ai4 



THE OOTvOQIST 



spring and fall transient; arrives as 

 early as July. 



109. Willet. Occurs rarely in form- 

 er years when it bred in New Jersey. 



110. Bartramian Plover. Rare sum- 

 mer resident. 



111. Spotted Sandpiper. Common 

 summer resident. 



112. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Of 

 great rarity and of doubtful occur- 

 rence. 



113. Long-billed Curlew. Rare vis- 

 itant. 



114. Hudsonian Curlew. A fre- 

 quent transient, spring and fall. 



115. Black-bellied Plover. Not a 

 rare fall transient. 



116. American Golden Plover. An 

 exceedingly rare visitant. 



117. Killdeer. Common .summer 

 resident. 



118. Semipalmated Sandpiper. Com- 

 mon spring and fall transient. 



119. Piping Plover. Rare visitant 

 in former years when it bred on the 

 New Jersey coast. 



120. Wilson Plover. Also a rare 

 visitant during former years when it 

 bred in New Jersey. 



121. American Oyster-catcher. Rare 

 straggler during former years. 



Richard F. Miller. 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



The Downy Woodpecker. 



On finding the nest of the above spe- 

 cies this spring, 1912, I sawed the cav- 

 ity open with a V-shaped opening, 

 and exposed one fresh egg. I then 

 closed the opening by wiring the V- 

 shaped piece back into place. Seven 

 days later I returned and secured a 

 set of five fresh eggs. I then closed 

 my improvised door again as before, 

 and sixteen days later the nest con- 

 tained three young birds. The fact 

 that the bird had laid this number of 

 eggs and hatched them, in so short a 

 time surprised me.. 



William B. Crispin. 

 Salem, N. J. 



Visit Large Fowl Yards. 



Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Breen and fam- 

 ily, in company with James Kinsella, 

 spent Sunday in Lacon, with relatives. 

 While in Lacon we had the pleasure 

 of being shown the large flock of wild 

 fowl — now tamed — owned by R. Ma- 

 gon Barnes, the well known lawyer of 

 that city. While Mr. Barnes has prob- 

 ably as large a law practice as any 

 lawyer in Illinois, he finds time and 

 plea — sure in his hobby of raising and 

 taming wild fowl. His residence place 

 is one of the oldest land marks of 

 Lacon, handed down by his father, the 

 late George O. Barnes also one of the 

 greatest lawyer.s of his time — and con- 

 sists of many acres. He has the place 

 fitted up with artificial water pools 

 for his flock, and the birds have be- 

 come so used to his call that many of 

 them will eat from his hands. 



His flock of wild geese consist of 

 eleven different species, and are 

 handsome specimen of water fowl. In 

 order to get them he has spent hun- 

 dreds of dollars, and in the collection 

 are geese from all over North and 

 South America as well as from Euro- 

 pean shores. Besides the geese he 

 has also a number of wild ducks, wood 

 ducks and mud hens. 



Probably the most interesting spe- 

 cimens in his large flock are his 

 Swans. Among these are some of the 

 mo.st rarest of the Swan family, and in 

 fact one or two he has are the only 

 known species alive. One other spe- 

 cie he is now after, and with this view 

 in end he has a party in Alaska on 

 the lookout for the bird. The old le- 

 gion of the swan-song has no terrors 

 for Magon and he takes great delight 

 in his flock, and in showing them to 

 his visitors, of which he has many 

 who come to see the birds. — Bradford, 

 (111.) Republican, June 12th, 1912. 



