88 



OENITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-No. G 



struck the end of a settee with a resoimdnig 

 whack. I was hot and th-ed, and this quite un- 

 settled me, for I thought what a iness I would 

 have been in if the plaguy tiling had gone off. 



Groping in my pocket for my essay, while 1 

 tried to make an assortment of my best bows, 1 

 was further frightened by nearly pulling out a 

 dead snipe. .\nd when I did get hold of my 

 paper, I discovered to my sorrow that I had 

 used about halt of it to wad my gun when 1 

 reloaded after sliooting these same snipe. 



How I got over the next quarter of an htrnv 

 1 have not the faintest recollection. If any one 

 who was in the audience that day and chances 

 to read tlies(« lines, will write and tell me how 

 I got along, I will thank them heartily. 1 leally 

 want to know. I rememlier that I talked, jire- 

 tending, of course, to read, and at last got 

 pulled together enough to really read wliat I 

 b.id Iclt. Hand clap|iing followed my linal 

 bow. 



How those confounded Teal did dangle about 

 my legs. I was at the time unable to decide 

 whether it was intended for praise or ridicule. 

 When at last, I descended among my friends, 

 I was extremely grateful to find it was tlie 

 former. Hut my troubles weie not quite over. 

 I was accosted by a stranger who introduced 

 liimself as the reporter for a Boston paper, and 

 requested that I would let him have my manu- 

 script for publication. 



At first I was non plussed, but on second 

 thought, it was such a gnod chance for a joke 

 that I retii-ed with him into ;in ante-room, and 

 then and there drew the wads and presented 

 them to him. They were published, and it was 

 the fiist time I ever saw my name in print. 



Two Days in the Kentucky Bot- 

 toms. 



itv L. O. riNl>AR. 



Nine miles southwest of Hickman, Ky.. is a 

 saw-mill, and less thiin a, half mile from the 

 mill is the cliute, cutting Island No. )S, fi-om 

 the mainland. The chute, however, is always 

 called No. 2 finite. During th<' summer, 

 the chute dries up, except for nunierous 

 pools which remain, and these are a favorite re- 

 treat for the ducks and geese wliich fly south 

 every fall, until the chute is filled by the heavy 

 Ainter rains, when they frequent the numer- 

 ous ponds, sloughs and bayous in the adjoining 

 country. There is a colored man working at 

 this mill who is a keen hunter and a fine shot 



with shot gun or rifle, and several persons have 

 gone to the mill and secured his services as 

 guide, with varying success with the game, but 

 always well pleased with the trip. 



The above may explain why I left home one 

 morning about the middle of November and 

 headed the pony I rode in the direction of the 

 mill. My outfit consisted of a repeating AV'in- 

 chester rifle, 32 calibre, plenty of cartridges, 

 and a sack of corn for the pony. 'I'his sack, by 

 the way. acted in a most abominable way, fall- 

 ing off every now and then until I tied it to the 

 saddle. The ride down was fairly pleasant 

 despite the wind, and birds were very common. 

 White-throated Sparrows flew from every 

 brush-pile and weed patch I passed. Crows and 

 Iliiwks flew over me. and a pair of Sparrow 

 Hiiwks circled round me till I almost tried to 

 shoot one on the fl}-. Jly attention was diverted 

 I'loni the hawks bj' an immense flock of I'lnpU^ 

 Grackles. I passed, and soon after a flock of 

 Mallards flew over, and I foolishly shot, and, of 

 course, missed. 



I reached the mill in time for dinner and 

 liunted French, the aforesaid •' colored constit- 

 uent," and we went to the chute. Several 

 small (locks of ducks were seen from 200 to SOO 

 yards away. There was no possibility of get- 

 ting closer, as the}' would fly as soon as we 

 emerged from the woods, so I selected the clos- 

 est (?) one, a fine ^ Mallard, as it proved, 

 fully 200 yards ;i\vay, and catching a good 

 sight, lired. To my great satisfaction, he 

 jumped up, flew a few leet and fell, but, alas, 

 he fell in some quick-sand and I couldn't get 

 him. 'I'lie same was true of a Willet, which 

 French killed, .-it a range of at least 400 yards, 

 and whii'h, with another one seen at the same 

 time, is the only one 1 have seen in this coun- 

 try. 



There was one huge flock of geese seen, but 

 too far away, also several Blue Herons, a lot of 

 Killdeers, and a fine Blue-winged Teal, but 

 Mallarils were largely in the majority, although 

 we didn't kill any more. After leaving the 

 chute, we got a I'ed Squirrel apiece in the 

 woods. The scarcity of game was probably 

 due to the fires in the l)ottoms along the river. 

 The game was surely scarce, for we only saw 

 these two squirrels. Even the birds were quiet, 

 Bluebirds, Cardinals, Kobins, Flickers, Tufted 

 Titmice, and Cliickadees, being the most com- 

 mon. 



We reacheii the mill in time for supper, and 

 after a two hours" talk, I went to bed and sank 

 into the arms of Morpheus, till the whistle of 

 the Cardinal awakened me, and I dres.sed, 



