rHE OOLOGIST 



85 



line fof ltd bWn feeding box, passing 

 others by on the way- 



Of course a number escaped, and 

 others I liberated purposely. I should 

 suppose that over 100 thus got away 

 from my enclosures, and these are in 

 the woods or fields adjoining, excepting 

 of course, such as were destroyed by 

 hawks. I have over 200 of the birds, 

 either old or half grown, now in my en- 

 closures. 



Cedar Lake. 



Cedar Lake, better known as the 

 Slough, is a small body of water a mile 

 across ':as the crow flies." It is rapidly 

 becoming dry land as it has but one in- 

 let, a small stream known as McClod's 

 Run, which furnishes the only supply 

 of water. The Illinois Central Railroad 

 Company's tracks divides the Lake into 

 two parts. One part, the larger of the 

 two, is called the Big Slough, and of 

 this I am going to write. 



Into the north end of the Big Slough 

 the small stream, before mentioned, 

 empties. Near the mouth of this stream 

 is a cape extending out into the Lake 

 for half or three-quarters of a mile. It 

 is covered with shrubbery and dwarf 

 trees and makes an excellent place for 

 building sites for birds. To the south 

 of this miniature peninsula is an island, 

 covered with rank grass, flag and. wil- 

 lows. Just off this island is where the 

 Coot breeds. This bird is very common 

 in Fall and Spring, but very few of them 

 remain to breed. 



Duck and Sora Rail are also numerous. 

 In the Fall of '97 I and a friend of mine 

 took a boat and went out into the Lake 

 after Rails. We had a revolver, some 

 shot cartridges and an air gun. Rowing 

 out among the reeds, rushes and wild 

 rice, wo succeeded in bagging half a 

 dozen in about as many minutes. They 

 are very easily killed with a shot gun, 

 but are so small that it takes several of 

 them to make a meal. Not many Ducks 



are killed as they are 'few and far be- 

 tween," but a large number of Coots are 

 taken by those who consider them fit to 

 eat. All shooting on the Lake must 

 cease sooner or later as a fine of fifty 

 dollars is the consequence of anyone's 

 being caught with a gun in his posses- 

 sion in that vicinity, even though he has 

 not fired a shot. I have seen but nine 

 Ducks so far this year— four on the 29th 

 of July and five on Oct. 11th, so you see 

 that we have very little hunting here. 

 Perhaps after the Ducks read in the pa- 

 pers that a fifty dollar fine will be in- 

 flicted upon any person hunting them, 

 they may be induced to come here in 

 large numbers. 



If this Lake were a few miles out of 

 town and was as large as it was fifty 

 years ago, we sportsmen might enjoy a 

 good hunt once in a while. But I see 

 no way of moving it, and I suppose we 

 shall have to be contented to let it re- 

 main where it is and "make no mourn- 

 ful sounds in objection thereof." 

 Glen M. Hathorn, 

 Cedar Rapids, Ohio. 



"Ridgway's Nomenclature of Colours" 



The following from the Publishers is 

 not very encouraging, to say the least, 

 to the many ornithologists desiring to 

 obtain a copy of this invaluable work: 



"In reply to yours of November 28th 

 we would, say that Ridgway's Nomencla- 

 ture of Colours is entirely out of print, 

 and we have had no copies on hand for 

 a long time. We have no new edition 

 in preparation. 



Regretting that we cannot help you, 

 we remain, 



Yours very respectfully, 

 Little, Brown & Co.," 



