IIMI 



CRN IT 110 LOG I ST 



[Vol. Ui-No. 7 



A Pleasant Disappointment. 



Laborers passing to their work early in tlic 

 morning of .May 2d stared in surprise at throe 

 strangely di-essed figures lieadcd for the rail- 

 road. No. 1, rubber boots, brown corduroy, 

 an ancient derby, a pair of climbers, a pistol 

 gun, a wooden box — Elmer Durfee; No. 2, 

 rubber boots, suit that matched the hat, hat 

 out of its sphere of ordinary usefulness, a 

 hatchet, a tin pail — Hervey Stuart; No. ;!, 

 rubber boots, moleskin tmuseis (of which the 

 original color was not visible), canvas coat, 

 slouch hat, climbers, fish creel, double bar- 

 reled gun — your humble servant. 



About an hour and a half later tlie hayseeds 

 about .Sunfield, Eaton County, wei'e also set 

 all agog by the same trio. We had heard of 

 several Herons' nests in that vicinity and were 

 investigating the report. 



A few Crovv.s' and Jays' nests were the sole 

 proceeds of the first woods, although it liter- 

 erally swarmed with migratory birds, and 

 many observations were made on the new 

 arrivals. In the woods, fields, on telegraph 

 posts, everywhere, was a jierfect swarm of 

 Red-headed Woodpeckers. One flew from a 

 little stump, and on approaching we found the 

 shells of a Bluebird's egg. I can understand 

 now why the "pecker wood" is so hated by 

 these birds. In the next woods a number of 

 Buteos' nests were rapped, but no old bird 

 appeared. Here a number of Crows were 

 engaged in teasing a poor, big, bewildered 

 Bubo, miich to their intense delight and the 

 latter' s as intense disgust. The Tanagers and 

 Grosbeaks were abundant, while for the first 

 time this season our cars were saluted with 

 the well-known " vireo vireo wear yo cho die 

 vir ur eo." Two more fields with their multi- 

 tudes of whistling Bobwhites and still no 

 heronry hove in sight; the outlook was dis- 

 couraging; we would be in Lansing before 

 long at this rate. 



None of the inhabitants seemed to know 

 anything about it so we decided to go beyond 

 the next bond, after which we would try it in 

 the other direction from town. This laudable 

 intention in view, we tramped into a railroad 

 cut and there scared a rattling (or "rattled ") 

 Kingfisher from a hole in the bank. All three 

 hailed this as a change in luck and dug in at 

 once, only to find a finished nest with never 

 an egg. 



" We should have telegraphed him that we 

 were coming," was tlie remark of onr philo- 

 sophical member. 



The next bend revealed a long extent of 

 high maple woods and a Ked-tailed Hawk, so 

 back we turned, taking the other side of the 

 track for our return journey. Here, Golden- 

 winged Warblers were common, and we took 

 <a Crow's nest. Driven to desperation by our 

 ill luck, we gathered in the four eggs it con- 

 tained and soon found thai, having made a 

 start, we were in for still more. We made 

 the astonishingly rare discovery of a set of 

 four Robin's eggs. 



On tlie other side of the town we entered a 

 maple woods, and about half way through a 

 iJuteo's nest with a suspiciously feathered 

 aspect w;is discovered. Elmer at once buckled 

 on his climbers for the ascent of the large 

 hard maple in which the nest was (ihued, 

 while the writer stood reaily to s])ot the bird 

 as she flew. 



"She knows what is good fiu' her gizzard," 

 remarked the spectator, when Mrs. Bnteo 

 refused to evacuate. At length she could 

 stand it no longer, and made her usual light- 

 ning dash, only to come crashing down at the 

 report of the gun. .She was unusually small 

 and light-colored, and had covered twt> rather 

 showy eggs. Again an oological bl.ank, until 

 the discovery of several sets of common eggs 

 caused Hervey to leave my climbers in his 

 excitement. It was not discovered until we 

 had gone half a mile or so, when Elmer and 

 myself sat on a log to await the return of the 

 search party. Save for the bird the forest 

 was perfectly still. Here above lis, near at 

 hand, comes the "wee see, wee see, wee see," 

 of the Creeper, and away off in the swamp 

 rises the " bump Ijump bum bum bm b-r-r-i-r" 

 as tlu! Grouse booms. Next came a marsh or 

 swamp Formerly it had evidently been cov- 

 ered with tamaracks, but all these liad b<'en 

 cut down, and their upturned roots, branches 

 and limbs were piled promiscuously over (he 

 hundred or two acres. Water covered this to 

 the average depth of eighteen inches; average, 

 I say, for we soon found out that the maxi- 

 mum was considerably more. A half .a mile 

 from the edge of this swamp stood a single 

 black ash tree, in which were six Herons' 

 nests. The section hands said they were 

 occupied; so we waded in, figuratively and 

 literally. Now we woidd balance across a 

 narrow log, now- we would crash over a heap 

 of branches, now we would wade through the 

 shallow w.ater. I was leading, and was wading 

 along confidently enough when suddenly 1 

 struck one of the places where the water was 

 not average, and my right leg reacheil as far 



