THE OOLOGIST. 



141 



When the snow falls lightly and the 

 evergreens hold so much of it tliat the 

 light in the woods is dim, it is worth go- 

 ing miles to see the chickadees flitting 

 about the laden branches and shaking 

 the snow down in clouds — shoveling 

 their paths, as it were, for truly tlieir 

 thoroughfares are drifted up at sucii 

 times. 



Yet on a mild sunny morning in win- 

 ter the chickadees are seen to the best 

 advantage. Their spirits seem to rise 

 with the temperature. Leaving tlieir 

 common song they attempt a warble; 

 and the attempt is not to be despised. 

 It is expressive of contentment and 

 happiness and might be repi'eseuted as 

 *'Clice-dle-iva chee-clle-we,''' delivered 

 in a liquid tone with an occasional ex- 

 tra "wa'' at the end. Sometimes the 

 last syllable be omes "wank" Avith a 

 ■distinctly nasal sound which the birds 

 have doubtless learned from long asso- 

 ciation with their friends the Nut- 

 hatches. 



The birds appear to be rather gregar- 

 ious, moving through tlie woods in 

 loose flocks and continually calling to 

 each other. These flocks are probably 

 the same family parties that we saw in 

 autumn wending their way along some 

 aerial path through the treetops and 

 gleaning food as they went. By this 

 time the young have learned to say; 

 '*Chick-a-da)/-day-(lay'' like their elders; 

 but then the\' invariably pronounced it 

 "cheet-a-dai/-da" in a querulous voice 

 unlike a- chickadee's. It was doubtless 

 the young, also, that were lisping 

 *'c-r-e-e-p" as if afraid to fly. 



As the breeding season^ approaches, 

 the birds call "e-phebe" in a higli clear 

 whistle, much louder than one would 

 expect from so small a l)ird. The 

 whistle can be perfectly imitated and 

 never fads to excite the birds who im- 

 mediately l)(!gin searching for the au- 

 thor of the call. In spring they may 

 be decoyed ahnost within reach by this 

 means; but in late summer the o^.il only 

 •sets tliem to vociforously repeating 



"chick-a-day'" with endless repetitions 

 of the ^'day" as if thej' had forgotten 

 how to stop. 



WiLLAllD N. ClUTE, 



Binghamton, N. Y. 



From Wisconsin. 



Bird migration is in full blast here 

 now, March 8th the temperature and 

 sky springlike, the snow melting, and 

 the streams and ditches running over, 

 Wild Geese flying northward, and the 

 Robins and Bluebirds tuning their 

 throats for their songs of spring. 

 Wednesday morning ditto. But before 

 noon a blizzard struck, snow was whirl- 

 ing and Avhizziug before the sharp gale 

 from the wild and wooly west, the little 

 streams didn't trickle, the Robins and 

 Bluebirds didn't sing, the Wild Geese 

 acknowledged themselves gooses, and 

 not another spring bird was seen until 

 the 24th. The ))lizzard in the north and 

 northwest wasteriible. March 24thRob- 

 ins and Bluebirds were quite numerous 

 and on the 25th 1 saw Robins.Blue1)irds, 

 Blackbirds(Bronzed Grackles)and heard 

 Killdeers and Meadow Larks, and saw 

 a great many pairs of Prairie Horned 

 Larks. To-day the 2()th some boys told 

 me they saw eight Prairie Chickens go- 

 ing west (or bust). Geese and Ducks 

 plenty. 



Geo. W. Vosbukg, 



Columbus, Wis. 



Are Crows Beneficial? 



Mr. Trostler's remarks on "The 

 (yrows Around Omaha" in March OtiLO- 

 GIST are interesting, but he is laboring 

 under a delusion in believing that 

 Crows are more iH'uelicial than other- 

 wise. 



For the information of those Ornithol- 

 ogists who have not read "The Food of 

 Crows" by Walter B. Barrows, Ass. Or- 

 nithologist, U. S. Dep. of Agriculture, I 



