170 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 16-No. n 



I had ever seen; a second glance told me 

 he was a possum and I felt disgusted. How- 

 ever. Our colored myrmidon Fip soon ended 

 that possum's career, and we proceeded on 

 our way, securing several more rats and 

 another "pos," which said "pos" emerged 

 from a nest we had just before got a big rat 

 from; whether the two were living in harmony 

 or not I don't know, anyway they were both 

 tliere. 



We now proceeded back to camp and I set 

 to work on the rats wliilst Mr. B. and Fip pre- 

 jiared dinner. After dinner I kept on with 

 ray skinning iu the upper gallei-y of the house 

 while tlie rest went squirrel liunting. During 

 the course of that afternoon Fip brouglit 

 several lots of squirrels, all gray, and finally 

 about 5 P.M. Mr. B. and Fii) both came back 

 with three coons and five rats, and also a live 

 coon they had caught. All the coons and rats 

 had been smoked out of the same hollow tree, 

 but from different hollows. It was now dark 

 and we set to work and cooked a mess of 

 squirrel for supper, an<l didn't they taste 

 good? 



After supper we had a good swim in the 

 lake by starlight, but the edge was taken off 

 my enjoyment by Mr. B. speculating as to how 

 soon a shark or a 'gator would catch one of us 

 by the leg, and that made me nervous every 

 time a little crab crawled over my toes. 



Alter our swim we went back to the house 

 and my companions slept the sleep of the just, 

 while I wearily skinned my two remaining 

 rats and then also tried to get some slee]>, but 

 wasn't very succes.sful, as my friend, the live 

 coon, which had been shut up in an empty 

 room, disturbed me by climbing up to the top 

 of tlie door or window, I don't know which, 

 and then falling down again with a deafening 

 tliud, whicli didn't make me feel much broth- 

 erly love for him. 



Next morning we got more rats, had another 

 good swim and started off liome again after 

 trying in vain to stalk a Little Blue Heron. 

 As we crossed the lake Barn Swallows were 

 skimming over tlie water everywliere, a few 

 Herring and Laughing Gulls sailed lazily over 

 the water or sat motionless on stakes here and 

 there. Once when I shot at a Gull and missed 

 him a flock of about twenty Peeps flew by, 

 and some larger Sandpipers got off a marsh 

 not far off and flew wildly here and there. 



We linally got to the bayou again and once 

 more punched through the logs, starting a 

 Killdeer and a small flock of Spotted Sand- 

 pijiers that were running about on them. 



On nearing Mr. B.'s house we heard .a perfect 

 fusilade going on, which proved to be a lot of 

 nigger boys sliooting "grassies," as they call 

 Bee Martins in the Creole tongue. Finally we 

 got to the landing and shortly were all ashore, 

 including the c<^ptive coon, who didn't seem 

 by any means reconciled to his fate. 



One other specimen of interest was secured 

 on this trip, which I forgot to mention in its 

 proper place. Just before leaving the house 

 in the morning I inspected all the rooms that 

 were open and discovered a bat hanging on the 

 wall of one. After an exciting struggle he 

 was knocked down and added to the "collec- 

 tion." He was grayish-black in color, with 

 great, long ears an inch long or more, and two 

 great warts on his nose, one on each side, 

 which made his head look very funny. Alto- 

 gether, he was the strangest bat I had ever 

 seen, not excepting the Free-tailed Bats I 

 got at Greensboro, Ala. 



This concludes the record of my trip to the 

 east side of Bay St. Louis Lake, on the Gulf 

 coast of Mississippi, September!! and 10, I8SK), 

 which will always be a pleasant and inl cresting 

 memory to e. C. .S. liriiidiij. 



Raleigh, N. C. 



The Western Semipalmated Sand- 

 piper. 



On September 1, 1891, I took a little collect- 

 ing trip to Canarsie, L. L I shot a half dozen 

 or more Semipalmated, but didn't notice any 

 difference between them at the time. I 

 skinned the two best specimens in the lot and 

 one proved to be tlie western variety. 



The difference in the length of the bills first 

 attracted my attention, one being three-eigliths 

 of an inch or more longer than the other. 

 Then on the long-billed one the rufous tinging 

 on the rump was stronger and more clearly 

 marked. 



I thought there must be some difference in 

 the birds and so took them to my friend Prof. 

 Allen, of the Central Park Museum, who 

 identified them for me. One, as I knew, was 

 the pwsiHus, and the other the p. occidentnlis. 

 Coues apparently does not believe in the 

 Western Sandpiper, but if anyone saw my two 

 birds I think they could hardly doubt that 

 they were different types. As Prof. Allen 

 seemed to fancy them I gave them to him. 

 The pusillus was a 9 ; the other a $ , 



Il.in-ii Well), FU,,/(1. 



