March, 1S93.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



45 



Billy's " Whank gon cool," was spoken so 

 plainly that any stranger would know what he 

 said. In the afternoon his flying back and 

 forth through his cage, calling " Whank, 

 Whank," was a sure sign of the little fel- 

 low's being in sight. 



His singing, like the canary, was as good 

 as going to the Howard Atheneum. To cut 

 a long story short, he was a perfect mimic. 

 He would imitate almost any noise, only to 

 be forgotten when the noise ceased. 



But such pets are usually fated to come to 

 some sad end. A friend, early in February 

 1893, desiring to increase my family of 

 Screech Owls, brought me one securely ( ?) 

 caged in a wooden box. He was at liberty 

 in the morning and our Billy was dead in 

 his cage. 'Tis needless to say that Mr. 

 Scops quickly joined him over the river. 



Was this bird anything out of the ordi- 

 nary? Would another be as interesting aS 

 he ? I shall try another next season and 

 you may hear from me again. 



A. W. Morse. 



Notes from Belchertown, Mass. 



Shrikes numerous early in the season. 



Dec. 20, Wilson Snipe shot near mill- 

 pond. 



Dec. 26, Jan. 24, noted Yellow- shafted 

 Flickers. 



Jan. 24, 26, large flocks of Snow Buntings : 

 found a Red Screech Owl in woods, partly 

 eaten by a fox. 



Jan. 26, watched a Bald Eagle for a long 

 time flying over the pond, which had been 

 drawn off. There were quantities of fish on 

 the banks. 



I failed to make connections with him. 

 Saw one poor Lone Meadow Lark. 



Bob White were plenty in October. 



A few only were shot and the remainder 

 have wintered safely. 



Barred Owls were noted early in Fall. 

 Pine Grosbeaks seen all the season. 



Foxes have been very plenty and I have 



seen a number of places where they have 



feasted on Ruffed Grouse. 



yi W. Jackson. 



Mocking Bird in Massachusetts in 

 Winter. 



About February 4, while looking for spe- 

 cimens of winter birds, I saw a strange bird 

 that I had never before met with, but 

 thought little of it until the 14th of Febru- 

 ary I shot the bird near the spot where first 

 seen. It was a Mocking Bird {Mimus 

 Polyglotiis } which confronted me as I 

 went to pick up my specimen. 



The bird had lived here certainly for 

 about two weeks without succumbing to the 

 cold of this climate, which shows the bird 

 can live here even in cold weather. The 

 only way I can account for its being here at 

 this time of year is that it must be an es- 

 caped cage bird. (The bird was identified 

 by " Coues' Key" and Steam's "New Eng- 

 land Bird Life.") H. E. Barton. 



Duxbury, Mass. 



What Killed the Swallows? 



While out collecting the 21st of May of last 

 year, I came across an old stone quarry where 

 there were a pair of bank swallows flying 

 around. On inspection I found an unfin- 

 ished nest of the swallows and an old nest. 

 The old tunnel ran back some six or seven 

 feet and was filled with dead swallows ; most 

 of them were badly decayed. I pulled out 

 21 of the dead birds and had not cleared 

 half the tunnel, so there must have been at 

 least 50 dead birds in the tunnel. I would 

 like to hear some one's opinion on the sub- 

 ject, through the columns of this paper. I 

 also took a set of English Sparrow eggs from 

 an old swallows' nest in the same quarry. 



Erie Morton. 



During the past two months we have re- 

 ceived many articles of interest from our 

 readers. All of which we will publish at as 

 early a date as possible. Send tiiem along. 



