Notes from Field and Study 



lOI 



It is understood that every family of 

 bird lovers will be subscribers to Bird- 

 Lore, for few would be willing to miss the 

 interesting bits of information to be found 

 in every number of this bird magazine. 



Selections from Bird-Lore, the Audu- 

 bon Leaflets, books on Nature by stand- 

 ard authors, and occasionally articles from 

 some of the popular magazines, might be 

 read at each meeting. This will prove a 

 very interesting part of the program, and 

 there will always be material enough to 

 fill out any schedule. 



Good plates of birds like those obtained 

 with the Audubon Leaflets and the set 

 published with the 'Birds of New York' 

 will help in identifications, and, as the 

 cost is very small, every club should have 

 at least one set of each. 



If we can get our clubs once started 

 along these lines, it seems possible that it 

 might become more of a problem to find 

 time for everything than to find some- 

 thing to do. 



One j'ear's course in a bird club of this 

 kind should give every member a fairly 

 good knowledge of what we can do for 

 the birds, and what they are doing for us. — 

 W. M. BuswELL, Superintendent Meriden, 

 {N. H.) Bird Club. 



Ornithological Possibilities of a Bit 

 of Swamp-Land 



For several years, I have had a bit of 

 swamp-land under my eye, especially dur- 

 ing the cooler months. It is not exactly a 

 beauty-spot, being bordered by ragged 

 backyards, city dumps, a small tannery, 

 and a dismantled factory, formerly used 

 by a company engaged in cleaning hair 

 for plasterers' use. 



A part of the surface is covered by 

 cat-tails, the rest by a mixed growth of 

 water-loving shrubs, as sweet-gale, leather- 

 leaf, andromeda, and other shrubs which 

 like to dabble their roots in ooze. A 

 brook, connecting two large ponds, runs 

 through the swamp, giving current and 

 temperature enough to make certain a 

 large amount of open water, even in the 

 coldest weather. 



A little colony of Wilson's Snipe have 

 made this swamp their winter home for 

 at least fifteen years, and probably much 

 longer. Song, and generally Swamp Spar- 

 rows can be found here all winter. This 

 winter, we have a Green-winged Teal, 

 finding feed enough to induce her to 

 remain; and over beside the cat-tails, 

 about some fallen willows, a Winter 

 Wren seems much at home. 



During recent years, a sort of beach, 

 made by dumping gravel to cover refuse 

 from the hair factory, has been a favored 

 feeding place for various Sandpipers, as 

 well as the Snipe. The last of the Sand- 

 pipers leave in November, while the Snipe 

 remain. 



Bitterns and Black-crowned Night 

 Herons drop in during the fall and summer, 

 and our increasing Ring-neck Pheasant, 

 the gunner's pet, loves to skulk around the 

 edges. 



Tree Sparrows, Goldfinches, and their 

 kin attract an occasional Butcherbird and 

 the smaller Hawks, Pigeon, Sparrow, and 

 Sharp-shin in season. 



Early spring brings a host of Blackbirds, 

 Redwings, Bronzed Grackles, and Rustics; 

 while a Cowbird hung about with some 

 English Sparrows, until Thanksgiving 

 time, this year. 



We are always on the lookout for some- 

 thing new to turn up in the swamp, and 

 are seldom disappointed. For so small a 

 place, not over five acres, it surely is a 

 bird haven; especially does it seem so 

 when, but a few rods away on the nearby 

 ponds, the ice-men are harvesting twelve- 

 inch ice. Naturally, local bird-lovers are 

 praying that the hand of "improvement" 

 will be stayed a long time in wiping out 

 this neglected little nook. — Arthur P. 

 Stubbs, Lynn, Mass. 



My Neighbor's Sparrow Trap 



My neighbor one block to the north, 

 Professor E. R. Ristine, who gives me 

 leave to use his name in the present con- 

 nection, finally lost his patience with 

 English Sparrows {Passer domesticus), on 

 or about May 15, 1915. The fact that 



