Notes from Field and Study 



321 



Gulls of different kinds. The downward 

 drop of the great red beak, in flight, was 

 the first thing to suggest the species. The 

 birds stayed two days. When not flying, 

 they stood on the sand-bars in the river, 

 but, when the storm raised the water over 

 the bars, they left. A thunderstorm that 

 came the night before we saw the birds 

 may have driven them inland. 



One more unusual sight for June, in our 

 village, is the appearance of Pine Siskins, 

 several of which have frequented our yard 

 of late. — Eliz.v F. Milly-R, Bcilui, Vermont. 



A Chimney Swift's Care of Its Young 



The following e.xtract from a letter by 

 Mrs. Sophia W. Morgan, of Madison, 

 Wisconsin, is sent without her knowledge, 

 but I think she will have no objection. 



'"Since we first went to the farm, Swifts 

 have built nests and reared their families in 

 our chimney; last summer (1915) the 

 same. The day was raw and wretched 

 when we saw three of the young flying 

 around the house. About four o'clock I 

 went to my room, and on the alcove 

 screen saw what I at first thought to be a 

 large bat, but going close to it found it 

 was a Swift. The windows open out and 

 the screens are inside, and it was on one 

 of these the Swift was fastened. (Its 

 claws ha\"e hooks unlike those of other 

 birds.) The windows face the east, so 

 when open protect from the cold north 

 wind. I called M., and she soon dis- 

 covered that it was a mother bird and 

 under each wing she held a young bird. 

 We examined it and talked in its very face, 

 and though among the most timid of 

 birds, not a flinch was visible. I should 

 have closed my window at night, but the 

 little mother continued to wrap her young 

 and stayed through the night. I scarcely 

 slept, rising often to see the devotion, 

 almost superhuman. At nearly nine in 

 the morning they were still there, but 

 soon flew away." 



Mrs. Morgan has been a bird-lover and 

 observer for several years, and sees with 

 thought as well as with eyes. — Susan 

 M. Williamson, Elizabeth, N. J. 



Evening Grosbeaks at Smyrna, N. Y. 



A flock of si.x Evening Grosbeaks have 

 \isited Smyrna, Chenango Co., N. Y. 



The}' came March 11, 1916, and re- 

 mained three weeks, appearing in the 

 morning and again in the afternoon of each 

 da}', feeding upon locust seeds. 



The birds were fearless, which gave a 

 fine opportunity to study their coloring 

 by the aid of the field-glass — a beautiful 

 sight when the ground was snow-covered. 

 — Mrs. W. L. Chapman, Sniyrjui. N. Y. 



A Late Record for the Evening Grosbeak 



On February 9, 1916, a flock of fifteen 

 or twenty Evening Grosbeaks were seen 

 by Miss Hattie T. Burnham, at Fort Ann, 

 New York. Until the last of INIarch, one 

 or two birds were seen about the village 

 streets gleaning maple and elm seeds. 

 May 20, Silas Vaughan asked me to come 

 to see a strange bird which had been about 

 the maple trees in his yard all day. It was 

 a beautiful male Evening Grosbeak. It 

 was quite tame; and early in the day had 

 been seen drinking from a pipe under the 

 kitchen window. The following day, the 

 bird was gone. — Stewart H. Burnham, 

 Hudson Falls, A^. Y. 



Chased by a Great Horned Owl 



Toward twilight of a September day 

 in 19 14, I was sitting in a canoe up the 

 Inlet above Second Connecticut Lake, 

 N. H., watching for an Owl which, I 

 believed, used as a hunting-stand one or 

 more of the many dead trees. Suddenly 

 a Belted Kingfisher shot upstream, flying 

 low over the water and yelling bloody 

 murder, a Great Horned Owl a few yards 

 behind. They appeared from around a 

 bend below me and disappeared around 

 a bend just above, the Owl still in close 

 chase, but the Kingfisher presently 

 swung back over the trees alone and 

 passed on downstream. That the Owl, its 

 first swoop failing, continued so far in 

 pursuit instead of giving up at once, 

 seems to me of interest. — Charles H. 

 Rogers, New York City. 



