The OOLOQI8T 



81 



morning and looked out on a world 

 of ice and snow. The first thing I 

 thought of was the Robins. I looked, 

 the nest was deserted and frozen over 

 knowing that the birds would never 

 come back to that nest (and although 

 I have plenty of Robins' eggs) 1 

 hated to see them lost forever, so 1 

 took a hammer and chisel, got the 

 nest out, took it in the house, thawed 

 it out and mounted the eggs. I hunt- 

 ed most of that day and got the fol- 

 lowing eggs (some were frozen and 

 were broken open), 4 Robins nests 

 and eggs, 4 English Sparrows in a 

 thick Box Elder tree, 1 Catbird, 2 

 Brown Thrashers and 1 Prairie Hen 

 1 also found two frozen Robins and a 

 rabbit killed by a tree falling on it. 

 But now I see the Robins have the 

 new nests made. During the storm I 

 fed the following birds in one of our 

 sheds: 4 Robins, 7 Juncos, 2 Field 

 Sparrows, 1 Song Sparrow, 1 Killdeer, 

 a dozen or more English Sparrows and 

 one Wilson Thrush. This was sure a 

 terrible time for our feathered friends 

 and many perished I find deserted 

 nests almost every day, usually the 

 eggs are broken by being frozen. 



Thinking it would be of interest 1 

 have kept track of the birds here. 



Feb. 26 A dozen or more Juncos. 



Mar. 1. A Chickadee. 



Mar. 15. Robins and Grackles. 



Mar. 17. Flickers. 



Mar. 18. Meadowlarks, Song Spar- 

 rows. 



Mar. 23. Brown Thrasher. 



Mar. 29. Catbird. Earliest I ever 

 knew of one. 



April 16. Killdeer, Field Sparrows 

 and a Wilson Thrush. These were in 

 our shed. 



April 22. Barn Owl. 



The rest haven't come back yet, al- 

 though I saw a Hawk flying high. 



Arthur Blocher, 

 Amboy, Illinois. 



LIGHT BLINDS BIRDS 



Hundreds of birds, embracing every 

 known species in this climate, were 

 killed one night recently by flying 

 against the West Point Light House, 

 north of Racine, Wisconsin. The glare 

 flashing through the fog apparently 

 bewildered the birds, causing them to 

 dart against it. The lighthouse 

 grounds were literally covered with 

 the brilliantly colored bodies.— West- 

 ern Story Magazine, W. A. Strong, 

 San Jose, Cal. 



MAGPIES ATTACK CATTLE 



Reports from the Limestone dis- 

 trict of the northern Black Hills say 

 Magpies prove a real menace to the 

 live stock. Magpies prefer fresh meat 

 to carrion, and when carcasses of 

 dead animals are not to be obtained 

 will attack sheep and cattle. It is 

 said that hundreds of these miniature 

 vultures will circle in the air and 

 then alight on the animal and 

 ferociously attack it in its most ten- 

 der places.— Western Story Magazine, 

 W. A. Strong, San Jose, Cal. 



We do not either believe or endorse 

 the above. — Editor. 



FROM A BOY 



We were all boys once and well do 

 we each remember our first experi- 

 ence in collecting eggs and our first 

 contribution for publication was truly 

 an epoc in the life of each one of us. 

 If some of the older readers of The 

 Oologist could see some of the dates 

 in the possession of the Editor, ac- 

 companying some of the specimens in 

 his collection written in small boyish 

 cramped hand running back some of 

 them fifty-four years from this writing, 

 made out and signed by such leaders 

 in Ornithological work as Julieus 

 Grennell, T. S. Palmer, and many 

 others, they would appreciate the im- 



