66 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



My grandmother and Mrs. Blaney kept up an active 

 correspondence." 



This eventually led to the residence in Carlisle of 

 Colonel Churchill's family, as will be explained later. 



Spencer F. Baird to William M. Baird. 



CARLISLE, April 14. 1842. 

 DEAR WILL, 



I received your package of birds &c. by Aunt Blaney this even- 

 ing, and was much pleased with the contents. The scull & sternums 

 were particularly acceptable. Don't forget to get as many sculls 

 & sternums as possible, which I can not easily procure here. I still 

 go on with my project of figuring both, and have a number of each 

 done. I was out shooting to day, and Bagged 7 Black heads, and 

 I goosander; I wounded several others, last Monday I killed 7 

 Black heads, and 2 Butterballs, & 2 Hooded Mergansers. I had 

 one of the Hooded Mergansers cooked for dinner without letting 

 any one know what it was, and all pronounced it the best duck they 

 ever tasted. Ducks have been very plenty this spring; I have killed 

 upwards of 40. If you had been here we would have counted by 

 hundreds. There are a few Green Wing teal, Black ducks and Bald 

 pates about now, but the principal article is the Black head The 

 flock I killed the 7 out of consisted of about 25. I have seen no 

 Blue Wing teal or Shovellers yet. Adams says that last evening he 

 wounded a Greyish duck, with a long tail, a white stripe on top of 

 its head, and a large patch of Black on its Neck & Breast. It must 

 have been a South Southerly. A man sent down a Bonapartian 

 Gull from Shippensburg the other day but it was so far gone that it 

 could scarcely be stuffed. The spring Birds are coming about. Will 

 Penrose shot a Pine creeping Warbler last Saturday. All the swal- 

 lows are here, the White Bellied the last. They were seen first to 

 day. Bartram's Sandpiper, Fish hawks, Ruby crowned wrens, 

 Hermit thrushes, White throated sparrows: yellow Belly Wood- 

 pecker, Purple finches; on the ist April Martins; 2Qth March, Spotted 

 sandpipers, &c. Snipe are very scarce. I have not seen one. How- 

 ever I have been so much occupied shooting ducks that I have not 

 had time to look for them. George Knox killed 9 at Gal. Ege's the 

 other day. I am very sorry to hear that you will not be able to 



