THE OOLOGI8T 



138 



ery, and near by were fifteen nests of 

 the Green Heron to boot! For the 

 good of the birds that nesting place 

 will remain an ornithological secret 

 for the present, at any rate. 



Late in the summer (end of July) 

 I visited the place and found two fine 

 American Egrets in company with 

 other Herons. This is my second record 

 of this bird and a mighty pleasing one. 

 In 1911 I recorded the breeding of 

 the Killdeer at Long Ridge, Connecti- 

 cut, nine miles from my house. Last 

 year (1920) a pair bred in the same 

 field that I found the nest in. They 

 raised their young successfully. This 

 spring they were back there and un- 

 doubtedly bred, wliile a second pair 

 nested on the sands a few hundred 

 yards from my house. 



At Long Ridge, a pair of Black 

 Duck have returned to a certain 

 swampy thicket on my brother's farm 

 for two seasons. They spend the sum- 

 mer and undoubtedly breed, but so 

 far I have been unable to locate the 

 nest. Their actions and tlie fact that 

 in the fall there is a small flock of the 

 Ducks, substantiates this supposition 

 very strongly I have no doubt but 

 what I will find the nest next year, as 

 the birds return to the identical spot 

 in the spring. 



For the first time in many years a 

 pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers 

 raised their young near my hcuse this 

 year. On August first the two old 

 ones and four noisy young were livin'5 

 in some dead oaks near by. This i? 

 good news indeed! 



Here is the biggest surprise of all. 

 In June I was calling on a friend in 

 Stamford. Near the house at which 

 I was calling stood another one with 

 large columns supporting the spaciou.-; 

 porch on which several people were 

 sitting. These coulmns were hollow 

 and so placed that from the top near 

 the porch roof an entrance could be 



gained to the inside of any one of 

 them. As I sat on the porch of my 

 friend's house I heard a loud squawk- 

 ing noise coming from one of the col- 

 umns of the other house, and as I 

 turned to look in that direction, a 

 female Sparrow- Hawk arrived with a 

 garter snake and was greeted by four 

 half grown young that piled from the 

 column to be fed on the ledge. The 

 birds paid no attention whatever to 

 the people on the porch nor the auto- 

 mobile that entered the driveway. As 

 far as I could see the entire ramily or 

 Hawks were as tame as Robins. I 

 liave never seen anything like it be- 

 fore. 



These few observations give a fair 

 index to the ultimate results of bird 

 protection. The laws that we have to- 

 day, mean that in twenty years con- 

 ditions will be as they used to be. We 

 devastated Easterners won't have to go 

 to the far northwest to see Gulls and 

 shore birds and the other ones that 

 make the heart leap when they lay 

 their eggs. 



As for the smaller birds, they are 

 undoubtedly increasing also. Orchard 

 Orioles breed commonly in the sapling 

 maples along the streets where new 

 houses have been built. They seem 

 to prefer these little trees that have 

 been transplanted and have been set 

 back in the process. Again I have 

 noticed that the Warblers are easier 

 to find than they use to be and the 

 Martins are coming ba'ck occasionally. 

 I have been convinced that Gulls 

 breed near Stamford for some time 

 past, because more of them stay eacli 

 summer when the time for departure 

 northward comes. Since the breeding 

 season I have been informed of a place 

 not ten miles from my house where 

 many nested this year. Next spring 

 we shall see. I look forward to the 

 coming of the greatest of all seasons 

 witli keener joy than ever. 



