135 



THE OOLOQIST 



Birds Freezing 



Winter set in in earnest this year of 

 1919-20 early in December and since 

 then we have had many snow storms, 

 high winds and severe cold. Below 

 zero nights are common. 



A few days ago, Jan. 17th, a Cardi- 

 nal was found frozen on a front porch 

 here in town. The Cardinal is a' rare 

 bird here at any time as we are too 

 far north. 



A flock of imported Quails were 

 liberated near here last fall and in 

 spite of the fact that they are being 

 fed and watched two of them recently 

 got separated from the flock and were 

 afterwards found frozen in the snow 

 along a fence. 



It is a hard winter on the birds and 

 no doubt many of the weaker ones 

 have perished of cold and hunger. 



At present the snow is two feet 

 and more deep in the woods and it is 

 very hard to get around. There is but 

 very little bird life. Only a few of 

 the common winter birds with an oc- 

 casional flock of Pine Siskins. In 

 early December while hunting white 

 rabbits I saw several flocks of Cross- 

 bills but have not seen any lately. 



In the open places in the ice on the 

 rivers there are quite a few flocks of 

 American Mergansers and Golden 

 Eyes. 



R. B. Simpson. 



"Sen«e or Instinct." 



I have read that birds and animals 

 did every action by instinct given 

 them. This looks like more sense than 

 instinct to me. I went out early in 

 the morning of February 27th and 

 motored up the lake for a mornings 

 fishing for croppie. The waves were 

 choppy and it was a cold frosty morn- 

 ing. So when I landed at Williams 

 Bayou, I at once rustled some leaves 



and wood together and built a fire. 

 I quickly warmed my hands and feet, 

 then took a row boat from behind my 

 motor boat and rowed out a short dis- 

 tance from the bank. I put out my 

 lines and glanced over at the burning 

 fire that I had left. A Tufted Titmouse 

 hopped down near the fire. A small 

 saplin stood on the windward side of 

 the fire. The Titmouse, after examin- 

 ing where the heat was coming from, 

 sat peacefully in the small saplin until 

 he was good and warm. As the sun 

 peeped up from over the rocky hills 

 he sang a song of the coming spring 

 and was answered by a Cardinal that 

 had spent the night close by. It 

 looked to me that this bird used sense 

 instead of instinct. 1 wonder if when 

 this bird was born that it had instinct 

 to take advantage of a fire when it 

 was cold. 



Ramon Graham, 

 Texas Notes, 1920. 



"THE ROAD RUNNERSCURIOSITY" 



I was in the front room of our home 

 at the edge of town and heard a noise 

 outside which sounded like someone 

 walking up to the door. 1 jumped up 

 to put on my shoes and to my surprise 

 right on our front porch was a full 

 grown Road Runner. 



It seemed unalarmed and walked 

 away, going into a sweet potato patch 

 next door. It acted like it wanted to 

 look into the house to see the baby, 

 and it was very tame and took its 

 time in leaving. 1 think this is un- 

 usual for these birds to visit right in 

 town. 



Mrs. Ramon Graham, 



Ft. Worth, Texas. 



