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Bird -Lore 



yesterday were rewarded. — Mrs. F. K. 

 Freeborn, 4 Prospect St., Ware, Mass. 



Notes on the Dipper in Montana 



That interesting and anomalous bird, 

 the Dipper, or Water Ouzel, is a perma- 

 nent resident in the mountain canons in 

 this region, spending the summer there, 

 but during the fall and winter it is occa- 

 sionally seen along the streams in the val- 

 leys. One cold morning in the early part of 

 last December, I was interested in watch- 

 ing one gathering its breakfast from the 

 bottom of the mountain stream that flows 

 through one corner of my place. This 

 stream remains partly open all winter. 

 During cold spells (10 to 20 degrees below 

 zero at night) it freezes over along the 

 edges, where the water is still, but remains 

 open in the middle, where the current is 

 swift. 



When I caught sight of the bird, it was 

 standing on the edge of the ice, looking 

 down into the water. Presently it plunged 

 into the icy stream and went to the bottom, 

 reappearing on the surface in about a 

 quarter of a minute and regaining the edge 

 of the ice, with a morsel of food in its beak, 

 which it ate, and then resumed its watch- 

 ing position on the brink of the ice. This 

 performance was repeated a number of 

 times, and the bird was always successful 

 in finding food, the nature of which I could 

 not clearly determine, but which appeared 

 to be what fishermen call rock-worms. 



The bird was not at all shy, and I was 

 able by moving slowly to approach within 

 twenty-five or thirty feet of it. Occasion- 

 ally, as it stood on the edge of the ice, it 

 would turn its head to watch me, and I 

 caught the white flash from its nictitating 

 eye membrane; and at intervals it would 

 make a bobbing motion with its body, 

 sandpiper-like. 



Finally it finished feeding, and, on re- 

 gaining the edge of the ice, it shook itself 

 vigorously, fluffed its feathers, and pro- 

 ceeded to preen them. 



The morning was bright and still, but 

 cold (temperature about zero), but the 

 bird did pot seern to rnind either the icy 



water or the keen air, and appeared to be 

 as comfortable as though it were a summer 

 morning. — Nelson Lundwall, Bozeman, 



Montana. 



The Wood Thrush in Village Life 



During the years 1888-1894 the writer 

 was interested in the bird life of south- 

 eastern Ohio, especially at Marietta and 

 its vicinity in Ohio and West Virginia. 

 Among the unusually large variety of 

 birds found in that section, the Wood 

 Thrush was most attractive, but it was to 

 be found only in the woods at a distance 

 from houses, even farmhouses. It was a 

 great surprise to the writer, on visiting 

 Marietta last spring (19 14), after an in- 

 terval of twenty years since his residence 

 there, to find that the Wood Thrush had 

 taken possession of the well-wooded 

 streets of that beautiful Ohio city at the 

 mouth of the Muskingum. The Thrushes 

 on the streets and on the lawns were more 

 numerous than the Robins and, as the 

 young birds were coming off the nests, they 

 were so tame that one had to be careful not 

 to step on them. The flute-like song of 

 these new village birds was to be heard on 

 every side, and quite transformed the 

 place, from the standpoint of bird-life. 



Just how all this has taken place I can 

 only conjecture. The Wood Thrush, as I 

 have known him, has always hitherto been 

 a shy bird. But somehow or other he has 

 learned that man is his friend, and seems 

 in Marietta to have settled down to per- 

 manent summer-occupancy of the splendid 

 trees that make out of it a 'Forest City.' It 

 may have been a slow encroachment on the 

 part of Thrushes as they felt their way into 

 the unusual haunts, finding security and 

 protection from their enemies, and it may 

 be a need of more food. At any rate, the 

 phenomenon proves that at least this 

 species of the Thrush family may be 

 brought into close contact with man, to the 

 lasting benefit of both. 



It occurs to the writer that what has 

 been brought about by a slow process of 

 nature, in at least one place, can be accom- 

 plished by a little forethought and care on 



