THE OOLOGIST 



59 



TRIP TO DELAWARE. 

 (March 10th, 1923.) 



In company with my uncle, George 

 H. Stuart, 3rd, Esq., and Edward Nor- 

 ris, Esq., I took a trip to Smyrna, Kent 

 county, Delaware, the object being to 

 procure a set of eggs of the Bald 

 Eagle. 



While on the train going to Smyrna, 

 we saw a large flock of Pintails, num- 

 bering about 75, near Newport, and 

 another flock near New Castle, num- 

 bering about 10. We also saw a small 

 flock of Horned Larks flying low over 

 a field, near Porter, Delaware. 



Arriving at our destination, we 

 were met at the station by a farmer, 

 named Mr. Arthur Stokesbury. He 

 informed us that the roads were very 

 bad, on account of the recent rains 

 and snows. We went to his house, 

 where we put on our old clothes, and 

 before starting on our hunt, he told 

 us that he had engaged a colored boy, 

 whom he called "Hambone," to climb 

 to the Eagle's nest. 



While driving to the woods, in Mr. 

 Stokesbury's Ford, we saw a beautiful 

 Sparrow Hawk, flying about 40 feet 

 from the side of the car. When we 

 arrived at the woods, my uncle, Mr. 

 Stokesbury and "Hambone" left us, 

 to look for the nest, and Mr. Norris 

 and I went in another direction, look- 

 ing for the nest, also. Pretty soon 

 they found the nest, which was about 

 35 feet from the ground and built in a 

 sweet gum tree. "Hambone" climbed 

 to the nest, but, much to our disap- 

 pointment, he said it was empty. Mr. 

 Norris and I then took a short walk 

 and saw the following birds: 



Killdeer, Red-headed Woodpecker, 

 Towhee, Mourning Dove, Woodcock, 

 Marsh Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, 

 Cardinal, Field Sparrow, White- 

 throated Sparrow, Chickadee, Meadow- 

 lark, covey of Bob White (about 12), 

 Carolina Wren. 



We also saw the following birds,- 

 which were very abundant: 



Turkey Buzzard, Fox Sparrow, Blue- 

 bird, Crow, Slate-colored Junco; also 

 saw a flock of Purple Crackles and 

 Red-winged Blackbirds. 



We noted the following trees: 



Sweet gum, pin oak, white oak, pop- 

 lar, white cedar, red cedar, hickory, 

 elm and shellbark. 



Although the trip was not a suc- 

 cessful one, it was very enjoyable. 



Total, 22 species seen. 



Edward T. Stuart, Jr., 



Philadelphia. Pa. 



AN EASTERNER GONE WEST. 



In moving from the East (New York 

 State) to the West (Kansas) a person 

 certainly runs up against absolutely 

 different ornithological conditions. In 

 fact, Kansas seems to have quite a 

 fauna of its own. 



The writer moved during the spring 

 of 1922 from central New York State 

 to southeastern Kansas, and during 

 that time has had an opportunity of 

 getting out in the field a little, but 

 not nearly as much as he wished. 



I have heard that Kansas is called 

 the "Hawk State," and from my ob- 

 servations I am beginning to believe 

 it. A person can at any time of year 

 take a short trip out of town and run 

 into from a dozen to twenty or thirty 

 hawks. Naturally, he sees most of 

 them sailing over the open prairie, 

 and many are sitting on cottonwood 

 trees, resting up a bit, or digesting 

 their breakfast or dinner, as the case 

 may be. Another place a person is 

 nearly always liable to see the birds 

 is at the topmost point of a straw or 

 hay stack. The hawks seem to prefer 

 the stacks to any other hunting 

 ground. 



The predominating hawk, at least 

 at this time of year, seems to be the 

 American Rough Leg. These Hawks 



