large flights, and do great mischief to the 
Indian corn, which at that time isjust ripe. 
The second sort is the Red-wing, which is 
rather smaller than the last species, but 
like it black all over its body, except the 
lower rim ofits wings, where it is a fine, 
bright, full scarlet. It builds its nest, and 
chiefly resorts among the small bushes that 
grow in meadows and low swampy places. 
Tt whistles a few notes, but is not equal in 
its song to the European Black-bird. The 
third sort is of the same size as the latter 
and is jet black like that, but all the upper 
part of the wing just below the back, is of 
a fine, clear white; as if nature intended to 
diversify the species, and to atone for the 
want of a melodious pipe by the beauty of 
its plumage, for this also is deficient in its 
musical power. ‘The beaks of every sort 
are of a full yellow, and the females of each 
of a rusty black like the European. 
The Red Bird is about the size of a Spar- 
row, but with a long tail, and is all over of 
a bright vermilion color. I saw many of 
them about the Ottawa Lakes, but I could 
not learn that they sung. I also observed 
in some other parts a bird of much the same 
make, but that was entirely ofa fine yellow. 
The Whetsaw is of the Cuckoo kind, be- 
ing, like that, a solitary bird, and scarcely 
ever seen. In the summer months it is 
heard in the groves, where it makes a noise 
like the filing of a saw; froom which it re- 
ceives its name. 
The reader can draw his own conclusions. 
We must make allowance for this voyager’s 
limited acquaintance with some of the birds 
mentioned. For my part, I would say that 
the Whetsaw was the Acadian Owl; that 
the Red Bird was the Scarlet Tanager; and 
the fine yellow bird ‘‘of much the same 
make,’’ a female of the last mentioned 
species. The third species of Black-bird 
described might be the Bobolink, but, if so, 
it is strange that he never heard its song. 
But what was the Wakon Bird? Among 
all the birds I know of, now inhabiting the 
territory through which he passed, I cannot 
think of a similar one. Can some one tell 
me? 
Minneapolis, Minn. 
oe = 
A number of valuable and very interesting pen 
and ink sketches by an eminent artist of the 
West, illustrating the trials and humorous inci- 
dents of an early trip to the Farallones, are to be 
secured for the ‘“‘Souvenir.”’ 
THE NIDOLOGIST 47 
Michigan Notes. 
FEW NOTES made during the past 
year or so may be of interest to your 
Michigan readers, at least, as they re- 
late to some species whose occurance in 
this locality, if not in this state, is quite in- 
frequent. 
A Double-crested Cormorant (P. dilop- 
hus) was brought to Prof. Wood of our High 
School by one of his students, which had 
been shot on the Saginaw River. This is 
the first Cormorant that I know of being 
taken in this locality. 
March 23, 1894, I made my first record 
of the Ring-necked Duck (A. collaris) in 
this vicinity. They were quite common 
during that Spring, and a few were also 
noted the same fall. A single specimen 
was also noted in the Spring of 1895. Their 
visits must be quite irregular, as my obser- 
vations extend back over a period of thirteen 
years. 
In the Spring of 1895, an Old Squaw 
(C. hyemalis) was taken at Marquette by a 
local hunter, and in the fall of the same 
year, a specimen was brought me for iden- 
tification which has been taken at the Lex 
Cheneaux Islands, Straits of Mackinaw. 
While returning from a trip to the North- 
ern Peninsula, the latter part of September 
last, on the D.S. & A. Railroad, a few 
miles west of Seney, in the low marshy 
lands peculiar to that locality, eleven Sand- 
hill Cranes (G. mexicana) were seen, and I 
was informed by one of the train hands, 
that ‘‘they were there every fall. 
I was not aware that the Baird’s Sand- 
piper (7. dazrdiz) was regarded as such a 
rare visitor toour state. In the December, 
1895, number of your paper, page 49, under 
‘‘Notes from Michigan,’’ the first recorded 
capture is reported and reference made to 
what Prof, Cook says regarding the species 
in his ‘‘Birds of Michigan. ’’ 
In my notes furnished Prof. Cook on the 
birds of this locality, I said relative to this 
species ‘‘tolerable common on bay-shore in 
September.’ 
Evidently the statement was regarded as 
an error, as he made no mention of it in 
his catalogue. ‘This statement, however, 
was based on the fact, that two birds had 
been taken September 11, 1891, four taken 
September 1, 1893, and others seen, and 
several taken September 23, 1893. 
