.NATUBAL SCIENCE NEWB. 



either wanting or exceedingly faint 

 in P. brevicauda. P. asterias has a 

 spot of bright yellow on the anter- 

 ior edge of the throax. P. brevi- 

 cauda has a fringe of duller yellow 

 extending fully half the length of 

 the thorax. On the primaries the 

 discal bar in P. asterias is much 

 narrower, and the row of spots 

 smaller and brighter yellow, the 

 upper one in the row being divid- 

 ed; in P. brevicauda the spots are 

 fulvous, the upper one is undivid- 

 ed. The inner row of spots are 

 also entirely yellow in P. asterias, 

 smaller and very different in form 

 from those on P. brevicauda. The 

 second row of spots is also smaller 

 in P. asterias and the red spot at 

 the anal angle paler with a small 

 black spot in it, and a wider cres- 

 cent of bluish atons above. The 

 length of the tail, which is one of 

 the most striking points of differ- 

 ence, has already been noticed." 



Packard himself says: ''We 

 have compared some interesting 

 specimens of P. asterias in the Bos- 

 ton Museum of Natural History, 

 collected about Boston by Mr. 

 Shurtleff, which approach (in the 

 reddish hue of the spots, usually 

 yellow, especially on the under 

 side, and in the shortness of the 

 tail) the Newfoundland specimen 

 kindly sent us by Mr. Saunders, 

 and strongly suggest the inference, 

 with which Messrs. Scudder and 

 Sanborn agree, that P. brevicauda 

 is a very remarkable local variety 

 of P. asterias." 



Hoping that we shall hear more 

 of the life histories of our common 

 insects has been the spirit of this 

 endeavor. B. S. Bowdish, 



New York City. 



A Katydid Samson. 



A correspondent of the Popular 

 Science News tells how he har- 

 nessed a katydid to a kind of sled 

 made by folding a piece of ordin- 

 ary note paper, and then loaded 

 the sled with various articles. The 

 insect proved able to draw in ad- 

 dition to the original paper, twelve 

 paper sheets each three by four 

 and one-half inches, a large screw, 

 two steel pens, a stone weighing 

 two ounces and three and a half 

 lead pencils. When the weight 

 became too heavy to be drawn oth- 

 erwise the katydid got its forefeet 

 over the edge of the table for a 

 better hold and on the addition of 

 another weight it increased the ad- 

 hering power of its feet by moist- 

 ening them in its mouth, 



BIRDS OF WESTERN NEW YORK. 

 ERNEST H. SHORT. 



Order RAPTORES. Birds of Prey. 



Family CATH ARTIDiE. -American Vultures. 



325. Turkey Vulture. Cathartes aura. Straggler. One shot in 

 town of Clarendon, Orleans Co., on July 18, 1891. 



326. Black Vulture. Catharista atrata. A rare straggler. One 

 taken near Medina, Orleans Co., May 28, 1892. 



33i- 



332- 

 breeds. 



Family FALCONID./E. — Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, etc. 



Marsh Hawk. Circus hudsonius. Summer resident and breeds. 



Sharp-shinnkd Hawk. Accipiter velox. Summer resident and 

 Not very common. 



333. Cooper's Hawk. Accipiter cooperii 

 breeds. One of our common raptores. 



334- 

 itor. 



Summer resident and 



raptores. 



American Goshawk. Accipiter airicapillus. Rare winter vis- 

 Butco borealis. Common summer resi- 



337. Red-tailed Hawk 

 dent and breeds. 



339. Red-shouldered Hawk. Buteo lineatus. The most common 

 of all our larger Hawks. Breeding in all suitable places. 



342. Swainson's Hawk. Buteo swainsonii. A very rare straggler. 

 Nathan L. Davis, formerly of Brockport, writes me that he caught a 

 young bird of this species on Oct. 1, 1889, in a trap; which he kept for 

 some time. He is positive as to the identity. 



343. Broad-winged Hawk. Buteo latissimus. Summer resident 

 and breeds. Not nearly as common as borealis and lineatus. 



347a. American Rough-legged Hawk. Archibuteo lagopus sancli- 

 johnannis. Common winter and spring visitor. Most common in Mon- 

 roe Co. in March and April. 



352. Bald Eagle. Haliaetus leucoccphalus. Occasional visitor and 

 probably a rare breeder along Lake Ontario. 



356. Duck Hawk. Falco peregrinus anaiunt. Rare in fall and winter. 



357. Pigeon Hawk. Falco coluiubarius. Common migrant. Re- 

 ported by L. V. Case as having nested near Naples, Ontario Co. Cer- 

 tainly a rare breeder. 



360. American Sparrow Hawk. Falco sparverius. 

 mer resident and breeds. 



Common sum- 



364. American Osprev. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis. Common 

 migrant. Especially on the lake. 



Family BUBONID/E. — Horned Owls, etc. 



A sio wilsonian us. 



366. American Long-eared Owl 

 migrant and may possibly breed. 



367. Short-eared Owl. Asia accipit rinus. 

 ter visitant and possible rare breeder. 



368. Barred Owl. Syrnium nebulosum. 

 from Orleans and Niagara Co's. 



372. Saw-whet Owl. Nyctala acadica. 

 rare resident. Breeds. 



Occasional 

 Common fall and win- 

 Rare visitor. Reported 

 Common fall visitor and 



373. Screech Owl 



375. Great Horned Owl.. 

 and breeds. 



Megaseops asio. Common resident and breeds. 



Bubo virginianus. Common resident 



