i'hb Hawkeyk Ornithologist and Oolouist, 



CRESCO, IOWA. 



Downy Woodpecker 2—33 1 3—4 



Horned Lark 2-23 7 



W.-breasted Nuthatch 3— 5 



Red Crossbill 3— 2 1 



Ked-h. Woodpecker 3—3 1 



Bluebird 3—15 1 3-18 



Chipping Sparrow 3— li 2 3— lti 



Robin 3— IS 2 3—17 



Red-'ailed Hawk — i7 1 3— IS 



Pewee 3—17 1 



OOX^HOJ^OQY. 



MEDINA, N. Y. 



BY X. F. 



POSSON. 



Snow Bunting 



1— 1 



Am. Robin 



1— 1 



Black-c. Chickadee 



1— i 



White-b. Nuthatch 



1— 7 



Brown Creeper 



1— 7 



Downy Woodpecker 



1— 7 



Hairy 



1— 7 



Red-h. 



1— 7 



Shore Lark 



1—28 



Gt. Northern Shrike 



2— 2 



Bluebird 



2—24 



Pine Grosbeak 



2—25 



CHICAGO. 



BY W. E. PRATT. 

 Am. Herring Gull* 2— 4 20 2— 5 2—4 



Hooded Sheldrake 2—18 4 



Red Crossbill 2— Is 2 



White-r. Shrike 2—18 1 



Shore Lark 2—18 10J 2—22 2— IS 



Bluebird 2—22 12t 2—33 



Sparrow Hawk? 2—22 4 



Red-tailed " 2-22 1 



*A winter resident here when the lake 

 (Michigan) is free of ice. 



tAll males. 



The Red-breasted Sheldrake and Black- 

 capped Chickadee, winter residents, were ;ilso 

 observed. 



Those interested in bird migration 

 will, we hope, read our "Notes" with 

 interest. We wish to thank those 

 who forwarded reports for their 

 aid; and would be pleased to receive 

 reports from all. Those wishing to aid 

 us in this department and sending 

 us their address will have the neces- 

 sary blanks sent them. 



Our home reports are meager, ow- 

 ing to the extreme lateness of spring. 



To secure insertion, the reports 

 should be sent not later than the 15th 

 of each month. 



For The Ha-,\'.;e,-e'0. «sb O. 



HOWTOUOJULiSCTAjS'DPIiEPARE 

 CONCHOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 



BY -J. A. SINGLEY. 



The editors having given me per- 

 mission to ride my "hobby," I intend 

 to give brief but full instructions on 

 the above as well as make a few re- 

 marks on matters connected with a 

 collection. There are many collect- 

 ors who can profit by what I write, 

 but these notes are intended mainly 

 for the class to which I belonged 

 about 23 years ago, ?'. e. : the young 

 collector and the beginner. Had I 

 had these instructions then, it would 

 have saved me many a false step 

 aside from doing some things that, 

 while not very serious mistakes, 

 might be called "verdant." 



I want, in the first place, to point 

 out the advantages of collecting 

 shells. Collecting can be done all the 

 year round in many localities; and on 

 the sea-shore there is no intermission. 

 There is no climbing of trees as in 

 egg collecting, and no danger of 

 broken bones. Shells are not easily 

 broken, are much handsomer than 

 eggs; and, best of all, a shell always 

 carries its name about with it, while 

 you must take your correspondent's 

 word for the egg. And tlio' some 

 oologists profess to be able to identify 

 a species by the egg alone, I am 

 bound to say that after several years 

 of professional collecting in oology, 

 that in the majority of cases aspecies 

 can not be determined from the eggs. 

 The first thing a collector thinks of 

 when a species of any kind is obtain- 

 ed is the identifying or determina- 

 tion. The Smithsonian Institution 

 at Washington, D. 0., or the Acade- 

 my of Natural Sciences at Philadel- 

 phia, Pa., will always determine 

 specimens sent them for that purpose. 



