166 



THE OOLOGIST. 



G R Pm Washington, Ga.— Cannot 

 voui- red, white and black bird called 

 ''Shii-t-tail," be the Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker V 



F B., Chadron, Neb.— Yonr female 

 bird w'ith j'ellow under parts and 

 brown back, hanging its nest from the 

 small twigs of trees in groves, the eggs 

 being faint bluish, dotted and hned 

 Avith dark-brown or Ijlack is doubtless 

 the Orchard Oriole. 



E. L. Y., Thornton's Ferry, N. H.— 

 The description of your l)ird, nests and 

 eo-gs corresponds Avell, we think, with 

 the Meatlowlark, nest and eggs. 



y K. K., Scottsburgh, Ind.— 1. The 

 egg of the Belted Kingfisher is pure 

 Avhite, nearly spherical, 1.36 x 1.05. 

 The egg of the Cedar Waxwing is light 

 slate-color, with blotches and spots of 

 dark-brown and purple, almost black. 

 Measurement .84 x .61. The egg_ of 

 the Bobolink is dull or grayish-white, 

 tinged with light di'ab, olive or reddish- 

 brown, intermingled Avith lavender, 

 .83 X .61. 



2. Although there may be no real 

 depreciation in value of an egg because 

 it has unnatural stains, yet an egg 

 free from stains always seems to be 

 Avorth more, in that it is a better speci- 



F. C. H., Whitby, Ont.— The Brown 

 Creeper, A. O. U. No. 72G is the (Jerthia 

 americana you refer to. 



B. R., Toulon, Ills.— 1. Cannot tell 

 from the description given. 



3. We can furnish John Burroughs' 

 Avorks at $1.50 per volume. 



G. M. W., Gibbon, Neb.— The queries 

 of "Our Question-Box" are answered 

 bj' the Editors. 



T. W. G., Whitman, Mass.— Sets of 

 eggs of a given species should be num- 

 bered consecutively beginning the sea- 

 son Avith the number you left off the 

 previous season. No two sets in any 

 collection should bear the same num- 

 ber. 



In regard to the ''black and red" 

 bird called "Rink," queried about in 



the last OoLOGiST, G. M. W., Gibbon, 

 Neb., thinks it is the CheAvink (u* Tow- 

 hee. We think this conjecture is cor- 

 rect. The "red" might be accounted 

 for as chestnut, perhaps. 



Book RevieAV. 

 Bird Ways.— Oliver Thokke Milleu. 



In Riverside Library for Young People, 

 lemo. $1.3.5. Boston: Houghton. MlClin & 

 Co., 1889. 



This Avork, Avritten in a popular style, 

 is described by its title, for the manj' 

 winning Avays of the birds treated are 

 depicted Aery pleasingly by the words 

 of the author. He relates many intei' 

 esting incidents and experiences Avith 

 the birds and tells his readers many 

 things Avhicli must be neAv to them. He 

 tells so many little things, in regard to 

 some of the birds, that the ordinary 

 observer Avould never notice — so manj' 

 of their cute and quaint doings. 



The author makes the assurance, in 

 the introduction, that the things re- 

 corded in his book are the results of his 

 own personal observation. 



Chapter I is entitled "The Bird of the 

 Morning" and is a faithful portrayal of 

 the goings and doings of our common 

 American Robin. Speaking of a Robin's 

 nest he preserved, the author says: 



"This snug cottage of clay has been 

 the scene of some of the sweetest exper- 

 iences of all lives, ^reat as Avell as 

 small. For the happiness it has held, I 

 will preserve it, and thus moralizing, I 

 placed it on a bracket in memory of a 

 delightful stud^' (.f the Bird of the 

 Morning." 



Some of the other chapters are: "The 

 Bird of Solitude" and "A Gentle Spirit," 

 both I'eferring to the Wood Thrush; 

 "The Bird of Society," referring to the 

 Redwing Blackbird; "Upon the Tree- 

 Top," referring to the Baltimore Oriole, 

 and "A Rulfian in Feathers," which, of 

 course, means the House SparroAV. 

 The live closing chapters are devoted 

 to the various temperaments; impulses, 

 Avaj's and doings of the House SparroAv. 



As a Avhole, there is much in this 

 little Avork for the live ornithologist and 

 worlds of entertainment for the popular 

 mind. 



I@°"A11 copy intended for Sept. 

 OoLOGiST must be in by August 20 

 sharp. 



