166 



THE OOLOGIST 



The water in the Niievas River be- 

 ing very clear, and the banks rather 

 steep I had a good opportunity for 

 close observation as she pursued a 

 fish under water. She used her wings 

 as well as her feet and when she cap- 

 tured her prey she rose to the sur- 

 face of the water, thrust her head and 

 neck out of water, jerked and twisted 

 her neck and juggled the fish until it 

 was head foremost in her bill and then 

 swallowed it. This was repeated sev- 

 eral times at a distance from he of 

 not more than thirty feet, and once 

 within about fifteen, and with a field 

 glass it looked as though I could al- 

 most touch her. 



Finally an incautious move on my 

 part disclosed me to her and she sank 

 from sight without making a ripple 

 in the water. If one goes quietly 

 through the jungle along the river, he 

 will likely see one of these Anhignas 

 perched on a low branch overhanging 

 the water, either sunning itself or 

 waiting for a fish to come within 

 range. Upon disturbing it, from my 

 observations, if it does not see you 

 it will slip noiselessly into the water 

 and escape by diving, but if it does 

 see you it takes wing and quickly dis- 

 appears around a bend in the river, as 

 its flight is swift. Prom its long neck, 

 bill and tail and long narrow wings, 

 its flight, every time I see it, reminds 

 me of an arrow. 



I think that the males are either 

 more common or less wary than the 

 females as I have seen many more of 

 the former than of the latter. 



A. C. Read. 



From Idaho. 



A noticeable feature of the Coeur 

 d' Alene's Ornithology is the absence 

 of all water birds from the lead pro- 

 ducing districts. Water from the 

 mountain streams is carried in some 



instances for miles to be used in the 

 separation of rock dust from the lead 

 ore as it runs over the tables from the 

 crusher. There is a certain per cent, 

 of lead retained by the water as it 

 leaves the flumes which invariably 

 empty into some of the rivers, and the 

 water is then known as "lead water." 

 This water is poisonous to man, bird 

 and beast and also to all animal in- 

 sect life inhabitating water. The re- 

 sult is a milky, poisonous stream ut- 

 terly devoid of life and therefore not 

 inducive to wading birds. Vegetation 

 even is affected by this lead water and 

 cases are known of cows becoming 

 sick from eating grass in the lead 

 "bottoms." 



Notwithstanding this lack of induce- 

 ments to the water bird, there is one 

 which fears neither poison or famine 

 — the Spotted Sandpiper. Be the wat- 

 er ever so muddy with poisonous in- 

 gredients, he appears at home wad- 

 ing along the edge in a vain search 

 for the absent bug. Little pools along 

 the sides furnish enough food for his 

 need, however, and the fact that these 

 pools contain water filtered through 

 several yards of gravel and therefore 

 almost pure, probably accounts for his 

 summer residence here. 



Older inhabitants tell me that years 

 ago before the streams were polluted 

 with lead water, these Sandpipers, to- 

 gether with sevei-al species of Ducks, 

 were abundant, but today one can 

 travel miles without so much as seeing 

 a water bird of any description. The 

 Water Onsel is fairly common during 

 nesting period (May 1 to June 1) along 

 the tiny headwater streams, but sel- 

 dom wander down into the valley. 

 On the St. Regis River on the Montana 

 side of the divide this little songster 

 is abundant, building along its entire 

 course. The Spotted Sandpiper is al- 

 so plentiful. But over in that section, 

 although only twelve miles from this 



