THE OOLOGIST. 



73 



and Ih it he saw a young English Spar- 

 row just out of the nest. An early sea- 

 son is apparent. 



Merritt Holmes, of New York City, 

 writes us that he took, last season, in 

 Kansas a set of two eggs of the Poor 

 Will or Nuttall's Whip-poor-will. 



There are worse finds than a set of 

 Mallard Eggs. William Turner reports 

 a set of four taken near St, Paul, Minn., 

 last season. 



James A. Wood, of Rouse's Point, N. 

 Y., would like to have someone inform 

 him as to how to make a cabinet for 

 eggs and curios. 



A. L., of Manitowoc Co., Wis., 

 writes: — "In the latter part of June, 

 1889, I found a set of three eggs which 

 are, as far as I have been enabled to 

 identify them, those of the Nighthawk. 

 They were deposited on the bare ground 

 in the midst of a large tract of sandy 

 soil lying close to the lake shore. They 

 so closely resembled the surrounding 

 stones and rubbish, that it was tlirough 

 mere chance that I discovered them. 

 No attempt at a nest had been made 

 and the part?ut birds Avere nowhere to 

 be seen. I carried them home and 

 placed tiiem in my cabinet, hoping to 

 identify them at some future time. But 

 all sets of eggs of the Nighthawk which 

 I have seen, differ in two respects, that 

 <if consisting of only two eggs to a set, 

 and of being more glossy and smooth 

 tlmn mine. Will some reader of the 

 OoLoGiST please inform nie what species 

 this is, or whether it is only an excep- 

 tional set of the Nighthawk V 



Ernest E. Lee, Covington, Ga., re- 

 ports an early nest of the Cooper's 

 Hawk. He found a nest containing 

 young birds on March 8.th. 



Allison Merritt, Washington, D. C, 



reports an exceptional set of Flicker's^ 

 Eggs. The set, which was of nine eggs, 

 contained two small eggs which meas- 

 ured only about | by f in. One of the 

 small eggs was found on the ground at 

 the foot of the tree. 



Frank Harris, of La Crescent, Minn., 

 reports the following large and early 

 sets: — 



Feb. 17. Great Horned Owl. Set of 

 four incubated eggs. 



March 13. Great Horned Owl. Set 

 of three incubated eggs. 



March 13. Barred Owl. Set of four 

 eggs. Incubation advanced. 



First Bluebird of the season was seen 

 March 12th. 



Winter Notes from St. Thomas. 



On the 10th of March, Mr. O. Foster 

 of this city, shot two White- winged 

 Crossbills on our grounds, both males. 

 These are the first that have been re- 

 corded in our county. 



Bird life has been quite abundant in 

 and around St. Thomas, the past win- 

 ter. Juncos, Redpolls, Tree Sparrows, 

 Snow Flakes, Woodpeckers of several 

 species and Crows were the most com- 

 mon birds noticed. 



On the 13th of December, 1887, I shot 

 a male Hermit Thrush. I consider it 

 quite uncommon to find a bird like this 

 one so late in the fall. 



Early in January, Mr. B. P. Wintc- 

 mute of this city, shot several Snow 

 Flakes and one was only injured on 

 the wing, which soon healed up and 

 now it appears to be contented with its 

 new home. It eats any kind of seed 

 given it and its owner has good faitli 

 that it will remain in good health and 

 spend its summer here when he might 

 gain some knowledge of it, in the 

 breeding season. 



F. H. Fauley, 

 St. Thomas. Ont. 



