OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



ages. Keep your arsenic in a different 

 colored box from your plaster or you 

 may sometime poisen your bird with 

 plaster instend of arsenic. For wrap- 

 ping 1 , a pliable, strong paper will be 

 i'onnd to be the best. A pocket lens 

 will also be found handy. 



When traveling, an iron bound trunk 

 or chest, very strong in the hinges and 

 lock. A good size is 30x18x18 inches. 

 It should be fitted with a set of trays, 

 of which the bottom one should be 

 about four inches in depth. The rest 

 may gradual ly grow shallower; and 

 the last should be quite shallow. Your 

 tools and materials may occupv the top 

 tray or better still the lid. Fill your 

 trays with cotton and tow before you 

 start. 



The following implements will also 

 be found quite handy: several files, 

 cutting pliers, needles' and thread and 

 a few different sizes of annealed wire 

 cut in lengths of a foot or more. If 

 eggs are to be collected the following 

 tools will be necessary; two sizes of 

 drills, small and large; two of blow- 

 pipes; and a small pair of embyro 

 scissors. 



Recapitulation. 



I give below a check list of all tools 

 and other articles necessary for a pro- 

 tracted collecting trip of 'about four 

 months. 



1 iron bound chest 30x18x18, fitted 

 with trays, and containing the follow- 

 ing articles: 



1 double-barrelled breech-loading 

 shot-gun, 12 bore (if the collector is go- 

 ing to an unsettled country, a rifle and 

 revolver will be necessary ; 100 car- 

 tridges for each should be taken); 1 

 belt for cartridges; 12 lbs. shot. (6 lbs. 

 Mustard-seed, 3 lbs. No. 7, 2 lbs. No. 4, 



1 lb. buck); 500 paper shot shells; 1000 

 primers; 6 lbs. best powder ; 1 box con- 

 taining loader, i-e-loader, capper, meas- 

 ure and rammer; 3000 felt gun wads; 

 15 lbs. dry arsenic and alum ; 1 box 

 containing two small scalpels, 1 pair 

 scissors, 1 pair spring forceps, 1 pair 

 long stutters; 1 large skinning knife; 



2 blow pipes and set of egg-drills; 1 

 thermometer; 1 hatchet; 1 field glass; 

 1 compass; 1 bull's-eye lantern;" 3000 

 labels, three sizes; 1 pair bone snips; 

 1 pair cutting pliers; ] three cornered 

 file ; one 4 inch saw (for turtles) ; 1 tape 

 measure; 1 Mille rule; t oil stone; 2 

 papers of needles; 2 spools of thread; 

 12 lead pencils; a few note books; 1 

 copper tank in wooden box, for al- 

 coholics; 1 arsenic spoon for sifting upon 

 skins; 1 saw; plenty of stiff paper for 

 cylinders to dry birds in ; a quantity of 

 pliable paper to make cornucopias of 

 to put birds in when first shot ; a few 



papers of pins ; a few sizes of annealed 

 wire cut in 12 inch lengths. 

 Clothes. 



1 hunting coat; 1 pair pants; 2 pair 

 hunting shoes; 1 double woolen blank- 

 et ; 1 rubber blanket; 2 hats; a number 

 of thin undershirts and stockings. 



December 5th, 1889. 



THE LITTLE SCREECH OWL. 



(CONCLUDED.) 



homes at night, it is not at all condu- 

 cive to sleep nor quite so harmonious 

 as to make a person wish for its long 

 continuance. But, although the Owl's 

 screechy voice is not very musical he 

 sings just as sweetly as nature intend- 

 ed him to. The Screech Owl generally 

 makes its nest in a hollow tree or cre- 

 vice of rocks, but I think a tree that 

 has a hole in it about ten to thirty feet 

 is preferred. Old orchards are a fav- 

 orite resort, and several times I have 

 found their nests at a height of four to 

 eight feet. It is now approaching the 

 time to look for their nests; about the 

 first of April is time enough for nice 

 fresh eggs ; I have seen fresh eggs 

 on the twentieth. Then again have 

 found young on the twenty-fourth of 

 the same month. It is not very often 

 that fresh eggs are found during May, 

 but on the 14th of May, 1887, I found 

 four young that had only been hatched 

 two or three days. They were covered 

 with soft white down and very much 

 resembled little balls of cotton. The 

 nest, when lined at all, is generally 

 strewn with the feathers of some of the 

 birds that have been killed for food. 

 In a nest in an apple tree I found 

 feathers of the bluebird, English spar- 

 row, chewink. The nest is generally 

 very dirty (owing to the bird's unclean 

 habits), and to get the eggs washed 

 clean is often a difficult task. The 

 eggs are generally five in number and 

 quite often six, pure white and nearly 

 round. 



Their size is generally 1.38 by 1.19 of 

 an inch. I have often noticed when 

 taking a scops out of a tree, that he 

 will sit on your wrist or finger, snap- 

 ping his bill and staring up in your 

 face instead of flying right away. On 

 one occasion while I was trying an owl 

 in this way, (which I had just taken 

 out of a squirrel's about twenty feet 

 from the ground), the bird wrapped 

 his strong claws in and around one of 

 my fingers so tightly that I had a hard 

 time to induce him to cling less affec- 

 tionately tome. 



March 15th, 1889. 



