102 



Bird - Lore 



Daytona, and as he was a careful bird 

 student who had watched the birds there 

 many years, I thought it might be worth 

 sending this account. 



After a few days two birds appeared, and 

 six days from the time of seeing the first 

 bird, there were four beautiful Nonpareils 

 feeding several times a day. With the 

 exception of two days of continuous high 

 wind, we watched the birds daily from the 

 window from February 5 to March 24, 

 the last day of their appearance. The green 

 of the head and back was very bright and 

 in the sunlight the back took on a really 

 metallic luster; wings and tail margined 

 with deep green; under parts greenish 

 yellow; eye- ring of the same greenish 

 yellow, very distinct; bill less stout than 

 many of the Sparrows; seed-eaters. One 

 of the four was a much brighter green 

 and looked a trifle larger than the other 

 three. As they fed on the ground their 

 green blended perfectly with the green of 

 the violet leaves. 



These birds, visiting this yard at Day- 

 tona, were no more shy than most of the 

 other species frequenting the same feed- 

 ing-station — Hermit Thrush, Thrasher, 

 Woodpeckers (Red-bellied), Ground Doves, 

 Cardinals, White-throats, Song Sparrows, 

 Blue Jays and Mockingbirds. — Mary C. 

 Dodge, Worcester, Mass. 



The Purple Grackles Steal Their Suppers 



After a three-day blizzard, on April 12, 

 1918, I counted 37 Robins feeding in the 

 schoolyard which in spots had been swept 

 clean of snow by the wind. Besides these 

 Robins, there were at least 20 Purple 

 Grackles and maybe 60 more up in the 

 pines nearby. The Robins were busy 

 catching their suppers, which consisted 

 chiefly of worms, and they seemed rather 

 successful. 



The Grackles weren't doing as well and 

 looked with envy, at the fat worms the 

 Robins were pulling out of the ground. 

 One of the Grackles, seeing a Robin right 

 next to him pull up a worm, while he 

 couldn't find any, darted down on the 

 surprised Robin, who flew away, leaving 



his hard-earned prize for the craft}' 

 Grackle. This Grackle tried the same 

 trick again, and was equally successful. 

 Again he tried the trick with the same 

 results. The other Grackles, getting the 

 idea, began to try it, and some fifteen of 

 them glided down from the pines. This 

 gliding is one achievement in which they 

 excel. If a dog hadn't run across the school- 

 yard just then, the Robins would have been 

 chased off their hunting-grounds, but the 

 Grackles, as they are frightened by the 

 least disturbance, flew away. — G. Gill, 

 Sea ClijJ, N. V. 



A Rendezvous of Red-winged Blackbirds 



Among other birds the Red-winged 

 Blackbirds are, this season, more abundant 

 than ever before about Iowa City. One 

 of the favorite early-season congregating- 

 places in this locality is a mud-flat about 

 100 yards long by 20 yards wide, near the 

 west bank of the Iowa River, which at 

 this point is within the city limits of Iowa 

 City. In the process of its formation 

 during the past several years, this flat 

 has become thickly grown up with slender 

 willow trees, 15 to 20 feet in height. Long, 

 heavy water grass and rushes thickly 

 cover the area between the trees. 



On Wednesday, April 2, 1919, at 6.40 

 a.m., before the sun was up, I visited this 

 place, among others, in my search for 

 birds. The morning was cool and partly 

 cloudy, with a light southerly wind. Upon 

 approaching the willows, the sound pro- 

 duced by the great flock of singing Black- 

 birds attacted my attention, and as I 

 drew nearer it became louder and louder 

 until, at the very edge of the willow-covered 

 mud-flat, the noise seemed almost deafen- 

 ing. The trees, grass, and reeds were 

 literally black with the birds. Both males 

 and females were present, and now and 

 then a mating pair could be observed. 



At irregular intervals of from a few 

 seconds to a minute or more, groups of 

 from 25 to 100 birds rose in the air and 

 flew slowly away. At the moment of leav- 

 ing, the whole flock in the trees and grass 

 suddenly ceased singing for an instant 



