OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



that the sky was overcast, and a slight 

 drizzle falling. However, we started 

 off to shoot our breakfast, and after bag- 

 ging half a dozen Blackbirds, the only 

 game to be found, we turned our atten- 

 tion to collecting. The first nest we 

 found was one of the Wilson's Thrush 

 (Turdus fuscescens), which contained 

 three eggs of the legitimate owner and 

 one of the cowbird, in ^all incubation 

 was well advanced. The nest was com- 

 posed of grass and rootlets and was 

 placed in a small shrub, two or three 

 inches above the ground. A few yards 

 away we discovered a partially roofed 

 nest of the Golden-crowned Thrush 

 (Seiurus aurocapilus) or Oven Bird, 

 containing three eggs and one Cow- 

 birds, all well advanced in incubation. 

 Then leaving the woods, we entered an 

 open field filled with likely looking 

 stubs. Noticing one with an attractive 

 looking hole I rapped smartly on the 

 outside, and out flew a Yellow-shafted 

 Flicker. After considerable difficulty I 

 got the eggs, seven in number, the pe- 

 culiarity being that five of them had the 

 embryo perfectly formed, and the other 

 two had evidently been just laid. As it 

 was now eleven o'clock and we had been 

 six hours without food, we decided to 

 return to camp which we did discover- 

 ing on the way a nest of the Chestnut- 

 sided Warbler (Dendroica Pennsylvania) 

 placed in the fork of a slender tree, 

 about seven feet from the ground, con- 

 taining three fresh eggs. Nearing our 

 camp, we found two nests of the Red- 

 eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) one contain- 

 ing a single egg and the other two ; 

 both nests we left for full sets. After 

 dinner and a nap, we started out for 

 more collecting. We got a set of five 

 eggs of the Bed Headed Woodpecker's 

 (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), freshly 

 laid, a set of Bed-shouldered Blackbird 

 (Agelaius phceniceus) also fresh, and a 

 set of the Water Pewee (Sayonis 

 phcebe), so far incubated as to be use- 

 less. We then walked down to the 

 farm house of the owner of the afore- 

 said defunct goose and arranged to pay 

 him $1 for the bird. We returned to 

 our camp reaching it about six ; took 

 the Vireos' eggs, packed up our traps, 

 bade adieu to our camp and made our 

 way to a neighboring farmhouse where 

 we were hospitably received, and spent 

 the night. Our train left next morning 

 at eleven, so we started about nine to 



catch it. On the way to the station we 

 stopped to pay for and wrangle over the 

 goose and, in consequence missed the 

 train, and not caring to wait nine hours 

 till the next came along we decided to 

 "leg it," which we did, reaching home 

 about five P. M., not much richer Oolo- 

 gically, but having gained considerable 

 experience, and a knowledge of the 

 country. 



Sarnia, Ontario. Canada, March 20, 1889. 



Birds of Virginia. 



To many it will be news that our 

 third president Thomas Jefferson was a 

 contributor to the ornithological litera- 

 ture of his time. In his "Notes on 

 Virginia " 1787, he devoted nearly six 

 pages to the Birds of Virginia and his 

 list gives us some idea of the common 

 names of birds then in use. He men- 

 tions : 



Field marten, for Kingbird. Yucher 

 for Flicker. Soree and Bal-bird, for Vir- 

 ginia Bail. Lettuce bird, for American 

 Goldfinch. Great bat, for Nighthawk. 

 Ground Swallow, for Bank Swallow. 



Let some of our readers tell us what 

 he meant by Mow-bird, Blue Peter, 

 Squatting snipe and Water-pheasant. 



L. S. F. 



The American Hawk Owl (Surnia uliila 

 caparocli) in Wisconsin, 



by W. E. Carter. 



On April 21st I found a nest of the 

 above named bird, which is quite scarce 

 in this part of Wisconsin, inhabiting the 

 northern parts more generally. The 

 nest was placed in a tall poplar tree 

 near the bank of a shallow stream; it was 

 lined with wool, dry grass, etc. , and the 

 bulky part was composed chiefly of large 

 sticks. I should judge it was an old 

 nest of some kind fixed over, for the 

 lower part was very rotten and decayed. 

 There were .two eggs which were of a 

 dirty white color, spherical in shape 

 and measuring 1.52 in length by 1.26 in 

 breadth. The eggs have hard shells and 

 will not break as easily as the eggs laid 

 by some of the other species of owls. 



The old bird was quite tame allowing 

 me to get almost under the branches of 

 the tree before she flew from the nest. 



Delavan, Wis., April 23, 1888. 



