130 



THE OOLOQIST 



tervals in a Putnam newspaper. Such 

 lists are often useful in compiling gen- 

 eral catalogues, government and state 

 reports. They are of value when ac- 

 curate data of spring and fall migra- 

 tions are made, when new arrivals are 

 reported, and fresh economic habits 

 noted. We wish the author had given 

 us more of his experience in the field, 

 and said whether he shoots his types, 

 as we infer from the close measure- 

 ment given of the warblers. No doubt 

 his notebook could tell us what use- 

 ful birds continue to diminish near his 

 house, what kinds hold their own and 

 what species of service to the farmer 

 may show slight gains. Has the last 

 colony of martins at East Woodstock 

 been driven away by the sparrows? 

 How many communities of cliff swal- 

 lows still remain in or near the vil- 

 lage. With no visible enemy to dis- 

 turb the many pairs, can this observer 

 explain whp there are so many unoc- 

 cupied holes in the sand swallow bank 

 at the park? There are fewer English 

 sparrows at North than at East Wood- 

 stock, so that one of the charms of 

 quail trap life is immunity from this 

 pest. Like the Lilibridges, the Mains 

 and the Brands, all true bird lovers, 

 we give passer domesticus a scatter- 

 gun welcome. 



The waders, swimmers and rapacious 

 birds are not included in the list we 

 refer to, nor is mention made of rare 

 winter and summer residents. All of 

 the eastern herons are to be found at 

 times in East Woodstock mill and fac- 

 tory ponds and quiet pools of muddy 

 brooks, except the snowy and least 

 bittern, which are occasionally report- 

 ed in the lower part of the county, I 

 do not know a better place to observe 

 the herons than at Potters' pond in 

 the neighborhood where a pair of great 

 blues have been feeding for two weeks. 



For ten days two great blues have 

 been seen daily by the trainmen on the 

 west side of Tadpole near Jewett City 

 Night herons feed nearly all summer 

 at Potters', bitterns boom at dusk, and 

 green herons are seen there every day 

 in summer. Two pairs of green herons 

 bred in the pines this season at the 

 east side directly over a bed of pur- 

 ple cypripedium. I have eaten both 

 night and green heron squabs on 

 Fishers Island, and can remember 

 when Mohegan Indians brought dress- 

 ed squabs to market while the squaws 

 had hulled wild strawberries for sale 

 in tiny cone-shaped baskets. A brood 

 of dusky duck, raised last spring on 

 the western reedy border, were seen 

 all summer by trout and pickerel fish- 

 ermen. Irving Paine shot a pair from 

 this branch for his table. The wood 

 ducks which used to frequent this se- 

 cluded water hole departed when the 

 hollow forest trees east of the pond 

 were cut off. Many the toothsome 

 woodducks I have eaten shot here, at 

 Gates Pond, Poquetanuck, and at 

 Hallville pond, near Lincoln park. It 

 is not the fowler's gun that has made 

 wood duck rare; but sweeping the 

 county of all standing timber where 

 alone they can breed will soon exter- 

 minate this beautiful hole-builder. 



The first wood drake I ever shot was 

 in Damon Chandler's pond. North 

 Woodstock, and the next one at Fos- 

 ter Child's pond, Village Corners; 

 but these ponds are dry and the woods 

 around them gone. My first teal was 

 from Sam Allen's pond, Sandy Hol- 

 low, first hooded sheldrake from Fort 

 Ned, Canterbury, and only eider from 

 Fishers Island sound near Nawyaug 

 point. Quail, hawk and crows, I first 

 winged from the road wagon of the 

 late C. A. Brand. A far cry between 

 these boyhood pastimes and shooting 



