138 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-^0. 9 



grass that was bent down. Took tlie ef;;gs, l)ut 

 left the nest. Visited the uest for the tliird time 

 on tlie liith, and ffiund top of the nest torn out 

 and several feet away. Went to tlie nesting; 

 site four days after and found that the nest had 

 disiipiie.-ired with the exeeption of a few blades 

 of seaweed. 1 >id not see any birds alioul, the 

 last time. 



A Brown Creeper Feeds a Chickadee. 



l:i>WAI!I> TENNANT. 



While alicld March ;n, a few miles south 

 of Attleboro Falls, Mass., I had occasion to 

 pass through some large Oak and Chestnut 

 woods. It being a warm day and having walked 

 some distance I sat down to take a few notes 

 and rest, I had not been sitting there long when 

 a ? Brown creeper and a $ Cliickaih-e lit on a 

 large Oak clost! by, the creeper ran rapidly up 

 the tree working its slender bill into every little 

 crevice, occasionally stopping and uttering a 

 few calls, evidently' upon having discovered an 

 uncoramouly large Maggot slie would be im- 

 mediately Joined by the Chickadee and together 

 the}' would enjoy the savory morsel. I shot 

 the creeper and the Chickadee flew off a few 

 yards but immediately returned apparently 

 looking for the Creeper, she gave up searching 

 for food and flitted about for some time chirp- 

 ing loudly. Eying me suspiciously suddenly 

 she uttered a loud tn'cctPf and flew ott in silence, 

 soon she returni'd however, seemingly more 

 agitated than befoie. She contimied to fly 

 about close by and although I fired at another 

 bird .she refused to go a\xa3', so I lu-ought her 

 home with the Creeper. 



Reminiscences of Audubon. 



WM. ni;Ai>F<>Ri>. 



A few days since, [ happened in the store of 

 F. B. Webster, thc^ Ornithologist, when he said, 

 " Here is something I know you would like to 

 look over!" I opened the volume, and found it 

 was Audubon's " Birds of America." As I 

 turned the leaves over, memory carried me 

 back, o'er the hills of time, to my school days. 

 When vacation came, it found me frequently at 

 my brother's store in New York City. On one 

 or two occasions Mi'. Audubon called to see my 

 brother on some business, and I remember well 

 the impression he made on my mind at the time. 

 One of Nature's Noblemen, nearly six feet in 



height, full form, hair and beard long and silver 

 white, every action showed him to be a perfect 

 gentlem.-m. 



He carried under his arm a large vobiine of 

 his " Birds of America." As he laid it on the 

 counter, and unfolded page after page of that 

 most beautiful work, his countenance would 

 glow with enthusiasm as he portrayed the 

 nature and habits of the dilferent kinds of birds 

 he would point out. Sometimes he would come 

 in, sit down, and tell of his travels o'er hill and 

 dale, through woods ami swamps, all intent on 

 finding out the secret haunts of his pets. 



■^'ears ago his tired footsteps were seen going 

 down the hill of time into the valley of sweet 

 fields and gentle rivulets, with tlie birds carol- 

 ing forth their glorious songs overhead, while 

 "he wraps the mantle of his couch about him 

 an<l lies down to pleasant dreams." 



A Visit to the Four Brothers, Lake 

 Champlain. 



liV A. II. .KiKliAX, Wll.l.SI!(>l;(H(;lI, N. Y. 



The Brothers are four small isl.inds near the 

 centre of the l;die and some two mill's from tlie 

 New York shore; they contain altogether six 

 acres, partially wooded. I^ast spring 1 decided 

 to make a collecting trip to these islands, ao 

 accompanied by ray ornithological partner, set 

 sail early May 22nd, and soon reached our des- 

 tination. Tlie woods were alive with Warblers 

 and the air discordant with the screams of the 

 Herring Gull {Lams aiycutatiif: smitlifuninuus). 



Eight or ten years ago a large colony of these 

 Gulls used to breed here, hut owing to the re- 

 lentless persecution of the farmers and small 

 boys, who gathered their eggs by the basket- 

 full, the colony had been reduced to some fifty 

 pairs and I do not think they raised a single 

 brood last season. We found the nests scat- 

 tered all along the shore, but only three con- 

 tained eggs, and these held full sets of three. 

 Most of the nests were clumsy atlairs of grass, 

 placed on the bare rock, while others were 

 mere hollows in the ground, but we found a 

 few, quite well concealed in the edge of the 

 woods under low hanging trees. 



While carefully approaching two I^oons tliat 

 were having a good deal to say, I was startled 

 by a frantic flapping close to my feet and on 

 looking down saw a Black Duck (Anas nhscnra) 

 entangled in some brush. Before I recovered 

 from my astonishment the duck was speeding 

 across the lake, but after a few minutes search 



