ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol, 7-No. 21 
1()6 
leaves. Even" once in a while it will come 
out and 2 )ereh on some limb and chirji its 
little song like a young canary. In the 
Spring is the time he gets his full singing 
powers up ; then three or four can be heard 
singing as though they had no time to feed 
or see what was going on around. At this 
time they feed on the wonus and insects 
on the trees. I never see one but that it 
calls to mind the experience that a friend 
of mine had, a watchman on one of the 
railroad bridges of Oakland. He saw the 
little sparrow come out from under the 
bridge every noon, when he was at his 
lunch, to pick i;p the cnimbs. So he got 
to look for the little sparrow and would 
feed him. Then when Mr. Sparrow got all 
he wanted, he would hoj) up on the railing 
and sing him a song as if to p.ay him for 
his dinner. Tlie gentleman got him so 
tame he would come out from under the 
bridge whenever he would whistle for him. 
California Bewick’sWrf.n, {Thryomanes 
bewicki spihiriat.) "V^diat a bewitching lit¬ 
tle wren, never still, lively as a cricket and 
as full of music as a lark. They come 
around the house and gardens in Winter 
hunting after insects in the bushes. I have 
been called out of the house more than 
once by him, thinking to see some new 
warbler; when out only to find it little 
“ Bewick” in some tree singing away as 
big as a Lark. In the Spring they will be 
heard in every brush heap, singing to their 
mates, “ It is time for housekeeping.” 
Western Meadow Lark, (Sturnella 7ie- 
f/lecta.) Now we come to the happy fel¬ 
low singing all the year round. During 
this time of year they are in large flocks 
and in early morning can be heard in the 
trees singing as though Spring was here : 
and with these warm sunny days it is not 
far from it. the hills are green and wild 
flowers are coming up over them. I have 
heard the Lark sing here in the Spring, 
while on the wing, very much like the Eu¬ 
ropean Lark ” that I have read of as the 
true Skv Lark. I think the Meadow Lark 
of Illinois (that was my home) were great 
singers on the wing. It takes Charles N. 
Allen to descifibe the song of the Western 
Meadow Lark in “ Nuttall’s Ornithological 
Club Bulletin” of July, 1881. I think he 
has got it as near nature as possible.— IE. 
(J. Emerson, Haywards, Cal. 
American Barn Owl. 
FURTHER NOTES, SEE NOS. 13, 14 -VOL. VII. 
At the time of writing the article on the 
Bam Owl which appeared in former num¬ 
bers of the O. and O. I did not have 
ready access to my collection of eggs of 
that siiecies, hence omitted saying anything 
regarding their average measurements, 
shajie, color, etc. 
I have examined and taken measure¬ 
ments of forty different specimens. The 
largest one in the lot measured 1.7(5 X 1.50. 
Two measured 1.80x1.30, these being the 
longest eggs in the lot. The shortest 
specimen measured 1.00x1 30. The egg 
of greatest shorter diameter is 1.76x1.50 
—the first one mentioned; the one of 
least shorter diameter being 1.70x1.20; 
another very slender one measures 1.72 X 
1.22. The average measurement of the 
forty specimens is 1.69 X 1.32. The largest 
egg of the Bam Owl that I ever saw is 
one of a set of eight eggs now in the 
collection of Mr. Jos. M. Wade, and meas¬ 
ured 1.97 X 1.40 ; the other seven are of 
the usual size. There is considerable di¬ 
versity in the shape of the Bam Owls’ 
eggs, as is partially indicated by the above 
figures. Some are cpiite slender, the one 
most so being 1.70 X 1.20. This egg tapers 
almost uniformily from the centre toward 
each end. The specimen the ratio of 
whose diameters a])proache8 most nearly 
to unity measures 1.62 X 1.36. There seems 
to be a greater difference in the shape of 
the two ends of the Bam Owls’ eggs than 
there is in those of the Scree<»h, Burrow¬ 
ing, Long-<‘ared, or Great-homed Owl. In 
a few specimens both ends are nearly 
rounded, while in a great majority the 
