each. 6 nests with 5 eggs 506 Orchard Oriole. 1-5, 1-2. 507 Baltimore Oriole, 1-4, 1-4, 1 with young. 511 Purple Grackle. 32 nests in one yard. 542a Savannah Sparrow. 1-3. 546 Grasshopper Sparrow. 1-3 nest destroyed before I could collect it. 549 Sharp-tailed Sparrow. 1-5, 1-3. 550 Seaside Sparrow, 1-4. 563 Field Sparrow. 1-4, 1-4, 1-4, 1-4. 611 Purple Martin. Colony of twelve pairs breeding at "Guilford.” 613 Barn Swallow. Two nests with young. 616 Bank Swallow. Large colony breeding at "Saybrooke." 619 Cedar Waxwing. 1-5, 1-5. 652 Yellow Warbler. 1-4. 659 Chestnut-sided Warbler. 1-3, 761 Robin. "Abundant." 766 Bluebird. 1-3, 1-3, 1-4, 1-4. Nelson E. Wilmot, 24 New Street, West Haven, Conn. A Ruby-throat Question On June 22, 1917, I found a Rubythroat's nest in a big white oak. The situation of the nest was such that as I saw the overhanging branch from a hundred rods up the road, I was led to exclaim: "There's an ideal spot for the nest of that Hummer I have heard squeaking hereabouts twice as I have hunted in the adjoining woods." When I approached, sure enough, elever feet up, squarely over the road, it was saddled on a slanting branch about the size of a pencil. In the accompanying photo of the branch can be seen the foundation of what I feel sure was the remains of last year's nest eight inches beyond the present one. The lichens and "fern cotton" of the remnant were greyed and bleached in decided contrast to the lusty green and drab camouflage of the tenanted nest. Note how similar the two locations are. The question is: did the pair come all the way back from Honduras or Cuba again this year to their old home; or did they start the first nest early in the season, then decide to move farther out on the branch? Have other oologists, or ornithologists proper, any certain evidence of a two-year lease being carried out by the Ruby-throated Hummingbird? The nest held two fresh eggs. Raymond Fuller, White Plains, Westchester Co., N. Y. Bird Life at Kelley Field I am another of the young birdmen who have answered his country's call. I enlisted on January 4, 1918, at Kansas City, and after passing through Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis, Mo., I was sent here to Kelley Field. I have lived in Texas before but never in these localities. Of course I brought with me my Pocket Bird Study by Reed and at every chance I had I made notes on the bird life in and around camp. I had thought the aeroplanes would frighten away all the birds and I would find the field birdless, but such is not the case. In fact, the birds here pay very little attention to them at all. I have seen aeroplanes land directly in the midst of a flock of cow birds who, as the machine got almost upon them, merely would rise in a flock and fly but a short distance away and began feeding again. I have seen Meadow Larks feeding on the ground as if unconscious of the many machines whirring overhead. I have seen planes and Turkey Vultures flying about in the sky together. Though these birds I have mentioned are not afraid of the planes there are those that are. Just let a flock of wild geese or ducks start flying over and a machine scares them in fiftyseven different kinds of fits. All formation is lost and they break in all directions; flying widely and seemingly with but one thought-to get as far away as possible. I went on a short hike this morning, March 4, and enjoyed myself very much in observing the bird life of cacti and bush at this season. Vesper sparrows were not uncommon along the edges of the brush. I got a glimpse of the white on the wings of the mocking bird as it fled before me. I also saw several female cardinals, a couple of common House Wrens and two Log ger head Shrikes. On my return trip two flocks of about 40 birds each of Lark Buntings flew down and alighted on some low bushes and let me get a good view of them before they departed. Most of them were in their winter plumage but several had new suits of black and white. My hike took me through a field of cacti where the "Common Prickly Pear" was very abundant, growing in bunches together. The "plum pudding" species was not absent, neither was the "bush" variety. One thing that struck me as being rather queer was the abundance of little white snails around and on the different species of cacti and mesquito bush. They seemed to be getting some sort of nourishment from the cacti for they would be thickest around some wound in the wide leaves of the "Prickly Pear" where the sap of the plant would be running out. Some of the bushes were so loaded with these peculiar, slow moving bits of animal life as to look as if they were full of buds about to burst into bloom. The ground around these places would be covered with whitened shells of those that had perished and died. As spring advances more and more, birds arrive and I shall write to the Oologist from time to time as long as I remain in the U. S. A. My folks read The Oologist at home and send it on to me for I find I cannot get along without it even in the army. Ralph J. Donahue, San Antonio, Texas. On December 23, 1916, while gunning with my brother George, in a low, marshy swamp, we flushed four Snipes, one which George shot. It shot up too badly for a skin. It was quite fat and in winter plumage. On December 30, 1916, my younger brother William, flushed a Snipe in this marsh, where George shot me on New Year's day. I preserved its skin. It was in winter plumage, and altho fat and in excellent condition its stomach was completely empty. I was shot at 9 a. m. On January 13, George killed another Snipe in this marsh, where a boy told him there was three others earlier in the day. This bird was too badly mutilated to skin. It was very dirty in winter plumage, and its stomach was about empty, yet it was in good physical condition and carried some fat on its body. On March 1, I saw a Snipe in the marsh which I think was a new migrant because it was in spring plumage. These are the first Snipes that I have ever seen in winter anywhere in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where it has rarely been observed or taken at this season. Richard F. Miller. Note on the Barn Owl Foods Much has been written about the economic value of the Barn Owl and all ornithologists are agreed that it is a highly beneficial species. According to my experience, the Barn Owls subsist entirely upon mice, for all the pellets of the birds that I have examined have contained only the remains, bones and fur, of mice (Microtus pennsylvanicus et pinetorum) identified by the skulls. On April 14, 1917, I examined five cast-up pellets of the Barn Owl which I found under a hollow tree used as a roost by one of the birds. They contained the remains of 3&3&3&4&4 mice. M. pennsylvanicus in the shape of skulls, bones and fur. This indicates that the bird had fed prodigiously on these pests. Of the hundreds of pellets of the Barn Owl which I have examined in southeastern Pennsylvania, I have never found the remains of any species of birds in them; they have all contained the remains of the above species of mice, and mostly of the Pennsylvania Vol, (M. pennsylvani cus). Richard F. Miller. A great part of Jefferson County, Oregon, is sage covered plains and rolling buttes covered here and there with patches of junipers. Deschute and crooked river canyons run through the county separating in a way the sage covered area of the county from the mountains in the western part of the county. The writer during the year 1916 from April 1st to August 15th, had a splendid opportunity to study some of the birds of the sage land area and consequently spent many pleasant days afield with his collecting box and camera. The birds around Culver differed quite a bit from the birds inhabiting the canyons of the Crooked and Deschutes river about four miles away, as did the birds inhabiting the fringe of timber along the foothills of the mountains further west. The altitude of Culver and immediate locality is 2760 feet. That of the canyons is about 1600 feet. L. R. Howsley, The Dalles, Ore. Scattered Notes for The Oologist The September 1917 issue, latest, of The Oologist, contains a short article on the finding of a suppositious nest of the Alder Flycatcher having eggs with black spots. Students of much experience have learned that the eggs of the Alder Flycatcher are spotted always with cinnamon, never with black. A late issue interestingly deals with a pendent nest of the Wood Pewee. I am inclined to believe that this nest, like one of my own finding, years ago, in Minnesota, was just a hurried nest that bagged, at bottom, with weight; and was gradually re-inforced. An article in the April, 1917, issue of The Oologist was of great interest to me. It dealt with the breeding of the "Wilson" Thrush. Now, it SO happens that the undersigned made two separate trips to the Leech Lake Region of Minnesota to settle the status of the "Veerys" of that part of the United States. My own material corroborated the conclusions already formed by men of greater knowledge than myself, in this domain, namely, that the Veerys of Minnesota are all of them Willow Thushes. Moreover, quite frequently, the eggs of these thrushes are faintly specked. I found one such set, beside Leech Lake; and received, from Wyoming, three such sets. The writer of the article in question has made one or two errors. He speaks of the Towhee as being "Transient," in the Leech Lake region; whereas, it is a summer habitant. I, myself, found one nest. He also speaks of certain species of birds as "going further North to spend the winter," a statement, of course, to be exactly reversed. P. B. Peabody, Blue Rapids, Kansas. Ducks Spend the Winter in Maine By H. H. Johnson, Pittsfield, Me. Every fall from the great flocks of Black Ducks, Wood Duck, American Golden Eye, Buffle Head, American Merganser, Teals, etc., there remains in scattered locations throughout the central and southern part of the state some ducks which winter here. These ducks winter in small open patches of water which seldom if ever freeze entirely over. Those which remain in the open water of the rivers are the SO called 'River Ducks' consisting mostly of American Mergansers, American Goldeneye, and Bufflehead locally known as 'Whistlers.' These ducks are fish eaters to a large extent. The Merganser, whose long bill with its rows of sharp teeth projecting backward from the tip is especially adapted for catching and holding its slippery prey. These ducks fly from one open patch of water to another, which abound on the swift rivers of our state, which with its many falls and rapids are only a few miles apart at most. These 'River Ducks' stand the intense cold of our climate; often 40 degrees or more below zero. At the same time fare fairly well as to food I think. One may see them diving, standing nearly upright and flapping their wings, paddling and floating on down the strong current until the solid ice of the smoother water is reached. Then it is up and away with that whistle of wings which makes the true sportsman nerves tingle and jump and he can not help thinking 'what a shot' though he is there to watch and not to shoot. Up stream they go to the head of the rapids where they alight to float down the current again. Thus they play and fish for food. But sometimes these ducks meet with accidents when flying from one feeding ground to another. At our village there is swift water both just below and the upper or north end of the village. The dams making smooth water between these open patches of water, with the telephone and telegraph wires cross number of word was ing the river in a places. Jan. 26, 1894 brought me that a man had a wild duck that he had captured on the main street of our village. Upon calling on the man I secured this duck which proved to be an adult female American Merganser still alive but injured as to be unable to fly. I sent the duck to my taxidermist to be mounted with instructions to examine and report cause of injury. He did report a few days afterward thus: "I examined it (the duck) and found the large bone of the right wing broken. The skin was not broken so it must have been broken with a blunt instrument." I think that this Merganser came in contact with some of the wires strung across the river when flying from one feeding place to another. Thus one of our winter ducks came to an untimely end. But what of the Black Ducks and those others which depend on the shallow waters of mud flats when these same flats are frozen over solid with ice. These ducks mostly winter on the bays and inlets of the coast. Merrymeeting Bay is one of the great duck grounds for fall shooting in this state. Here the ducks gather in great hoards in the fall. Most of them go further south for the winter, some to remain. Casco Bay among the islands of which is another place for the ducks to remain during the winter. When this bay freezes over many of the ducks congregate in Back Cove, Portland Harbor, an arm of the bay. This Back Cove or Bay as it is sometimes called, beyond Tukey's Bridge is entirely within the city limits of Portland. **W. H. Bronson writing of this "Gathering of the Clands" in the winter of 1903-4 says. "After the cold weather began to close the bay with ice, a flock of perhaps fifty whistlers lived for some weeks in Back Cove, in full view from Tukey's bridge. With them there was a little bunch of buffleheads. Black duck in a flock of fifty or more were also seen in Back Cove." "After the bay was so solidly frozen that there was no feeding ground for black ducks anywhere around the islands these ducks gathered in great numbers, fully 700 or 800, around Martin's Point bridge, near the Marine hospital, and for a month past (Feb. 21, 1904) and up to the first half of March they remained." "At the coldest weather, when there was only a small patch of open water above and below the bridge, they were right up under the bridge, and at the approach of an electric car they would fly up by the hundred, circling out over the bay and finally returning." "There they became so tame that persons from the city, who went out to see them in large numbers, could approach within easy gunshot of them. It seemed during the coldest weather they were suffering for food and from time to time kind hearted people threw to them as much as twenty bushels of corn. At the first thaw the flats opened and early in March they had abundance of feeding ground. They constantly flew back and forth over the bridge, some even hitting the telegraph wires, and several being disabled in this way. Again Feb. 15, 1907 the same author says: "In back cove beyond Tukey's bridge, entirely within the city limits, there has been a large flock of sea birds during the winter, especially while the weather has been the coldest. These are Red-legged Black Ducks, American Goldeneye and Buffleheads." This winter (1917-18) has been what we call 'an old fashion winter' with a long duration of low temperature, and much snow. Ice forming on our rivers |