178 



THE OOLOGIST. 



I was anxious to know what kind of 

 Owls they were. I laid the case before 

 Mr. R. D. Goss of New Sharon, Iowa, 

 and he kindly informed me that he 

 Ijronounced them the Sawhet or Acad- 

 ian Owl. I think probably the female 

 captured in the grove as above stated 

 was the mate of capture No. 1. 



She likely thought it not safe to re- 

 main longer in the tree I so often fre- 

 quented. This is the only capture of 

 this kind I know of in this locality. 

 Willie A. Bryan, 

 New Sharon, loAva. 



Nesting of the Black Snowbird. 



' On the 24th of July, I had the good 

 fortune to find a nest of the Black 

 Snowbird, containing three eggs, in a 

 public park in the city of Binghamton. 

 Although the bird was not secured, the 

 identification is positive. 



The nest was found along a much 

 travelled road through an upland part 

 of the park, and was placed in a hollow 

 under an over-hanging bank. So effect- 

 ually did the bank conceal the nest, 

 that only the merest fraction of the 

 edge was visible, and part of the bank 

 had to be torn away to get it. 



The nest'^is a thick, saucer-shaped 

 structure of white horse-hair with a 

 few fine grasses, rootlets and pine 

 needles externally. 



Where the edge is exposed the mate- 

 rials are coarser and more abundant, 

 consisting of weed-stalks and grasses. 



In color, the"°eggs are bluish-white, 

 thinly speckled all over with dots and 

 blotches of red-brown, which are thick- 

 est at the larger end Avhere they I'un 

 into a wreath somewhat after the man- 

 ner of the House Wren's eggs. Meas- 

 urements of the three eggs average .76 

 X .55 of an inch. Among common bird's 

 eggs, they much* resemble certain sets 

 of the Song SpaiTow. 



From tlie lateness of the season this 

 is probably a second brood . Although 



incubation had began, the female 

 showed little anxiety for the safety of 

 her eggs. She flew up into a small 

 tree, near by, and remained entii'ely 

 silent while I examined the nest. 



This bird is generally regarded as 

 breeding only in the North or in ele- 

 vated mountainous regions-, but in this 

 case the bird has not even altitude in 

 its favor, the highest point in the 

 county being scarcely 1700 feet above 

 tide, while the j)lace where this nest was 

 found is much lower. That the bii'd is 

 a rare breeder in this locality, may be 

 inferred from the fact that tliis is the 

 first Snowbird I have seen in the sum- 

 mer months during a residence of five 

 years in the county. 



WiLLARD N . ClUTE, 



Broome Co., N. Y. 

 [This bird has also been found breed- 

 ing in the vicinity of Lime Lake, N. Y., 

 and in other places south of Buffalo.] — 

 Assoc. Ed. 



Marsh Hawk. 



{CircAis hudsonms.) 



This Deautiful, useful and well known 

 bird inhabits tlie entire lands of North 

 America, breeding as far north as Alas- 

 ka and the fur countries and wintering 

 from about 40 ° north, south to Cub* 

 and Panama. 



The Marsh Hawk arranges its nest in 

 suitable localities everywhere, from the 

 southern border of the United States to 

 the northern limits of its range, though 

 being most common through the prai- 

 rie lands of the west. 



They breed at different seasons in 

 different localities. In Texas the eggs 

 are to be found by the latter part of 

 April, in the fur countries, not until the 

 middle of June. 



The nest is always placed on the 

 ground, usually in a swamp or prairie 

 well grown up with grass or bushes, 

 with water at an easy distance. The 

 nest is commonly placed at the base of 



