THE NIDlOLO(ilST. 



163 



mount also, but in wide sweeping circles of 

 much greater diameter than those made by 

 the struggling bird above. Up! up they 

 went, till the striving birds looked like 

 mere specks. The Bagle rose rapidly and, 

 decreasing the size of its circles, at last was 

 within reach of the Hawk, which finally 

 loosened its hold on the fish, and as a last 

 despairing cry, a scream of execration 

 reached us, the fish, freed from its captor's 

 talons, was seen to descend to the water, 

 looking like a silver streak in the rays of 

 the setting sun . 



This sight occurred within a hundred 

 rods of our boat and was plainly seen by 

 our entire party. There was absolutely no 

 breeze that we could perceive, although 

 there might have been more or less breeze 

 at an elevation of a few hundred feet. Be 

 thatasitmay, the Bald Eagle never once 

 flapped his wings from the time he began 

 to soar, and within a time not to exceed 

 four or five minutes he had mounted sev- 

 eral thousand feet. And, furthermore, the 

 pursuing Eagle never soared or sailed in 

 a descending plane. 



In conclusion, allow me to say that I 

 have no knowledge of aerial navigation, 

 nor am I capable of advancing anything to 

 further a study in this quarter, but I am 

 thoroughly in earnest in saying that it is 

 idle to discuss the movements of birds in 

 the air, with a view to explaining man's 

 sytem of the ' ' mechanics of flight. ' ' 



Eet us hear more on this subject. Not 

 in the nature of aerial navigation as under- 

 stood or studied by us, but as it reters to 

 the flight of birds. For it must be 

 acknowleged that there is a principle in- 

 volved in bird movements in the air, and 

 especially as regards soaring, which has as 

 yet been in no way satisfactorily accounted 

 fon Morris Gibbs, M. D. 



"» • » 



The Water Ouzel at Home 



This society like your publication very 

 much. — Sec'y Nebraska City Naturalists' 

 Association. 



THERE is scarcely to be found in all the 

 field of ornithology a more beautiful 

 or harmonious study than the Water 

 Ouzel and its home. It has been my good 

 fortune to observe this bird on a number 

 of occasions and some of my most enjoy- 

 able excursions have been along pretty 

 mountain streams where this sprightly 

 creature lives. 



My first experiense with the water Ouzel 

 was on Uvas creek, Alameda county. While 

 collecting along that stream I had a chance 

 to examine several nests, all of which were 

 constructed on the same general plan. One 

 nest attracted my attention particularly on 

 account of its ingenious concealment. It 

 was built in a crevice on the face of a moss- 

 covered rock which stood about ten feet out 

 the water. The cavity had been filled with 

 moss and a hollow space left for the nest. 

 The moss of the rock hung over the en- 

 trance hole so as to completely conceal it, 

 and the bird entered by parting the green 

 lace-like curtains. This nest was not as 

 fresh and pretty looking as some I saw on 

 account of its being beyond the reach of 

 spray. While in Colorado I had a splendid 

 opportunity to study the nesting habits of 

 the Ouzel. 



On March 29 of this year I started from 

 Golden to Ralston creek, my object being 

 to locate some Eagle's nests which I thought 

 were up the canyon. There is a chain of 

 long, low hills, called the hog backs, which 

 lie just at the foot of the mountains and ex- 

 tend more than a hundred miles along them. 

 These hogbacks of cretitious sandstone, 

 forming the "red rocks" of Morrison and 

 the various spires and shafts in the "Gar- 

 den of the Gods," are cut in many places 

 by the canyons of the little streams. Ral. 

 ston creek makes such a cut about five 

 miles east of Golden and it was at this 

 point that I struck it. The stream is quite 

 small but it hugs the bank on one side so 

 closely that the gap is continually widening, 



