A Bird Watcher in France Si 



of these pests, are also very scarce. During the entire two years that I was in 

 the A. E. F. I saw but one snake — a small Colubrine species — and it was dead. 

 That the remaining raptores, of which the Kestrel is the most numerous, are 

 making a faithful effort to make up for the thinness of their ranks is evident at 

 every hand. Pellets of bone and hair, and often of the chitinous parts of in- 

 sects, are frequently found in the fields, and great quantities of them lie about 

 the nesting-sites of the Owl, which I take to be the Short-eared Owl. At 

 Nouart, near Buzancy, I found a pair of Barn Owls occupying a ruined church 

 tower. Not only was the floor of this tower littered with bushels of 'pellets,' 

 but there were many dead field-mice lying about uneaten, indicating that the 

 Owls had continued to kill them even after their hunger had been satisfied. 

 Two American 75 's had struck this church before the Germans had evacuated 

 the village, one of them carrying away part of the tower, but the Owls stuck to 

 their post. It is probable, also, that weasels, which are quite common, exact 

 some toll from the excess of rodents. With the exception of the fly plague, which 

 persists for a few weeks in the fall, insects are kept well in check. Part of the 

 credit for this must go to the birds but some at least is due their more humble 

 allies, the lizards, toads, and bats with which this land is so richly endowed. 



Field Sparrows 



By F. N. WHITMAN, Ithaca, N. Y. 

 With Photographs by the Author 



A SLIM Sparrow form, with a caterpillar in its bill, dropping into a bush 

 in a nearby slough, directed me to its nest, which I found located about 

 8 inches above the water, under a tuft of tall grass that bent over it. 

 It was an unusually safe situation. When I drew aside the tall grass, instantly 

 four young Field Sparrows jumped forth and started paddling away, but a 



THE YOUNG COWBIRD CLAIMS HIS SHARE. COMPARE HIS 

 THAT OF THE YOUNG FIELD SPARROW 



; IZE WITH 



