Notes from Field and Study 



357 



bird, Brown Thrasher, Winter Wren, 

 Long-billed Marsh Wren, White-breasted 

 Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Chick- 

 adee, Rubj^-crown Kinglet, Wood Thrush, 

 Olive-black Thrush and Bluebird. 



The large numbers of Flycatchers and 

 Warblers were particularly noticeable. 



On the night of September 5, the migra- 

 ting birds left; for, on the sixth, it was hard 

 to find a Warbler or Flycatcher, and very 

 few birds of any kind were in sight. 



Cobourg is on the north shore of Lake 

 Ontario, and the question presents itself 

 whether the migrating birds regularly 

 bank up on the lake shore, and leave at 

 one time, thus sending a cloud of birds 

 over into the states. — John P. Young, 

 Yottngstown, Ohio. 



Nesting-habits of the Pied-billed Grebe 



I may be able to add a few further facts 

 to those given by Arthur A. Allen, in the 

 July-August number of Bird-Lore, on 

 the nesting-habits of the Pied-billed Grebe. 

 Finding a pair of these birds in a lily-pond 

 in Mill Creek Park at Youngstown, Ohio, 

 in June, I procured a boat and with a 

 friend searched for a nest, with success. 

 It was found anchored to and concealed 

 by cat-tails near the center of the pond, 

 which covered about three acres. The nest 

 was composed principally of leaves and 

 stems of dead cat-tails, and contained six 

 eggs. The mother bird was not on the nest 

 and the eggs were covered; the platform 

 upon which they rested was floating upon 

 the water and very moist. Later, reliable 

 observers reported to me that they saw the 

 male birds feeding the female while on the 

 nest. I walked to the pond usually every 

 day during incubation. The male at first 

 would come to meet me, and wovdd stop 

 from fifteen to twenty feet from me, if I 

 stood at the shore. (I observed that he 

 would not do this with strangers.) Then, 

 if I walked along the shore, he swam along 

 near the shore, keeping between me and 

 the nest. If I turned to leave the pond, he 

 usually indulged in gyrations with his 

 wings, cutting circles on the surface of the 

 water, and diving. 



One day, I found the female dead on the 

 edge of the pond, and the male still on 

 guard. I saw him there for two days, when 

 he disappeared. About two weeks after 

 the disappearance of the male, I heard a 

 faint call in the cat-tails, like a (irebe, and 

 upon investigation found the male still on 

 the pond, and that he was accompanied 

 by six little Pied-billed Grebes, apparently 

 just off the nest. 



The valiant little fellow remained with 

 his charge in the lily-pond, to the delight 

 of many visitors, until the fall- migration 

 period, when all disappeared. — Volney 

 Rogers. 



Gulls Preparing a Meal 



Where I am staying among the islands 

 in the Great South Bay, watching the birds 

 is a pastime that never tires, and occasion- 

 ally develops something new. Last Feb- 

 ruary and March, when for weeks the 

 ice-covered waters caused much suffering 

 among the water-fowl, especially those 

 kinds which are not divers, and were 

 thereby debarred from deep-water feed- 

 ing, various expedients were restored to 

 in acquiring a meal. 



It was amusing to watch the Herring 

 Gulls obtain the flesh of mussels that lived 

 along the bank. They would take one and 

 fly up about a hundred feet or more in the 

 air, and then let it drop down upon the ice. 

 Sudden contact with the hard surface 

 after such a fall would crack the shell 

 apart, and their feast was ready. 



Sometimes dozens of them might be 

 observed rising up, holding themselves 

 suspended a moment at a certain eleva- 

 tion, dropping their mussels, then swoop- 

 ing down after them. As it often took 

 several ascents to accomplish their pur- 

 pose, their evolutions of rising and falling 

 made a beautiful and animated sight. — 

 John Tooker, Babylon, Long Island, N. Y . 



Herring Gulls in Connecticut 



In 'The Birds of Connecticut,' by Messrs 

 Bishop and Sage, the Herring Gull {Lams 

 argentatus) is called "an abundant winter 



