J^laim:. Wash., Ai.i.-Day. loi 



as yet by the presence of the all but universal scourge, when 

 " }'ark, yark, srra/^i, chirp, chirp'''' came from a little fir-tree a 

 block away, in the center of the central business block of 

 town. His obscene majesty, the English Sparrow, has ar- 

 rived ! His half century of conquest is appropriately consum- 

 mated upon this last sfjuare rood of Uncle Sam's undivided 

 possession. Blaine stands at the exact northwestern corner of 

 the United States, and the goal of the Gamin is reached. 



The aliens can be very crafty if they choose, and they do 

 choose while they are in the minority. I have searched the 

 townsite over, during the two months past, fearing the dread 

 presence, yet resolved to know the worst, without having 

 heard a single chirp from the do»nsticus until to-day. Yet I 

 am assured that the creatures have been here in small num- 

 bers for two or three years past. Nine Sparrows were fright- 

 ened, upon this occasion, from the little fir-tree, and all be- 

 came instantly silent upon their escape. 



The cataloguer's attention was next directed toward the 

 water birds. Drayton Harbor, which is the inner sea sanctum 

 of Blaine, is some seven miles in circumference at high-tide, 

 and save for a narrow channel, is shut off from the wide 

 waters of Semiahmoo Bay by a sand-spit a mile in length. As 

 flood-tide approaches, the number of sea birds upon the har- 

 bor is augmented to several thousand by the arrival of ducks, 

 mostly Scaups, "Bluebills," and Scoters, or "Black Ducks." 

 These birds, upon entering or leaving the harbor, usually fly 

 low over the sand-spit and are here assaulted by a battery of 

 ever-ready guns. As a result of the steady maintainance of 

 the firing line, the ducks upon the harbor are nervous and un- 

 approachable — save by eight-power binoculars. 



The constant residents of the harbor are Grebes. West- 

 ern Grebes (occidciiia/is ) , to the number of a hundred or more, 

 move about singly or in small groups, occasionally calling to 

 each other in shrill notes, like the squeaking of rusty wind- 

 lasses. They are graceful creatures — cruelly graceful with 

 their dagger beaks and ej'es of fiery red — and yet there is 

 something swan-like in the carriage of the head upon the 

 mobile neck. 



Holbfull Grebes ( Co/y/i/btts hoi/xri/ii), appear in lesser 



