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THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



THE 



BOTANIST 



A MONTHLY REVOTED TO BIRDS AND FLOWERS 



Joseph E. Blain, Publisher. 

 WiLLARD N Cluxe, Editor. 



Articles on subjects of interest to Botanists and 

 Ornitlioloffists solicited from all. 



TKliJIS OF SUBSCRIPTION. 



One Subscription, six mouths, - - 30 cents. 



One Subscription, one year, - - - 35 cents. 



Single Copies, --.-.-- 3 cents. 



Advertising rates made known on application. 



If manuscript is accepted the author will be noti- 

 fied at once. Rejected manuscript will be returned 

 when accompanie<l by stamps. We reserve the 

 riglit to edit all manuscript. 



Address all communications to 



Joseph E. Blain, Binghamton, N. Y. 



Vol. I. 



OCTOBER, 1891. No. X. 



In order to give our contributors a 

 chance to get this magazine free for 

 1892 we make this offer: to the writers 

 of the ten best articles received before 

 January 1, 1892, we will give one year's 

 subsci'iption to this magazine. To those 

 contributors who do not win one of those 

 prizes we will send the magazine free 

 till their articles are published. We do 

 not desire descriptions of common bii-ds 

 etc. , but anything unusual in their hab- 

 its or life history will prove acceptable. 

 The names of the prize-winners will 

 appear in the January issue. 



The blue-birds have a curious habit of 

 visiting their nesting sites before going 

 south in fall. After the last brood of 

 young leave the nest, the old birds are 

 seen no more about it till late in Octo- 

 ber, when they usually make at least 

 one visit to their old home. 



The trees begin to drop their leaves in 

 September but all do not fall till Novem- 



ber. The loss is first noticed in the tree- 

 tops, the raiment of summer slowly slip- 

 ping downward till every twig is bare. 

 Sometimes a heavy frost will be follow- 

 ed by a still day, and though no wind 

 blows, the leaves drop in showers, pil- 

 ing in circular heaps about the tree. 



The night-hawk is a bird of the fields 

 and woods, but there is at least one in 

 Binghamton that has taken to city life. 

 For several years he has been noticed, 

 regularly, in the, vicinity of Chenango 

 and Henry streets. His favorite perch 

 is the top of some chimney, where he 

 spends the greater part of the day in 

 sleep. On rainj^ or cloudy days he is 

 most active, but even then he finds time 

 for frequent naps on his chimney. 

 Since night-hawks are common over the 

 city at dawn and twilight, it is probable 

 that others have adopted this mode of 

 life. The tops of many business blocks 

 would afford safe and undisturbed nest- 

 ing sites. 



That period in autumn called Indian 

 Summer, often beguiles many of our 

 spring flowers into blossoming. First to 

 yield to this seductive mildness are the 

 violets, wild roses, low cinquefoils and 

 dandelions; of these one may find blos- 

 soms every autumn. Often Rudebeckia 

 hirta puts forth a second crop of blos- 

 soms and in cultivated grounds the clo- 

 ver, buttercups and daisy linger till No- 

 vember. Of the shrnbs the red rasp- 

 berry most frequently bloom at this 

 season ; sometimes producing quite a 

 crop of fruit. The blooming of plants 

 out of season is regai-ded by many per- 

 sons as an evil omen, and in some sec- 

 tions it is firmlj^ believed that the blos- 

 soming of fruit trees in the fall is a sign 

 of a death in the owners family. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



We regret to announce that the. Anti- 

 qiiarlpn of Albany, Oregon, has discon- 

 tinued publication. 



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