Gbe Marblcr 13 



much pleased, believing that his numbers are increasing. In former years 

 they were not often heard ; now, as our spring afternoons decline into twi- 

 light, their charming notes may be heard from almost every suitable point. 



Turtle dove. (Zendidura macroura.) 



For the first eight or ten years of my residence in Au Sable Forks I did 

 not see a Turtle Dove, and now I see them ever}' summer. 



GOLDEN EAGLE. [Aquila chryscrtos.) 



Our American Eagle is occasionally seen in the Adirondack^ and some 

 years ago a large female Golden Eagle was caught in a steel trap near my 

 home and came into my possession, where she occupied a slatted hencoop, 

 and whenever curiosity led a hen to poke her nose through the slats her head 

 was taken off very quickly. The Eagle would grasp the bird with her claws 

 and attempt to pull her into the coop, and when the body would not come, 

 the head came off, the body falling on the ground outside. I finally pre- 

 sented her to the zoological gardens in Central Park. 



WOODCOCK. [Phtlohela minor.) 



In birds of prey the female is the larger and finer specimen, while the re- 

 verse is true with most other birds, but there is a striking exception in the 

 noble Woodcock. No bird is held in higher appreciation by the sportsman 

 than this, and an adult Woodcock in full plumage is as rich in coloring and 

 as beautiful in marking as any bird I know. He lies well for the dog, is 

 rare sport for the gunner, and has no equal for the palate. He nest,s in our 

 alder thickets or on wet, marshy ground, and around my home it is the work 

 of a man to get him. He is nocturnal in his habits, feeding at night and 

 pushing his long, slender bill into the soft ground, leaving holes that to the 

 casual eye look like worm holes, but which are easily recognized by one 

 familiar with his habits. I have noticed one singular peculiarity of his 

 striking telegraph wires and killing himself in his flights. I have known of 

 at least half a dozen Woodcock killed this way, but never of any other bird. 



the cowbird. {Molothrus ater.) 



Cow Blackbirds are common to this locality during the summers, and 

 they are found in our pastures with the cattle. I have never found their 

 eggs in the nests of other birds, but they are mormonistic in their habits. 



The crow. ( Corvus americana.) 



Some years ago an article went the rounds of the newspapers telling of 

 a man catching a flock of Crows by soaking corn in alcohol and leaving it 

 for them to eat and when they became drunk he caught them. I tried 

 bread crumbs soaked in whisky on English Sparrows, but they would not 

 eat it, and I finally got a Crow and though I kept him until he was very 

 hungry, I could not get him to eat corn soaked in whiskey, and he found no 



