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Memories of the Passenger Pigeon 



The last flock of Passenger Pigeons that 

 I remember seeing was about 1886-7. 

 It was in the late autumn, after the leaves 

 had fallen from the trees. There were 

 about 120 birds in the flock. They 

 lighted in the top of a large beech tree; 

 and, finding that the beechnuts had fallen 

 out of the hulls, dropped in rapid succes- 

 sion from branch to branch till all had 

 reached the ground. I never have seen 

 more intense activity or seeming system 

 in feeding than those birds displayed. 

 They worked in a wing-shaped group, 

 moving nervously forward in one direc- 

 tion around the tree, gleaning the entire 

 nut-covered space as they went. Those 

 falling to the rear of the flock, where the 

 nuts were picked up, kept flopping across 

 to the front so as to get the advantage of 

 the unpicked ground. A few that wandered 

 apart in search of scattered nuts kept 

 scurrying about and tilting as they 

 picked them up and then hurried back to 

 the flock as if they feared that the flock 

 would soon be through feeding and off 

 on the wing. This restless, voracious 

 activity was continued till the flock took 

 fright and burst into the air, to fly away 

 and disappear as a small cloud. Will 

 they ever appear again? — Hibbard J. 

 Jewett, Xenia, Ohio. 



Notes from Canandaigua, N. Y. 



There appeared in the Brigham Hall 

 grounds. May 18, 191 7, a bird seldom 

 seen north of New Jersey — the Blue- 

 gray Gnatcatcher, — a male in fine plum- 

 age. 



This Gnatcatcher is a tiny bird, not 

 much ovey 4 inches in length, having an 

 exceedingly long tail, which has white 

 outer feathers. Like its Kinglet relatives, 

 it had the same habit of flitting nervously 

 from twig to twig. 



We noted his flycatching habit of tak- 



ing insects on the wing with wonderful 

 dexterity, and saw that, at all times, he 

 kept his tail sticking up in the air. The 

 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, seemingly, is a 

 bird of the tree-tops, for he remained in 

 them most of the time he was under our 

 observation. At times, he was not un- 

 willing to show off his delicate, trim body, 

 which was whitish underneath and blue- 

 gray above, by coming down among the 

 lower branches and to the shrubbery. It 

 was then we could plainly distinguish the 

 narrow black band over the forehead and 

 eyes. 



The Gnatcatcher sang its rather feeble 

 but exquisitely finished song, many times. 

 The call-note was heard, too. It is 'tsee, 

 tsee, tsee', and sounded a bit like the 

 squeak of a mouse. 



Its dainty coloring, sweet, whispered 

 song, graceful posture, and constant 

 motion would be sure to attract attention 

 at any time. 



Former Canandaigua records of this 

 uncommon summer visitant, given in 

 Eaton's 'Birds of New York,' are of two 

 birds secured June 3, 1886, and one seen 

 April 25, 1906. 



This year's record would seem to prove 

 beyond a doubt that the Blue-gray 

 Gnatcatcher was seen by the same 

 observer, Dr. H. C. Burgess, at Brigham 

 Hall last season. Because amateurs see 

 rare birds not seen by experienced ob- 

 servers, they say: "Oh, no! You could 

 not possibly have seen that." Dr. Burgess 

 detected the presence of the bird again 

 this spring and spread the good news by 

 the telephone, so that many bird-lovers, 

 including the 'experienced' observers, 

 were given opportunity to be convinced 

 that the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was really 

 in our midst. It remained three days. 



A pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers 

 made their first appearance in Canan- 

 daigua the latter part of December, 1916, 

 and spent the winter. They visited two 

 feeding- stations in the city. The male 



(3Si) 



