Bulletin No. 26. 37 



in the woods one very warm day. These two were flitting their white 

 tail feathers, and chatting much as they do up north here before a snow- 

 storm. I laughed to my wife about the persistency of habit in an 

 environment where such prophecy could be failure only, and we were 

 sorry for the birds. The next day after the morrozc it snozved. 



I was impressed (in many strolls in the woods and swampy tangles, 

 along with some extensive buggy rides) with the scarcety of old bird- 

 nests. Northern people residing there tell me that in the breeding 

 season, bird life is not nearly so evident as it is further north. 



I did not hear of or observe any loss of birds by freezing. I see 

 accounts of great destruction on the south Atlantic coast. Neither can I 

 note any diminution of the birds here in Missouri this spring. On the 

 contrary they seem to be unusually abundant and active — a fact noted by 

 the ordinary observer. 



I have not seen-any Bluebirds, but am able to hear of them in various 

 directions. 



J.^MES Newton Baskett. 



SOME WESTERN HORIZONS. 



It has long been the fond dream of the writer to take a leisurely trip 

 to the Pacific coast, stopping by the way from time to time to take 

 sample horizons. The dream is in a fair way or realization as I pen 

 these lines from Green River, Wyoming, on the Union Pacific railroad. 



Birding from a car window is not very satisfactory, never-the-less it is 

 inevitable for one who has birds on the brain. Hence it is that I have 

 lists of " Birds seen between South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago," and 

 " Birds seen between Glidden, Iowa, and Omaha, Neb.," but they are 

 scarcely worth reproducing in print. 



Waterloo, Nebraska, was chosen as a fair representative of the eastern 

 portion of the state. This little town is situated in the fertile and well 

 wooded valley of the Elkhorn River, near where this stream unites with 

 the Platte. The woods on the river banks and adjoining lagoons were 

 swarming with birds. The prairie proper and the upland are mostly 

 given over to Dickcissel and he occupies himself here with his endless 

 task of "sheep shearing." 



A day was spent at Waterloo, that is from 9 a. m. of one day to the 

 same hour of the next. Owing to a thunderstorm during the night and 



