May 18, 1895.J 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
389 
the last half of June and beginning of July. In Alaska 
these birds have been found almost at the borders of the 
Arctic circle, and on the Shuuiagin Islands, the Alaskan 
peninsula, and in the more southern portions of the Terri- 
tory in the vicinity of Sitka they are not uncommon. 
Mr. Cbase Littlejohn writes me that he found them all 
along the peninsula, wherever the alder bushes were large 
enough to afford shelter and they could place their nests 
out of reach of foxes. 
The magpie once mated I believe remains so through 
life. The nest is a bulky and sometimes an elaborate af- 
fair, and is usually globular in shape. Outwardly it is 
constructed of sticks, some of which are occasionally 2ft. 
in length and nearly lin. in diameter, the coarsest 
material being used for the base of the nest. 
The inner cup, the nest proper, resembles a 
robin's nest somewhat, only larger, and like it is 
plastered with a coating of wet mud reaching well up on 
the sides, but not quite to the rim. This coating is care- 
fully lined with fine rootlets, dry grasses, inner bark of 
the cottonwood tree and hair, and in the vicinity of 
pine forests with pine needles. The nest is domed over 
with smaller sticks, and the sides are likewise protected 
by an open lattice-work of similar material, thorny 
twigs preferred if obtainable. The entrance hole gener- 
ally opens from the main body of the tree or bush in 
which the nest is placed, the latter being usually found in 
the thickest tangle of limbs if in a bush, provided they 
are strong enough to support the heavy structure. On 
good-sized trees the ne3ts are often placed well out on a 
limb, where they are not readily reached. Some nests I 
have seen measured nearly 3ft. in height by 2£ft. in 
width; others again are much smaller and more flimsily 
bu : lt, scarcely half as large and only moderately domed, 
and occasionally one is found which is almost open at the 
top. Mr. B. J. Bretherton writes me f rom Kadiak, Alaska, 
of finding a nest there, placed in a dense fir thicket about 
10ft. from the ground, built on three saplings which grew 
in the shape of a triangle, the nest being built around 
each, the center being supported by the small branches. 
About Sin. from the top of the nest a roof was built open 
all round. He also writes: "A remarkable feature in this 
bird is its inability to keep dry; in the rainy winters they 
may be seen day after day hopping around, litprally wet 
to the skin and looking as if they had been dipped in a 
bucket of water." 
The inner cup of the nest measures about 6in. in width 
by 4in. in depth.. While on the nest the tail of the bird 
is usually held at right angles to the body. Unless the 
eggs are on the point of hatching it is a difficult matter 
to approach close enough to see the bird on the nest, as 
the female is exceedingly suspicious and will try to sueak 
quietly away at the slightest sign of danger, generally 
slipping out on the side opposite the intruder, as there are* 
usually sufficiently large openings in the sides of the nest 
to permit the bird' to scramble through. 
Not unfrequentlly two or three unoccupied nests are 
fouud in close proximity to one in Use built probably by 
the same pair of birds, but the same nest is often made 
use of for several seasons in succession. Two or three 
pairs sometimes nest close together, but as arule each pair 
of birds have their own little cation or ravine, in which 
they may be found from year to year. Thorn bushes, 
either Cratcegus rivularis or douglassi, commonly found 
near springy places at the heads of canons or smaller 
ravines, as well as in the creek bottoms proper, were pre- 
ferred as nesting sites by these birds wherever I have ob* 
served them. Willow thickets, scrubby cotton- woods, 
junipers, pines, alders and firs weie also used in the order 
named; the height of nests from the ground ranged from 
4 to 20ft., rarely over or under this. In Colorado, how- 
ever, accord ing to Mr. Frederick M. Dille, the magpie 
Sometimes builds in lofty cotton- woods from 50 to 60ft. 
from the ground, and I have also seen it stated that occu- 
pied nests have been found On the ground, though I have 
never seen one so situated. 
The average number of eggs to a set throughout the 
.greater part of their range is seven; sometimes, however, 
eight or nine are found. At Fort Lapwai, Idaho, 1 found 
sets of nine not at all rare, and have twice taken sets of 
ten. An egg is deposited daily; incubation does not 
begin until the clutch is nearly completed and lasts from 
sixteen to eighteen days, The female attends to this duty 
almost exclusively; I rarely saw the male on the nest, 
but he feeds her, and is generally on the lookout in the 
vicinity of the nest and quite attentive. The young when 
first hatched are ugly^looking creatures, nearly all head, 
and are blind. They are fed on worms, the soft parts of 
insects, etc., and grow rapidly. They are able to leave 
the nest in about three weeks and soon learn to shift for 
themselves Only a single brood is raised in a season; if 
the first set of eggs are taken, a second and even a third 
is sometimes laid, frequently in the same nest or in 
another close by. The second set rarely numbers more 
than five or six eggs. 
These show a great variation in shape, size, color and 
markings, the majority inclining to ovate, while others 
may be called short ovate, rounded, elliptical and elon- 
gate ovate. 
The prevailing ground color is a pale or dirty gray, less 
often a light drab, and occasionally a set is found of a 
decidedly greenish tinge, but such eggs are scarce. They 
are generally heavily blotched with different shades of 
brown and ecru-drab; these markings being often conflu- 
ent, almost hiding the ground color, and are usually 
evenly distributed over the entire egg. In some speci- 
mens the markings predominate at the upper end of the 
egg, more rarely at the lower eud. Some also show lav- 
ender shell markings, and occasionally a specimen is 
found in which the markings are well defined, not conflu- 
ent, and leaving the intervening ground color distinctly 
visible. The shell of these eggs is close grained, moder- 
ately strong, and shows little or no gloss. 
The average measurement of 201 eggs in the United 
States National Museum collection is 32.54 by 23.86 milli- 
meters, or 1.28 by .90 inches. The largest egg in the series 
measures 37.84 by 20,42 millimeters, or 1.49 by 1.04 inches, 
the smallest is 27.04 by 21.59 millimeters, or 1.10 by ,85 
inches. 
New York Aquarium. 
Wokk is progressing on the New York Aquarium, but 
the opening date has not yet been announced. Much 
alteration of the building is called for. The public may 
well afford to wait. When the aquarium shall finally be 
ready, it will be ready to stay ready, 
VERMONT RATTLESNAKES. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
From your issue of April 6th I learned, for the first 
time, that Vermont had decided to kill off her rattlesnakes, 
and, with characteristic caution and conservatism, had 
started the experiment by offering a bounty of one dollar 
per snake. Of two things you may rest assured: — first, 
that there are rattlesnakes in Vermont; and second, that 
there are not very many of them, for otherwise the bounty 
would have been made smaller. 
Even at that price, in a fairly good snake cover, a man 
could earn better wages than in the hay-field, and if the 
reward were greater there would be a scarcity of farm 
hands during the snake season. 
You inquire what effect this bounty is likely to have on 
Vermonters. snakes and snake stories. It will unquestion- 
ably cause Vermonters to regret that they ever killed a 
rattler before this law was passed, for they thus cut off a 
legitimate source of revenue. 
It will probably bring about an increase of snakes; for 
those who best know Vermonters will take it for granted 
that rattlesnake raising will henceforth become an ac- 
knowledged industry and a fine art. The Vermont Yankee 
is quick to take advantage of circumstances; and then, 
too, there is considerable territory in Vermont which is 
better adapted to snake culture than to the production of 
any other crop. 
The commercial importance of this hitherto valueless 
product, and its probable increase for market purposes, 
will undoubtedly have the effect to multiply and en- 
large snake stories, and lend a new zest to the rural news- 
papers. Local items of this sort may be looked for in the 
immediate future: "Farmer Lookwood has finished har- 
vesting his rattlesnakes and reports that the crop was un- 
usually large." "Joe Randall's rattlesnake incubator was 
broken into last night and nearly a hundred dollars' worth 
of eggs and young snakes were stolen." "The rattlesnake 
commissioner will be at the town clerk's office on Monday 
next to count heads and pay bounties thereon." "Enoch 
Smalley has been sent to jail for tbree months for 
attempting to collect a bounty on adders' heads" etc., etc. 
Inasmuch as reputable newspapers will soon be refusing 
to accept or print Vermont snake stories, I want to get 
mine in now, and to substantiate it I inclose herewith a 
clipping from the Springfield (Vt.) Reporter, which kindly 
return, as I may need it later, when snake stories have to 
be accompanied by documentary evidence. 
On October 9,1891,1 was hunting on Skitchewaug.a pecu- 
liarly rough and precipitous mountain in Windsor county, 
famous, among other things, for its rattlesnakes, although 
they are seldom seen so late in the season as that. The 
morning sun beat warmly in upon the masses of loose 
rock at the base of a cliff, and this I presume had brought 
out the snakes. Hearing a slight rustling in the leaves, I 
turned and saw a big rattler gliding slowly along within 
a dozen feet of me. 1 had never killed one, and rejoicing 
in this opportunity, I gave him a charge of No. 8 shot. 
The report of the gun seemed to arouse all snakedom! 
The air fairly vibrated with the locust-like rattle of I 
know not how many snakes. They were all around me, 
one so close that the contents of the second barrel cut him 
in three pieces as he lay coiled up. Some of them got 
away into the loose rocks, but I shot two more as soon as 
I could reload, and had my eye on the fifth one. He was 
coiled up about 20ft. away, with his head raised and his 
rattle in the air. I spent a few minutes in studying his 
habits, and am prepared to contribute something to the 
cause of science and rattlesnake literature. At my 
slightest motion the rattle buzzed and the head was 
thrown back as one would raise his arm to throw a ball. 
I had heard that a rattler would never leave his coil to 
come toward one, but I wish to refute that statement. 
Twice this one straightened out and approached me, each 
time returning to his coil as quick as a flash at a sudden 
motion on my part. Having settled this point and think- 
ing that further inquisitiveness might not be wholesome, 
I put a charge of shot where I thought it would do the 
most good. As there was then no bounty on this sort of 
game, I got out of that locality as quickly as possible, 
after tying four of the biggest snakes together, as evidence 
of my sobriety. The largest was 50in. long, the next 41, 
and the others smaller. The odor they sent forth when 
the shooting began was decidedly offensive, something 
like that of a skunk, less powerful, but more sickening. 
Unless the bounty hunters happen upon that spot, I think 
I know where I could clear my vacation expenses in a 
very few hours. ARTHUR F. ElCE. 
"Whippoorwill in the City. 
Lockrort, N. Y., May 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
As I was sitting at an open window at 7:45 o'clock this 
evening (which was just twenty minutes ago) my son 
came across the street from his house and said there was 
a whippoorwill singing in the back yard, and motioned 
for me to come out. We cautiously walked in the direc- 
tion from which the song came, when it suddenly ceased ; 
but the next moment it was heard in the rear of the 
second lot above us. We walked up to and through the 
lotto the rear end, across which is a high board fence, 
where we stood; all this time the bird was pouring forth 
its vociferous song, which my son thought came from the 
lot over the fence. (Of course I did not h?ar it, as Forest 
and Stream well knows.) Wishing to get a sight of our 
rare visitor, we stepped upon the lower rail of the fence to 
look over, when to our surprise the bird flew from the top 
of the fence within 10ft. of where we stood. I say rare 
visitor, as this is the second time my son has ever heard the 
whippoorwill in this vicinity, and both times in the early 
time of its migration; and both times it was heard within 
the city, although the first time it was at the extreme 
limits, while we are in the center. As most of our neigh- 
bors were sitting outdoors and heard the strange music, 
seeing us going toward it, they came over to learn what 
it was, and only one acknowleged ever hearing it before. 
As I came in the house and opened my desk to report this 
occurrence of Anstrostomus voeiferus in our city. I was 
asked if we had a whippoorwill in our collection. I went 
to the case and took out one; it was mounted on a low 
block, as if sitting on the ground. Placing the block in my 
left hand so that it did not show, and my right hand over 
the back of the bird so that nothing but the head and tail 
showed, I went out and showed it to my neighbors, who 
thinking that I had caught the whippoorwill, stroked its 
head, and I suppose said endearing words to the poor bird. 
1 called their attention to its small bill, which is only three 
tightba of an uich long, but I told them that its mouth 
opened to back under its eyes "as wide as a spelling 
book," and when I showed them that it was a stuffed bird 
they laughingly acknowledged the joke was on them. 
J. L. Davison. 
MICHIGAN BIRD ARRIVALS. 
Holland, Mich., May 8.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
Robins and bluebirds are scarce here this year, in. fact I 
have seen but one bluebird this spring. 
The warblers are as numerous as usual, and within the 
last week Baltimore orioles have appeared in larger 
numbers than I have ever observed before. As yet I 
have noticed but three orchard orioles. 
Song sparrows are not very numerous. Meadow larks 
are in a little less number than usual. 
My observations are nearly all made here in the center 
of a city of 7,000 people. We are situated in Ottawa 
county, on Macatawa Bay, six miles from Lake Michigan, 
and ahout 100 miles north of the Indian line. We have 
some fair-sized woods near and some swamp land. On 
this account we have a very diversified bird fauna. I 
have identified 135 varieties of birds occurring within six 
miles from town. 
I cross a college campus several times each day in going 
to and from my office. On the campus are oak, beech, 
pine, poplar and cedar trees, many shrubs and a hedge. 
Many crow blackbirds nest in the pines, as do an occa- 
sional pair of robins. Several pairs of mourning doves 
breed there. One pair last year built a nest on a limb of 
a pine near the trunk, and about 8ft. from the ground. 
I tried to catch it, thinking it was wounded, and not 
knowing the dove would try to lead one from its nest in 
this manner. Of course the bird flew after leading me as 
far as it desired. 
Several times as I went near the tree the dove did this 
trick. I do not know whether the male or the female, or 
both, did it. Once I followed slowly after one of the 
doves to see how far it would lead me. It led me for a 
couple of hundred feet, and as I neared a building I 
stepped back out of sight for a moment, then carefully 
peered around the corner. The bird was standing as 
erect as possible, and turning its head in every direction, 
wondering, I suppose, where I had disappeared to. Upon 
showing myself, it again commenced its fluttering tactics. 
Many chipping sparrows nest in the hedge, and gold- 
finches in the shrubs. I once fouud a brown thrush's 
nest near an old fallen tree, but some boys destroyed the 
nest and took the eggs. I observed a cuckoo's nest in a 
maple. 
This campus is much frequented by the juncos and 
seems to be a gathering place for the robins, vast num- 
bers being found here a few days before leaving for the 
South. 
An occasional golden-wing is seen, and several times 
this week I have heard quail whistling. Yellow-bellied 
woodpeckers come regularly and inspect all the trees, 
frequenting the poplars mostly, though. 
Below I give the time of arrival for the last few years, 
though the list is very incomplete. Some of the birds, 
notably the meadow-larks, I observed outside the city, as 
they are not frequently seen on the campus. 
1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. 189S. • 189U. 1895. 
Robin Mar. 20 Mar. 21 Mar. 9 Mar. 7 Mar. 22 
Bluebird Mar. 20 Mar. 23 Mar. 3 Mar. 7 Mar. 3 Mar. 28 
Crow bl'kbird Mar. 20 Mar. 23 Mar. 4 Mar. 12 Mar. 7 Mar. 19 
Redwing b'k'd Mar. 9 Mar. 11 Mar. 8 Mar. 24 
Meadow lark Mar. 8 Mar. 27 Mar. ,7 Mar. 24 
Swallow Apr. 7 Apr. 10 Apr. 3 Mar. 26 * 
Martin Apr. 13 ., Apr. 11 
Kildeer plov'r Mar. 24 Mar. 25 Mar. 23 Mar. 4 Mar. 29 
Jacksnipe.... Apr. 18 Apr. 3 Apr. 2 Apr. 5 Mar. 30 
Bait, oriole. . . May 7 May 3 May 8 May 1 May 1 
Orch'd oriole. May 7 May 1 
Kingbird. May 7 May 1 May 7 
Catbird Apr. 28 May 1 Apr. 23 
Wren May 3 Mar. 30 Apr. 25 
Chipp'gspaV, Mar. 13 Mar. 27 
Chewink Apr. 16 , Apr 9 
Pewee Apr. S Apr. 12 
In 1891 saw one robin Jan, 24. 
Arthur G. Baumgartel. 
Mongolian Pheasant in New York. 
Oneonta, N. Y., May 3.— The Star of to-day says: 
The effort now being made by the Oneonta Fish and Game 
Association to stock this locality with the Mongolian 
pheasants should receive the hearty encouragement of 
every citizen, as the possibilities of their becoming exten- 
sive in this locality are very encouraging. The ten birds 
recently received from the West were liberated on Friday 
last, in an excellent locality for their making a breeding 
place, and they will be watched very carefully by friends 
near. 
The birds have a beautiful plumage and are trimly built. 
They are very quick movers, fast flyers, and can run very 
rapidly. They pair off and brood two settings of eggs 
every year and usually hatch about twenty-five young 
ones to each setting. By this it will be seen that they can 
multiply very rapidly if unmolested. They are protected 
by a State law which makes it unlawful to shoot them for 
a period of five years, and if they can be left alone for that 
period, there is every reason to believe that they will be 
very plentiful here at the end of that time. This effort is 
not to be left with this one move, but if there is any indi- 
cation that they can be successfully reared here, a number 
will be liberated each year and soon there will be no ne- 
cessity of protecting them, save in their brooding season. 
Eggs will be secured at a very early date and the same 
hatched by some method. 
A jRobin that Sings Whip-poor-will. 
Pittsfield, N. H.— Editor Forest and Stream: There 
is a robin in our village who every morning and night 
delights a crowd of listeners with his song. He perches 
himself upon the topmost branches of the elms and wild 
cherry trees, and there he sits for an hour at a time. He 
commences his song as robins do, but varies it from all 
others by introducing the notes of the whippoorwill once, 
twice, and even four times in succession. So plainly does 
he do this that many persons were attracted, at first sup- 
posing that it was a whippoorwill, which are seldom seen 
or heard in our immediate vicinity. 
Henry W. Osgood. 
The Forest and Stream is put-to press each week on Tues- 
day. Correspondence intended for publication should reach 
jgi at the Utliii by Monday, a^d as much earlier aspracticab 
