THE OOLOQI8T 



21 



Cooper's Hawk. Photo taken May 10, 1921 by H. Grandquist and R. B. Simpson, 

 40 feet up in a beech in deep woods, Warren Co., Pa. 



LEAVES FROM MY NOTE BOOK 



June 7, 1916. I was walking along a 

 street here in town on the afternoon 

 of this date, and I saw a Blue Jay lay- 

 ing flat on the ground, with wings and 

 tail outspread, and its head to one side, 

 and the eyes were open. T supposed 

 it had met with some accident or 

 other and thinking about my collection 

 I stooped to pick ths find up. To my 

 surprise the Jay jumped up and flew 

 off over the trees yelling at me. I 

 never knew a Jay to play dead before 

 and I am inclined to believe it had a 

 "stroke" if birds have such things. 



July 1917. A lad brought to me en 

 Ihis date a much bedraggled specimen 

 of American Bittern. He told me he 

 had found the bird crippled near the 

 Lake-of-the-Woods and killed it and 

 took it to me. The familiar odor of 

 skunk was plainly in evidence and I 



found the bird to be badly bruised, 

 and with one wing broken. There is 

 little doubt in my mind that a skunk 

 had tried to drive on the Bittern, but 

 the latter objected, and a fight was 

 staged. I would like to see the skunk. 



January 1920. Dr. Condit came into 

 the shop on this date with a dead 

 Great-eared Ow^, for me to mount. He 

 told me he had found the owl dead in 

 a ravine, near town. 



While skinning the head I discovered 

 a shingle nail protruding through the 

 lower mandible in the fleshy part. The 

 nail w^as corroded and black and 

 looked as though it had been there a 

 long time. I think this was what 

 caused the bird's death, but how did 

 it come by the shingle nail is beyond 

 me. 



Ralph R. Donahue, 

 Bonner Springs, Kansas. 



