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VOL. vn. 



ALBION, N. Y., JAN., 1890. 



NO. 1 



Notes on Florida Birds. 



When in Florida last winter, I met 

 with a great many birds under circum- 

 stances very favorable for studying 

 them, especially when camping on the 

 Indian river. An account of the whole 

 trip might be interesting, but, brief as 

 I eould make it, it would till the whole 

 of several numl^ers of the Oologist and 

 would not be confined to ornithology 

 and oology alone, but would have to 

 contain something about camping, boat- 

 ing, adventures with animals, reptiles, 

 insects, etc.; so I must leave the space 

 which it wonld take, for articles of 

 more valuQ^; but I will try from time to 

 time, to give brief notes of some of the 

 more prominent birds. 



1 , Florida Jay, {Aphelocoma Jiori- 

 dana.) The Florida Jay i^ found in 

 larger numbers on the Indian river 

 than in any part of Florida. Prof. 

 Maynard took live, sets of eggs in one 

 season near where I \ras camping, 

 which was a pretty good find, consider" 

 ing that the bird builds in a tangled 

 thicket. I saw a Jay fly into an or- 

 ange tree one day and immediately shot 

 him. Glancing into the tree, I saw a 

 nest there made of sticks and looking 

 very much like a Jay's nest. It took 

 me about ten seconds to climb into that 

 tree and stick several sharp thorns into 

 my legs, only to find it an old nest of 

 v/hat kind I do not know. 



The Florida Jay is a handsome bird 

 with his mettallic blue and ashy gi-ay 

 coat, and I do not think he is quite so 

 mischievous as his notorious relative, 

 the Blue Jay; but I have not had the 

 opportunity to study his habits that I 

 have had of those of the Blue Jay, and 

 perhaps if I saw him skirmishing 

 through the woods and eating up the 

 eggs and young of servicable birds, I 



might have as bad an opinion of him 

 as I have of Cyanocitta cristata, 

 and Corvus americaniis are the two 

 birds which I dislike, for I have setn 

 them I'ob the nests of smaller birds, like 

 the tyrants that they are. Again I have 

 seen them unmercifully henpecked by 

 Kingbirds, Red-wing Blackbirds and 

 even Sparrows for trying to break up 

 their homes. 



There is scarcely a bird iu South 

 Florida, save the Grackies, as tame as 

 the Jays. They will come into a house, 

 and although there may be several pei- 

 sons in the room, will hop around as 

 freely as if they were in tlie woods out 

 of' sight of a human being. At one 

 grove I saw Jays so tame that they 

 would eat out the hand of Mr. Sackett, 

 the owner of the grove. They make 

 great pets, he says, and he thinks a 

 great deal of them, for they are lots of 

 company to him, his nearest neighbor 

 being several miles away, and wtth 

 their lively notes and gay plumage and 

 manner, they are a source of much en- 

 joymient to him, as they would be to 

 anyone w^ho would treat them as friends 

 and not as mere specimens fit only 

 for the cabinet. 



2. Tnv'kG J Hvizz&v A, (Cathartes aura). 

 This bird is protected by law in Florida 

 far better than the deer, for venison i.s 

 exposed for sale in the open markets 

 there during the "close" season, while 

 who would think of hanging up a Buz- 

 zard in his market at any season? 

 Public opinion is on the side of the 

 Buzzard, as it should be, for without 

 this invaluable scavenger, life in the 

 tropics would be decidedly unpleasant. 



Buzzards are seldom shot, and during 

 the time I was in Florida, I neither shot 

 at nor killed one, although I could have 

 killed fifty or more without going a step 

 out of my way. 



