THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



13 



Ipecie. I wrote him thai that was just 

 Ihe reason I wished to donatethem to 

 the museum. The pasl season I also re- 

 leive'd the nest and eggs of Geothlypia 

 fhiladelphia, (see the Auk, Oct.,189L) 

 which is the first record for western New 

 York. 



I have been wry bus.v of late and have 

 given very little time to birds, especially 

 to write about them, but during the 

 winter I may be able to send you.sbort 

 iotes. Respectfully yours, 



J. L. Davison. 



Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 1891. 

 Kind Sir:— Enclosed please find postal 

 iote, in .payment for the Collectors' 

 Mon-wua- for 1892. The Collectors' 

 Monthly is a welcome visitor to my 

 home. Yours respectfully, 



Phillip Laurent. 



time ago in your paper, in regard to 

 feathers user] in construction of the aeet, 



etc. 



In those notes I gave my experience. 

 In bis article in the last number, b< 

 his. 



This is the only way we can ever hope 

 to become thoroughly versed in bird lore, 

 by interchanging our actual observa- 

 tions, and enlarging our ideas, thai each 

 maybe benefitted by others experience. 

 Yours truly, 



a. v. m. 



Fox Lake, Wis., Jan. 7, 1892. 

 Mk. ('. H. Prince, Dear Sir:— 



The copy of Hprnaday's "Taxidermy 

 and Zoological Collecting," ordered of 

 you, was received 0. K. To say that it 

 I a fine work is expressing it mildly. 

 The facts found within its covers, ex- 

 pressed in such a plain, every day way, 

 ire just what the amateur taxidermist 

 fed collector needs, in order to accom- 

 plish the best results in his work. The 

 test thing about the book is, that there 

 s nothing said without a purpose, noth- 

 ngputon, everything means business. 



To those whoso experience is more ex- 

 ended, it gives many ;i pointer, valuable 

 i doing tine work. 



Yours truly. 



Geo. A Morrison. 



Mr. Editor —I notice in the last Mon- 

 hlv. that Mr. Short takes some excep- 

 ons to some facts given in my article 

 n the Redstart, which appeared some 



Syracuse, N. Y., Dec. 28, L891. 

 Mit. C. II. Prince, Dear Sir:— 



Some weeks ago I arranged an ex- 

 change with J. YV. P. Smithwick of Sans 

 Souci, N. C, and as he sent me two fraud- 

 ulent sets of eggs, I send you herewith an 

 account of same, hoping you will make 

 mention of same in your paper. Tin: 

 Collectors' Monthly. 



This fellow has tried ro defraud others, 

 and 1 think it about time he was showed 

 up in his true colors. He offered ,, 

 of Swallow-tailed Kite %, and Yellow- 

 throat Wablers ',, amounting to s;{o. i„ 

 return I sent $23 worth (that is. sent my 

 eggs first) and was fco send him the bal- 

 ance, ($7) on receipt of his eggs. When 

 his eggs arrived I found that the Swal- 

 low-tailed Kite (no, a spot on them) 

 were nothing but Marsh Hawk's, and 

 when I looked at them I found, with the 

 aid of a magnifying glass, that the num- 

 ber 480 (Rid'g for Marsh Hawk) had 

 been erased and the A. o. r. No. 327 

 substituted. Data read: "Collected by 

 <i. M. P. for E. M. Haight, Riverside 



Gal." 



The set % Yellow-throat Wablers, I 

 found were nothing but American Red- 

 starts, as the number 128 is quite plain 

 even to the naked eye on two of the eggs. 

 This set was accompanied by data filled 



