THE OOLOGIST. 



93 



The3' are of a bluish green or greeni.sli 

 blue in color, spotted thickly of reddish 

 brown. Sizes range from .95 to 1.08 in 

 length by 70 to 76 in breadth. 



Glovek M. Allen, 

 Middlesex Co., Mass. 



"Winter Birds in Spring. 



March 28. On looking out of the 

 window I was very much surprised to 

 see the ground covered with snow, in 

 some places to the depth of two feet. 

 Only the day before I had seen the 

 early spring birds. The weather was 

 very cold, l)ut I could still hear the 

 song of Melosjnza melodia. 



March 29. Snow again fell, and it 

 brought numbers oi Redpolls, Tree 

 Sparrows, and; much to my surprise, 

 a large liock of Snow Buntings and 

 Crossbills, into the city. The Snow 

 Buntings congregated in a vacant lot 

 where I procured three of them, and 

 the Crossbills stopped to feed on the 

 cones of some hemlocks across the 

 road. Of these I got five, all American 

 Crossbills. Concluding that the main 

 tiock must be somewhere in the A'icinity 

 of the city, I took my gun and went in 

 search of them. After considerable 

 walking we found the flock which, on 

 I'isiug, seemed to fill the air like so 

 many huge suowflakes. We procured 

 as manj- of these as were wanted and 

 among them a male, Avith clear white 

 head and breast, and in place of the 

 greyish-black and chestnut markings 

 on the back, it was jet black; and we 

 also secured two females of the usual 

 color, alive, they being slightly "Avlug- 

 tipped." We saw several more of 

 these White Buntings, which I believe 

 is their summer plumage. 



On our way home we saw a large 

 flock of Robins, Meadow Larks, Juncos, 

 Song and Tree Sparrows; also some 

 Blackbirds and Redpolls, near a hem- 

 lock wood, where they could fly for 

 shelter from the storm. It was proba- 



bly the recent snow storms which 

 drove these northern Ijirds back, but 

 notwithstanding this, M^as it not very 

 late for them ito be loitering here? 

 Chas. C. Trembly, 

 Oneida Co., N. Y. 



Some "Pun" -gent Sentences. 



A "tough" bird — the jay. 

 A cheating bird — the gull. 

 A boasting bird — the crow. 

 A dishonest bird — the robin. 

 A rude bird — the mocking bird. 

 An untruthful bird — the lyre bird. 

 A low spirited bird — the blue bird. 

 A "cabinet" bird — the secretary bird. 



E. J. BOTSFORD, 



Medina, N. Y. 



Great Gray Owls, 



On* January last there was. shot in 

 Franklin Co. a Great Gray or Cinereous 

 Owl; also one was taken in Chittenden 

 Co. the same week and the two speci- 

 mens are now in my collection. 



This owl is a very rare visitor in Ver- 

 mont. 



There were several Snowy Owls 

 captured here this Avinter. 



S. O. Brush. 

 Chittenden Co., Vt. 



A Valuable Work. 



We have received from Messrs. W. 

 W. Crooks c% Co., of Oilman, 111., a 

 copy of Jordan's "Manual of the Verte- 

 brates" of the Northern United States, 

 including the district north and east of 

 the Ozark Mountains, south of the Lau- 

 rentian Hills, north of the southern 

 boundary of Virginia, and east of the 

 Missouri River — inclusive of marine 

 species. Fifth Edition. 



The design of the work is to give to 

 students and collectors a ready means 

 of identifying the Vertebrate fauna of 

 the region which it covers, and of 

 recognizing the characters on which 

 the families, genera, and species of 

 these animals are founded. ■ 



The work is greatly condensed, 

 giving- the reader "much in little." All 

 descriptions are very concise with as 

 few repetitions as possible. 



The (H'der of arrangement, is that 



