THE OOLOGIST 



123 



tie to do but round up the cows, oc- 

 casionally and keep them from stray- 

 ing. This gave him plenty of time, 

 as he rode from point to point, to 

 study nature in all its wild features, 

 and as a multitude of birds made this 

 meadow their homes there were some 

 chances for observation of what they 

 were doing. There chanced to come 

 under his eye a pair of meadow birds, 

 kind not determined, nesting in a 

 bunch of Blue Stem grass. The nest 

 was lightly perched about one yard 

 above ground, in the slender cones 

 of dead grass, containing a clutch of 

 four eggs. Marking the location and 

 surroundings, a return visit was 

 made later, and an astounding inci- 

 dent occurred. 



Now, poised .slenderly on, and over 

 the nest, was suspended the body of 

 a long slender Blue Racer Snake. 

 The mother bird was circling about 

 the same, several yards distant, ut- 

 tering pitifully cries of distress. The 

 male bird did not enter into the scene 

 at all, only to add his notes of dis- 

 tress, as he flew from point to point, 

 hardly in earshot distance. Riding to 

 within a few yards of what seemed to 

 be a coming tragedy at the nest, 

 close observations were taken of 

 what ensued. 



The serpent paid no attention to 

 the eggs in the nest but centered his 

 glittering eyes on the circling bird, 

 her cries becoming louder and more 

 plaintive as she circled nearer and 

 nearer the snake's head. The latter 

 lay perfectly quiet, not daring from 

 his precarious perch to strike. His 

 eyes glittered like two shining diam- 

 onds, and his forked tongue shot out 

 repeatedly as he watched and waited. 

 Nearer and nearer drew the highly 

 excited bird, and nearer and nearer 

 the rider rode his mount — neither 

 bird or serpent paid the least note of 

 his near presence. 



The scene was highly exciting to 

 all concerned, and its conclusion held 

 a most fascinating interest. The bird 

 seemed to have lost all power of self 

 control and circled at last, with only 

 inches twixt her and her doom. At 

 last, perching on a slender stem, al- 

 most in reach of the serpent's tongue, 

 her wings hovering swiftly, her cries 

 were still pitiful, she seemed to offer 

 herself a willing sacrifice to the wait- 

 ing enemy. The end seemed near, 

 and to stop the tragedy the black 

 snake — ^whip in the hand of the ob- 

 server, swished strong to the air, 

 come down on the body of the in- 

 truder, instantly the scene ended. 

 The bird flew away, and the snake 

 dropped to the ground and disappear- 

 ed in the carpet of dead grass below. 

 Later observations developed the fact 

 that neither bird or snake ever re- 

 turned, as the nest was forsaken by 

 both, whilst eggs and nest both went 

 to the discard. 



Not since that day has ever come 

 a chance to observe a further demon- 

 stration of the power of the "Snake 

 to charm Birds." 



W. H. H. Barker. 

 Harvey, Iowa. 



THE BIRDS THAT COME AND GO 



Many students of bird life are well 

 aware of the profound changes in 

 faunal distribution that takes place 

 from time to time, with no apparent 

 reason or reasons. Prominent among 

 these changes are the incursions of 

 the Mocking Bird into New England, 

 where, — the more curiosly, — it is not 

 a summer habitat but a resident. 



As a boy I used to wade across a 

 narrow inlet to a small island near 

 my Wisconsin home, — and examine 

 with great curiosity, the nests of the 

 Bronzed Grrackle that were snuggled 



