﻿Notes from Field and Study 



105 



wings are to be seen from early spring until 

 autumn. When I have penetrated the small 

 swamp which forms the source of the creek, 

 I find the Marsh Hawks, Mourning Dove, 

 Purple Finch, and, in the early spring, the 

 Fox Sparrow. 



It is in my winter rambles that I really 

 enjoy the tree-covered banks of Sucker 

 Brook the most. When standing in the 

 shelter of a friendly oak I can watch the 

 Nuthatches and Chickadees make merry 

 while cleaning out the little remaining meat 

 from the hickory-nuts which the red squirrels 

 have discarded. It is at such a time as this 

 that I have about my only chance of watch- 

 ing a Nuthatch on the ground, and then he 

 does not stay long. He will poke about 

 among the leaves until he finds a nut unto 

 his taste, then, flying to a near-by shagbark, 

 he will place the nut securely in a crevice 

 of the bark, stand on his head and extract 

 the last bit of meat from the shell, then away 

 for another. 



Flickers, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers 

 are also to be seen, and last winter a group 

 of some ten or twelve male Redheads made 

 the grove noisy with their continual yelping. 

 At dusk the little Screech Owl is more often 

 heard than seen. And all the year round 

 that crafty old fellow, the Crow, keeps a 

 close watch on all the doings along the 

 creek. Yesterday I surprised one. I was 

 just crossing a rustic bridge, when the Crow 

 flew up with a caw of surprise and anger; I 

 had interrupted his repast from kitchen 

 refuse. For once there seemed to be no sen- 

 tinels posted. 



In the more open parts the Winter Chippy 

 feeds, and once in a while I find my friend 

 of the early springtime, the Song Sparrow, 

 in their company. Some winters the Snow 

 Buntings visit the bordering meadows, 

 though they are by no means regular in 

 their appearance in this section. Altogether 

 I have seen some ninety different kinds of 

 birds along Sucker Brook. — Nelson A. 

 Jackson, Keuka Park, N. Y. 



A May Snow-storm 

 The following notes relate to observations 

 made at Grass Creek, Pine Ridge Reserva- 

 tion, S. D. On May 3, 1905, a cold rain 



prevailed all day, coming from the north. 

 In the evening the rain-storm changed to a 

 snow-storm, which continued all night, all 

 the next day, and into the succeeding night. 

 It was practically a blizzard. Western Lark 

 Sparrows had arrived on May 1, and the 

 storm rendered them very uncomfortable, to- 

 say the least. They huddled close to the 

 south sides of the buildings, seeking shelter, 

 and looking for food where the ground was 

 bare. I threw out crumbs of bread to them, 

 many of which they picked up. They slept 

 under the door-steps and in a stable well 

 sheltered by a hill, as well as in spaces 

 among cord-wood in the wood-pile. 



The Horned Larks did not appear to- 

 mind the storm greatly, at first, but ulti- 

 mately they began to flock with the Lark 

 Sparrows. They did not, however, so far 

 as I could ascertain, eat any of the crumbs 

 that I had thrown out. But the cold had 

 made these birds, as well as the Sparrows, 

 almost fearless of me. 



A White-rumped Shrike had killed a 

 Lark and thrown the body over a wire on 

 the fence, thus enabling him to hold it 

 easily. He was eating the decapitated car- 

 cass, and returned to it after I had fright- 

 ened him off. 



When the snow had nearly disappeared I 

 saw a large number of the Sparrows and 

 Larks feeding together. A Shrike flew over 

 them, a few feet above the ground. The 

 Larks nearly all took alarm and flew away, 

 but the Sparrows fed on unconcernedly with 

 the few Larks that remained. 



The flocks of Blackbirds that had pre- 

 viously been with us disappeared w T hile the 

 blizzard was in progress and did not return 

 until it had cleared; but a single Bronzed 

 Grackle, accompanied by a male Cowbird, 

 sought at times for food about our doors, 

 during the storm. 



. The morning after the storm had ended I 

 saw a Say's Pewee at one of the windows of 

 the house in chase of a fly that was on the 

 outside; and afterwards I saw him trying to 

 secure one or two of these insects that were 

 on the glass within doors. When the storm 

 was raging I had seen him upon the ground, 

 searching for food as ordinary ground-dwel- 

 lers do. — H. Tullsen, Manderson, S. D. 



