THE OOLOGIST. 



87 



and rapidly increased in numbers un- 

 til by the middle of November they 

 were common in flocks throughout 

 the mountains. One flock that was 

 seen early in December must have 

 contained fully 300. About camps 

 in the woods they were tame, coming 

 up within a few feet of the men. 

 About the middle of January they 

 had reached the height of their abun- 

 dance and from then on their num- 

 bers grew less until March 8th, when 

 I saw the last. Toward the last of 

 their stay they came onto bare places 

 on the ground where the snow had 

 melted off and could then be easily 

 approached to within a dozen feet. 

 They fed entirely on the small cones 

 o fthe hemlocks. 



The first grosbeaks were seen on 

 Thanksgiving Day (November 29th) 

 while enjoying a little chase with 

 the hounds. Our bag that day con- 

 sisting of 1 bob-cat, 4 white rabbits 

 (Varying Hares) 1 grouse and a pine 

 grosbeak. From then on flocks and 

 single birds were met with. The lat- 

 ter part of January they were most 

 common. Jan. 24th the coldest day 

 of the winter (Them. 20 below) I 

 found a flock of fully 100. From 

 then on they rapidly became scarcer 

 until Feb. 13th when the last were 

 seen. About 1 out of 15 was a fine 

 male in beautiful red plumage. They 

 fed almost entirely on the mountain- 

 ash, occasionally they were found bud- 

 ding on maples. Both male grosbeaks 

 and male white-wings were fine song- 

 sters. Canada Nuthatchers also win- 

 tered rather commonly. There were 

 a few Northern Shrikes and I saw 1 

 Goshawk but no Snowy Owls. On 

 the river in the open places quite a 

 few Am. Mergansers and Golden-eyes 

 wintered. Saw one Holobells Grebe 

 on March 1st. 



Quite a few red foxes and six fine 

 cross foxes were shot near here dur- 

 ing the winter, also quite a few wild- 



cats and late in the fall several bears. 

 We have had a very late spring. All 

 migrants are much later than usual. 

 Ducks were plenty during the latter 

 part of April. Swans were seen 

 twice late in March but none were 

 taken. Saw a common Tern May 

 20th first spring record. 



To-day I was in the woods for a 

 couple of hours and took a beautiful 

 set of 5 sharp-shinned hawks. This 

 nest was only 20 feet up in a young 

 hemlock and was the easiest hawks 

 nest to reach I ever found. I saw 

 several Winter Wrens in a ravine 

 but could not locate a nest. All the 

 warblers seen seemed to be on the 

 move and had no notion apparently 

 of settling down yet. 



Would like to hear from others 

 about the grosbeak and crossbills. 

 Woul like to know if it was a general 

 flight throughout Western New York 

 and Pennsylvania. Hoping this may 

 prove of interest to some of the 

 readers of the "Oologist" I remain 

 Your sincerely 



R. B. Simpson. 



Warren, Warren Co., Pa. 



Toledo, O. 

 Ernest H. Short. 



Dear Sir: — 



I wish to report the finding of the 

 Cory Least Bittern Ardetta neoxena 

 in Ohio (Toledo.) On May 22, 1907, 

 Mr. Wm. P. Holt and myself saw it 

 first with other Least Bitterns in a 

 small pond near the marshes of the 

 bay shore. He saw it again on May 

 23 and on May 25 took the specimen, 

 a fine male. This is I think the first 

 record of this rare bird for the State 

 of Ohio. 



Your truly, 



A. C. Read. 



Strawberry Point, Iowa. 



What is this? and is it of any 



value? Caught in a mouse trap in 



