THE OOLOGIST 



285 



appearance for he was not seeu.neither 

 were they ti'oubled with him again. 



They are particularly treacherons 

 like the rest of the Heron family and 

 will strike for one's eyes every time. I 

 have read two accounts of persons los- 

 ing an eye about this very lake. 



A captive one makes no distinction 

 between keeper or stranger, and one is 

 as apt to strike suddenly out after be- 

 ing carressed and handled for days as 

 when first captui'ed and they strike 

 with no little force for at one place 

 they exhibit a pine wood oar with a 

 Heron's bill protruding twx) inches 

 thn ugh it and which was done by hold- 

 ing the oar in front of an enraged bird. 



It is said that the county authorities 

 have forbidden the shooting of the Her- 

 ons for they are excellent scavengers 

 and keep the shores clear of dead fish, 

 frogs and the like, and help in a meas- 

 ure to keep down the mice and snakes. 

 Not so much attention is paid to the 

 Cormorants who spend their time in 

 diving about the lakes catching tish. 

 A tourist may occasionally bag one of 

 these birds by way of novelty and I 

 have heard of persons engaging in the 

 brutish sport of killing them in num- 

 bers from beneath the nests, but the 

 law is geuei'ally kept and they are per- 

 mitted to liy across the passes unharm- 

 ed. 



When the young are able to fly the 

 Herons may often be seen winging 

 about by two's and three's, but soon 

 after only solitary birds are seen. 



They begin to disapi)ear one by one 

 as they leave for the more fertile 

 marshes, and by the middle of August 

 the island is left to the Cormorants and 

 the spirits and hobgoblins that, it is 

 hinted, inhabit the i)lace. 



The Cormorants bunch together and 

 may be seen flying acro-ss the water or 

 banging about the island until the cold 

 weather forces them to leave for a 

 warmer climate. 



H. M. Guilford, 

 Minneapolis, Minn. 



Notes on the Phoebe. 



There is a strong tendency among 

 naturalists in general to study the hab 

 its and characteristics of the more rare 

 birds and animals. There is probably 

 not one amateur ornithologist in one 

 hundred, in New England, but what 

 could give a better off-hand description 

 of the habits of the Golden Eagle, which 

 he probably never saw, than of the 

 Robin, which for four or five months in 

 everj' year, he sees alinost daily; or of 

 the Poa3be, which, perhaps, annually 

 builds its nest in his woodshed. And 

 yet this little bird is well worthy of a 

 careful study. 



Probably thex'e is no bird which is 

 burdened with a greater variety of 

 names. Scientifically, it is known as 

 Muscicapa J'usca, Sayornis fusca and 

 Sayornis phaebe. Commonly, it is 

 knoAvn as Phcebe, Hou.se Pewee, Fly- 

 catcher, Pewit, Bridge Bird, Moss Bird, 

 Pewee and Pewit Flycatcher; and I pre- 

 sume I have not enumerated one half 

 of its names. It is migratory, arriving 

 in this locality early in April and de- 

 parting about the middle of October. 

 It is very much attached to one locality 

 and if undisturbed in its nesting it will 

 I'eturn each season to the same place. 

 It loses little time, after its return, in 

 seeking a nesting place, but almost im- 

 mediately begins to build. Last spring 

 I found a half-completed nest, on the 

 nineteenth day of April. I did not 

 visit this nest again until the middle of 

 June, when I found two freshly laid 

 eggs in the nest, and unmistakable 

 signs that one brood had been raised 

 and had left the nest. 



April twenty-fourth I found a nest 

 nearly completed. I visited this nest a 

 week later and found three eggs 

 These were removed and in ten days I 

 again visited it and found four more 

 eggs. These were not disturbed. I 

 did not see this nest again until about 

 the middle of June, and then it was 



