1G4 



THE OOLOGIST. 



do for the oniithologist. Mr. Cheney 

 will please accept our hearty thanks for 

 his excellent productions. 



Here and There. 



James Hill, of Edinburgh, Ills., 

 writes as follows concerning the nest- 

 ing of the Prairie Horned Lark in his 

 locality : 



I have had considerable opportunity 

 to study the nesting of this species by 

 plowing in fields where they were 

 abundant. I have noticed in all nine- 

 teen sets of this species during 1890, my 

 first find was on April 8th in a pasture, 

 the nest contained two young and one 

 stale egg. The nest must have been 

 made about March 30th. In early 

 spring they breed here in the pastures. 

 But in May and June, when the corn is 

 from four inches to one foot in height, 

 their nest may be found by the side of a 

 growing hill of corn. 1 found a set of 

 five eggs on June 19th of uniform size 

 and very dark markings. 



I think sets of this number are very 

 rare. I found a set on June 15th con- 

 taining two eggs. One was "white" 

 except on the great end it had a few 

 very dim blotches scarcely discei'uable. 

 The other egg has the spots concentra- 

 ted around the large end. My last nest 

 consisted of three eggs found on June 

 21, 1890. 



Fred A. Schneider, College Park, 

 Cala. reports a nest of the Western 

 Red-tailed Hawk taken by him April 

 26th, containing four eggs, two of 

 Avhich were neai-ly white. Is not this a 

 rather large set? 



On June 23rd, G. H. Bockoven, of 

 Palmyra, N. Y. relates the taking of an 

 egg of the Chipping Sparrow, which 

 was distinctly spotted on the smaller 

 end instead of the large end; a rather 

 peculiar egg. 



In regard to the question of birds 

 watering their young, which was dis- 

 cussed somewhat in the May Oologist, 

 Kit Atkinson of Dime Box, Texas, gives 

 us the benefit of a little observatiou. 

 He writes: 



"In 1888, I took a set of young Or- 

 chard Orioles and put them in a cage so 

 the old birds could feed them. I 

 brought them near the house and put 



a water-glass in the cage so they could 

 have water. The old bird would come 

 and put her ])ill in the glass of water 

 and then put it in the mouths of the 

 young birds. I think she was watering 

 the young; if not, she must have been 

 playing that she was." 



W. E. Snyder, Beaver Dam, Wis. 



writes: 



"On the 11th of July, I took a set of 

 foiu" fresh Robin eggs of usual size from 

 a burr oak. The eggs are the same. in 

 color as those of a Catbird, and but for 

 size, shape and seeing the Robin on the 

 nest, I would have pronounced them 

 eggs of that bird. Is not that an un- 

 common color for Robin eggs?" 



John W. Arnold, Allegan, Mich, re- 

 ports a Chimney Swift which has built 

 its nest among the Barn Swallow's 

 nests in his barn for three successive 

 years. 



W. E. Drennan, New Sharon, la. re- 

 lates the following: 



"On June 25th, while on ni}' way to a 

 neighbor's house, I saw an old stump 

 over in an orchard. Seeing a Bluebird 

 around, I thought probably there might 

 be a nest in it. On going over I saw a 

 Bluebird fly out of a hole in the stump, 

 and, looking in, I beheld three Pewee 

 eggs almost ready to hatch. The Blue- 

 birds had occupied the nest for some 

 time, for they were seen there some 

 time before. The Pewees were flying 

 around close to the nest, but seemed 

 afraid to battle with the Bluebirds for 

 possession. 



This is the first time anything like 

 that ever came under my notice; and 

 also the first time I ever knew of a 

 Pewee nesting in a stvmip." 



F. C. Hare, Whitby, Ont., Can. 

 writes: 



"I think you have given to Mr. G. E. 

 B., Marion, Ala., the wrong idea of a 

 'Butcher-bird.' In C anada, the name 

 Butcher-bird is the common name for 

 the Northern Shrike, A. O. U. No. 

 621." 



[The name "Butcher-bird" is applied 

 to all the Shrikes; to the Calif orniaa of 

 California, to the Loggerhead of the 

 Southern States, to the White-rumped 

 of the W^estern and Northern States 

 and to the Northern of the high North.] 

 —Eds. 



