THE OOLOGIST. 



51 



huddled together by some stack so cold 

 that I could pick them up iu my hands. 

 More ofteu have I found them frozen 

 stiff in a little group, entirely lifelike in 

 position and appearance. 



On December 6th, I observed for the 

 iirst time, that great docks of the Snow 

 Bunting, Pleetrophenax nivalis had ap- 

 peared upon the wintry scene with all 

 the zest of their frolicsome natures. 

 They have interested me much. Their 

 sudden appearance upon the bare ice 

 of on open lake, where all would alight 

 within the radius of a few feet, com- 

 pletely covering the surface, then their 

 all as sudden and mystic departure to 

 and among the surrounding hillsides, 

 leaving the observer staring in amaze- 

 ment at "where they should be," and 

 their altogether restless movements, 

 render them almost dreamlike. Why 

 they gather upon the ice and this is a 

 very characteristic habit of theirs here, 

 I have been unable, so far, to deter- 

 mine. Their quaint notes seem to con- 

 vey to the mind a thought of home- 

 sickness. The half dozen specimens 

 taken for my collection were very fat and 

 I think that they will not loseiesh here 

 in Michigan, if we may take their diet 

 as data bearing upon this point. The 

 crops contained a large per cent of 

 wheat, taken from the surface of the 

 fall-sown fields, with some seeds of the 

 pigeon grass and other smaller Ones 

 not identified. It is surprising to see 

 how soon these usually suspicious birds 

 learn to regard the gunner with the ut- 

 most fear. Though not uncommon the 

 Snow Bunting is not of regular occur- 

 ence in Washtenaw Co. 



I wish that I might take you all, on 

 some pleasant morning, one mile across 

 the fields to the border of a lonely little 

 swamp; at least so it is called, but here 

 is a place of great attraction at present, 

 to those who love the study of birds. 

 At this place in the late fall some dogs 

 killed a sheep and nearly stripped it of 

 flesh. Through the snow protrude the 



ghastly ribs bearing bits of ilesh, and 

 this is our point of observation. In 

 quest of the frozen bits of meat come 

 Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Blue 

 Jays, Chickadees, White-breasted Nut- 

 hatches, and a huge Red-tailed Hawk. 

 Here I have watched all but the Buteo 

 at one time, and as they tug and quar- 

 rel and scream their different temper- 

 ments are shown superbly. How dif- 

 ferent from the dainty Chickadee, as he 

 pecks away at some tiny morsel, is the 

 rowdyish onslaught of, that bully 

 among birds, the Blue Jay. How dif 

 ferent from either is the fierceness 

 with which the mighty Red-tail hauls 

 and twists on some ligament or ten- 

 don with beak and talons. Yet all 

 have in view the one object, food. 



Again we find the Great Horned Owl, 

 Bubo virginianus, charged with crime 

 and in custody. A neighbor hearing 

 cries from' his ill-pi-otected fowls, one 

 moonlight night,rushed from the house, 

 gun in hand, just in time to take a wing- 

 sbot at one of these magnificent birds. 

 The charge of shot merely tipped its 

 wing and it was taken alive. It has 

 quite recovered, and is now'in my pos- 

 session, a fine mate for one of its kind 

 which I have reared from a downy 

 chick. Here, as in other places, the 

 farmer neither appreciates nor cares 

 to understand, as a rule, the good 

 which the Hawks and the Owls do him. 

 He has.in the township, voted a twenty- 

 tive cent bounty for each Hawk or Owl 

 head presented at the office of theTown 

 Clerk. Crows are honored with a val- 

 uation of fifteen cents per head. Hence, 

 every small Loy and lazy man is try- 

 ing to earn a living, by killing the grand- 

 est, the most imposing order of birds 

 our country affords. Yet the stealthy 

 cat and howling cur go free, doing 

 more damage to fowls than all other 

 marauders put together. A few misde- 

 meanors credited to these birds, how- 

 ever, condemn them all, and the true 

 lover of birds stands aghast at the wan- 



