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Bird - Lore 



at a call, — sandwiches interfering a good 

 deal — and before long a movement in the 

 grass caught my eye and two male Quail 

 appeared running, one behind the other, 

 ^ at remarkable speed. In and out and 

 around the bushes they dodged, one pass- 

 ing the other unerringly but without being 

 able to lessen the distance between, which 

 for fully two minutes was just about one 

 foot. They ignored the picnic party 

 entirely and came within a few feet of the 

 bright fire. The agility of the birds was 

 astounding as well as was the length of 

 time they could keep up the pace. 



At length one chased the other a reason- 

 able distance away and then returned to 

 within a few yards of me and whistled 

 most happily. I felt the least bit sorry at 

 having deceived him and did not answer 

 for a time. First he would bob-white and 

 then the other would give his call from 

 another direction. This would arouse the 

 first and he would come running to within 

 about ten feet of me, the whistle becoming 

 positively annoying. He would then fly 

 about twenty yards and run back very 

 quickly. 



The only time the birds were silent was 

 when a Bald Eagle chased a Fish Hawk 

 screaming over the tops of the trees. 

 After that one call brought them both into 

 low trees pretty close to the picnic fire 

 where they called until night came on, 

 refusing to be driven away for any length 

 of time, although out of curiosity I chased 

 them twice. 



In the far South one sees coveys of 

 Quail that are tame because they have 

 not learned to fear man; but this is the first 

 time I have seen the wily Jersey bird show 

 fearlessness. Doubtless when the covey 

 paired off in the spring these two lonely 

 birds, were left without mates. — J. W. 

 LiPPiNCOTT, Philadelphia, Pa. 



A Migrant Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 



On July 30, 1920, the writer picked up a 

 dead bird on the sidewalk near his home, 

 which was later identified as a Yellow- 

 bellied Flycatcher. Is this a very early 

 fall record for this species, or do these birds 



slip by at this season unnoticed? I had 

 seen no other migrating Flycatchers or 

 Warblers at that date. — C. H. Bush, 

 De Kalb, Ills. 



House Finches Eat Salt 



Until last summer I had always been led 

 to believe that salt was poison to birds, 

 but at that time I found that to the House 

 Finch, at least, it is not. 



Just across the street from my home is a 

 small pasture lot. Often when sitting on 

 our porch I observed one or more House 

 Finches alight on the wire of the fence and 

 then drop down among the grass, always 

 at the same spot. At length my curiosity 

 was so aroused to know what was attract- 

 ing them that I went to investigate. The 

 only unusual thing there was a block of 

 pressed salt and sulphur that had been 

 put in the pasture for the benefit of the 

 little bossy that grazed there. 



This block, I discovered, was riddled 

 with small cup-shaped holes, quite dif- 

 ferent from anything likely to be made in 

 it by a cow's tongue. Later I frequently 

 saw the Finches pecking away at the salt 

 and apparently swallowing it. All spring 

 and summer they kept this up, until by 

 fall the chunk was worn away almost 

 entirely; and I had good reason to believe 

 that the birds had devoured more of it 

 than the cow. That it had no ill effects 

 upon them was evinced by the apparent 

 health they displayed, and the fact that I 

 never discovered any dead or ailing birds 

 in the locality. 



So far as I could see. House Finches 

 were the only birds attracted to the salt. — 

 Esther Reeks, Boulder, Colo. 



The Waxwings' Rag Bag 



For several years a pair of Cedar Wax- 

 wings have built their nest and reared their 

 family just at the edge of the woods on 

 my little farm in New Hampshire. Each 

 season I have tried to assist in their home- 

 making by placing bits of string and strips 

 of cloth at their disposal. At first, the 

 birds were shy and used these things rather 



