124 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



5. The Whippoorwill carries its young from place by the back of the 

 neck as a cat carries its kittens. 



6. Pigeons do not raise the head to swallow, as other birds do, but 

 keep the bill immersed until through drinking. 



7. The Kildeer has three toes, all fore toes, no hind toes. 



8. The Ostrich has two toes in front, no hind toes. 



9. The Burrowing-owl courtesies when anyone passes its nest, so is 

 sometimes called the "How-do-you-do owl." 



10. The Cow-bird lays its egg in the nest of some other smaller bird, 

 and the European Cuckoo shirks its duties in the same manner. 



EXTRACTS FROM OUR MAIL BAG. 

 SOME MARSH BIRDS. 



One afternoon in June (1904) I put on my rubiber boots and went to 

 a marsh, of which I knew in a neighboring village. It is not very 

 large but it is the home of numerous marsh birds. 



As I approached the place I heard the rollicking song of the long- 

 billed Marsh Wren and heard the merry "okalee" of the red-winged 

 Black-birdc My real object was to find the nests of these birds, 

 especially the Marsh Wrens'. I began to examine every clump of 

 cat-tails to see if I could find one. 



Ah, yes, there was one, but to my great disappointment it contained 

 nothing. I found three nests but all of them were empty. I have 

 heard of long-billed Marsh Wrens building sham nests to attract the 

 attention away from the real nest, and it must have been one of these 

 that I found. Pretty soon, however, I found the real gamie article 

 containing one egg. The bird had probably just begun to lay. I also 

 found a red-winged Black-bird's nest just ready for eggs. 



While I was wading around among the cat-tails I frightened an 

 American bittern, which flew slowly down the marsh, its long legs 

 dangling out behind it. 



I was listening to the Marsh Wren's singing so joyfully, when I 

 heard a noise like the grunt of a small pig. The noise seemed to come 

 from about ten feet ahead of me. I followed it around and around the 

 marsh but I could not see anything, for the cat-tails were three or four 

 feet high. Pretty soon I came to an open space and found that I was 

 following a bird that I had never seen before. I wrote down its des- 

 cription in a note-book, which I always carry with me, and when I got 

 home I looked it up in a book and found that it was a Virginia Rail. 



Clarence C. Abbott, 



New York City. 



