72 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 



Spotted Sandpipers frequenting the pebbly islands. Of 

 gallinaceous birds the Bobwhite was repeatedly flushed, 

 but being already paired they were rather quiet. The 

 Doves were much more in evidence, and often seen and 

 heard. One of the common sights were the Turkey Buz- 

 zards, several of which were drawing their circles over 

 distant hills all day long. A rare sight, because seldom 

 met with so far north as Missouri, was the appearance of 

 two Black Vultures, or Carrion Crows, among a party of 

 Turkey Buzzards on the afternoon of the 9th at the club- 

 house. Of Hawks only two species were noticed, the 

 harmless red-shouldered Hawk, which lives chiefly on 

 snakes and frogs, and the Sparrow Hawk, a pair of which 

 had their home in a stump by the river. The Owl fam- 

 ily was represented only by the Screech Owl, whose soft 

 notes were heard at dusk dowTi by the ferry at the edge 

 of the town. The weatherwise Cuckoo, or Eaincrow, was 

 one of the birds often heard, but its wisdom did not prove 

 true. At the White Eiver at the foot of town a King- 

 fisher had its home. 



Of the Woodpeckers five species were observed, the 

 ubiquitous downy, the gaudy redhead, the red-bellied 

 and the Flicker, all rather quiet because occupied with 

 family cares. Strange enough, a belated Sapsucker, who 

 spends the winter here, but whose summer home is in the 

 northern states, gave us a surprise, because not expected 

 here so late in the season. 



The true Whippoorwill, being a more northern sum- 

 mer sojourner, was not heard, but the Chuck-wills-widow, 

 the southern representative of the family, extends its 

 range into Southern Missouri, and several could be heard 

 every evening, coming even into town under cover of 

 night. About sunset the Nighthawks began to go in 

 search of food, gnats, mosquitoes and similar quarry, 

 which they sometimes find at great heights, at others over 

 fields or river. The Chimney Swifts, omnipresent com- 

 panions of civilization, had their noisy time of love and 



