170 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 11 



lower portion is now used as workrooms, office 

 and supply room. Every facility for carryino- 

 on exchanges and sales is being developed. To 

 bring the enterprise to its present state has 

 required constant and unceasing labor. At 

 times some <lepartments have been neglected 

 to throw life into others; but such is only 

 temporary. 



Not the least as a crowning effort has l>een 

 the ijublication of "The Ornithologist and 

 Oc'ilogist," a magazine to-day second to none of 

 its natuie, made so by the united efforts of 

 those whose names appear on its pages, a com- 

 mon ground on which we all meet. 



Believing that friendship and familiarity are 

 inipt)rtant features conducive to tlie success of 

 tlie business I am induced to offer to my patrons 

 the above sketch that they may understand 

 what has been my aim. With thanks for the 

 kind support in the past, I hand you my new 

 lists.* Fi-diik B. Wrhstcr. 



Hyde I'ark, Mass. 



Day at Rockaway Beach. 



Xotwitlistnnding the rapid encroacliinents 

 which civilization is making uin)n primitive 

 nature in this vicinity, there still remains a 

 large poition of Rockaway Beach as yet un- 

 changed, excei)t for the life-saving station, 

 one or twoclul) houses, and innumerable num- 

 bers of exploded cartridges, whit'h last attest 

 to the favor in which the beach is held as a 

 hunting ground. I had often heard from a 

 fellow ornithologist wonderful stories of tlie 

 abundance of birds there in tlie migrations, 

 even to the numl)er of eleven Hawks shot in 

 one day. So, on the tifth of Octobei', ISS'.i, 

 we (my friend .loe and myself) started for the 

 beach witli our heads full of the reminis- 

 cences of this hunters paradise, where we ex- 

 pected to realize to some extent the i)leasurcs 

 of the chase (even " Chippies " are " ganu' "' 

 to an (jrnithologist, you know). 



It was an ideal autumn ilay, crisp and cool, 

 with not a cloud in the skj', and as we rode 

 over tlic trestle which spans .Jamaica bay, the 

 sun sparkled on the waters with dazzling 

 brilliancy, the scene being enlivened now and 

 then by the llightof a snowy (inll or a tlock of 

 sombre Crows. 



On reaching the bi-ach, wc had hardly got- 

 ten away from the yard surrounding the de- 

 pot, when our ears were delighted by the lisp- 

 ing notes of a couipany of (Jolden-erowncd 

 Kinglets, who were feeding in a small cedar. 



* New catalojiuc icadx Dec. I. ls!i(i. 



and the sharply defined, nasal notes of the 

 Red-bellied Nuthatch ^' quank-quank-quank.'' 

 I had just raised my gun to tire when a gruff 

 voice said, "Don't shoot here. " We were not 

 seriously frightened, but were obliged to post- 

 pone the securing of any Kinglets or Nut- 

 hatches till we had crossed the fence which 

 marks the line of private property. We found 

 the Kinglets {Reyulns Hatrapa) very abundant 

 all day, and extremely confiding, so that we 

 had af)undant opportunity to watch their 

 active and dexterous maiueuvres in search of 

 food, and to secure all we had the heart to 

 shoot. 



The Nuthatches (Sifta canadeihsis) were 

 not so common, but eveiy once in a while we 

 woidd hear one, or catch a glimpse of his 

 slaty-blue body as he flew from one cedar to 

 another. T think 1 saw one or two of the 

 White-bellied species {Sitta caroli)ienfiiH), but 

 this is a rather ]-are bird in this vicinity. 



Fully as abundant as the Kinglets were the 

 Yellow-rumped Warblers. AVe ct)uldn't move 

 without scaring up one or two, and sometinu's 

 a bush or clump of bushes seemed fnll 

 of them. We shot only a few because we 

 wanted our ammunition foi' nobler game, 

 and also for the reason that many parts 

 of the l)each are coveied with a thick 

 growth of bushes, in which, if the birds 

 fall, it is very hard to find them, so when we 

 saw our stock of ammunition decieasing at 

 rapid rate, we didn't shoot at the Yellow-rum])s 

 unless we were sure of getting them. 



At least one species of Thrush was common, 

 but as they were quite shy and .stuck closely 

 to the bushes or thick cedar near the ground, 

 we secured only two si)eciniens, but these 

 alone repaid us for our trip, for they proved 

 to be the rare BicknelFs Thrush. 



Another raie biiil which led us on a tan- 

 talizing chase was a liluc-headcd Yireo, or at 

 least we thought it was such. When I first 

 saw him he was in a bush not ten feet from 

 me, but as J had only No. .'! in my gun I 

 thought Ix'st not to tire at him, ami by the time 

 1 had slipped in a. "dust" shell the Viret) had 

 " slipped ■" around to the other side of the bush, 

 and although I followed him nearly lialf a 

 mile witli all the stealth 1 could command, he 

 at last got away from me. Well, if 1 hadn't 

 been having j)retty good luck that day I shoulil 

 have requested Joe to kick me, as it was 1 

 didn't get over the loss of that bird till I iden- 

 titied my Thrushes. 



AVe were now in a- mood f(»r a rest and sonu' 

 lunch, so, in ordci' to kccji warm and see all 



