190 SOME TENNESSEE BIRD NOTES. 



What he could be doing there at that season 

 was more than either of us could divine. It 

 was impossible to feel any great concern 

 about him, however. The afternoon was 

 nearly done, but at the rate he was traveling 

 it seemed as if he might be in Mexico before 

 sunrise. And easily enough he may have 

 been, if Mr. Gatke is right in his contention 

 that birds of very moderate powers of wing 

 are capable of flying all night at the rate of 

 four miles a minute ! 



The comparative scarcity of crows about 

 Chattanooga, and the amazing dearth of 

 jays in the oak forest of Walden's Ridge, 

 have been touched upon elsewhere. As for 

 the jays, their absence must have been more 

 apparent than real, I am bound to believe. 

 It was their silent time, probably. Still 

 another thing that I found surprising was 

 ^the small number of woodpeckers. For the 

 first four days I saw not a single repre- 

 sentative of the family. It would be next 

 to impossible to be so much out of doors in 

 Massachusetts at any season of the year 

 with a like result. During my three weeks 

 in Tennessee I saw eight flickers, seven 

 hairy woodpeckers, two red-heads, and two 



