164 



THE OOLOGIST 



(20) Nest 5 feet up in willow, lined 

 with pine needles, four fresh eggs. 

 7-29-15. 



(21) Nest 10 feet up in bush, lined 

 with pine needles, four fresh eggs. 

 7-29-15. 



(22) Nest 6 feet in willow, three ad- 

 vanced eggs, nest knocked down by 

 heavy rain. 8-2-15. 



Paul Harrington. 



Strange Malady. 

 In the past year I have found about 

 my home four or five Yellow Billed 

 Cuckoos some of them dead but two 

 alive. One of these I found this after- 

 noon. The bird had no broken bones 

 and nothing seemed wrong except the 

 wings drooped a little. It could use its 

 feet well for it ran as well as ever 

 when I caught it. Could you please 

 tell me what is wrong with these 

 birds? R. C. Martin, Jr. 



Albemarle, La. 



Rightful Use of Big Game Heritage 

 Urged. 



Henry W. Henshaw, Chief of U. S. 

 Biological Survey Points Out Value of 

 Birds. 



With the beginning of the hunting 

 season, the variety and plenty of the 

 North American huntsman's domain 

 is indicated in a communication to the 

 National Geographic society from 

 Henry W. Henshaw, chief of the 

 United States Biological survey, which 

 tells of "American Game Birds." Mr. 

 Henshaw enumerates more than 100 

 kinds of game birds common to this 

 country's preservs, among which are 

 37 kinds of duck, eight kinds of goose, 

 eight kinds of quail, and five kinds of 

 grouse. While America's preserves 

 are distinguished among the hunting 

 fiends of the world for their wealth 

 of game, the writer shows that they 

 are hunted with dangerous thorough- 

 ness. He says; 



"America has always been a para- 

 dise for sportsmen, but of late years 

 the number of those whose chief re- 

 laxation is the pursuit of game has 

 greatly increased, and today there 

 are probably not far from five mil- 

 lions who are interested in the pur- 

 suit of game. What this army of five 

 million hunters means to the large 

 and small game of America can better 

 be imagined than described. Modern 

 guns and ammunition are of the very 

 best, and they are sold at prices so 

 low as to be within the reach of all. 

 Added to these very efficient weapons 

 for killing small game, are innumer- 

 able devices for killing waterfowl, as 

 sneak-boats, punt-guns, swivel-guns, 

 sail-boats, steam launches, night float- 

 ing, night lighting and others." 



The varieties of American game 

 duck given by M r - Henshaw are bald- 

 pate, Barrow's golden-eye, black buf- 

 f elhead, king, Pacific, spectacled and 

 Steller's eider, fulvous tree-duck, mal- 

 lard, merganser, red-head, pintail, 

 scaup, scoter, canvas-back, shoveller, 

 and teal. Of the canvas-back he says: 

 "The canvas-back, perhaps the most 

 famous of American water fowl, has 

 purchased its fame at a price. So high- 

 ly is it prized by the epicure that 

 today he who can afford to dine on 

 canvas-back sets the mark of luxurious 

 living. Not that the canvas-back dif- 

 fers essentially from other ducks, but 

 its exceptional flavor is due to the 

 fact that its favorite food is 'wild 

 celery', a long ribbon like grass which 

 grows in shallow ponds and estuaries. 

 As the plant roots several feet under 

 the surface, only the diving ducks 

 can secure it and the plebian kinds 

 have to be content with such float- 

 ing fragments as they can pick up 

 or can steal from their more aristo- 

 cratic relatives. In Oregon and Wash- 

 ington, the canvas-back, lives much 

 upon wapato, a bulb-like root former- 



