﻿Notes from Field and Study 



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and fallen to earth exhausted. This theory 

 complies well with the weather conditions. 

 There was a northeast breeze driving in a 

 fog from the ocean, and, whenever the fog 

 lifted, hurrying clouds could be seen passing 

 across the sky." 



This little incident took place near Mil- 

 ton Hill, in eastern Massachusetts, at a 

 point about four miles from the nearest sea- 

 shore. Before releasing my chance captive, 

 I determined to study him for a time. I 

 therefore made a cage of fine wire, large 

 enough to hold a pan of water and a little 

 forest of ferns. 



The bird seemed happy in his new quar- 

 ters, but the food question was at first a 

 difficult problem. Knowing that his rela- 

 tive, the sora, was very fond of wild rice, 

 I tried him on cooking rice, but this he 

 refused to eat. While I was watching him, 

 however, he solved the question for me. 

 Peeping timidly about the ferns, he saw a 

 little insect on the under side of a leaf, and 

 quickly snatched it. He was insectivorous! 

 I went out to the garden and got some in- 

 sects and worms; a few of these I dropped 

 into his cage. The result was gratifying in 

 the extreme; he rushed at them and, taking 

 a large worm by one end, he quickly ate it. 

 Two or three more worms followed, and, as 

 each was taken as eagerly as the first, I 

 emptied my can into the cage. By keeping 

 him in a corner until all the worms had 

 hidden, I made him hunt for his food in 

 his natural manner. 



He lived in good health for three days, 

 but on the fourth he died, after eating sev- 

 eral hard bugs. It seems very probable 

 that these were the cause of his death. 



During his period of captivity he only 

 twice made any sound; both these times it 

 was a hoarse cra-a-a, made when angry 

 and frightened. I several times saw him 

 run through the ferns a few inches from the 

 ground, by grasping the stalks on right and 

 left. He was always very stealthy in his 

 actions, and to see him peering about 

 among the green ferns, with his frightened 

 red eyes, was indeed singular. He often 

 flew around the cage, and at these times 

 his flight was fluttering and as silent as that 

 of a butterfly. 



He was a very attractive pet and, if he 

 had only lived longer, some very interesting 

 facts concerning this little-known species 

 might have been discovered. — Stanley 

 Cobb, Milton, Mass. 



Martins and English Sparrows 



While traveling in northern Minnesota 

 during July and August, 1905, I noticed 

 how common a practice it was with the 

 farmers to put up boxes for the Martins, 

 and all these seemed to be occupied. 



I questioned one man about his colony of 

 Martins, and he told me he thought he must 

 have thirty now (this was after the young 

 had left the nest), but he came near losing 

 them in the spring. A flock of about a 

 dozen English Sparrows arrived about the 

 time the Martins had commenced to build 

 and started to drive them out, but he shot 

 four or five and the rest disappeared. He 

 said they were the first he had seen in this 

 section of the country. 



I also found, at a house about two miles 

 distant from this man's, that a smaller flock 

 of Martins had been driven from a large 

 house to a much smaller one near it by two 

 pairs of English Sparrows which I saw nest- 

 ing in the larger box. This man also said 

 that these were the first English Sparrows 

 he had seen in the country, although he 

 had seen them at the nearest railroad 

 station, which was thirty miles distant. 



This only helps to show in a small way 

 how the English Sparrow is advancing from 

 the large cities into the sparsely settled sec- 

 tions of the country and its effect upon our 

 native birds. — A. W. Honywill, New 

 Haven, Conn. 



Do Snakes Charm Birds? 



In my reading on venomous snakes I 

 again and again noticed the statement that 

 snakes could charm birds. This summer I 

 decided to look into this matter more fully 

 and try and find a solution more satisfactory 

 to myself if possible. I caught a young Cat- 

 bird which had left the nest, and put it in a 

 cage. I took a position near the cage and 

 remained perfectly quiet, but did not try 



