224 



THE OOLOGIST. 



bank of clay rose from a step of ground, 

 abruptly to a heighth of 60 or 80 feet 

 and then sloped away to the no.ith- 

 ward. About one hundred yards to the 

 northwest was the remains of a once 

 heavy pine growth. On the back 

 grows a clump of hemlocks and several 

 scattered hemlocks and spruces. These 

 trees were low but quite dense. 



On the evening of June 23 I thought 

 it time to look for the nest. As I 

 reached the scene of action, the solemn 

 tri-syllabled note of C. borealis reached 

 my ear, but the singer was not to be 

 seen. I ascended several trees and had 

 loDked through the clump of hemlocks 

 without success, and as a last resort, I 

 gathered several clubs and dashed them 

 noisely into the trees. At last a robin, 

 which had gone to roost for the night, 

 was frightened so badly by the clatter 

 that she dashed across the river in full 

 cry, and so started the female borealis 

 from her nest and she quickly sum- 

 moned her mate. 



He looked on for a few minutes, and 

 as all became quiet he retired to a dead 

 limb of a large pine tree and as the fe- 

 male became quiet, disappeared into 

 the woods. The female was I'outed 

 from her nest again and the tree ascen- 

 ded. 



The nest was on a horizontal limb of 

 lone spruce about twenty feet from the 

 ground and out about four feet from 

 the trunk of the tree. The foliage was 

 very dense, and the nest could not be 

 seen from the ground. It was com- 

 posed of spruce and hemlock twigs 

 with much of the hanging moss which 

 gi'ows on these trees. This moss com- 

 posed the lining together with a very 

 little straw. It was a flat, shallow, and 

 on the whole a rather frail structure, 

 situated on a part of the limb where 

 the foliage was densest. The diameter, 

 outside, Avas 5 x 4.50 inches; inside, 2.75 

 X 2.50. Depth, outside, 2; inside 1 inch. 

 The eggs were three in number, of a 

 light (Tf-am color, with spots and 



blotches of rich reddish-brown and 

 purplish-brown, inclined to a wreath at 

 the large end. Two of them measured 

 .79 X .61 and .79 x. 59 inches respective- 

 ly. They were quite round and blunt, 

 with the greatest width at the middle. 

 While I was at the nest the birds 

 eyed me curiously but showed no solici- 

 tude. A. N. 



A Letter from "Davie," Relating to Ms New 

 Work on Taxidermy. 



Nov. 1, 1890. 

 Dear Mk. Lattin: 



You ask in your 

 letter of October 28th concerning the 

 progress of my work on taxidermy, 

 particularly as to the number of sub- 

 scribers obtained, etc. 



I should state that since the five proof 

 illustrations and the four-page circu- 

 lars have been printed, the number of 

 subscribers is exactly two hundred and 

 twelve. 



The proofs and circulars are being 

 sent to all subscribers and to any per- 

 son who may desire to examine into the 

 stj'le of the work before subscribing for 

 it. 



When the five hundred subscribers 

 have been obtained at the present 

 price, $5.00, the price of the work will 

 be advanced to $7.50 per copy. With 

 the proof illustrations for examination, 

 I hope to be able to increase the list 

 more rapidly than heretofore. No man 

 I know cares to contract for something 

 he has not seen or knows nothing of, 

 excei)t what printed circulars may saj' 

 of it. Especially is this the case when 

 the country is flooded with subscription 

 books, the most part of which are noth- 

 ing more or less than trash — gotten up 

 for no other purpose than to make 

 money. It is true, however, that in a 

 business point of view a man is not 

 a success who does not make money; 

 yet there are often those who will ride 

 their hobby-horse at an expense. 



