December, 1881.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



77 



Almost a Suffocation. 



John Wallace, of New York city, who 

 resides near Paterson, N. J., has gained an 

 enviable reputation as a taxidermist,- and is 

 also a man of hobbies, and were he not a 

 man of strong will, he would find but little 

 time to devote to them, but " where there 

 is a will there is a way," and he finds time. 

 Among his hobbies are a rare collection of 

 "Hummers," "Birds of Paradise," and 

 last but not least, a fine greenhouse with a 

 valuable collection of Orchids, and here is 

 where the trouble cafne from. The boiler 

 that warms the greenhouse is in the base- 

 ment of the ho'ise. The night of the first 

 of November being warm, the dampers 

 wero closed, and too close, as the sequel 

 will show. John and his family retired as 

 usual, and all went well until near four 

 o'clock A. M , when his oldest daughter 

 called out to know the time, which was giv- 

 en as near four o'clock A. M , when she got 

 up to dress, and when partially dressed 

 fell to the floor, cutting herself severely. 

 The children began to rise one by one, but 

 no sooner got to their feet than they fell to 

 the floor helpless. This was a fearful posi- 

 tion for John and his wife, who, thinking 

 the children were poisoned, began adminis- 

 tering oil. The son, John's assistant in the 

 city, was called to go for medical aid, when 

 he was found to be so near gone as to be 

 black in the face. Here was a family of 

 seven children all sick and the sickness 

 unknown, and up to this time the gas had 

 not been noticed ; but the severe headache 

 and general depression began to tell, when 

 the discovery was made that it was gas 

 from the greenhouse stove, when the fam- 

 ily was removed to fresh air as rapidly as 

 possible and with medical aid they were 

 soon pronounced out of danger. John 

 and his son suffered severely but started 

 for the depot to reach the city, but the de- 

 pression and a feeling of being weighed 

 down by a heavy load forced them to 

 return, but later in the day they both found 

 their way to the city and are now appar- 

 ently no worse for the severe ordeal they 



went through. The fortunate waking of 

 the eldest daughter, no doubt, saved the 

 entire family from suffocation, and we con- 

 gratulate them on their narrow escape. 

 •♦♦ 



American Bittern — This bird is quite 

 rare here, yet one or more nests are found 

 each season; two nests are all I have known 

 about. Nest one was made near a lake 

 and in a swamp. It was made of damp 

 reeds matted together, making a flat top on 

 which were three eggs nearly hatched. 

 Nest two was found July 12th, 1879. Bird 

 flushed and shot. After picking up the 

 bird the nest could hardly be found. This 

 was in a swamp some distance from lake or 

 stream, and built up out of the shallow 

 water with damp reeds, but was dry on the 

 top. It contained three eggs partially 

 incubated This nest was made entirely 

 of reeds and a few stems, and stalks of 

 weeds These birds do not breed near 

 each other here, and do not come back to 

 the same locality to breed, as this swamp 

 has been looked over thoroughly every sea- 

 son since without finding a ne'=;t. A bird 

 shot in April was in fine plumage, and 

 another shot in June was very far from 

 handsome. They arrive about April 15th, 

 and leave about October loth. Has anyone 

 noticed them standing very straight with 

 the bill high in the air ? While doing this 

 they seem absorbed, and I have rowed 

 within a few feet of one while thus 

 occupied —G^^<rj' C. Rich, Saratoga, N. V. 

 •♦« 



Phcebe's Eggs Spotted. — On May 15th 

 I found a set of Phoebe's eggs, two of 

 which were slightly spotted with very faint 

 light brown spots on the larger end. Is 

 this a common occ\irrence ? [Occasion- 

 ally spotted sets are found.] 



Brown Thrasher's Nest on the 

 Ground — May 22d, found Brown Thrash- 

 er's nest on the ground, in a grove thinly 

 scattered with oaks^ but in which there was 

 no underbrush. Was not this an unusual 

 event ?— Will. R. Ide, Evans ton. III. 



[We have often found them in similar 

 positions. Ed.] 



