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JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



on zero moruings I would find her fairly 

 benumbed. At such times I would 

 carry her into the house and warm her 

 by the fire and it was amusing to see 

 her stretch her neck to keep her head 

 near the warmth when her body was 

 being slowly drawn away. As much as 

 she seemed to enjoy these warmings, 

 she always resented the necessary hand- 

 ling that accompanied them. Although 

 she became so tame that she would of 

 her own accord, perch on my shoulder 

 and pick corn from between my lips, let 

 me so much as place my hand on her and 

 it would be a week or more before I 

 could again get near her. 



The fall after Sponsa was a year old, 

 a magnificent male Wood Duck was 

 brought me to mount. When it was 

 finished I placed it in the room with her 

 and concealed myself where I could 

 watch without being seen, and a laugh- 

 able as well as pathetic sight it was. 

 She evidently thought that at last she 

 had a beau. She plumed and preened 

 herself, then advancing with wings 

 dragging on the earth she circled his 

 lordship. Evidently she was somewhat 

 disconcerted and surprised when he paid 

 no attention to her attempts to entertain 

 him, but nothing daunted she repeated 

 the performance with emphasis. Then, 

 taking a closer view of the drake she 

 seemed suddenly to discover that he was 

 only a stuffed bird with a glass eye, for 

 she left him with a look as foolish as it 

 is possible for a l»ird to assume. 



Sponsa died after having been in my 

 possession about two years and a half. 

 Upon dissection I fouud her death due 

 to a cancerous condition of the intes- 

 tines. Her skin is mounted and occu- 

 pies a prominent place in the Bridgton 

 Academy Museum — a frequent reminder 

 of the most interesting pet I ever had. 



A Ramble where Gatesby Wrought. 



Executed in May, 1898. 



ARTHUR H. NORTON. 



Those having access to the Systema 

 Naturae of Linnaeus, and working under 

 his Classis II, Aves, may observe that 

 most of his North American species are 

 based upon Catesby's work, "The Nat- 

 ural History of Carolina. Florida, and 

 Bahama Islands." This work, which 

 was published in two folio volumes and 

 an appendix, appeared under the dates 

 1731, 1743, and 1748. 



It is not our purpose to attempt to 

 sketch the career of this pioneer natu- 

 ralist, nor his travels in this then new 

 field. It is known that a good part of 

 his time spent in Carolina was passed 

 about Fort Moore, which, according to 

 a thoroughly authoritative resident of 

 the neighborhood, was located on a 

 sandy bluff" on the South Carolina bank 

 of the Savannah River, in the place now 

 known as Beech Island. The site is 

 about four miles from Augusta, Georgia, 

 from which the public highway leads to 

 "Sandbar Ferry." The ferry "flat" 

 (flat-boat) lands on the Carolina side at 

 the foot of this bluff" should be renowned 

 in ornithological history. 



Local tradition recounts a tale of an 

 Indian warrior and captive at the fort 

 who, cautiously slipping a gun barrel 

 into the open fire until a red heat was 

 reached, brandished the weapon while 

 retreiiting to the edge of the bluff, from 

 which he leaped to the Savannah River 

 sixty or a hundred feet below, thus 

 escaping. Other entertaining facts or 

 fancies have clustered about the place. 



