THE OOLOGIST. 



129 



Jim aud perched npou my sholuder. I 

 paid no atteutiou to him and he at once 

 commenced to investigate the contents of 

 my pockets. There being only a few tooth- 

 picks in them I let him withdraw these and 

 conceal them in a knot-hole, after these 

 were disposed of he tried to pull the buttons 

 off my coat, but as they would not come and 

 there was nothing else about me that he 

 wanted, he flew down the walk and lit near 

 Jack, who appeared to be asleep. After 

 watchin<4 him closely for sometime to be 

 sure that he was not shamming, for Jim 

 judges everybody by himself, Jim jumped 

 into his dish and commenced eating the few 

 bits of meat left ; suddenly out went one of 

 Jack's strong i)inions and Jim received a 

 rap over the cranium which I have no doubt 

 made him see stars, at any rate he flew 

 straight across the yard and against the 

 fence with a dull thud and fell scuselus.-s to 

 the ground. 



Sejit. 14. Shot a Bittern. The Am. Bit- 

 tern although still to Ije found breeding in 

 favorable localities along the river, is much 

 less comtfou than it was when I became an 

 oologist four years ago. In 1S85 I could 

 walk along the river edge and tiush several 

 of these birds within two miles, but this 

 season although I was often in their haunts 

 only two birds were seen. 



Sept. 8. Shot a Sharp-shinned Hawk and 

 White-bellied Nuthatch. This hawk is very 

 scarce in summer but common in spring and 

 fall, the Nuthatch resides with us through- 

 out the year, being common at all seasons. 



Oct. 15. While Snipe hunting tu-day 1 

 saw a Pileated Woodpecker. 



J. C. W. 

 Detroit, Mich. 



The Robin Wintering- in the South. 



No doubt your Northern reavlers are all 

 very familiar with the liobiu's Summer 

 habits, but his Winter habits suppose they 

 koow very little about. 



The Robins arrive here about the middle 

 of October, and till the woods with their 

 cheery notes. They seek the swa^jips and 

 dense woods mostly, on act'O'Uit cf thc) 



berries and mast wliicli they afford. The 

 holly trees are they favorite resorts and in 

 one of these tress a number of these birds 

 can be seen almost any time of the dny 

 satisfying their ravenous appetites. But 

 the Robin does not remain all the time so 

 selfish; sometimes he conies ne:ir our habi- 

 tations and partakes of the berries of the 

 china tree. Here he is not as temperate as 

 he ought to be; he cats too D'uch of these 

 berries and becomes iutoxicated and falls to 

 the ground. 



At this .season of the year this bird is in 

 an excellent cimdition, and notwithstanding 

 the old legend (to kill a Kobiu makes the 

 cows give blood for milk), they are killed 

 by gi-eat numbers. It is .said that at a 

 certain point on ths Warrior river, in this 

 State, these birds congregate by the millions 

 to roost, an I although d i/.ens of hunters 

 are there every ni^ht, no diminution iu 

 their numl)er is noticeable. The noise 

 they make can be heard two or three 

 miles. 



But man is not the Robi us only eueuiy; 

 he is attacked very often when scekiu;,' the 

 china tree, by the Mockingbird and made to 

 beat a hasty retreat. I have a nundjcr of 

 times witnessed the above proceeding. 

 The R jbin espies the berries and without 

 suspecting the least danger, flies to the 

 tree, but alas, poor bird, his expectation 

 was of no avail. 



Wiuter has nearly passed us now. The 

 Roljin sees the approach of Spring, and 

 mounting one of the tallest trees, calls for 

 his dusky mute, utters his shrill farwell 

 note, and is off to his Summer home tar 

 away. 



C. W., York Sta, Ala. 

 Feb. 4, '89. 



How to Make a Mechanical 

 Egg Drill. 



First secure the works of an old clock 

 and see that the spring is not broke, then 

 take off the pendulum, ticker and hands, so 

 that when tJie spring is wound up, the 

 pinion which turns the hands goes around 

 very fast, 



