188 



THE OOLOGIST. 



I880, atul I found tlii' Crested Grebes 

 mimevous at ISIiirqiiette, and often 

 Avatcht'(l them as tliey swam alioiit the 

 harbor within the breakwater, and 

 found them deeidely interestiiij? in | 

 their habits. 



Thej- appear to liave h)st mucli of 

 llieir usual timidity and gained in wari- 

 ness and cunning by frequenting the 

 Avaters of tliis busy harbor, and they 

 ])ay little attention to tlu' hiigt' lake 

 vessels that are continually going and 

 coming, simijly moving out of the Avay 

 of passing vessels. Off mes I have seen 

 them turn and follow close in thi' wake 

 of a huge steamer as it came to or went 

 from the wliarf, soon returning, how- 

 ever. 



Like most of the divers, its eyes is 

 exceedingly keen, and its movenumts 

 exceedingly rai)id when occasion de- 

 mands it. When st:;n(ling upon the 

 wharf, I have frcipiently had thein 

 swim within ten or twelve rods of nic, 

 always closely watching me, and, if 

 they thought I was paying too close 

 attention to them, they would suddenly 

 dive lien<'ath tlu' waters only to reap- 

 pear in some unexpected quarter, a 

 little later. 



They are usually seen in )>airs and 

 are monogamous, and 1 belic\e, mate 

 for life, possibly tlii' surviver will I'c- 

 mai'ry after the loss ot its conii)anion. 



\VlLFKKl> A. BkOTHEIM'ON, 



Oakland Co., Micli. 



Ichthy-Ornithological. 

 Vorarinufi Moinitain Trout. 



Two years ago while sojoiu'ning in 

 the VViiliamette Valley in Oregon, an- 

 otliei' y<mng companion and myself 

 started one morning in the spring on a 

 tramp with the intention of spending a 

 day on Scoggin Creek, a tributary of 

 the Tualatin River, in hopes of secur- 

 ing a tine lot of Mountain Trout 



After plying the stream with our tlies 

 for a couple of miles with fair ■^ueress. 



we came finally to a large jx^ol in 

 which Ave could see several large trout 

 swimming about in the clear mountain 

 Avuter, but Avith all our seductive art of 

 rty-t"isting, Ave Avere unable to capture 

 any of them, and Hiially sat down on a 

 log in disgust to I'cst. 



After sitting for some time Ave saAV 

 an old Wood Duck quietly sAvim out 

 from under the shelving bank and start 

 to lead her Hock of joiing ones across 

 the ])ool. Wc could see their little I'ed 

 feet S2)lash in the Avatcr as they fol- 

 lowed their Avily parent. Just as they 

 reached the middle of the stream,, one 

 large old trout made a charge right 

 into the midst of the young ducks u]>- 

 setting two or three in his mad careci'. 

 The first tish Avas immediately followed 

 by his comrades, each viciously attack- 

 ing the young fowls in their turn. The 

 young ducks evideuTly were vci-y much 

 snrpi-i>ed and teriilicd as thcA' tied, 

 diving in every direction, uttering their 

 plaintive cry of fear. The fear of the 

 young was api)arently participated in 

 1)3' their mother as she moved around 

 colh^cting herj'onng, beating the Avatei- 

 Avith her wings continuously. 



Finally after some time, the trout 

 seemed to desist in disgust as wc had 

 done in regard to their capture. 'J'he 

 l)arent bird i)rotiting by this res])ite 

 gathered her tloi'k before her and drove 

 them down stream in great liast(-. The 

 only solution m}' friend and I could 

 offer foi- the novel action of these ti-out. 

 was that the I'ed feet of the 3"oung'^ 

 ducks 1)1 >re a close i-esenil)lance to il,e 

 Salmon eggs often used for fish iiait by 

 Oregon tislitnnien; or, that these old 

 fellows had a relish foi' a practical joke, 

 Avhich indeed it resend^led to an oi).s(>r- 

 ver. 



t;i,AV JMcN.XAIIiE, 



Moscow, Idaho. 



