THE OOLOGIST. 



118 



shadt's of ivdclish-brown and occasion- 

 ally a spot of black, is probably tlio 

 Yellow Warbler. 



H. S. B., riielps, N. Y.-l. The nest- 

 ing of the Red and White-shouldered 

 Blackbird or Tri-color Blackl)ird of tlie 

 Pacific coast, is similar to that of tlie 

 Red-Winged, tiie nest being placed 

 in flags or alder-bushes near water. 



2. Your sparrow of a general 

 l)rownish color and patch of chestnut 

 on the head, building a nest of hair in a 

 bush, and laying Ijlue eggs spotted 

 lightly at the large end with brown is 

 doubtless the Chipping Sparrow. 

 Earlj" nests of thi? species are often 

 placed (>n or near the ground 



3. The nests and eggs of the differ- 

 ent Plovers closely resemble each other 

 as do the birds themselves. The Kill- 

 deer may be knoAvn from all other 

 Plovers ■ by the two l)lack bands on 

 throat and breast, and by its cinna- 

 mon-colored rump. 



A. P. B., La Moille, la.— Your bird 

 building its nest uudei' a bridge or in 

 an old barn, whose eggs are Avhite 

 spotted sparinglj' at the lai'ge end with 

 brown, is the Phrebe. 



Note. — Queries not noticed in this 

 issue will be answered in the next num- 

 ber. 



Our Monthly Mixture. 



H. F. M., Quechee, Vt. 

 having shot a Mockingbird 

 ])lace on April 30th, last. 



reports 

 at that 



gradation in size, the most highly incu- 

 bated egg being the largest, and the 

 fresh one being the smallest, while the 

 size of the othel's varied directly as the 

 stage of inculcation. 



Charles C. Trembly, of Utica, N. Y., 

 writes: "Have just received, from Mr. 

 H. L. Callaway, of Orion, 111., a set of 

 nine (9) eggs of the American Crow, 

 collected April 7th of this year. The 

 eggs present no great variation in size, 

 or color. Sets of six are not unusual, 

 but I should call nine either a very 

 large, or an "assisted" set; by which 1 

 mean that the nest was proliably occu- 

 ])ied by two pair of Crows." 



Ernest H. Short, Chili, IS'. Y. relates 

 the taking of an eggof the Prairie Hor- 

 ned Lark which measured 1.01 x .70, an 

 unusually large egg for that species. 



On May 6th, Allie Hutchinson, of 

 Oaines, N. Y. found a nest of the Song 

 wSparrow placed in a cavity of an apple 

 tree, ten feet from the gntund. 



Letsou Balliett, of Des Moines, la. 

 reports a nest of the Great Horned 

 Owl, the contents of which were won- 

 ilerfuUy graded in size and incubation. 

 First Avas a young Owl. Then five 

 eggs, which, in incubation A'aried uni- 

 fcn-mly from highly incubated to per- 

 fectly fresh. Also there was a perfect 



We clip the following frcjm a May- 

 ville, N. Y. paper: 



"Almon E Kibbe, Taxidermist, of 

 this village, has just completed the 

 mounting of a Florida alligator, for Mr. 

 Frank H. Lattin, of Albion, N. Y., 

 which will be on exhibition at Chautau- 

 qua, during the coming summer. The 

 reptile measures a tritle over eleven 

 feet in length and must have been any- 

 thing but a pleasant neighbor in its 

 native slough in the land of flowers." 



Frank Viele, of Ballston Springs, N. 

 Y. relates an extraordinary occurrence 

 in connection with a Rol)in. He writes: 



"On May 2ud, Avhile out collecting, 

 I saw a curious sight. A Robin had 

 Iniilt her nest in a tree near a Crow's 

 nest, and the Crows bothered her so 

 that she built a nest about twenty rods 

 from the old one, and I saw her carry 

 the four eggs in her claws to the other 

 nest." 



Hoiner J. Knickerbocker, of Elba, N. 

 Y. writps: 



"Maj' 3rd, I shot a bird, whose back, 

 head, wings and tail Avere olive color or 

 yelloAvish green, with a small tuft of 

 reddish yellow feathers on the back of 

 its head. The throat was white, 

 streaked with black not unlike a 

 Meadowlark's. The breast and belly 

 were white; the bill Avas about three- 

 fourths of an inch long and closely re- 

 sembled a Woodpecker's. Shot it in 

 the act of singing. If this is an OHa'c- 

 backed Thrush, please give me credit 

 for finding tAvo nests last year. The 

 nests Avere in small saplings, about 

 seA-en feet uj), composed of small twigs, 

 shreds of Ixirk, etc. Length of nest, 



