THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



85 



tril above the beak, and can be ejected to 

 a distance of several feet. Sometimes we 

 found two birds in one nest, but in such a 

 case no egg was found, while one bird was 

 always accompanied with one egg, so 

 pi'obably the male attends his mate until 

 the egg is laid, and then leaves. But it 

 was awful hard work getting their nests, 

 and eggs don't accumulate very fast at the 

 rate of one at a time, so we thought we would 

 try to find some other kinds. A diligent 

 search in the rush hummocK revealed but 

 one egg of the Laughing Grull, and but two 

 sets of Sandpipers. This was disgusting, 

 and the mockiug laugh of the GruU sound- 

 ed then, anything but pleasant. For the 

 next half hour we broke our knees on the 

 rucks of the shore, peering under the 

 ledges and rocks for Sea Pigeons, and we 

 felt well repaid with four nests and six 

 eggs, for they are very large and hand- 

 some. Then we were ready to go home, 

 but if we had to row. going we had to row 

 much harder and further returning, but 

 stories made the time pass pleasantly, and we 

 gathered many hints which will be of ser- 

 vice to us in our collecting next year. 

 After our arrival at the shore we took sup- 

 per with our host, once more looked over 

 his birds, started for home, tired but happy 

 and well pleased with our day's work. We 

 voted R. a good fellow and agreed that 

 our pleasantest day of the season had just 

 been passed. We got home about 9 p. jr., 

 and went to bed to dream of Gulls, Terns 

 and Petrels. Chas. Achorn, 



Rockland, Maine. 



Queries Answered. 



Reunion of Hawks. 



As I was passing from the house to the 

 barn on Sept. 18th I chanced to look at the 

 ^y and noticed four or five hawks, but on 

 a- closer examination found there was a 

 large flock in "three clusters. The two 

 largest contained about ninety each and 

 the less seventy -five. These were followed 

 by what might be called a rear-guard of 

 fifteen or twenty. They were moving to- 

 ward the south, with that circular move- 

 ment common to hawks, especially when 

 searching for prey. I think I am safe in 

 saying that there were fully three hundred. 

 Is it common for hawks to congregate in 

 this way ? H. D. 



Sharon, Wis. 



G. H., Portsmouth, Va. — In regard 

 to some of the local names which you use, 

 would say that the Shite-Poke is Green 

 Heron, the Rain Crow is the Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo, the Jackdaw is the Boat- 

 tailed Grackle, and the Lettuce bird (of 

 some localities at least) is the Blue Gros- 

 beak. 



H. W. H. — There are many dealers in 

 Natural History specimens and supplies in 

 the United States, each of which, as a rule, 

 make some particular branch a specialty, 

 and with the larger dealers each have their 

 specialty in which they excel any other 

 dealer. We cannot give the names and 

 addresses of dealers in this column. Our 

 advertising rates are low, and we would 

 be pleased to have any i-eliable dealer give 

 The Young Oologist a trial. 



F. H. M., HoLYOKE, Mass.— The nest 

 and eggs of the birds which you describe 

 as given below are those of the Great 

 Crested Flycatcher. 



"The nest was found June 7 near West- 

 fiield. It was in a hole in an apple tree, 

 20 feet from the ground, and composed of 

 cast-off snake skin and a few pieces of hay. 

 The eggs were 6 in number, .86x.83 in 

 size, and are difficult to describe. The 

 ground color is buff, which is marked 

 lengthwise by purplish brown, mixed with 

 others of a lighter tint. The markings ap- 

 pear to be done with a pen or scratched 

 with a sharp instrument, and and are more 

 confluent near the larger end.". 



C. De L. a., Southington, Conn. — 

 The bird you desire named is the Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo. Chipping Sparrow is the 

 name for the bird you call "Chippy." 



L. M. D., Newburgh, O. — A set of 

 eggs is not complete unless it contains all 

 of the eggs taken from the nest. Should a 

 collector find a nest containing the eggs 

 of the Cow-bird in addition to those of the 

 owner, to have the set complete it would be 

 necessary to keep the eggs of both species. 



E. T. A., N. Y. City.— The Field 

 Sparrow is the smallest of our spajrows. 

 Its nest is placed either in a low bush or on 

 the ground, and contains four or five whit- 



