72 



THE OOLOGIST 



and liberally fed. One day it flew out 

 of the open window and led by her 

 instinct went to a nearby chicken coop 

 for some young chickens. The owner 

 observed it and struck it a vicious 

 blow with a heavy stick and broke the 

 wing bones, which finished it. The 

 other two are mounted, which makes a 

 handsome group with a large Horned 

 Owl. 



I have other sets in different locali- 

 ties. Edward Reinecke. 

 Buffalo, N. Y. 



Accipiter Velox. 



It is not often that a person gets 

 the opportunity of observing a Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk around Pittsburgh as 

 these birds are exceedingly scarce in 

 this vicinity. The last occasion I had 

 of seeing one was not a very joyful 

 one, yet it was intensely interesting. 



On the seventh of February while 

 waiting for a shy Cardinal, which wai 

 rendered more shy by the proximity of 

 the camera, to come to my feed-box I 

 was suddenly surprised to see both 

 Cardinal and several Song Sparrows 

 go scudding to the shelter of some 

 nearby brush. A moment later Acci- 

 piter Velox shot past, about five or six 

 feet above the ground, alighting in a 

 tree some fifty feet behind me. A 

 few minutes later he disappeared. 



I settled down again to wait for any 

 more birds that might come within 

 range of the camera. Five minutes or 

 more passed without any sound except 

 the distant notes of a few Chickadees, 

 when behind me I heard a couple of 

 weak chips and a brief scuffle. Turn- 

 ing around I was greeted by the sight 

 of the triumphant Hawk bearing its 

 small feathered victim across the ra- 

 vine to the opposite hillside where it 

 doubtless meant to enjoy its repast. 

 What the unfortunate bird was I could 

 not make out, but I think it was a 

 Slate-colored Junco. 



Albert D. McGrew. 



Birds of a Kansas Farm-Yard. 



While spending some time at home 

 during June, 1915, was impressed with 

 the large number of birds seen. On 

 making a survey of the house-yard, 

 orchard, cottonwood grove near barn 

 yard and hedge fence through field, 

 found twenty-four nests of the Mourn- 

 ing Dove, some were on top of Grackle 

 nests and one on top of a Brown 

 Thrasher's; nineteen nests of the 

 Bronzed Grackle were found, some had 

 eggs, some young, but mostly empty. 

 The air was full of Grackles, especial- 

 ly with their "grackle." 



Orchard Orioles were next in exi- 

 dence. They had six nests, three with 

 eggs and young; three pair of Brown 

 Thrashers in orchard and yard, two 

 held young. A catbird had a nest in 

 a plum patch and a Bell's Vireo had 

 four well incubated eggs in another 

 plum thicket, June 18th another pair 

 was in the Cottonwood grove. A pair 

 of Red-eye Vireos had one young in 

 a Box alder near the house and an- 

 other pair in a cottonwood near the 

 barn yard. A pair of Red-headed 

 Woodpeckers had eggs in the same 

 hole in which they, or some other pair 

 had nested last year. I cut into the 

 nest hole the year before from the 

 upper side of limb and saw the eggs 

 and tied the bark with some twine, the 

 young came out in due time. 



A pair of Kingbirds nested in the 

 top of an apple tree; a pair of 

 Grackles farther down and below it a 

 Mourning Dove; all held eggs at the 

 same time. A yellow-billed Cuckoo 

 had two young in a peach tree and 

 two other pair were in the hedge row. 

 A Mocking bird's nest held three eggs 

 in a peach tree in the back part of 

 the orchard. A pair each of Downey 

 and Hairy Woodpeckers were in the 

 Cottonwood grove, also a pair of 

 Chickadees and Great Crested Fly- 

 catchers. Quite a number of Grass- 



