JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOI.OGICAL SOCIETY. 49 



and got his dinner. It was evident that he had resorted to this tree 

 for food for some time, as so many needles had been picked off that 

 the foliage looked as thin as a juniper's does after the worms have 

 eaten part of the needles. These birds scratch in the leaves and 

 moss a great deal more than the Ruffed Grouse ever does. 



All that I know of the nesting habits of the Canada Grouse is 

 that a friend of mine once found two nests about the last of Ma}^ 

 They were quite near each other, both under low spruces. The 

 nests were simply hollows in the moss. One nest contained nine 

 eggs ; I do not remember how many were in the other. 



Personally, I have never seen the Canada Crrouse drum. My 

 father has told me of watching one and seeing him drum several 

 times. He stated that the bird flew up into a tree and would start 

 off, drumming on the flight down. 



To show that these birds are decreasing, some forty years ago 

 a friend wished some to mount for Mr. Hearst, of Albany, to photo- 

 graph for a group picture. In the course of the winter one man 

 sent me some twenty-five of the birds fit to mount. Of course more 

 must have been shot, which were spoiled for mounting. I doubt if 

 any one man could collect half that number now. I have one female 

 in my collection which is about one-fourth white. 



It seems a pity that anyone should kill such tame and beautiful 

 birds merely for the sport of killing, and they seem doomed to 

 extinction if murdered as they now are by everyone who sees one. 



A YeIlow=Bined Cuckoo. 



By Sara C. RA.STivrAN. 



It was my privilege to spend the third week of July on a large 

 farm about fifteen miles from the city. It is a hillside farm and 

 the lower pasture slopes steeply down to a broad meadow. It is a 

 rough, wet place, for the most part covered with alders, and is the 

 haunt of Woodcock and Partridges. Here and there is an ancient 

 apple tree, all that remains of what was once a large orchard. On 



