66 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 
My grandmother and Mrs. Blaney kept up an active 
correspondence.” 
This eventually led to the residence in Carlisle of 
Colonel Churchill’s family, as will be explained later. 
Spencer F. Baird to William M. Baird. 
Dee Wait, CaRLISLE, April 14. 1842. 
I received your package of birds &c. by Aunt Blaney this even- 
ing, and was much pleased with the contents. The scull & sternums 
were particularly acceptable. Don’t forget to get as many sculls 
& sternums as possible, which I can not easily procure here. I still 
go on with my project of figuring both, and have a number of each 
done. I was out shooting to day, and Bagged 7 Black heads, and 
1 goosander; I wounded several others. last Monday I killed 7 
Black heads, and 2 Butterballs, & 2 Hooded Mergansers. I had 
one of the Hooded Mergansers cooked for dinner without letting 
any one know what it was, and all pronounced it the best duck they 
ever tasted. Ducks have been very plenty this spring; I have killed 
upwards of 40. If you had been here we would have counted by 
hundreds. There are a few Green Wing teal, Black ducks and Bald 
pates about now, but the principal article is the Black head— The 
flock I killed the 7 out of consisted of about 25. I have seen no 
Blue Wing teal or Shovellers yet. Adams says that last evening he 
wounded a Greyish duck, with a long tail, a white stripe on top of 
its head, and a large patch of Black on its Neck & Breast. It must 
have been a South Southerly. A man sent down a Bonapartian 
Gull from Shippensburg the other day but it was so far gone that it 
could scarcely be stuffed. The spring Birds are coming about. Will 
Penrose shot a Pine creeping Warbler last Saturday. All the swal- 
lows are here, the White Bellied the last. They were seen first to 
day. Bartram’s Sandpiper, Fish hawks, Ruby crowned wrens, 
Hermit thrushes, White throated sparrows: yellow Belly Wood- 
pecker, Purple finches; on the 1st April Martins; 29th March, Spotted 
sandpipers, &c. Snipe are very scarce. I have not seen one. How- 
ever I have been so much occupied shooting ducks that I have not 
had time to look for them. George Knox killed 9 at Gal. Ege’s the 
other day. I am very sorry to hear that you will not be able to 
