Th.e Contpa iiion. oV 
j)etrili(Ml fern may be seen. J have in 
my possession many s})eeies of ferns, 
also a few insects and two varieties of 
(lowers shaped like a daisy; 1 also have 
s[)eeimens of the woods Lepidodendra 
and Sigildiria. I am going on an ex- 
l)edition to a new mine in a tew days 
and if I find any more varieties I will 
let you know. I). INI. Gkosh, 
Sliamokin, Penn. 
I see you desire the readers of the 
Gomuaniox to express their views on 
tlie destruction of onr birds. 1 think 
the main cause is the killing of liirds 
for use on hats: but of course the tax¬ 
idermist and the egg collector aid, 
thongli I do not wish to say anything 
against legitimate work. As local sec¬ 
retary, however, I shall do all in my 
power to aid the movement. 
W. W. Westgate, Houston, Tex. 
-o- 
We clip this from a letter recently 
received from a subscriber: 
“Yon might mention in ypnr paper 
that I saw a Belted Kingfisher this day 
(Dec. 24th) flying south. I never no¬ 
ticed one so late in the season before. 
Where could this bird have been dur¬ 
ing the last cold snap of three weeks, 
when the ground has been covered 
with snow to the depth of several 
inches and tlie ponds, lakes and rivers 
are frozen over ? 
8. W. Denton, Wellesley, IMass.” 
-o- 
In April ’86 I constructed a box and 
erected it on a post for the Bluebirds. 
In about live days a paii' of the birds 
took possession and commenced to 
build. From this nest I took three 
sets of four eggs each, and one of live. 
Everytiine I robbed it they would jiut 
a new lining in the nest and lay anoth¬ 
er set. I did intend to take every set 
tlie old birds laid to see how long they 
would continue rebuilding the nest, 
until she had laid the fifth set, when I 
concluded that it was time the birds 
should rear a brood. 
This is the U)th of November, as 
“cold as blazes,” and still them lingers 
plentyof Robins, jMeadovv Larks, Chip¬ 
ping Sjiarrows, iNfouruingDoves,Black- 
birds and Song Sparrows. 
d. W. -Iacous, Waynesbuig, Pa. 
-o- 
We clip the following from a letter 
recently received from the secretary of 
Chapter 847A of the Agassiz Associa¬ 
tion: 
Washington, Ind., Nov. 25th, 1886. 
Deal’ Sir: - 
“Chapter 847A is in a prosperous 
condition, with every prospects for 
further success. At present writing 
we have had our collections catalogued, 
and are steadily increasing in member¬ 
ship. So far, I have never come across 
a better paper, both in matter and 
typographical appearance,for the price, 
than the Companion. May your paper 
continue lo remain as interesting, is 
my wish. We are especially interested 
in chemistry, and I have been slightly 
disappointed at finding no articles on 
that subject in your magazine. Hope 
3 'ou may succeed in obtaining some¬ 
thing in that way; shall consider it my 
dut}" to supply the deficiency if you 
don’t. Ben. W. Claavson. 
ERRATA. 
In the article on Cryolite on page 38 
in No. 3, it reads “a suffocating odor 
of chlorine is given ofli” It should have 
read fluorine instead of chlorine. 
