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Bird - Lore 



stantly. The song is a loud one — as loud, 

 if not louder, than the Redstart's. It 

 starts with a repetition of notes like the 

 Chestnut-sided but after three or four 

 repetitions gives a sort of hitch and then 

 continues as before but on a different note 

 and not quite so loud. One observer 

 likened the song to that of the Chipping 

 Sparrow with a hitch in the middle. — 

 Dr. and Mrs. Lucretius H. Ross, 

 Bennington, Vt. 



Florida Gallinule in Connecticut in April 



On Friday, April 21, 1916, I received a 

 telephone message from a friend in Hart- 

 ford saying that he had observed a pecu- 

 liar bird in his yard with its head caught 

 in the lattice work of the veranda. It was 

 immediately liberated, but again it sought 

 protection in a similar manner. From 

 the telephoned description, it was fairly 

 clear that the bird must be one of the 

 Gallinules, but it was rather difficult to 

 imagine for a moment its mission in a 

 place so remote from its natural habitat. 

 I was invited to take possession of the 

 bird and to exhibit it to some of the local 

 bird-students before restoring it to free- 

 dom. I took it home and kept it for 

 twenty-four hours, during which period 

 several members of The Hartford Bird 

 Study Club eyed it with much satisfac- 

 tion. Not being able to cater to its tastes, 

 I liberated it in a favorable spot. 



The bird proved to be a beautiful adult 

 Florida Gallinule. According to Bulletin 

 201 of our State Geological and Natural 

 History Survey, it has never been recorded 

 in Connecticut in the spring, the only 

 summer record being in New Haven in 

 June, 1899, although several autumn 

 records for the state are available. — 

 Arthur G. Powers, West Hartford, Conn. 



Red-bellied Woodpecker in Iowa 



A few days ago a male Red-bellied 

 Woodpecker was observed for the first 

 time in this locality. While it may be pos- 

 sible, of course, that an occasional 

 individual of the species visits western 



Iowa, careful observation of both summer 

 and winter birds has never revealed one 

 before, and the occurrence may be of 

 interest to other readers. Since first 

 observed he has appeared every day at our 

 suet-bags, affording us ample opportunity 

 to confirm the identification as well as the 

 pleasure of studying his beautiful plumage. 

 — T. H. Whitney, Atlantic, Iowa, April 

 20, 1917. 



Snowy Owls in Idaho 



A very remarkable flight of Snowy 

 Arctic Owls occurred in southern Idaho 

 the past winter. The first specimen the 

 writer observed was on November 23, 

 1916. It was remarkably tame at first. 

 I approached within twenty or twenty- 

 five feet of it, and it did not fly. When I 

 tried to photograph it, however, it soon 

 became quite shy. This Owl (presuma- 

 bly the same one) stayed in the vicinity 

 of the writer's home all winter, so it is 

 believed. The last time I saw it, how- 

 ever, was on December 30. Twice I pre- 

 vented farmers from killing this very 

 beautiful and valuable bird. Reports of 

 Snowy Owls were common during the 

 winter. One firm in Boise mounted no less 

 than thirty-five specimens. The Owls 

 were reported retreating northward about 

 Feb. 9. — Alex. Stalker, Meridian, Idaho. 



A Song from the Nest 



Just at the entrance to one of the large 

 ranches near Pasadena, I heard a par- 

 ticularly rich, sweet song, so wandered 

 up among the plows and harrows, under 

 a fine group of oaks, and finally ascer- 

 tained that my songster must be in a 

 sapling well out of sight of the road. After 

 a time and no end of dodging and search- 

 ing, I located a tiny, slim, olive-gray 

 bird, with buffy sides to the head, white 

 underparts shaded with yellow and a dis- 

 tinct white stripe through the eye. It was 

 a Warbling Vireo and oh! how he did 

 sing! A glorious, rippling melody, just 

 bubbling over with joy and pride. I could 

 not have believed that such a volume of 



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