﻿Notes from Field and Study 



209 



birds, a small two-inch telescope. This 

 glass was intended for mountain climbing, 

 and was fitted with a strap for carrying over 

 the back, and I expected to use it for this 

 purpose, but found, to my surprise and 

 delight, that it was invaluable for the obser- 

 vation and certain identification of distant 

 bird life. Many birds are in the habit of 

 perching, and remaining for little periods of 

 time, on tall tree-tops; and, by resting the 

 glass on the nearest stump or fence, it proved 

 a most practical instrument for observing 

 them. 



In the three short weeks of my vacation, 

 I accurately distinguished 66 varieties, which, 

 for the period of the year (August) and the 

 well-known scarcity of birds in this region, 

 seemed quite remarkable. 



A very pleasant feature was what might 

 be called the naturalness of the bird action 

 revealed. Owing to distance, they would 

 pay little or no attention to my presence, 

 and many pleasant pictures resulted, — a small 

 flock of Grouse rolling in the dust of the 

 roadway; an Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker 

 hammering on a far distant tree; a large 

 Hawk, pluming himself and even yawning 

 as if he was tired and sleepy; a Ring-billed 

 Gull, a vision of dazzling white; an Indigo 

 Bird, standing sentinel on the top of a tall 

 tree, in the midst of an old field, his nest 

 probably near by, and a family of Purple 

 Finches. 



Pine Siskins were numerous, but extremely 

 shy, flying rapidly in small flocks, and 

 alighting only in far distant trees, quite 

 indistinguishable with the ordinary field- 

 glass. The Cedar Waxwing, at this time of 

 year, is much given to the tall-tree habit, 

 flying high and rapidly, in small flocks of 

 three or four, and hardly seemed the bird 

 of our orchards we know so well. 



A Tufted Titmouse was the most unlooked 

 for and unexpected find, while Kingbirds 

 proved common around Buttermilk Falls 

 and the Racquette river. I had hitherto 

 thought of this bird only as one of pasture 

 and farm, and to find him at home, in num- 

 bers, along this lonely mountain stream, was 

 quite unlooked for and unexpected. 



Occasionally, small flocks of Warblers 

 and Vireos would appear, apparently begin- 



ning their fall migration, the natty and 

 beautiful Black-throated Blue being quite 

 common among them . I counted nine species 

 atone resting-place, including. Chickadees 

 and Winter Wrens. 



Yet bird life here is not abundant. The 

 woods seem strangely silent, and to the or- 

 dinary observer it must seem, what we so 

 frequently hear them say, that "there are 

 no birds in the woods." The hunter and 

 the "boy with the gun" are the curse of 

 this country, to the nature- lover. 



Where formerly the Fish Hawk and the 

 Bald Eagle, and what we might call the 

 natural wild life of the forest lake, and 

 stream — the Herons, Kingfishers, Ducks, 

 Loons and Gulls — were abundant, they have 

 now nearly disappeared. Years ago, we 

 could watch this wild life from the hotel 

 piazza, but now not even the croak of the 

 bullfrog can be heard; all have nearly or 

 quite disappeared, a sacrifice to the craze to 

 kill.— Wm. M. Stillman, Plainfield, N. J. 



Remarkable Flight of Red-breasted Nut- 

 hatches 



During a vacation spent on Fire Island 

 Beach, New York, in September, a remark- 

 able migration of these birds was observed. 

 Point o' Woods is a cottage settlement, on 

 the barrier beach, at this point about one 

 thousand feet wide, between the ocean and 

 Great South Bay, which is here eight miles 

 wide. The soil is sand-covered with a rank 

 growth of weeds of various kinds, low 

 bushes, scrub-oaks and small pines. On the 

 night of September 20, it was very damp, 

 with a moderate southwest wind and a num- 

 ber of showers. On the morning of the 21st 

 the wind still continued southwest, very 

 moderate, with a temperature of seventy-four 

 degrees at seven a. m. During the night 

 there must have been a great flight of Red- 

 breasted Nuthatches, for they were seen on 

 the morning of ; the 21st in large numbers. 

 They remained all that day, although there 

 seemed to be a steady movement to the west, 

 which here is the autumn direction of mi- 

 gration. During the night of the 21st, we 

 had more showers, and on the 22d, the wind 

 was strong southeast, with some rain. There 



