70 



THE OOLOGIST 



3. A. S. Woodward; Vertibrate Pa- 

 laeontology, Cambridge University 

 Press, 1898. 



4. Karl A. von Zittel: Text-book of 

 Palaeontology, vol. II, Macmillan 

 and Co., (London), 1902. 



Past two years I have been game 

 warden on the Adirondack League 

 Club Preserve — a bird sanctuary of 

 100,000 acres in the Moose River and 

 West Canada Creek Country. 



The private park is used to propa- 

 gate and protect fish, birds, and quad- 

 rupeds. My duties are such that I 

 have ample opportunities to observe 

 birds. I have within a mile of my 

 camp "Ox-Bow," on Moose River, four 

 or five pairs of the magnificent Pileat- 

 ed Woodpecker. They are very num- 

 erous all along the river bottom coun- 

 try. The Artie Three-toed Wood- 

 pecker is a frequent visitor in camp. 

 The American Three-toed Woodpeck- 

 er is not so common, still I meet a 

 pair every few days. 



Goshawks nest here — one nest had 

 three young about a week old on May 

 2nd . I hope to have something to say 

 in a' near number of The Oologist, 

 about birds of "Little Moose" country. 

 C. F. Stone, 

 Branchport, New York. 



CAMP IN A COAL MINE 



Along the south shore of the Ohio 

 River, approximately across the center 

 of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, lies 

 a rarely frequented area, five miles 

 long and from a' half to two miles wide. 

 For the most part, a precipitous bluff 

 from two hundred and fifty to four 

 hundred feet in height rises directly 

 from the water, only a narrow flood 

 plain separating its base from the 

 river's edge. Numerous ravines and 

 gullies, carved out by the early spring 

 freshets, run back from the river like 

 teeth of a comb, and end far above in 



the meadows and plowed fields which 

 characterize the country to the south. 

 In spite of the fact that this bluff is 

 practically continuous, the locality pre- 

 sents varied ecological conditions in 

 wliicli several types of birds are to be 

 found. From the river to the level 

 fields at the top, the bluff is very 

 heavily wooded. Hard-wood predomi- 

 nates and in the steeper places, it is 

 first growth. In general, the under- 

 brush is very thick. Around the 

 mouth of Raccoon Creek at the west 

 end of the tract, and also at the top of 

 the cliff, the country is characterized 

 by tilled fields and is open and rolling. 

 On the afternoon of May 12th, 1921, 

 George Sutton and the writer started 

 for this country, prepared to spend 

 several days. We ea'ch carried a 

 blanket, and our provisions consisted 

 of four or five loaves of bread and a 

 pound of bacon, to be augmented 

 later by whatever luck brought us. 

 Camp was made in the air shaft of an 

 abandoned coal mine, and it is surpris- 

 ing how conducive to a sound night's 

 rest, form-fitting hollows in a pile of 

 shale can be. That night we were 

 lulled to sleep by the querulous chant- 

 ing of a Screech Owl, punctuated by 

 the base notes of a Great Horned Owl, 

 and colored by that song of songs, the 

 flight ecstasy of an Oven-bird. The 

 first night in the woods is always 

 sleepless, so at about four o'clock the 

 next morning we were off, much too 

 eager to eat anything. At about flve 

 o'clock the matinal chorus began — Fly- 

 catchers, Thrushes, and Warblers. 

 The woods were literally flooded with 

 Warblers. In three days twenty-six 

 species had left their lasting impres- 

 sions on us! The wheezy droning of 

 the Parula was mingled with the stac- 

 cato decisiveness of the Tennessee and 

 Nashville, and with the breezy con- 

 versation of the Hooded and Kentuck.v, 

 and the bell-like wavering of the 

 White-throated Sparrow was accom- 



