THE QOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



Vol. 1. 



AUSTIN, ILL., JANUARY, 1888. No. 1. 



Prospectus. 



After a careful survey of the field and 

 a correspondence with some of the best 

 known collectors of this country, we have 

 come to the conclusion that the Oologists 

 of the United States and Canada are in 

 need of a good lively paper, for the pur- 

 pose of facilitating exchanges during the 

 coming season. Believing this we have 

 decided to issue such a paper, and here 

 it is. 



Perhaps our size may call forth a smile, 

 but, remember "great oaks from little 

 acorns grow"; and grow we will, if prop- 

 erly fed with subscriptions, exchange no- 

 tices, etc. The responsibility of feeding 

 lies with you, and of growing with us. If 

 yon do your part you may rest assured 

 we shall do ours. Do not be afraid of 

 overfeeding us. We can get rid of all 

 you favor us with. We have a nice print- 

 ing office of our own, including a good 

 press, and when the right time comes for 

 expansion, we shall expand, but not till 

 then. It is better to go "slow and sure" 

 than to "go up like a rocket and come 

 down like a stick". Send on your notices 

 and advertisements. We are ready. 



2 he Mother oj Agassi '%. 



The mother of Louis Agassiz was the 

 wife of a Swiss protestant clergyman and 

 lived to a very old age. When, in 1857, 

 Prof. Silliman of Yale College visited her, 

 he found her at four-score a "tall, erect, 

 and dignified woman," with animated ad- 

 dress and cultivated manners. When she 

 was assured by her guest that her son's 

 adopted country loved him and was proud 

 of him, her strong frame was agitated, her 

 voice trembled with emotion, and the flow- 

 ing tears told the story of a mother's heart. 

 The day that Prof. Silliman left she walked 

 a long way in the rain to bid him imd his 

 wife farewell. 



A. Care in 23o7iieo. 



The cave is inhabited by hundreds of 

 thousands of small swifts and by hun- 

 dreds of thousands of bats. These live a 

 "Box and Cox" sort of life; the bats swarm 

 out by myriads at dusk, and as soon as 

 they are nearly cleared out the swifts be- 

 gin to return to the cave in countless 

 numbers. At daybreak the bats return 

 to their dark crevices, while the swifts 

 come forth to enjoy the sunlight. The 

 edible nests are built by the swifts and the 

 birds are robbed by the Booloodupies, a 

 jungle tribe who live at certain seasons in 

 the cave in their houses built on piles. A 

 bird's nest suggests to an Englishman the 

 idea of a mixture of moss. mud. and feath- 

 ers ; but an edible nest is a very delicate 

 fabric, built like a small bracket against 

 the sides of the cave and formed of the 

 glutinous saliva of the swift. A good 

 nest is entirely made up of opaque white 

 threads, rather thicker than very coarse 

 vermicelli, and contains neither dirt nor 

 feathers. They are so highly relished by 

 Chinese epicures that the best quality 

 fetch £3 a pound in Sandakan, and not 

 less than £10 a pound in Hong Kong. 

 The royalty paid by the jungle tribes for 

 the collection of nests forms an important 

 item in the revenue of the company. — 

 Illustrated London News. 



A. Hard Case. 



Send 15 cents for a year's subscription. 



No traveler in Syria will long need an in- 

 troduction to the sparrow on the house- 

 top. There are countless numbers about 

 you. They are a tame, troublesome, and 

 impertinent generation, and nestle just 

 where you don't want them. They stop 

 up your stove and water pipes with their 

 rubbish, build in the windows and under 

 the beams of the roof, and would stuff 

 your hat full of stubble in half a day if 

 they found it hanging in a place to suit 

 them. They are extremely pertinacious 

 in asserting their right of possession, and 

 have not the least reverence for anyplace 

 or thing. 



These birds are snared and caught in 

 great numbers, but as they are small, 

 thev are not much relished for food — 

 W.W.Thompson, D.D. 









