112 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-:No. 7 



for whicli the wood duck is noted. The wicked oolo- 

 gist is siniling in the meantime over his own shrewd- 

 ness and his friend's cliild-like faith in eggs of which 

 he knows notliing. 



An Ornithological Poem. 



WBITTEN A Nl'MBER OF YEAKS SINTE HY MR. C. HUN- 

 TER DUVAN, NOW OF PRINCE EDWARDS ISLAND. 



Respectfully dedicated (without permission) to the 

 Nova Scotia Institute of Natural Science. 



" Ala-ba-nia — Here I'll set up my everlasti 

 Auk. 



ng rest." — 



'Twas on a cliff of Newfoundland, 



Where fishy seas the shores environ, 

 And English steamers sometimes come 



To smash themselves on coasts of iron. 

 There sat an Ai'k ("Penguinus [Funk] 



Imiiennis "), at the time of our story 

 An old and venerable Auk, 



With heard and whiskers growing hoary. 



This valuable bird hail kept 



On nature such a long espial. 

 It almost led his mind to dr)ubt 



The theory of Sir Charles Lyell ; 

 The whole Kosmogony he summe<l 



As brieHy as he were Colenso, — 

 The mystery of the universe —he 



Couldn't see why Auks were plagued by men so. 



" Alas ! (said he) I've never seen 



But changes since I learned to waddle — 

 That was in Odin's days,— and when 



King Olaf used 'long shore to paddle, 

 And 'ye long seriiente' bowled along 



Under command of Colonel Snorro, 

 And the Phoenicians just escaped 



The fate of Sodom and (iomorrah. 



" And then the men I've known ! TJiorn 



And the red-haired Eric's Viking- hearties. 

 Besides old Thorfin, (ludrid. Lief, 



And other mythical, maritime parties; 

 Cabot, .Jack Cartier,— after them. 



The fleets that sailed for buccalore, 

 Flamanks and English (drenched in beer) 



And Gascons from the Biscay shore. 



" <Tone are they all ! friends of my youth ! 



Nought now exists me pleasure giving, 

 I feel my mission's almost o'er — 



Besides the great expense of living; — 

 Come, let me pause :— ' To be or not. 



That is the question ' —(here he winked,) 

 The name of Auk shall honored be — 



I have it: I'll become e.xtinct." 



But ere he died, like dying swan, 



A something changed his common breath 

 From something gross to something holy. 



Like to most other things in face of death ; 

 And thus it chanced, though strange it be. 



Something like melody his should float 

 As a refrain to the sad voice of sea, 



(Although the bird had never learnefl a note). 



SONG OF THE (iREAT AUK.* 



Bountiful sea. 



Ever bringing gifts. 

 Then casting them wastefuUy 



Into the rifts 



Of the surf-beat lee. 

 Cheating us meanwhile with a laugh of sun. 



Treacherous sea, 



Fawning at our feet, 

 Murnuiring and making music 



I>ow and sweet ; 



Yet, though fair you be. 

 Cheating us with a distant loom of storm. 



Mystical sea. 



Raging and toying ; 

 Aye, dost thou to the law of change conform, 



Ever constructing, ever destroying 



Bringing and taking as the courses run, 

 Cheating us by a mingle — storm and sun. 



Then straight he went and dug his grave, 



In the guano moist and mottle, 

 P.ut ere he gave his latest groan. 



He i)ut this legend in a bf)tt!e : 

 " Alca im])ennis, Tuesday, noon, 



Lon. 0°, Lat. TC. I'm going; 

 Whoever finds these scattered Ixmes, 



Plea.se forward to Professor (Jwen." 



* The rhythm is rugged, but what could you expect 

 from ii I'enguin. 



New Publications. 



From J. M. Rusk, Secretary of Agriculture, 

 licpDft of the Ornifliolo(/iM and M((nniir(lo(/ist, 

 author's edition, ISSS, containiufj special re- 

 l)orts on (1) Introduced Pheasants; (2) Tlie 

 Mink, by Dr. C Hart Merriam; (8) The Spar- 

 row Hawk; (4) The Short-eared Owl, by Dr. 

 A. K. Fisher; (5) The food of Crows; (0) The 

 Ro.se-breasted Gro.sbeak, an enemy of the 

 Potato bug, by Walter B. Barrows. Tlie 

 special report on the food of the Crows is 

 quite exhaustive and the verdict is, weighed in 

 the balance and found "not wanted." 



Recreation, a monthly exponent of the 

 higher literature of manly sport. Vol. Ill, 

 No. 2, June, published at 150 Dearborn St., 

 Chicago, 111. $2.00 per annum. Editors: 

 Chas. Hallock, late editor of Forest and Stream, 

 Fred E. Pond, "Will Wildwood." A glance 

 at its pages convinces us that it will be one of 

 the most popular of our sporting publications. 

 Its character and tone is of the highest order. 

 Sample copies 20 cents. 



We are in receipt of the Report of the Kn- 

 tomologicnl Society of Ontario for 1888. This 

 issue of the publication contains among many 

 other interesting articles, a very complete 

 report on the " Sphingidae of Quebec " l)y Kev. 

 Thos. W. Fyles, with a very valuable table for 

 the determinatiim of tlie larvae of this family. 



