THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



105 



C. T., Altoona, Dat. — Wilson's Snipe 

 is frequently called Jack Snipe. 



W. R. B., Po'keepsie, N. Y.— The nest 

 which you describe is one of the Cuckoo's. 

 The Chewink is frequently called "Ground 

 Robin." 



H. H., Shelbytille, Tenn. — The 

 Bank Swallow is frequently called " Sand 

 Martin. " 



C. R. H., New London, Ct. — Several 

 collectors have found eggs of the Blue-bird 

 during the past season, that were pure 

 white. 



B. H. W., West View, Va.— The 

 correct name for the bird which you call 

 the " Blue-gray Flycatching " is, according 

 to Ridgway, Blue-gray Flycatcher. The 

 "Crested" Titmouse of your locality is 

 doubtless the Tufted Titmouse, No. 36 

 of Ridgway. 



J. C. J., St. Johnbtjry, Vt., and others. 

 — Every subscription you send us for the 

 Young Oologist between October 1st, 

 1884, and January 1st, 1885, will count 

 towards one of the prizes, it makes no dif- 

 ference whether you send one at a time 

 or twenty, every subscription sent will count. 



J. W. H., MiDDLEPORT, N. Y.— The 

 birds' nest which you found in the top of 

 an evergreen tree is that of a Purple Finch 

 and not the Summer Red-bird as you 

 suppose. 



C. H., Bennington, Vermont : — The 

 length of time required for a Hawk to lay 

 its full clutch we are unable to say. We 

 have taken sets of the Cooper's Hawk in 

 which one egg was deposited daily. 

 During the spring of 1881 we took a set of 

 three eggs of the Red-tailed Hawk, one of 

 the eggs was fresh, another had been set 

 about one week, and in the third incuba- 

 tion was far advanced. Hawks frequently 

 use the same nest more than one season. 

 Our larger Owls breed during the monhts of 

 February and March. Hawks, Owls, and 

 Crows can often be started from the nest 

 by pounding the trunk of the tree. The 

 Marsh Hawk doubtless breeds in Southern 

 Vermont. 



J. M. S. Jr. Newport, R. I.— The 

 Spotted Sandpiper generally, if not always 

 lays four eggs, the set of three which you 

 found, in which Incubation was advanced, 

 was either an exceptional set, or else one 

 Qgg of the set had been taken or broken 

 before you found the nest. Sandpipers 

 and Plovers usually lay four eggs. 



G. R. N., Philadelphia, Pa. — Spec- 

 imen sent for name is Pyrites and on ac- 

 count of its color, resembling gold, it is 

 often called ''Fools' Oold" because it is 

 vakieless and useless as a metal. 



The American Goldfinch. 



This is one of our most common summer 

 birds, and is to be seen almost throughout 

 the entire year. Long after all other birds 

 have sought their sunny haunts of the 

 south, the Goldfinch is still to be seen with 

 us and cheering us with his sweet songs 

 far into the cooler days of autumn. I 

 have seen flocks of hundreds of them in 

 mid-winter when the ground was covered 

 with snow, but they seemed to be as merry 

 as ever picking the seeds from the thistle 

 and the wild sunflower. 



A short period in early summer they are 

 not to be seen, but slowly put in their ap- 

 pearance during the latter part of June. 

 They begin to build their nests in July, 

 which is usually made of fibres, paper, and 

 fine straws, with a thick lining of thistle 

 down, usually placed in saplings and osage 

 hedges. The set of four or five eggs are to 

 be found fresh from August 1st till Sep- 

 tember 10th, and even later. The eggs are 

 of a light blue color. The Goldfinch is a 

 bright yellow color, with black wings and 

 some black on the top of the head, making 

 it a bright colored bird. But winter 

 changes its bright hue to gray, [brownish 

 olive above, grayish-yellow and white be- 

 neath.] They are easily reared from the 

 nest and caged. 



Geo. F. Breuninger, 



Beattie, Kansas. 



The circulation of the Young Oologist 

 the past six months has averaged over 4,000 

 each issue. 



