46 



OKNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. n 



failing- topic wliicli engrossed ns whenever we 

 were togetlier, and his companionsliip, tliougli 

 many years divided ns, and his kindness will 

 long be remembered by me as prime factors 

 in making my stay there nnmbered among the 

 "red-letter days of my life." 



While sitting here in his stndio, snrroiuided 

 by his birds, his friends and companions; 

 beautifnl paintings, the handiwork of his two 

 accomplished daughters; and his many memen- 

 toes of visits of friends, among wliom are 

 those of royal blood; and of his travels, one 

 of which was made at the request of Her 

 Majesty, his adopted sovereign (for Mr. Downs 

 was born beneatli the stars and stripes) and 

 whicli was made in a sliip-of-war placed at his 

 disposal by royal mandate; he recounted to 

 me the story of his life, so well told by the 

 facile pen of Mr. Hallock, and I then thought, 

 while he told of his many trials and disappoint- 

 ments before success crowned his labors, in 

 endeavoring to fill his grounds with useful and 

 instructive examples of the animal life of the 

 world, tiiat the name of tliis pioneer of 

 natural history should be in the mouth of every 

 admirer of the birds and animals which he 

 loved so well, and upon which he lavished the 

 best years of his life and the proceeds of the 

 toil of his hands and brain; and that the story 

 of his works should be told to the children 

 for whose instruction he labored for so many 

 years. 



Am:>ng tlie denizens of his aviary besides 

 the old white Cockatoo, whose heart I won on 

 the first day of my stay, and whose reiterated 

 '> How are you, How do you do," rings even 

 now in my ears, and whose eldrich scream 

 woke the whole house whenever 1 left him, is 

 a specimen of the Purple Gallinule (loiKiniis 

 iiiartiiticd) taken in Nova .Scotia, and which is, 

 1 venture to say, the only one in the counti-y 

 kept in captivity. 



It was, when 1 left thei'e, haiipily carrying 

 on its existence within the narrow limits of the 

 little room surrounded by its wire net-work, 

 and at night regularly jiercliing upon tlie 

 spruce tree whicli stands in the (!entre of the 

 cage, crouching upon the forks, and spreading 

 over the twigs tlie long and su])ple toes, 

 intended by Dame \ature for supporting it 

 upon the net-work of acjuatic plants. 



Perhaps at some future time I may t('ll you of 

 some of the other denizens of tiiis fascinating 

 place, and of some of the other accpiaintances 

 wliicli 1 made under the care of tlu^ good old 

 man. F. A. lialcs. 



Evening Grosbeaks. 



AT SUMMIT, N. .J. 



After reading the accounts in the February 

 O. & O. of the unusual drift of the Evening 

 Grosbeaks into the northeastern states, 1 

 thought I would add my experience to the 

 list. On March (i, 18i)0 I was exceedingly sur- 

 lirised to see a flock of frt)m ten to fifteen 

 of these birds feeding on last year's dogwood 

 berries. They were exceedingly tame and 

 allowed me to approach and stand under the 

 tree where they were for quite a little while, 

 being within about eight feet of (Uie. They 

 were mostly females. I was unable at the time 

 to secure any for my collection, and so had to 

 content myself by merely observing them. 

 There were about eight inches of snow on the 

 ground and the air was quite sharp. This is 

 the first time I have ever seen any around 

 here. !!';». Oakley Rnyi)iii\Kl. 



AT oiiOXO, MAIXE. 



On the morning of February 2Sth, while 

 passing not far from a river, my attention was 

 attracted by the note of a l)ird which seemed to 

 come from tlie opposite side of the river. I 

 imitated the sound, and soon a bird flew across 

 the river, and lit in a tree (juite near me. 1 

 recognized it as a beautiful male Evening 

 Grosbeak. 



I think this is the tirst appearance of this 

 bird in this state. Robert II. FernaUl. 



IX MASSACHUSETTS. 



Seven Evening Grosbeaks were taken at So. 

 Natick (I mile from the Wellesley locality). 

 They were very tame, flying only a short dis- 

 tance at the report of a gun, and were engaged 

 in feeding upon majjle buds. .1. P. Morse. 



March 11, 18!»(). 



Two Evening (rrosbeaks, $ and 9, taken 

 March 8, 1890, at Maple St., West Koxbury, 

 district, Boston, Mass., by Arthur L. Keagli. 

 liotli birds were seen and one shot. The 

 other came liack in about twenty minutes 

 and was sei'ured. 



The Cowbird. 



The Puri)le Finch should be added to the 

 list of birds imposed upon by the Cowbird. I 

 have a clutch of Puii)le P'incirs eggs, contain- 

 ing a Cowbird's egg. .1. //. Alherger. 

 Itliaca, X.Y. 



