22 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 12-:N'o. 2 



ready l<'arii(Hl to dive before they apparently 

 could fly. The isliuid was a high gravel bluff" 

 but we found a little mossy hog in the centre, 

 from which water sometimes flowed. 



We lay down togetlier on the bluff, watching 

 the blue sky and the complaining cormorants 

 for an hour and then pulled away having learned 

 how happy two can be where nature lies bare 

 around them, and that every one is not a Loon 

 that country folks call so. 



Kalamazoo County, (Mich.) Notes. 



BY MORKIS GIBHS. 



The season is evidently to be a cold one from 

 the ri'ports we hear regai-ding the ;ippearance 

 of northern birds in various parts of the state. 

 Snowy owls, White-winged and American cross- 

 bills, Pine Linnets and several other species 

 only found at odd times during the winter 

 or late autumn or early spring months. On 

 Dec, 10th I observed the Red Cross-bill for the 

 first time during the season. On the 22nd of 

 th(; month a tine female of the Rough-legged 

 Hawk was brought to me, killed within the city 

 limits. These notes point to a severe season 

 and yet, as evidence entirely contrary to the 

 theory that northern forms only appear in num- 

 bers during or at the approach of severe 

 weather and that migrants through our country 

 hasten on their southern trip at a correspond- 

 ingly early date, the taking of a female Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk in the immature plumage on 

 Dec, .'}, is contradictory in the extreme. 



Other small hawks, probably of this species 

 have been seen around the city streets attempt- 

 ing to catch (let us hope with success) English 

 Sparrows as this one was also engaged, and at 

 even a later date. Now this hawk is rarely 

 seen here after Oct., 20, and the date of Dec, 3, 

 and later is surprising, and certainly unusual. 

 Here we have owls and hawks of northern 

 haunts, the Snowy Owl and Rough-legged Hawk 

 never breeding within the limits of Michigan I 

 believe, and the Sharp-sliinned Hawk, a species 

 which summer sees to our north, but winter to 

 the south, and found together within the bound- 

 aries of a populous city. 



This is a strange condition. Must we consid- 

 er it a mere coincidence or of deeper moment. 

 The Rough-legged had recently devoured a Red 

 Squirrel *S'. hudsonicns and the Sliarp-shinned 

 contained in its crop a small meadow mouse of 

 the genns arvicola I should judge. The cold 

 weather would not hinder the Sharp-shin from 

 leaving for his southern home, neither is the 



weather cold enough yet to force the northern 

 forms to our latitude, therefore it must of ne- 

 cessity be the result of either abundance of food 

 in this locality, which I can in no way account 

 for, or else it is merely an accident. Can we 

 have this kind of accidents among our wise self- 

 guided birds. 



Among other birds we have the hardy little 

 Black-capped Titmouse, Downy Woodpecker, 

 White-bellied Nuthatch, but the little Brown 

 Creeper lias not put in an appearance yet. Why 

 have we not seen him if the weather is so severe 

 when I have repeatedly observed the apparent- 

 ly delicate creation when tlie mercury indicated 

 20' ' Fahrenheit. 



Again a pecidiarity which many of you must 

 have speculated upon. The dress and plumage 

 of a bird are compared to the individual ability 

 to withstand the severity of the weather. The 

 Rough-legged Hawk and Snowy Owl have their 

 legs covered entirely with thick feathers, the 

 Snowy Owl even having a complete covering for 

 the feet, giving it the the ai»i)earance of wearing 

 heavy and disarranged moccasins, while the deli- 

 cate Chickadee and White-bellied Nuthatch ap- 

 parently withstand the cold e(iually well with 

 no protection for tlie legs and slender toes. No 

 one has ever discovered that these delicate and 

 tiny birds die of the cold either. 



The contrast is still further interesting when 

 we consider that the owls and hawks live on 

 meat entirely which they devour directl}' on be- 

 ing killed and often when quite warm ; a food 

 acknowledged to be most invigorating to creat- 

 ures inhabiting cold countries. Again the 

 Chickadee and Nuthatch feed largely on small 

 seeds as well as minute chrysalide or pupie. 

 The Cross-bill feeds entirely almost on seeds,and 

 yet withstands the cold as well as the owl or 

 hawk. 



Oh strange result of investigation : contrary 

 to all the views of scientists is this ! Who can 

 explain it? How an ounce of feathers and flesh 

 thrives as well in mid-winter as a large hawk 

 or owl. 



Nesting of the Black-throated Green 

 ^Va^bler. 



BY JOHN N. CLARK, SAYBROOK, CONN. 



On the 28d of May, 1884, I visited a swamp 

 in the woodlands of Saybrook, Conn., to inves- 

 tigate a spot therein, the chief attraction of 

 which was that among its tangled mazes was an 

 old Maple tree which had been blown over in 

 some violent gale of the past, upturning from 



