April, 1922.] 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



71 



much squealing on the female's part her busy 

 mate had finished the job and, edging sideways 

 to the trunk of the tree, carefully cached the 

 'dressed' mouse in the crotch; he then flew to 

 another tree. The birds now appeared restless, 

 and as I wished to make certain of securing them 

 I collected both specimens forthwith with my 

 .22 rifle. 



Raoul and I spent another two hours trying to 

 locate the nesting site, bringing the climbing-irons 

 into play on two or three likely-looking trunks, 

 but the ne.st was never found. Perhaps those 

 gourmands, the Grackles, later commemorated 

 the murder of their natural enemies by feasting 

 on the eggs. Who knows? 



That evening I returned to Montreal and on 

 the next day I took my two treasures to Du- 

 mouchel Freres, taxidermists, who mounted them, 

 under my direction, in the tnost characteristic 

 attitude of each as I remembered them, so fresh in 

 my mind. 



In dissecting these birds the sexes were deter- 

 mined and the usual fever in the female was found 

 to be well advanced. She had laid her full com- 

 plement of eggs, which numbered five in this 

 case as far as could be determined. Her abdomen 

 was more or less bare of feathers for a space of 

 about 3x5 inches, while in her crop was found a 

 mass of digested animal matter. The male was 

 fully feathered, while in his craw was found a 

 partly digested young Grackle and small portions 

 of field-mice. 



The American Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula capa- 

 roch) is fairly well known as a winter visitor as 

 far South as the northern border of the Eastern 

 States, and I have seen specimens which were 

 shot in the Province of Quebec in the fall of the 

 year, but, as far as can be ascertained, this is the 

 first record of its appearance in these parts as a 

 summer resident, so far out of its regular breeding 

 range. 



THE DISAPPEARANCE AND RECOVERY OF THE EASTERN BLUEBIRD 



By p. a. Taverner 



(Published by permission of the Director of the Victoria Memorial Museum , Ottawa.) 



0' 



NE of the most interesting episodes, to my 

 mind, in recent American ornithology, has 

 never had the attention called to it that it de- 

 serves. I refer to the sudden and almost complete 

 disappearance of the Eastern Bluebird, Sialia 

 sialis, in the winter of 1895 and 1896, and its 

 immediate and complete recovery in numbers 

 thereafter. 



The Bluebird was one of the commonest and 

 most familiar birds throughout the summer in 

 the northeastern United States and the adjoining 

 parts of Canada. In this region scarcely an 

 orchard but had its Bluebirds. They nested 

 commonly in bird boxes in gardens, old fence 

 posts and similar situations throughout the 

 country and their delicate warble and plaintive 

 notes were the common harbinger of spring as 

 well as the mournful accompaniment to the 

 fleeting autumn. That winter, cold weather 

 swept well down into the southern states and 

 frosts extended well beyond their usual southern 

 geographic limit. It was a winter long remem- 

 bered by the fruitgrowers of Florida. Reports 

 indicated unusual mortality amongst the more 

 tender species of birds. 

 >>v It is worthy of note here that though evidence 

 C ^^^eems to point towards this cold snap having 

 ^^een fatal to most of the Bluebirds in the south. 



a few of the species do occasionally survive 

 winters at Point Pelee, Ontario, on the Lake 

 Erie shore, where, even under the mildest winter 

 conditions, they must encounter a more extreme 

 cold than anything experienced during this 

 abnormal season to the south. 



The following spring, 1896, I was in Guelph, 

 Ontario. It was practically a Bluebird-less 

 season. Not a single Bluebird was seen. Reports 

 from elsewhere were practically similar, but a 

 few stray individuals were noted where they had 

 previously been abundant. That fall I heard 

 occasional Bluebird v/arbles as they passed over 

 in migration but saw no birds. The spring of 

 1897 I was at Toronto when a few birds were 

 noted and from then on their increase was regular 

 and rapid. I should judge that within five years 

 the Bluebirds that had been wiped out to a point 

 approaching extinction had increased again to 

 approximately their old number. 



Several important lessons can be drawn from 

 this occurrence: first, the remarkable rapidity 

 with which a common species under certain 

 circumstances and without the interference of 

 man, can be practically exterminated; second, the 

 rapidity with which a depleted but dominant 

 race can reestablish its normal numbers when 

 conditions are propitious; third, the automatically 



LSI 



