THE OOLOGIST 



83 



and photograph the young birds. This 

 I was unable to do until July 3rd when 

 they were nearly full grown and 

 ready to leave the nest. 



When going to the nest and when 

 about 100 rods from it I found the 

 female dead and hanging by the feet 

 in a stump fence. She had evidently 

 been shot by some one about two or 

 three weeks before and hung there. 



As I approached the nest I found 

 one of the young ones in the flags dead 

 and with maggots working in the flesh 

 but the other young (three in num- 

 ber) were very much alive. 



It could not have been for lack of 

 food that the young one had died as 

 in and around the nest were parts of 

 eight meadow mice, a young rabbit, a 

 Song Sparrow and two nestling 

 Meadowlarks; also part of several 

 other birds and more meadow mice 

 that were in such a bad state of decay 

 that I was unable to identify them. 



The male flew around and made a 

 great fuss while I was at the nest and 

 the amount of food there showed that 

 he was fully equal to the task of pro- 

 viding for his family without help 

 from the female. 



Late Departure of the Bank Swallow 



On September 28, 1918 two of my 

 friends visited the Susquehanna River 

 on a bird trip. The place where we 

 first saw the river, was the village of 

 Long Level, about five miles south of 

 the town of Wrightsville. 



Wrightsville is eleven miles east of 

 York. At this point, the river is about 

 two miles wide. It is a favorite place 

 for Swallows, especially in the fall. 

 When we visited the place on Sept. 

 28th, Tree Swallows were common 

 and Bank Swallows uncommon; but 

 only one Barn Swallow was seen. The 

 day was clear and rather warm. Bank 

 Swallows were observed at several 

 different places between Long Level. 



We observed our first Bank Swallow 

 while we were on the river in a boat 

 at Long Level. It flew very near the 

 boat several times, giving us a fine 

 opportunity to see the band on the 

 breast and the brownish upper parts. 

 Most of the other Bank Swallows ob- 

 served that day were perching on tele- 

 phone wires. 



According to Nov. 1917 number of 

 Bird Lore, the average date of de- 

 parture of the Bank Swallows at 

 Washington, D. C, is Sept. 14th, and 

 the latest date of the last one ob- 

 served Sept 19th. The same number 

 of Bird Lore, also states that the 

 latest date of the one observed at 

 Philadelphia, Pa., is Sept. 30th. Sept. 

 28th is the latest date the Bank Swal- 

 low has been observed in York coun- 

 ty, to my knowledge. 



Arthur Farquhar. 



Hawks and Owls 



Was offered 42 dead Great Horned 

 Owls this winter by a party in Orange 

 County, N. Y. It is surprising so 

 many could be taken in that part of 

 the state. They are fairly common in 

 that neighborhood but they must have 

 been extremely plentiful in compari- 

 son to their usual numbers to get that 

 many in such a short time (probably 

 two or three weeks as it was mid- 

 winter and they could be frozen to 

 keep from spoiling) so as to be in 

 good condition for mounting. In ad- 

 dition to this he had 22 dead Goss 

 Hawks and other hawks. All of which 

 is unusual for this part of New York 

 state. 



The neighborhood of Pepaction, Del- 

 aware County, N. Y. is fairly good 

 collecting ground for hawks and owls. 

 A party in describing it says his friend 

 living there always has dead birds of 

 these kinds hanging on the side of his 

 barn (but am sorry to say he shoots 

 all kinds regardless whether beneficial 



