276 



THE OOLOGIST 



Bronzed and Purple Crackles, Night 

 and Green Herons. Bitterns, Sharp- 

 tailed Sparrows and Semi-palmated 

 Sandpipers common. Saw flocks of 

 20 to 50 of the latter. Kingfishers not 

 so common as previous year, when 

 they were very plentiful for the spe- 

 cies. Saw five Summer Yellow-leg^ 

 hurrying around in shallow water 

 near hotel. I watched them for five 

 minutes, not over forty feet away. 

 They were securing food in shallow 

 water and their long legs and bills 

 were perfectly adapted to the work. 

 One took a nice bath in six inches of 

 water. He partly spread his wings 

 and fluttered and shook himself and 

 spent a minute in apparent enjoy- 

 ment. 



Aug. 16, 1912. Saybrook Point. 

 Clear and cool. Noted on and around 

 muddy beach, near Long Island 

 Sound: 200 Semi-palmated Sandpi- 

 pers, 50 Least Sandpipers, 300 Semi- 

 palmated Plovers, 75 Summer Yellow- 

 legs, 2 Night Herons, 2 Green Herons, 

 1 Sharp-tailed Sparrow, 6 Kingbirds, 

 1 Kingfisher and 1000 Swallows, most- 

 ly Tree and Barn, a few Bank and 

 Cliff observed. 



The small Sandpipers frequently 

 flew, wheeled, showing white under- 

 parts, when they might easily be mis- 

 taken for Sanderlings or Piping Plov- 

 ers, and returned to nearly the same 

 spot to resume feeding. They con- 

 stantly emitted their low, peeping 

 notes. A flock wheeled over my head 

 as I was standing on a bridge the 

 evening before. I could hear the vari- 

 ous species whistling all the evening. 

 There was a small crescent moon. 

 The small Sandpipers frequently 

 bathed in two inches of water. The 

 Yellow-legs, Plovers and Sandpipers 

 kept in separate companies, as a rule. 

 The former preferred shallow water 

 to the bare flats. All frequently 

 changed position. 



This locality is exceedingly rich in 

 bird life and it would pay one to spend 

 some time there in observation and 

 study. 



Charles L. Phillips. 

 Taunton, Mass. 



Urinator Imber — Loon. 



This wild inhabitant of our north- 

 ern lakes and ponds possesses all the 

 characteristic traits of the Divers. It 

 is rarely seen on ponds of less than 

 several acres in extent and is never 

 common, except on the larger rivers 

 and lakes, where it keeps in the open 

 water and escapes its pursuers by div- 

 ing and swimming long distances un- 

 der water. In this manner it can 

 elude the swiftest oarsman, but when 

 cornered in shallow water, it takes 

 wing and makes a long flight before 

 alighting. 



When on land the Loon is a very 

 ackward fellow. He stands with his 

 body erect and his tarsi usually rest- 

 ing on the ground. He cannot walk, 

 but progresses by tumbling forward 

 and flopping his wings and pushing 

 his feet in a most ungainly manner. 



It is asserted by the best authorities 

 that this bird can evade a gunshot by 

 diving at the flash, and I have no 

 doubt that this is true when black 

 powder is used, but with a modern 

 gun loaded with buck-shot there was 

 no trouble to secure a fine male on 

 Muskoko Lake, in Canada, where they 

 breed quite abundantly. Our guide 

 told us that he never saw more than 

 2 eggs in a nest, which is invariably 

 near the waters edge, so that you can 

 easily wade to the same. It is a mere 

 depression in the rock or ground. 



The upper parts, wings, tail and 

 neck black with bluish or greenish 

 reflections, spaces on the side of 

 the neck streaked with white; 

 liack and wings spotted and bar- 

 red with white; breast and belly 



