-^K • 



• of -^ ^ 7 B 



ologigt; 



NOVEMBER, 1880. 



No. 9. 



He laughs \>y the suininci- stream, 

 Where the li'llies nod and (treani, 

 As through the sheen of water cdoI and elear 

 He sees the ehub and sunlish cutting sheer. 



His are resplendent eyes; 



His mien is kingliwise; 

 And down the May wind rides he lilie a king, 

 With more than royal purple on his wing. 



His Palace is the brake 



Where the rushes shine and shake; 

 His music is the murmur of the stream, 

 And that leaf-rustle an here the lillies dream. 



Such life as his would be 

 A more than Heaven to me: 

 All sun, all bloom, all happy weather, 

 All joys bound in a sheaf together. 



No w^onder he laughs so loud; 



No wonder he looks so proud ; 

 There are great kings would give their royalty 

 To have one day of his felicity ! 



OOLOGICAL NOTES. 



St. Clair Fiats, Michigan, June 2. 

 — While crossing Big Bay, going from 

 the south channel to Strawberry Island, 

 I saw in the rushes what I supposed 

 A^as a wild goose. When I was within 

 about 200 yards, it, and its mate took 

 wing, and from the size and color I 

 judged them to be Brants {Brenta 

 Bernicla). This was at 5 a. m. I watch- 

 ed their flight and saw them go toward 

 Goose Bay, about four miles from 

 where I started them. I did not see 

 anything more of them until June 15, 

 when exploring Goose Bay I saw a 

 similar pair go into the rushes about 

 a half mile from me. As I •« ent to- 

 wards them they started and circled 

 near enough for me to get a good look 

 at them, when I at once decided them 

 to be the Brants. I marked the place 

 and going to it found the nest and 

 nine eggs. Three of the eggs were 



broken and outside the nest, but quite 

 fresh. The eggs were jiure white, of 

 ovidal form and pointed at one end. 

 The average measurement, 2 9-16x1 

 12-16 and 2 7-16x1 13-16. The nest 

 was in a species of wild grtiss, growing 

 on a hard bottom, in water 8 to 10 

 inches deep, was composed of drift 

 rushes and the wild grass. It was 

 raised about 9 inches above the water, 

 was 15 inches across outside, 10 inches 

 inside, and 5 inches deep. The lining 

 was of down and feathers. 



June 15. — On Strawberry Island on 

 the north ridge of Snyboro Channel, I 

 ffjund Forster's and W^ilson's Tern. 

 These birds are easily distinguished at 

 gunshot range by their different cry. 

 That of the Forster's Tern is hoarse 

 ftnd croaking ; in fact they are so dif- 

 ferent I couid single Forster's every 

 time by waiting to hear its call. I fan- 

 cied I could see a difference in the 

 length of the tail feathers. I found a 

 nest of the Forster's on a lot of drift- 

 rushes. It was composed of drift- 

 rushes piled neatly and compactly to- 

 gether, was about 3 inches high, 7 

 inches across the top outside, and half 

 an inch deep. There were three eggs 

 of a greenish color, spotted with am- 

 ber brown and lilac, thickest at the 

 large end of the ^^^. In shape they 

 were a long and pointed oval and 

 measured 1 3-4x1 3-16, 1 11-16x1 3-16, 

 1 3-4x1 1-8. While I was examining 

 the nest the Tern came within a few 

 feet of my head uttering its hoarse 

 cry. Was an easy shot. I found sev- 

 eral oth.er nests and shot more of the 

 birds.' I have a few setts of the eggs 



