i6o 



Bird - Lore 



The Geese recorded were seen at the 

 following times: 



The first flock of Geese, containing 

 about 25, was seen on the afternoon of 

 October 15. The second flock was noted 

 on the afternoon of October 20, and con- 

 tained about 100 birds. They were flying 

 very low when seen, and in very irregular 

 form, as if tired and searching for a land- 

 ing-place. The next flock was seen quite 

 early on the morning of October 25. There 

 were about 100 in this flock. A fourth 

 flock passed October 27, this also contain- 

 ing about 100 Geese. On the afternoon of 

 October 31, a flock of only 5 was seen fly- 

 ing southward, aimlessly and without a 

 leader; 16 more Geese were seen Novem- 

 ber 13. On November 7, two flocks, of 

 about 35 each, were seen flying south, the 

 flocks being only about 300 feet from each 

 other; 9 more Geese were seen that day. 



On the evening of November 15 a very 

 large flock passed over, judging from the 

 honking. 



A flock of 35, which could not be posi- 

 tively identified, passed on November 23. 

 That evening, at dusk many Geese could 

 be heard, but they were not seen. On 

 November 25, 5 Geese passed, going south, 

 and this was the last flock seen in 1919. — ■ 

 Fred J. Pierce, Winthrop, Iowa. 



Purple Gallinule in Connecticut 



Your readers may be interested to know 

 that on April 16 I saw a fine specimen of 

 the Florida Purple Gallinule. It is very 

 rarely seen above the Mason and Dixon 

 line, two specimens having been reported 

 on Long Island, but so far as I can ascer- 

 tain, never in New England. 



I did not hunt the bird, but it appeared 

 unexpectedly as I stood talking with a 

 neighbor in a little-used country road, not 

 far from a salt marsh. It ran along the 

 ground, close to a high board fence, and 

 passed us at a distance of 15 yards. I ob- 

 served that it had a white bill, a small 

 head, a small, long neck, and long legs. It 

 was about the size of a half-grown chicken. 

 The color of the body was a rich purple. 

 The wings were bluish green, and in the 



bright sunlight the coloring had a gorgeous 

 sheen. 



After running past us it suddenly turned 

 and ran across the road in front of us, as 

 if to give us a perfect side view of its beauty. 

 I moved quickly toward it in order to 

 observe its mode of flight. It flew a few 

 paces like a Rail, alighted, and ran, or 

 glided into some bushes. 



I was much impressed with the perfec- 

 tion of its muscular coordination. There 

 was no waste of power, but a perfect ad- 

 justment of muscular force in running, 

 while it was heavy and awkward in its 

 flight. 



The bird was new to me, but in view of 

 its small head and neck, such a good pro- 

 vision for enabling it to thread its way 

 through marsh grasses, its long legs, its 

 short, feeble wings, I classified it as a 

 marsh wader, and, from the mode of its 

 flight, I thought it belonged to the Rail 

 family. This proved to be the case. A 

 perfect-colored picture of the bird can be 

 found in 'Birds Which Hunt and, Are 

 Hunted,' by Neltje Blanchan. 



I shall always carry a pleasant memory 

 of the beautiful bird, and mark April 16 

 with a white stone. — Charles W. Pack- 

 ard, M.D., Stratford, Conn. 



An Odd Note of the Blue Jay 



This morning (Feb. 2, 1920) I heard a 

 Blue Jay give a curious note — a harsh, 

 rapid chatter or growl, as rapid as a Wood- 

 pecker's tattoo. The bird-note which it 

 most closely resembled is the jarring chat- 

 ter of a Catbird, but it had a duller, more 

 wooden quality and suggested a mechanical 

 sound rather than a bird's voice. The Blue 

 Jay was alone in a small apple orchard and 

 was visiting one tree after another, evi- 

 dently feeding. Recalling, from the oddity 

 of the note, that I had heard it some years 

 ago, but not since, I looked up my records 

 and found the following note: 



"Apr. 6, 1913. This morning (6.45) 

 fifteen to twenty Blue Jays were flying 

 about, making a great disturbance. From 

 the large number of birds and from their 

 loud cries, I supposed that they were 



