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ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. (i 



home. And now when he comes around camp 

 he is only asserting liis riiiiits to move as lie 

 pleases, and if necessary laying a simple tax 

 on the intruding man. He is not to be de- 

 prived of his own by man or frightened away. 

 The woods and all they contain were his long 

 before man came with his arrogating assump- 

 tions. 



Now, who is the intruder? Notice the fit- 

 ness of the names below. 



Cedar Bird, ''the bird that is chief.''' Gravity, 

 sedateness, quietness, occupying witliout 

 attention or noisy display the uppermost places. 

 The attributes of a chief are his. 



Then .Sandpijjer, "Ae loho diucJIs on the hcach^'" 

 a dweller there, not a visitor. 



Whiskey Jack, Gwinf/imslii, following people 

 to thieve. 



Gull, Giajoxk, being white. 



Crow, Aundilc or Andiq, being black. 



Great Gray Owl, Ko-ko-kn-o. 



White-headed Eagle, Mijise or Mnjczr, 

 rapacious. 



Loon, MdiUKj. 



Fort William Indians, large; Nepigon In- 

 dians, brave hearted. 



White-throated Sparrow, Kekek, — name 

 given by Fort William, Lake Superior Indians. 

 l)ah-je-b((, name given by Nepigon River 

 Indians. 



Robin, Kiiuishqua, — imitation of bird's cry. 

 ■ Osprey or large Fish Hawk, — Bid-jc-iji- 

 kwaue, — bring fish to feed her little ones. 



Shrike or liutcher bird, Gi-bo-nan-si, — which 

 puts itself across the way of other birds. 



Sandpipei', Chit-ioae, — wliich dwells on the 

 beach. 



Fish Duck, Au-sir/, — bristled crest. 



Large Woodpecker or Black Cock, Mrme. 



Cedar bird, 0-(ji-ma i)l-mi-slii, — the bird 

 that is chi(!f. 



Kingiisher, O-r/ush-ke-mu-ni-fihi, — cut up to 

 a point (in allusion to his head crest). 



Small Screech Owl, Wa-je-ko-ne.si, — white- 

 billed. 



liluebird, Ja-riu'-nok, — coming from the 

 south, (Fort William Indians). The Nepigon 

 Indians give another name. 



Chickadee, fr('-J(--ge-je-(/)L-iiali-s/ii, — imitation 

 of its song. n. K. n. 



Nesting of the Yellow-bellied Sap- 

 sucker. 



This handsome Woodpecker is of common 

 occurrence throughout temperate North 



America, east of the plains, where it is re- 

 placed by its varieties, the Red-breasted {Sph(/- 

 rapicus varius ruber) and Red-naped Wood- 

 peckers (Sp/njrapicas varius nuchalis). It, 

 however, picfers its northern range in which 

 to breed, and in favored localities it is one of 

 the characteristic summer birds. 



This species {Sphyrapicus varius) was very 

 abundant during the migrations at Minneapo- 

 lis, Minn., l)ut very few remained to breed, 

 owing no doubt to the small timber in the 

 vicinity. Lake Minnetonka, fifteen miles from 

 Minneapolis, however, is situated in what is 

 known as the "big woods," and this has 

 always been a favorite resort for the Yellow- 

 bellied Sapsucker. It was my good fortune 

 to spend the summer of ISSS at this beau- 

 tiful lake, and excellent opportunities were 

 offered to observe their nesting habits. 



By May loth the woods were teeming wiHi 

 bird life, as it was the height f)f their migra- 

 tions. Gay little Warblers were by far the 

 most numerous, and such rai'e species as Ten- 

 nessee {ITf'liriiiii/inpJi.ii</a peref/rina), Cape May 

 (l^crissof/loss:! tii/riiia), Bay -breasted (Dendro- 

 ica castanea) were abundant. Even the Even- 

 ing Grosbeaks {Hespcriphmia vespertina) liad 

 not left yet, and their noisy notes could be 

 heard in many directions. Tlie Yellow-bellied 

 Sapsuckers were constantly in sight, at times 

 sitting on the top branches of the tallest trees 

 ready to snap up the lirst insect that showed 

 itself. They are expei-t flycatchers and live 

 in a great measure on them. Others were 

 seen flying from tree to tree in their ])eculiar 

 undulating (light. They are a very odd bird 

 and will bear any amount of watching. Their 

 actions at times are most comical. They have 

 a habit of lighting on the trunk of a tree, and 

 remaining in the same stupid position for a 

 (piarter of an hour or more at a time as if in 

 deep meditation. At such times they will suf- 

 fer themselves to be closely approached, and 

 then they seem to wake up anil appear greatly 

 startled. Tlien they immediately dart around 

 on the opposite side of the tree, and as yon 

 walk around it they will endeavor to keep the 

 tree between you and themselves, at the sanu; 

 time creeping to the top branches, where they 

 will sometimes lie flat on a limb like a squirrel 

 and in that position they are not readily 

 observed. 



At this point the birds were mated and were 

 always together. On May l(5th 1 found a- pair 

 busily engaged in excavating a hole in a dead 

 bass wood stump about thirty feet high. They 

 had commenced to dig at a point about two 



