Dec. 1890.J 



AND OOLOGI8T. 



187 



Got Scorched — On Oct. 18, during the ab- 

 sence of Mr. Armstrong, the "bird man" of 

 Field and Armstrong, Brownsville, Texas, a fire 

 occurred by which they lost all their books and 

 correspondence, but their stock of skins were 

 saved. Parties corresponding are requested to 

 please write them again. 



In a letter, John ('. Cahoon writes from 

 Custlett, Cape St. :Mary"s: Say to my friends 

 that I am well and happy, and then has the 

 cheek to wish we were there to see how the 

 wind blows. We have blowing enough of our 

 own manufacture, thanks. 



A short ride of about three hours out of 

 Boston on the Old Colony road brought the 

 writer to Bourndale, a town on Cape Cod. A 

 mile and a half from the station is Great Heron 

 Pond, a sheet of water of ancient record, into 

 which projects an elevated peninsula known 

 as Eagle 11 ill, owned by Wm. Eaton, whose 

 guest I was to be for the day. On the top of 

 tlie hill Mr. Eaton has locat.'d a cosy little 

 summer residence, nearly surrounded by a 

 pine grove, from which tlie view of the sur- 

 rounding country is unusually picturesque. 

 The base of the hill extends into the pond like 

 an inverted U, and at the extreme point is one 

 of the most comfortable ducking stands that 

 it has been my pleasure to visit. A building 

 of comfortable standing height, about eight 

 feet sijuare, some eight feet from the water, 

 siiieldcd on the water front by a four foot 

 fence, contains stove, chairs, and lookout 

 windows. Bt)th building and fence are well 

 covered with pine bougiis, and met on both 

 sides by a natural growth of bushes. A num- 

 ber of gunners can occupy the space between 

 the buildinii and fence, and move about with 

 almost impunity. Anchored well out into the 

 pond are floating geese, and nearer in duck 

 decoys, while on the bar and back of the 

 buihiing are tetheied ducks and geese, whose 

 t]uacking and honkings soon call in to the 

 stand all birds that stop. Another feature is 

 the fact that the stand could be reached from 

 the residence luider the cover of natural 

 growth. A number of Boston sportsmen enjoy 

 the hospitality of Mr. Eaton during the season. 

 Did I get anything? Ask the old gull that 

 came lazily Happing over, if at least I did not 

 come near it. 



A number of eagles were noted here during 

 the summer, Mr. Eaton referring particularly 

 to an old white-headed one. 



Several fine mink have come in during early 

 November. The gunners sigh as they recall 

 the days when their pelts brought seven to 

 ten dollars. 



The first wild cat of tlie season from B. E. 

 Best, Kingston, X. Y. 



The largest moose head this year, so far, 

 fi'om Wm. Bead it Sons, Boston. 



A party in Maine has just offered us a white 

 porcupine (albino) alive. It woidd not make 

 a good bed fellow. 



The bear referred to in last <). it O. is still 

 for sale. 



Our bear Harry is growing finely. His 

 appetite is excellent. 



Swan Shooting on the Columbia Bivek. 

 — Many are the sportsman who can tell of the 

 variety of the game they have killed, from 

 moose to Long Island chippies. Comparatively 

 few, however, have, it is safe to say, enjoyed 

 such rare sport as Mr. Thomas G. Farrell 

 describes in an interesting article in OutUui 

 for December under the above title. He says: 

 "As these birds breed in the Arctic, they 

 leave the United States early in the spring. 

 Upon the approach of cold weather in the 

 high latitudes, they once more band together 

 and hie themselves toward tlie sunny south. 

 If a person happens to be near one of their 

 winter resorts on the Columbia Biver about 

 Nov. 1, he will probably hear their not unmus- 

 ical voices high in the aii-. Here they remain 

 the entire winter. Probably the chief attrac- 

 tion of this region for the huge birds is the 

 presence in many lakes and sloughs of the 

 aquatic plant known as the " wa])ato." The 

 roots of the jdant terminate in a number of 

 bulbs about the size of an Italian chestnut. 

 These bulbs are very much sought after by the 

 greedy swan and equally greedy canvas-back, 

 which' two birds possess to a greater degree 

 than any other member of the duck family the 

 faculty of u])rooting them.'' 



A SAiiAciors BoniN.— Mrs. Burwell, of West- 

 field, Conn., found a helpless robin a year ago 

 last summer, whicli had fallen from its nest 

 while learning to fiy. She placed it in a cage 

 and raised it. This summer slie relensed it, 

 thiidcing the bird woidd be happier at liberty. 

 The New Haven 7»'cj//.s/cr says that last week 

 the robin returned to Mrs. Burw ell's yard and 

 fiew upon her finger. When spoken to "he 

 was willingly taken into the house, and there 

 he gave unmistakable expressions of delight 

 at being in his old home. After the excite- 

 ment had passed away the empty cage was 

 brought to the room and straight into it flew 

 the i">l>in. He hopi)ed up to his perch, and 

 there settled down in evident contentment. 

 He hadn't forgotten where to look for his food 

 nor for what his bath was intended. It is 

 believed that the bird didn't know what else 

 to do when the cold weather came."— Public 

 Ledger, Philadelphia, Pa. 



We cannot refrain from expressing our 

 thanks to Bobert Bleakie, Esci . of Hyde Park, 

 for his assistance in the establishing of our 

 headquarters in that place Mr. Bleakie is one 

 of the most prominent citizens. We believe 

 that he is not an ornithologist but notice that 

 he donated a stutt'ed specinren of the Great 

 Blue Heron to the Waverly Club of which he is 

 vice-president, and that a fine elk head adorns 

 his ofiice. 



It is not probably known to our readers that 

 Hyde Park was at one time noted as being the 

 residence of a hermit, who was a taxidermist 

 of extra abilities in his day. The writer re- 

 members reading an illustrated article in regard 

 to him years ago (Ilnrper' s Weekly?). Many of 

 his birds arc still in the town. We would 



