114 



THE OULOGIST 



one of the editors of the Ornithologist 

 & Oologist and continued in tliat ca- 

 pc^city until the decease of that able 

 journal in the Fall of 1893. A large 

 number of well-written and interest- 

 ing articles appeared in its columns 

 from his pen, 



Mr. Norris was the first to point out 

 the many erroneous statements about 

 the number of eggs laid by Raptorial 

 birds, notably the Swallow-tailed Kite, 

 up to that time credited with laying 

 four to six eggs. Years before this in 

 1S68-1869 he sent specimens of the 

 eggs of the Small Green Crested or 

 Acadian Flycatcher to E. A. Samuels 

 from which the first correct descrip- 

 tion was published. 



For many years Mr. Norris built up 

 the Norris collection, until it became 

 one of the finest in the country. He 

 took more interest in the eggs of the 

 Warblers and Raptores than any other 

 families and was a thorough believer 

 in having the majority of the species 

 rei3resented in series. He was most 

 particular about the identity of his 

 specimens. H 



About 1894 he turned over the col- 

 lection to his son, J. Parker Norris, 

 Jr., though still continuing to take an 

 [ictlve interest in it. — Communicated. 



The Editor knew Mr. Norris by 

 correspondence, long and well; and 

 likewise had a personal acquaintance 

 with him, growing out of a numbei 

 of visits in Philadelphia during which 

 wc had the rare pleasure of inspect- 

 ing this truly wonderful collection of 

 eggs. We had formed a very high 

 opinion of Mr. Norris, both as a man 

 and a scientist, and the Oological col- 

 lection which he leaves is without 

 doubt the greatest monument of its 

 kind in North America under private 

 ownership. We have no doubt that 

 his son, J. Parker Norris, Junior, will 

 lake pride in conserving, improviu;'; 

 and increasing the same. — R. M. B. 



Bird Brevities. 



My notes for the last winter seem to 

 show a scarcity of the Winter Wren 

 for this vicinity. A hundred miles of 

 bird hunting failed to find the saucy 

 little fellow. In suitable places a few 

 Ruffed Grouse still live in spite of an 

 army of hunters. This game bird is 

 undoubtedly growing scarcer in Alle- 

 gheny county. The Bob-white, I 

 have never seen in this county in five 

 years time, although one of my friends 

 noted a few in his back yard less than 

 a block from my home. Very few 

 Bluejays are to be found around here 

 which is due perhaps to their prefer- 

 ence to some localities. The Cliff 

 Swallow has never made an entry in 

 my notebook and 1 would like to find 

 a colony of them in this county. The 

 Tree Swallow appears not to nest in 

 this vicinity, but this bird was very 

 abundant around Cambridge City, 

 Indiana, where I lived in 1910. 



The absence of some birds in cer- 

 tain regions is one of the things that 

 is impressed upon the bird student 

 whetn he moves from one part of the 

 country to another. There is a fas- 

 cination about a new place which only 

 a birdlover can appreciate. 



Thos. L. McConnell. 

 McKeesport, Pa. 



Bird Tragedies in Oil. 



Waterfowl are not devoid of instinct 

 by any means, and yet new conditions 

 are with them, as with other "people," 

 sometimes misleading, according to 

 the following extract from the Stand- 

 ard Oil Bulletin: 



"Among the Waterfowl the death 

 rate do to misinformation supplied by 

 instinct is appalling and the circum- 

 stances are peculiarly pathetic: A 

 £U3her well — of a sort that have made 

 the California oil fields famous the 

 world over — is brought in, or gets be- 

 yond the control of the drillers and 



