THE OSPKEY. 



103 



disappear behind the slender cypress trees that 

 wall the water on both sides. Or a Mississippi 

 Kite puts in a short appearance in search of 

 prey. We see him swoop and turn and dodge, 

 much as a Xig-hthawk does, anil then reach 

 down his head to meet the claws that hold the 

 prey, and, while still on wing', continuing' his 

 Bight, he dresses cleverly his game and eats it 

 at pleasure. 



Long before the sun has set the scene is 

 changed. The song birds are awake and sing 

 once more; Flycatchers are busy plying their 

 vocation; Blackljirds have left their distant 

 feeding grounds on cultivated land and come in 

 flocks to go to roost together; Wood Ducks and 

 Hooded -Mergansers dart over and through 

 tree-tops to visit favorite feeding grounds, and 

 small troops of Swallows pass by, heading for 

 the common roost in flags. At one of the lake- 

 like openings, a large number of Swifts are 

 flocking. Hunting diligently and crossing each 

 other's path in endless repetitions, they fly 

 low above the water, which is filled with plant- 

 growth. Two species of Utricularia or blad- 

 derwort send their golden yellow flowers to 

 the surface from their floating plant below. 

 More resembling scum than vegetation swims 

 Azolla Carolina on the water, and the pretty 

 Jussieua shows its yellow 'blossoms over rich 

 green leaves on reddish stems. 



More Swifts have come; thicker is the bust- 



ling crowd; more and more do they extend 

 their circles into the direction of an old tupelo, 

 Xyssa aquatica. which is growing in deep 

 water, and, though half gone with age, bears 

 leaf and fruit, and on its bulging, solid base 

 seems to defy all elements and time. 



As night draws near there is a wild and 

 whirling sweep of noisy Swifts around that 

 picturesque, amphibious, vegetable wreck, and 

 the descent in its capacious hold begins. 

 Twentj-five feet aoove the w-ater the top is 

 broken oft', giving access to an empty space of 

 -'"> feet depth and of conical shape, 1 foot wide 

 at the top and li feet at the bottom. In this 

 the Swifts are disapi)earing. first singly or in 

 twos, then in bunches, ami at last in a contin- 

 uous stream. There are some stragglers left, 

 but, when neai-ly dark, the last one follows 

 suit. 



This watery region is a great place for the 

 Swift, and the tupelo is its home. The water- 

 loving tree is always more or less hollow when 

 old, and broken tops or limbs afford ingress 

 for the bird, who can not wish a safer place 

 for nest and roost. Snakes, owls and a few 

 mammals woidd be the only enemies likely to 

 molest them, and to avoid them, as well as to 

 be in the dry. the nest is fastened deep down 

 near the bottom of the cavity, being actually 

 found as far as twentv feet below its mouth. 



ODD ACTlOiNS OF BIRDS UNEXPLAINED. 



By W. B. Davis, Union. Oregon. 



One who is in any way interested in birds or 

 animals can not fail, as year after year is 

 added to his experience, to catch some glimpses 

 of their inner life. If he only occasionally finds 

 time to ramble in the fields these revelations 

 may' be few and far between, l)ut in any- case 

 they are not likely to be soon forgotten. In 

 three instances I have seen actions of birds 

 which, while peculiar in themselves, are more 

 memorable as hints of unsuspected things in 

 their everyday lives. 



The first was an aerial feat performed by a 

 large Black Woodpecker. The self-satisfied in- 

 ditt'erence of these birds makes them always 

 interesting. They have a faraway look in their 

 eyes that immediately shows them to be no 

 ordinary fowls. This one in particular seemed 

 to be blessed with a more than average mind. 

 It was on the side of a steep hul, one hot sum- 

 mer day. The Woodpecker flew out from the 

 top of the hill, toward the valley. He struck 

 otit so boldly, not desceutling at all in his 

 flight, that I wondered if he intended to cross 

 over to the opposite side, a distance of several 

 miles. I dropped the butt of my gun on the 

 g-round and watched him. Suddenly, when he 

 had flown so far otit that the rocks were many 

 feet below him. he turned shortly, stopped his 

 onward flight, folded his wings and fell. His 

 stiff black Ijody was clearly outlined against 

 the sky as he dropped. Down. down. down, 

 faster and faster he went, until 1 expected to 

 see him strike the ground. But I'ust before he 

 reached it he spread his wings and shot for- 

 ward like a bullet. After this he flew back up 

 the hill into the timber. What was his object 



in this performance'.' Did he start to cross the 

 valley and then change his mind, or did he fall 

 simply for the pleasure of falling'? 



A still more surjjrisiug- anti unacc'ountable 

 feat was ]ierformed by a common Sparrow 

 Hawk. Another ])erson and myself, on hear- 

 ing some strange screams while working in a 

 field one day, turned and observed this hawk 

 fiying toward us. He was not hying- very high, 

 and we had a good opportunity to watch his 

 strange antics. At every third or fourth beat 

 of his wings he would turn completely over in 

 the air. He turned sidewise. always from left 

 to right. As he necessarily fell some in turn- 

 ing, and rose again after he had regained his 

 equilibrium, his flight proceeded in a series of 

 jumps, reminding one of tne flight of a W'ood- 

 ])ecker or Goldfinch, although, of course, much 

 weaker. Our theory that he was wounded was 

 frustrated, partly by the regularity of his 

 movements and ])artly by his stopping his 

 strange actions after he was some distance 

 past us, and flying off as a well-regulated hawk 

 should fly. We watched him until he became 

 a mere speck in the sky and finally vanished, 

 and at no time did he act as though he did not 

 have complete control over his body. 



At another time, as I was going through 

 some thick timber. I came to a small opening, 

 which formed a bright, warm spot of sunlight 

 in the universal shade. .Xs 1 stepped to the 

 edge of the opening I perceived a small bird 

 fluttering in the air. As birds are not given 

 to such performances entirely without cause, 

 I inferred that there was a "method in his 

 madness," and my faith in that conclusion was 



