200 



THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



means refreshing and many a sturdy Scot who 

 could fix his bayonet and with nerves of steel, 

 march to meet an unreasonable number of his 

 country's toes, has quailed at the cry of the 

 " Hoolet" when unexpectedly heard in some 

 lonely glen. In his nocturnal excursions he 

 is a frequent visitor to the church and grave- 

 yard and has even been seen to alight on the 

 tombstones; perhaps the abundance of mice 

 among the rank grass of the burying ground 

 and the protection which the sacredness of 

 church property affords may to some extent 

 account for this habit ; but strange to say our 

 visitor here shewed the same predeliction, as 

 the first notice 1 heard of him was from one of 

 those boys who are always alive to such 

 things, who told me that " a fellow out near 

 the Cemetery had killed a new kind of an owl, 

 white and yellow with a very sharp nose." 

 On interviewing the captor, he said he would 

 never have known he was there, had it not 

 been for a lot of crows who gave him away by 

 the awful row they were keeping up round a 

 clump of pines ; taking his gun, he jumped 

 the fence, and saw the owl in the thick of the 

 evergreens, with the crows assailing him on 

 every side. A charge of No. 5 killed the owl 

 and the meeting broke up. It was a young 

 male in fine plumage, caught perhaps in the 

 strong south wind which prevailed for a few 

 days during the first week in May, 1882, and 

 carried much farther north perhaps than he 

 intended. To get at the total number of 

 species thus far observed in Western Ontario, 

 it will be necessary to take from the 241 

 described in 1866, the four already referred to 

 as not being good species, leaving 237 to 

 which add 16 in the London list not included 

 in the Hamilton one, and also 7 which do not 

 appear in either list making in all 260 species 

 which I think will satisfy your ornithological 

 readers that the birds of Western Ontario have 

 been pretty well identified. There are still a 

 few more which I think will yet work their way 

 round the west end of Lake Erie and, like the 

 Orchard Oriole, make their homes among us. 

 Of this class I would name the Summer-red 

 bird ; Tufted Titmouse ; Great Carolina Wren ; 

 Black-throated Bunting; Blue Grosbeak; 

 Prairie Warbler ; Worm-eating Warbler ; all 

 these already come so near our border that a 

 favorable wind during the spring migration 

 may any season land them among us. When 

 such takes place I hope you will hear of it 

 and let us all know. 



Yours very truly, T. McIlwraith. 

 Cairnbrae, Hamilton, January 20, 1883. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



" PROLIFIC " SWALLOWS. 



The White-bellied Swallow, Iridoprocne 

 bicolor (Vieillot) Coues: usually lay five or 

 six eggs. Last year I experimented with a 

 nest of these birds, which resulted in thirteen 

 eggs being laid, as follows. April 16, entering 

 cigar box that I had cut a small hole in, and 

 nailed to the veranda outside my bed-room 

 window. May 9, building nest. Mav 29, two 

 eggs laid. Took one out each day from the 

 latter date, to 5 June, being seven eggs taken 

 out, and one left in the nest. June 17, nest 

 contained six eggs, which I did not take. 25 

 June, feeding young. 14 July, young fledged. 



"unique" catbirds eggs. 



On the 8th July, 1872, 1 found a Catbird's 

 (Mimus Carolinensis (Linnmus) nest in a thin 

 bush about four feet high, containing two eggs 

 of the ordinary size, and colour: but, both 

 are covered all over with distinct, small, dark 

 spots. I have examined a large number of 

 Catbird's eggs, and never before, saw, or heard 

 of any with marks on them. 



CROW BLACKBIRDS. 



I think we have two species of Crow Black- 

 birds in Canada, viz. — Quiscalus major 

 (Vieillot,) Boat-tailed Crow Blackbird; Jack- 

 daw and Q purpureus (Lichtenstein,) Purple 

 Crow Blackbird ; Purple Grakle. I have only 

 observed the former in company with the 

 latter. The only apparent difference between 

 them being a peculiar spreading of the tail 

 feathers when on the wing, resembling the 

 form of a boat. Can any readers of the C. S. 

 & N. inform me if there is any difference 

 between the nests and eggs of the two species ? 

 Ernest D. Wintle, 



Montreal. 



CAT BIRDS EATING BEES. 



In the summer of 1879, my attention was 

 drawn to the frequent visits ot a pair of Cat- 

 birds to my apiary, and a close observation of 

 their movements left no doubt as to their 

 object. A bee was taken at each visit and 

 carried to a neighbouring copse; where, after 

 a short search I discovered their nest with 

 young. Pity for the young birds at first 

 prevented me from destroying the parents, but 

 a desire to further investigate the extent of 

 their depredations prevailed, and I shot both 

 birds. Upon examination I found that the 



