160 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-:N^o. 10 



A Story of Old Game. 



He was a guileless college youth, 

 That mirrored modesty and truth ; 

 And sometimes at his musty room 

 His sister called, to chase the gloom. 

 One afternoon when she was there, 

 Arranging things with kindly care, 

 As often she had done before. 

 There came a knock wpon the door. 

 Our student, sensitive of fears 

 Of thoughtless comrades' laughing jeers, 

 Had only time to make deposit 

 Of his dear sister in a closet ; 

 Then haste the door to open wide : 

 His guest unl)i<lden stepped inside. 



He was a cheery faced old man. 



And with apologies began 



For calling, and then let him know 



That more than fifty years ago. 



When he was in his youthful bloom. 



He'd occupied that very room ; 



So thought he'd take the chance, he said. 



To see the changes time had made. 



"The same old window, same old view — 



Ha, ha ! the same old i)ictures, too ! " 



And then he tapped them with his cane, 



And laughed his merry laugh again. 



" The same old sofa, I declare I 



l>ear me ! It must be worse for wear. 



The same old shelves !" And then he came 



.\n<l sjiied the closet door. " The same — 



( )h, my " A woman's dress i)eeped through. 



(^uick as he could he closed it to. 



He shook his head. " Ah ! ah I the same 



Old game, young man, the same oltl game ! " 



" Would you my reputation slur?" 

 The youth gasped ; "That's my sister, sir!" 

 " Ah," said the old man with a sigh, 

 "The same old lie — the same old lie." 



—From W. B. C. 



Correspondence. 



Editor O. <{• O.: 



While collecting bird.s the other day, Aug. 

 2Sth, I shot three Red-bellied Nuthatches. 

 They were feeding in white birch trees much 

 in the same manner as Warblers would. I also 

 shot a Cape May Warbler, the only one I ever 

 saw. Is it not rather early for these birds 

 so far south'? W. 11. Litrrts. 



Bridgeport. Conn. 



Editor O. <t- O..- 



I noticed in August O. & O. a communica- 

 tion from Mr. C. J, Maynard referring to an ar- 

 ticle of views on the Florida Burrowing Owl. 

 All I can do is to reiterate the facts before 

 stated. 



Pray do not let Bro. Maynard think that I 

 feel at all unhappy about it, but I must say that 



if he had had a little more "experience in this 

 state" he would find it easy to distinguish be- 

 tween the hole of a Gopher (Xerohntes f sp.) and 

 that of an Owl. They are not often near 

 together, and possess no characteristics in com- 

 mon except that both are holes. And I cannot 

 doubt the testimony of both whites and Indi- 

 ans that the Owls dig their own holes. 



I found lots of Owl's holes in the Kinivue 

 prairie; also many Gopher holes; also 

 many snake or spider holes (so called); also 

 one undoubted skunk's hole. All these holes 

 were different kinds of holes, and I must claim 

 some weight for my "hole experience." 



Besides — though it is but an instance — the 

 only one that I saw to shoot was actually dig- 

 ging. I found the fresh earth excavated and 

 the tracks and castings of the bird one day. 

 Several days later I found the bird and shot 

 it. The habitation showed still more work 

 done upon it than on the day when it was first 

 examined. And this in spite of the fact 

 that I had dug down into it at several places 

 the first day I found it, and as I thought 

 ruined it for its possessor. There were several 

 deserted Owl burrows close by which the owner 

 of this one might have occupied. 



Walter Iloxie. 

 Beauport, S. C. 



Editor O. tfc ().: 



I saw down at Quinsigamond Lake last Fri- 

 day two birds which I thought you would like 

 to know about. They were a Northern Phala- 

 rope and a Passenger Pigeon. I got within 

 fifteen feet of the Phalarope, which was en- 

 gaged in catching insects cm the water. The 

 Pigeon flew over the boat. The Phalarope is 

 a bird that is very rare here and the Pigeons 

 are not common, although I most always see 

 one or two every migration. ' 



linlph If. Ilolnnm. 

 Worcester, Aug. 26. 



New Publications. 



(Jontrihiitions to Science. Vol. 1, No. 2, C. .1. 

 Maynard. Contains Description of Cory's Gan-. 

 net, Vocal organs of the American Bittern, 

 Monograph of the Genus Strophia, Notes on 

 the Anatomical Structure of the Crowned 

 Crane, Description of a new species of Butter- 

 fly from the West Indies, each subject be- 

 ing illustrated with hand-colored plates 

 drawn on stone bv the author. 



