THE L\ RUE HOLMES NATURE LOVERS LEAGUE. 



273 



THE WOODCOCK IS NOT FRIGHTENED FROM HER NEST. 

 (Photographs by Scott and Van Altena.) 



Their nests are constructed of grass 

 and leaves. Sometimes in suitable lo- 

 cations, they line them with mud, but 

 such is seldom the case. Occasionally 

 they build in decayed stumps of trees, 

 where the bird is scarcely discernible 

 above the surrounding' bark. The eggs 

 number four or five, are light olive 

 colored, and dotted with spots of 

 brownish black. In shape they are 

 less pyriform, or pear-shaped than 

 those of the other snipes. Like the 

 Phaloropes, the male performs incuba- 

 tion. There was some discrepancy of 

 opinion over this statement, for Sam- 

 uels claimed to have seen both sexes 

 perform that function, but modern in- 

 vestigation has decided against him. 



The young, when just hatched, are 

 covered with yellow down. They are 

 at once able to scuttle about in the 

 bushes, and are an endless source of 

 trouble to their parents, who seem 

 everlastingly anxious about them and 

 with their low "Peet-a-peet-a-peet," 

 seem to be continually calling them out 

 of danger's way. 



The woodcock is often spoken of as 

 the "gamiest of game birds." Infinite 

 skill and precision are the requirements 

 for their hunter. Their wonderfully 

 developed instinctive powers enable 

 them to "bamboozle" him in many 

 ways, so for the benefit of the hunter, 

 as well as the bird and the nature- 

 lover, should not absolute present 

 protection be given to this rapidly dis- 

 appearing denizen of our woods? 



Swamps. 



It is not significant that some rare and 

 delicate and beautiful flowers should be 

 found only in unfrequented wild 



swamps 



Where the most beauti- 



ful wild flowers grow, there man's 



spirit is fed and poets grow. 

 ******** 



I am confident that there can be 



nothing so beautiful in any cultivated 



garden with all its varieties as this 



wild swamp. 

 ******** 



How when a man purchases a thing, 

 he is determined to get and gets hold 

 of it, using how many expletives and 

 how long a string of synonymous or 

 similar terms signifying possession in 

 the legal process. What's mine's my 

 own. An old deed of a small piece 

 of swamp land, which I have lately 

 surveyed at the risk of being mired 

 past recovery, says that "the said 

 Spaulding, his heirs and assigns, shall 

 and may from this (?) time, and at 

 all times forever hereafter, by force and 

 virtue of these presents, lawfully, 

 peaceably, and quietly have, hold, use, 

 occupy, possess, and enjoy the said 

 swamp," etc. — Thoreau. 



Beauty of the Commonplace. 

 After all, the great lesson is that no 

 special natural sights, not Alps, Ni- 

 agara, Yosemite, or anything else, is 

 more grand or more beautiful than the 

 ordinary sunrise and sunset, earth and 

 sky, the common trees and grass. — 

 Walt Whitman. 



