar- 

 ious. 



11. \Nests; eggs; plumage of young. 



12. NcAvspaper clippings. 



13. Thermometrical and barometri 

 trical records bearing on the move- 

 ments of this species. 



14. Of tlie life of the SnoAvy Owl in 

 confinement. 



L. S. Foster, 

 35 Pine St., New York City. 

 December 12, 1889. 



From Forest and Stream, December 

 26th, 1889. 



[We trust the readers of The Oolo- 



