24 



THE OOLOGIST. 



agination or of speculation. It is tiie 

 result of a careful and thorough study 

 of the subject extending over a period 

 of 30 years. I have travelled over 

 nearly every state and territory in the 

 Union, and have personally seen the 

 Praire Chicken and the Wild Turkey 

 swept almost entirely from the great 

 state of Illinois. I have seea the Ruffed 

 Grouse and the Quail almost entirely 

 wiped out of the state of New York. 

 I have seen the Woodcock driven to 

 the verge of exterminatian throughout 

 all the New England States. I have 

 seen the Wild Pigeon swept from the 

 whole United States and I have seen 

 practically all species of birds reduced 

 in numbers from 25 to 50 per cent, all 

 over the continent. 



It was principally and primarily for 

 the purpose of arresting this terrible 

 slaughter that the League of American 

 sportsmen was organized. Men, wom- 

 en and boys are eligible to membership 

 in this League and all such who are at 

 all desirous of seeing the beautiful 

 feathered creatures remain on earth, 

 should join the League at once and aid 

 us in saving them. 



GO. Shields, 

 New York City. 



Bird Music. 



(Concluded). 



We have no regular night singers in 

 the Great Lske Region, so far as lam 

 able to learn, and in this respect Amer- 

 ica does not equal England, which has 

 several nocturnal songsters, one of 

 which excels as a musician. The fa- 

 mous English naturalist, Gilbert White, 

 records three species which sing at 

 night in the British Isles. They are the 

 Reed Sparrow, which sings among the 

 reeds and willows, the Woodlark, sing- 

 ing in mid-air, and the Nightingale, as 

 Milton describes it,— 



"In shadiest covert hid." 



There are several species of owls 



which roll forth or screech out their 

 notes at night, and also numerous shore 

 birds and water-fowl that issue their 

 varied calls, and, especially these lat- 

 ter are partial to night travel, spring 

 and autumn. Then too our Whippoor- 

 will confines his singular but monot- 

 onous jargon to the hours of darkness, 

 while the scream of the Nighthawk 

 more often breaks on the ear between 

 the setting and rising of the sun. But 

 these birds are not strictly speaking, 

 songsters, although their notes un- 

 doubtedly fill their req uirements as to 

 harmony and expression . 



The plain, domestic little Chipping 

 Sparrow sometimes favors us with its 

 simple chatter in the darkest night. 

 The notes hardly deserve the name of 

 song, but heard issuing from the sur- 

 rounding gloom, the simple refrain 

 commands our attention from its oddity 

 at the unusual hour. The Wood Pewee 

 not rarely quavers forth its plaintive 

 offering, sounding in the depth of night 

 like a wail from a departed spirit. 

 This favorite songster id a remarkably 

 early riser, as he is also late in going 

 to rest, and I have sometimes thought 

 that his musical efforts at night weie 

 the result of an error on his part — an 

 idea strengthened by the fact that the 

 notes are rarely heard more than once 

 or twice during the night, and more- 

 over the song is only occasional, and 

 only in the nesting season. 



Other species which are heard to 

 burst forth in ecstatic melody, are the 

 Swainson's and Hermit thrushes. If 1 

 could describe the songs of birds, so 

 that other bird-lovers could understand 

 them as I do, I would feel that a partial 

 acknowledgement had been made to 

 the divine melody issuing from these 

 bird's throats. 



The Cuckoo also sings at night, or at 

 least bubbles out its peculiar empha- 

 sised jargon, and which is called a song 

 out of courtesy rather than from any 

 real merit. Both species, the Black- 



