THE 05L0GIST 



69 



In the feathers of the Eider Duck, the 

 famous eider down, are mirrored all 

 the colors of the uorthern oceau. Red, 

 black, ash graj^ ice green, brown, yel- 

 low and white are all blended and vary 

 with the changing light. 



This down brings a high price and 

 constitutes the chief wealth of the is- 

 landers. A man who owns the ground 

 where a thousand pairs of these birds 

 nest is considered well to do, and as a 

 thousand pairs often build on a single 

 hill, some of the inhabitants of these all 

 but forsaken islands enjoy incomes as 

 large as those of our largest land 

 owners. 



Many other sea birds visit these is- 

 lands and the rocky cliffs are often hid- 

 den by them. When a boat approaches 

 the Gulls rise in dense clouds and 

 wheel, in rapidly lessening circles, 

 about the intruders, screaming and 

 Happing their broad wings defiantly, 

 until a gun shot or some other alarming 

 sound frightens them, then, like a sud- 

 den snowfall, they drop into the water 

 to bob about like balls of down or to 

 sink beneath the waves leaving only 

 their black heads above the water. 



When the broad red disc of the mid- 

 night sun approaches the watery hori- 

 zon the Gulls all settle down to rest 

 upon the rocky island peaks. A travel- 

 ler who has watched them from the 

 deck of a Norwegian mail steamer says 

 that the huge rocks covered with 

 strange groups of white birds looked 

 from a distance like mighty black- 

 boards which some giant's child had 

 covered with a fantastic scrawl. 



Angus Gaines, 

 Vineennes, Indiana. 



My First Find of 1895. 



February 12t^ I started out with a 

 i'riend,Mr. Corwin, of Vicksburg, Mich., 

 to try and locate a nest of the Great 

 Horned Owl, Bubo virginiamis. 



I had all the paraphernalia for climb- 

 ing the huge trees that are found in 

 this vicinity, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., 

 and as we knew several swamps where 

 the birds had been seen we had hopes 

 of locating a nest. The snow was about 

 two feet deep on the level and as we 

 had to walk about three miles to the 

 swamp and then through it the task 

 was no easy one. 



After several hours of hard work we 

 had to turn our heads homewards, 

 minus any eggs. We saw no Owls and 

 I have since learned that a certain 

 party shot the Owls that we had hoped 

 to locate. 



However we saw three Robins, num- 

 erous Tree Sparrows, Chickadees, 

 Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Flick- 

 ers and White-breasted Nuthatches; 

 also shot two Horned Larks from a 

 flock of a dozen or more. 



Feb. 19th I started out again with S. 

 R. Eaton, of Battle Creek, carrying the 

 gun, and I the climbing tools. This 

 time Calhoun County was the locality. 

 My friend soon got tired out and re- 

 turned to the station. After a three 

 hours' unsuccessful ti"amp through the 

 deep snow in several swamps, I re- 

 turned to the station to And my friend, 

 ou his back, soliloquizing on my fool- 

 ishness in wasting so much time and 

 energy after a couple of eggs which I 

 did not get! 



March 2d was a bright, cheerful day, 

 snow all gone, walking good. I could 

 not resist the temptation, so I started 

 for my friend Corwin and this time we 

 started south from Vicksburg, Mich., 

 for a tamarack swamp I felt sure 

 success would crown our efforts this 

 trip. 



After a walk of about six miles we 

 saw two male Great Horned Owls and 

 • followed them through the woods. 



Pretty soon I spied a large nest on 

 top of a dead tamarack in a swamp 

 close to the foot of an elevated ridge of 

 land. I felt sure this nest was occu- 



