Natural Science News. 



VOL. II. No. 14. 



ALBION, N. Y., MAY 2, 1896. 



Weekly, $1.00 a Year 



Order PASSERES. Perching Birds. 



Family TYRANNID/E.— Tyrant Flycatchers. 



444. Kingbird. Tyrannus tyr annus. Common summer resident 

 and breeder. 



452. Crested Flycatcher. Myiarclius crinitus. Summer resident 

 and breeder. Not as common as last. 



456. Phikhe. Sayornis fthcebe. Abundant summer resident and 

 breeder. 



459. Olive-sided Flycatcher. 

 L. Davison as a rare migrant. 



Contopus borealis. Reported by J. 

 Common summer resident 



461. Wood Pewee. Contopus virens. 

 and breeder. 



463. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Empidonax ftaviventris. Rare 

 summer resident and breeder. Not very common. 



465. Green-crested Flycatcher. Empidonax virescens. Occasional 

 summer resident and breeder. Apparently confined to the higher woods. 



466a. Alder Flycatcher. Empidonax traillii alnorum. Said to 

 be not uncommon in some places. A rare summer resident and breed- 

 er in Monroe county. 



467. Least Flycatcher. Empidonax minimus. A rare summer res- 

 ident near Chili. Reported by Neil F. Posson as common at Medina. 

 L. V. Case also mentions its nesting at Naples. 



Family ALAUDID/E.— Larks. 



474. Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris. Occasional winter visitor. 



474b. Prairie Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris praticola. Com- 

 mon summer resident and breeder. Seems to be with us nearly all the 

 time from Jan. 1st to December 1st. Breeds twice, in March and 

 April and in June. 



Family CORVID^E.- Crows, Jays, etc. 



477 Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata. Resident and breeds. Seems 

 to be local in distribution. 



488. American Crow. Coi tus amcricanus. Common resident and 

 breeder. Abundant in Chili, Monroe County, especially in winter, 

 there being a large roost near there. 



Family ICTERID^.— American Starlings. 



494. Bobolink. 

 dent. Breeds. 



Dolichonyx 



oryzivorus 



Abundant summer resi- 



495. _ Cowbird. Molothrus a tor. Abundant summer resident. De- 

 posits its eggs in the nests of the followiug birds, viz: Kingbird, 

 Meadowlark, Purple Finch, Vesper Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, 

 Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Red-eyed Vireo, Yel- 

 low-throated Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided 

 Warbler, Ovenbird, American Redstart, Towhee, Golden-winged War- 

 bler, Cedar Waxwing, Wood Thrush, Wilsons Thrush, Robin, Blue- 

 bird, Hermit Thrush, Water Thrush, and possibly others. 



498. Red-winged Blackbird. Agelaius phmniceus. Abundant sum- 

 mer resident. Breeds. 



501. Meadowlark. Sturnella magna. A common summer resident, 

 a few staying all winter. Breeds. 



More About "Joint Snakes." 



In the first number of Natural 

 Science News was an interesting 

 article about "joint snakes." The 

 writer of that article handles the 

 subject in a pleasing way, and he 

 no doubt is correct in classing this 

 reptile as a lizard. 



Not knowing anything scientific- 

 ally about this very queer reptile, 

 I can probably add nothing new to 

 what is already known concerning 

 it. 



But as the "glass" or "joint 

 snake" is so rarely found in this 

 latitude, it might be of interest to 

 the readers of this paper for me to 

 mention the one instance in which 

 I met with his snakeship. 

 □ In the afternoon of the 12th of 

 June, 1886, near the village of 

 Denmark, Lee county, Iowa, I, in 

 company with a friend went for a 

 few hours hunt. 



In a heavily timbered creek bot- 

 tom and near the water edge, we 

 came suddenly upon a small snake. 

 It tried at first to escape us. But 

 after a few "round ups" with a 

 small stick, the animal concluded 

 to remain and get acquainted. 



The length of the reptile was 

 about sixteen inches, and its color 

 struck us at once as being odd. 



It was of a clear greenish olive 

 color, darkened on the back 

 throughout its length by brownish- 

 black lines. The darkening was 

 not very pronounced, so that the 

 general appearance was an olive- 

 green. 



Its actions were precisely like 

 those of the common garter snake, 

 except at one time when the stick 

 that was tormenting it became too 

 rough, it disjointed or divided it- 

 self into at least four parts, all the 

 parts being of about equal length. 



We were much surprised to see 

 this happen, as we did not know 

 until then that we had found a 

 specimen of the almost mythical 

 "joint snake." 



The different parts of this strange 

 reptile wriggled, writhed, and 

 twisted about in the rank blue 

 grass, until all the parts except the 

 part including the head had disap 

 peared. 



I remember crushing the head 

 with my stick, making the remark 

 as I did so that, "I would be sure 

 of that much anyhow." 



We then examined the end where 

 it came unjointed, and instead of 

 having the appearance of "mus- 



