30 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 14-:N"o. 3 



last, there were two weeks of the most charm- 

 ing of spring weather. Old Boreas had at last 

 retired from the fields he had ruled so long, 

 the sun shone out upon the glad earth in 

 warmth and brightness, the trees so long bare 

 burst into leaf and hastily donned their emer- 

 ald robes, tlie many tinted flowers of spring 

 spread their gay petals rejoicing in the light 

 and heat and scenting the air witli their per- 

 fume; birds sang on every spray, each hour 

 bringing new arrivals full of life and full of 

 song. The thrushes, the towhees, the robins, 

 tlie sparrows, the bobolinks and warblers were 

 chanting their songs of welcome, choosing 

 their mates and building their nests. 



But a sudden change came over the face of 

 nature, a driving north-east wind, cold as if 

 direct from off the face of an iceberg swept 

 over the scene, the fruit blooms were blasted 

 before its icy breath, the flowers of yesterday 

 so gay lay prostrated with blanched and bat- 

 tered petals, but the birds, the poor little 

 birds, but lately from tropical climes, how- 

 fared they and how endured the pitiless pelt- 

 ing of the cold storms that beat upon tliem 

 without mercy day after day".' 



At last it was over, and tlie svui once more 

 shed its welcome beams abroa<l with as warm 

 a smile as if he had not for a whole week 

 given place to the raging tempest. As I re- 

 newed my walks over the hills, the orchards 

 and fields, I visited the old robin's nest which 

 had two eggs before the storm began, but it 

 was empty; the little sparrow who had <me 

 egg, I found sitting on three; the old blue jay, 

 who had four eggs before the storm broke, I 

 found sitting on two; did she, driven to des- 

 peration by tlie pangs of hunger, devour her 

 own ottspringi^ I believe it is the fact. There 

 was a little Yellow-throated Vireo, which I 

 had watched with much interest, as day after 

 day during that last pleasant week she had 

 diligently labored, bringing lichens and fibres 

 and webs, to suspend her beautiful cradle from 

 some forked twigs, now were to be found only a 

 few weather-lieaten shreds waving from them 

 to mark the scene of so much skill and labor 

 wasted. Where was the artisan? I could no 

 more hear her note or the cheering warble of 

 her mate as on the week before he had poured 

 it forth in soul-stirring song. I saw them no 

 more. I also found the relics of many another 

 little nest without tenant or claimant. 



But the special incident to whicli I made al- 

 lusion in commencing was the saddest of all. 

 On the brow of the hill, over which my course 

 led within a few feet of the sheep-patli. lay a 



browned cedar branch, and, snugly concealed 

 beneath it, a Chewink had built her nest. This 

 morning, as I passed the spot, I noticed her 

 sitting quietly, half hidden from sight and 

 taking no notice of my approach, with closed 

 eyes, apparently sleeping, and even upon in- 

 tentional disturbance giving no sign of alarm; 

 but I soon discovered that it was the sleep 

 which knows no waking, that, stiff and cold 

 and dead, she was covering her four fresh eggs 

 in a nest all soaking with wet; and the thought 

 suggested was, may not this be a common re- 

 sult of such extremes of weather upon the 

 female bird, overtaken in the labors of mater- 

 nity, and may not these consequences more 

 truly explain the apparent greater abundance 

 of male birds, instead of the ordinarily accepts 

 ed one, that it is only apparent and observed 

 because the males are more consjncuous by 

 their gayer plumage and song. 



John y. Chirk. 

 Savbrook. roiin. 



A Quahaug Captures a Tern, and a 

 Sea Clam Drowns a Scoter. 



In the .Inly O. &. O is an account of the cap- 

 ture of a Sea Oull by a clam, taken from the 

 Boftton IlernUl. Two similar cases have been 

 brought to my notice this last season. Mr. 

 Kendrick, a guest of the Bristol Branting club 

 of Monomoy Island, while out on the flats 

 .Sept. 22d, had his attention attracted by the 

 peculiar actions of a Tern in the shoal water 

 at the edge of the flats. On approacliing the 

 bird that gentleman saw that there was some- 

 thing attached to its bill, which caused it to 

 make every effort to keep its head above water. 

 Mr. Kendrick easily caught the bird, and upon 

 examination found its bill to be about one- 

 half of its length encased in a Quahaug (T>h».s 

 mercenaria.) The Quahaug measured about 

 three inches in diameter. The bill of the Tern, 

 when removed from the grasp of the bi-valve, 

 was found to be considerably indented by the 

 pressure upon it. 



The second instance of the pugnacity of a 

 bi-valve is that of a Scoter, which was found 

 by a gunner floating on the water with a large 

 Sea Clam (Martra fsolklin.mna) firmly clasped 

 to its bill. The weight of the clam kept the 

 bird's head under water until it was drowned. 



The Scoters feed principally on mussels and 

 other shell-fish, and this bird in diving inserted 

 its l)ill into the open valve of a clam larger 

 than it could handle, which resulted in a vie-' 

 torv for '"Herr" clam. John ('. (,'nfioon. 



