Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/271

Rh or beneath any decaying log or stump. One species, with very long legs, is often found in damp houses or in cellars. It is sometimes called the 'wall-sweeper,' on account of its rapid ungainly gait, and it is even reputed to prey upon Cockroaches and other household pests."

, of San Diego, California, has recently examined a very large colony of Farallone Cormorants, nesting on San Martin Island, Lower California, to ascertain, if possible, at what age the nostril becomes closed. "This colony had been so often disturbed by the guano schooners, that even at this late date (July 16th) many nests contained fresh eggs; while young birds, ranging from those but just hatched to nearly full grown, were found by thousands." In the newly hatched young, which were blind, the nostril was a mere slit, scarcely noticeable, but those a few days old showed a well developed orifice, which exhibited no sign of closing in the largest young I could find, nearly as large as their parents, but not half fledged." ('The Auk,' April, 1897.)

are glad to see that our American contemporary, 'The Osprey,' has come to stay, and that the veteran ornithologist, Dr. Elliott Coues, has become associated with the magazine as a consulting editor. From its pages we extract the following report from a collector in Howkan, Jackson, Alaska, which makes that somewhat generally considered inhospitable region to appear as a naturalist's paradise:—

"Have been here now a month and am having a 'great time.' Am nicely located in a cabin on the beach, with a good canoe and enough to eat. Deer are plentiful, and I have four hanging in the shed. A fine Clam bed is in front of the house, a Salmon stream up the beach, a Holibut bank in the channel, and Ducks, Geese and waterfowl everywhere. Bald Eagles are numerous, and I have over a dozen nests located.... I have been so busy with various odd jobs and away on prospecting trips that I have not really settled down to collecting as yet, but I have taken some nice birds—Kowak, Chickadee, Aleutian Song Sparrow, Alaska Winter Wren, Alaska Three-toed Woodpecker, and others. A few Harlequin Ducks are about, but hard to shoot. Ptarmigan are plentiful, but I have not obtained any yet, and do not know of what species they are. Cormorants are abundant; they 'line up' on a rock just opposite the house, and one shot will generally kill as many specimens as can be put up in a day. They are mostly violet-green and white-crested, but there is another kind that I have not been able to capture as yet. Marbled and another species of Murrelet are very common on the open water, in company with the larger Guillemots."

learn from the last 'Report of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa,' that "the alarming spread of insect pests in the Eastern