waite] a COLLECTOR'S EXPERIENCES 221 



I labored hard trying to dig up some angleworms but didn't 

 have much success until a friend told me how to get them easily. 

 Under her direction I dissolved a heaping spoonful of mustard in a 

 couple of quarts of water and poured it on the ground where I 

 knew there were worms. Almost instantly heads began to appear 

 and bodies to follow the heads ; they actually seemed to shoot up 

 through the ground and wriggle off across the surface. 



Another pretty animal is the little salamander, commonly but 

 incorrectly called a Hzard. Its black eggs, floating in a jelly-like 

 substance on the water, can hardly be distinguished from those of 

 the frog, and like the frog, its early life is spent as a tad pole. 

 After that it leaves for land and lives in a stump, under rocks or in 

 holes or caves. Now it turns a bright red, with three rows of spots 

 down its back. I could find very few of these although I hunted 

 carefully, for a professor at school wanted some to try to discover 

 the development of the color spots on its back. Following a brief 

 stay on land it returns to the water and turns dark grayish ; now 

 they are easily found and I have caught all that were needed with 

 no trouble. 



Although, of coiu"se I have never caught or killed any birds for 

 biology work, I am greatly interested in them, more so in fact, than 

 in any other wild thing. I will not tell of my experiences with 

 them, for more interesting reading than this can be found in any 

 library, telling of the beauty and intelligence of birds, but a list of 

 the birds I have seen in and around Syracuse might prove of 

 value to some. The following is for the year 1912 : 



Chickadee. 



Crow. 



Junco. 



Robin. 



Song Sparrow. 



Herring Gull. 



Fox Sparrow ; Hawk (kind not known) . 



Bluebird; Wild Duck. 



FHckers; Crackles; Red-winged blackbirds ; kingfisher. 



Vesper Sparrow. 



Bam swallow; Ruby-crowned kinglet; white-throated 

 Sparrow; chipping sparrow ; meadow-lark; partridge. 



Bank swallow. 



Yellow warbler ; catbird. 



Brown thrasher; screech-owl; wood thrush; yellow- 

 bellied sap-sucker; baltimore oriole; chestnut-sided 

 warbler; white-crowned sparrow; chimney swift; 



