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JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



bushes or some other hiding place, 

 then skulli and hide. Their beaks 

 were very sharp, and they were as 

 cross as could be to all others who at- 

 tempted to feed them, but they were as 

 gentle and as playful to me as a kit- 

 ten could be, taking fish from my fing- 

 ers very carefully. After eating their 

 food they would curl down beside me, 

 ajid I could stroke their head or neck. 

 Sometimes they would take my fingers 

 in their mouth playfully, but never of- 

 fered to play rough. They never quar- 

 reled with each other except sometimes 

 they both tried to swallow the same 

 piece of fish at once. Then it was amus- 

 ing to watch them. Often in a bright, 

 sunny day they would stalk with long 

 strides across their enclosure^ with 

 their long pointed bills pointing 

 straight up into the sky, sometimes 

 stopping for five or ten minutes, their 

 beads still upturned, and standing as 

 still as a sentry, then they would re- 

 sume their strides to the other side. 



When they saw me coming to feed 

 them they would come rushing along 

 to the corner to meet me, looking as 

 ferocious as an angry lion, tltie long 

 feathers on their neck ruffled up, and 

 with sharp, glaring eyes, but as soon 

 as I offered them food they lost their 

 angry looks instantaneously. Several 

 visitors tried to feed them, or to 

 stroke their feathers, but only tried it 

 once, as they got a cut with their long 

 sharp beak. And if they tried to play 

 with them, they would throw their 

 heads back, ruffle the feathers on their 

 neck, throw themselves down on the 

 ground and strike at anyone who came 

 in reach of their powerful beak. 



In the autumn when the birds be- 

 gan to migrate, my pets gave evidence 

 of a strong desire to go South. They 

 would stalk about their enclosure ner- 

 vously and try to get through the wire. 

 They were very uneasy, and it was evi- 

 dent that strong instinct urged them 

 to leave this cold climate. When I re- 



turned from school one day in October 

 I found my pets had flown up over the 

 top of the wire fence about four feet 

 high, and gone. I went to a brook 

 near by and found tracks they had 

 made. I followed a little farther on 

 to a small bog, lined with willow 

 bushes, tall grass and cat tails and 

 there were my birds, wading in the 

 water. I called to them; at first they 

 paid little attention to me, but soon 

 flew across the water to my feet, and 

 seemed much pleased to see me. 1 

 took them home and fed them. The 

 next day they went to the same bog, 

 and were brought back at night as be- 

 fore. I tied a string to one leg, giving 

 them the freedom of their enclosure. 

 The next night when I returned from 

 school one had become entangled with 

 the string on its leg and had pulled 

 its shelter down on its head, and lay 

 dead. The other had cut the string 

 with its sharp beak and gone. I went 

 to the bog as before and found my re- 

 maining pet, but he would not come 

 to me. I could not call it or catch it. 

 It kept about the place but crossed to 

 the other side when I tried to get up 

 to it. It staid about the bog for a 

 day or two then left for parts un- 

 known, and I never saw again this 

 bird, which was one of the most in- 

 teresting pets I ever had. I missed 

 them for many a day. 



The only sound made while they 

 were with me was by one of the birds. 

 It threw its head back, stretching its 

 neck to its full length, and drawing 

 air down its spacious throat, that 

 sounded a short distance off like some- 

 one driving a stake. It would repeat 

 this several times. I had supposed 

 this sound was only made by the male 

 during the mating season. 



Late records of certain birds at 

 Westbrook, Me., and vicinity: 



Am. Woodcock — Remained in 1900 

 until Nov. 23d, when three were taken. 



