General Notes. Iol 



of English Sparrows which were quarreling among the foliage immedi- 

 ately below me. Happening to want a specimen, I selected an adult male 

 and shot it. Scarcely had it struck the ground when a Crow Blackbird 

 (Quiscalus furpureus ceneus) pounced upon it from a linden above, and 

 with a few well-directed strokes of its bill put an end to its struggles. At 

 this juncture a Robin interfered but soon retreated before the Grackle's 

 menacing front. The latter next seized the Sparrow in its bill and flew 

 oft" wjth it to the lawn, a few paces distant. Here it deliberately went to 

 work to eat its victim. Molding it between one, or sometimes both, its 

 feet, exactly as a Hawk would do, it broke open the skull and feasted on 

 the brains. I was near enough so see that its bill was reeking with blood. 

 After watching it awhile I walked directly towards it when it again took 

 up its prize and tried to carry it into the tree above, but its strength 

 proved insufficient and it was obliged to drop it. Upon examining the 

 Sparrow I found that its brains had been cleanly scooped out and the 

 eyes as well as the throat devoured. Meanwhile the Grackle scolded me 

 most emphatically for thus interfering and the moment my back was 

 turned again descended and resumed its feast. 



Many of our native birds seem to have a standing grudge against this 

 Blackbird and rarely let pass an opportunity to pursue and harass it. It 

 would seem that this hatred is not without just cause. — William Brews- 

 ter, Cambridge, Mass. 



Icterus baltimorei and Populus tremuloides. — Two specimens of 

 the American aspen {Populus tremuloides) stand in my garden which I 

 transplanted from the woods in the spring of 1876. During the latter 

 part of May, 187S, I noticed that the trees were being denuded very rapidly 

 of their leaves and I could not detect the presence of worm or fly by the 

 use of a glass of twenty diameters. The leaves did not appear to have 

 been eaten by insects but torn away piecemeal, leaving ragged edges, and 

 not infrequently the leaf-stalks broken off or hanging loosely to the branch. 

 About three-fourths of the leaves disappeared in this manner in the space 

 of fifteen or twenty days from one tree and nearly all from the other. A 

 second set of leaves was produced in June and the trees made a strong and 

 healthy growth during the remainder of the season. In 1879 the denuda- 

 tion was again commenced in like manner at the same season of the year. 

 I could not charge it to the wind because other trees in the garden were 

 not so affected and my meteorological record forbade any such cause. 

 Upon careful watching while at work in the garden I detected a Baltimore 

 Oriole eating the leaves with evident relish. The bird stood on a branch 

 and picked at and tore oft* the leaves, eating them with as much apparent 

 enjoyment as our domestic fowls eat the leaves of the plantain. 



I watched him closely for a while and upon going towards the tree he 

 flew away, uttering his rattle in such a tone that it required no stretch of 

 the imagination to think that he was somewhat irritated at being molested 

 in his gastronomic proclivities. He soon returned, however, accompanied 

 by a female, and the pair continued to eat for several minutes, interlarding 



