J^otes^ from ^itlh mh ^tu&p 



Taming a Nuthatch 



In my daily walks through Central Park, 

 New York city, last winter I saw two, and 

 sometimes three White-breasted Nuthatches 

 together, presumably always the same indi- 

 viduals. They first drew my attention by 

 flying to the ground for nuts that might be 

 thrown to them. Later I noticed that some- 

 where in my walk I always met them, one 

 or both making their presence known by the 

 familiar call best expressed in words by 



TAMING A NUTHATCH 

 Photographed from nature 



yank-yank-yank. Finally I got the impres- 

 sion that they must know me, perhaps be- 

 cause of my invariable custom of having 

 food with me to throw to the birds. I found 

 that not only would they fly to the ground 

 for the nut but, what was still more clever, 

 catch it on the wing, thereby, perhaps, turn- 

 ing a complete somersault in the endeavor. 

 After a week if I came near enough for the 

 female to reach the nut from the trunk of the 

 tree where she would cling, she would take 

 it from my hand and fly quickly away. At 

 last she gained confidence enough to alight 

 on my hand and after that whenever I went 



to the park that bird, and its mate also, for 

 I think they share the feast, found and 

 greeted me. I am quite sure she enjoyed 

 the performance as much as I did, for she no 

 longer seemed in such a hurr}^ to get away, 

 but stayed for a moment. Then she would 

 fly to some tree to deposit the nut in a crev- 

 ice of the bark either to eat immediately or 

 to conceal it, as do the squirrels, for future 

 use. I suspect the Downy Woodpeckers 

 knew the secret, for I have frequently seen 

 two, and sometimes three, following the 

 Nuthatches, searching the trees where the 

 food had been hidden. I have wished so 

 many times I could know the bird at sight 

 as quickly as she does me, for I was always 

 the one to be called and when she saw me 

 coming toward her she would come to the 

 nearest tree and run down the trunk head 

 foremost ready to fly to my hand as soon as 

 I held it out to her.— E. M. Mead, Neiv 

 York City. 



A Ptarmigan's Nest 



{See Frontispiece) 



The photograph of the sitting White- 

 tailed Ptarmigan shown in the frontispiece 

 of this number of Bird-Lore was taken 

 June 19, 1901, just above timber line on a 

 spur of Mt. Evans, in Clear Creek county, 

 Colorado. 



The nest was discovered by accident after 

 searching for one for a month at a time every 

 year for nine years, although I frequently 

 found nests after the young were hatched 

 and many broods of young birds were seen. 

 This nest was marked and then located 

 three steps and one foot from a given spot, 

 but when I returned with my camera I took 

 the three steps and looked a number of min- 

 utes for the bird without seeing it. I was 

 then on the point of stepping over it, when 

 the eye of the bird was seen. The bird made 

 no attempt to leave the nest but relied entirely 

 on her wonderfully protective colors to escape 

 observation, and nine exposures were made 

 without her leaving the nest. — Evan Lewis, 

 Idaho Springs, Colorado. 



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