94 



THE OSPREY. 



If these same grounds were not in the 

 hands of clubs, they would be overrun 

 with g-unners of all calibres; some would 

 shoot from morning- till evening, and 

 others would camp on the spot and shoot 

 all night; the birds would have no rest. 

 After all the legitimate game would be 

 killed or run off, the attention of the 

 shootist would g-o to everything that has 

 wings or shows life, and soon the marsh 

 would be desolated. 



As it now is, the grounds are not only 

 fenced, posted, and guarded, but there is 

 no cultivation, and no roads run through 

 them. In summer nobody visits the 

 place for months, and the vegetation has 

 a chance to grow as luxuriant as a rich 

 soil and plenty of moisture will make it. 

 It is here that we still find a pair or two 

 of Mallards rearing their young in safety, 

 and that Bitterns and Rails find conge- 

 nial abodes. It is also the home of the 

 Marsh Wrens, both the Long and Short- 

 billed, and of Henslow's Sparrow, while 

 the Song Sparrow has extended the 

 southern limits of its breeding range into 

 its territory. 



But what makes these peaceful reser- 

 vations still more interesting and valua- 

 ble is the unexcelled opportunity for 

 great roosts of different kinds of birds. 



All through August and September to 

 the middle of October, the Swallows 

 roost here in immense numbers ; at first 

 the Bank and Eave Swallows form the 

 bulk of the masses, but after their de- 

 parture about the middle of September 

 the Tree and Rough-winged Swallows 

 take their places, together with some 

 Barn Swallows. In August the Bobo- 

 links gather here for the night, and their 

 musical "pink" is in the marsh until late 

 in September, in fact until the Robins 

 and Rustles begin to arrive and take their 

 places. The Red-winged Blackbird fre- 



quents the marsh all the year round, but 

 October is the month, when untold mil- 

 lions of all kinds of Blackbirds retreat 

 to these marshes in the evening, and 

 their coming and going is one of the 

 grandest sights one can see. 



In one part of the marsh the Meadow- 

 larks gather in the evening to the number 

 of fift^'or more, in another the Dickcissels, 

 and some of them remain as late as the first 

 of October. Cedarbirds and Yellowrumps 

 come here to roost, and besides the regu- 

 lar marsh-inhabiting Fn'}io-iHidcP, such as 

 Swamp and Song Sparrows, Savanna and 

 Leconte's Sparrows, there are roosts of 

 Tree Sparrows, where on a comparatively 

 small area hundreds spend the long 

 winter nights on the ground. 



Birds and bird lovers owe much to 

 hunting clubs, for without them their 

 paradise would some cease to exist. Not 

 only would the gun depopulate it, the 

 husbandman would come in, drain the 

 lakes, destroy the original growth with 

 fire, and plow the ground. Instead of 

 inviting lakes, covered with lotus ( Ne- 

 Innibiiini ) and flag ( Spai'oauiion ) there 

 would be an uninviting stretch of sickly 

 looking corn, and with the marsh grass 

 ( Spartiua ) would go the breeding resorts 

 of highly interesting species and the roost- 

 ing retreats of many others. 



The bird lover has a right to consider 

 a well-kept hunting club a benefit to 

 bird life; and it is to be hoped with the 

 progress of civilization and culture 

 the sanguinary feature of the club 

 will be more and more redeemed by the 

 development of its preserving qualities, 

 when suitable tracts of land in many and 

 different parts of the country will be set 

 aside and kept in their original state as 

 bird reserves, not for slaughter but for 

 the preservation and propagation of bird 

 life. 



Flicker Flirting. 



BY JAMES NEWTON BASKETT. 



From sundry observations I am inclined 

 to think that in more things than curved 

 beak and ground feeding habits, the 

 P^licker is a modern bird — more modern 

 than any other Woodpecker. Nearly 

 everyone must have noticed that during 

 the silly courting tactics of this bird the 



female "peek-a-boos" back with a re- 

 markable degree of zeal, but I have 

 not noticed any record of her making 

 a leap year of the occasion and be- 

 coming the positive aggressor in the 

 matter. 



