74 



IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



loijoa @raitl2ologi8t 



A Quarterly Magazine Devoted 



to the Study of Ornithology 



and Oology. 



DAVID 12. SAVAGE, 



:i£Oitoi: anD ipubltsber. 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 



One year - ■ • 40 cts. 



Single copy, • - • 10 cts. 



ADVERTISING RATES. 



1 inch • - • ■ ? -50 



2 inches .... .go 

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 I page 5.00 



Entered as second class mail matter at the 

 Post Office, Salem, Iowa. 



Address all comiuunications to 



David L. Savage, Salem, Iowa. 



The BIue=bird, a Vision of Spring. 



BY LOTTO WILDWOOD, M. D. , DUBUQUE, lA, 



He is perched on an elm near my window-- 



I hear his notes tender and clear — 

 And he's singmg the same song, verbatim. 



I'hat he sung in that old tree last year. 

 I admire his bright coat, for its color 



Is of the dear Union blue; 

 And I know that he advocates freedom, 



And never a heart beat more true. 

 Most gladly we welcome thy presence, 



O, thou of the dainty blue wing ! 

 For dost not thou herald the coming 



Of all that is lovely in spring? 

 Because thou art here with thy carol 



We know the grim winter is past; 

 And thou art one out of many 



That has stood the cold turbulent blast. 

 Foreshadowed in vision of beauty 



Where rife the commingl'd perfume, 

 I see the white stream through the meadow 



With borders of pink and blue bloom. 



And I sit 'neath the shadowy maple, I 



And list to its young, trembling leaves, j 

 While I mark the swift flight of the swallow * 



.-^nd count their nests under the eaves. 

 And I see the green slope by the orchard, 



All sprinkled with dandelion flowers; < 

 And the blcom of the apple and cherry 



Sweep down in pale, fairy-like showers. 

 y\nd I roam all alone through the wildwood 



Where waveth the emerald pine; 

 And the red squirrel stops in its gambol 



To hide 'mid the dark ivy vine. 

 There are plats of bright moss in the border - 



With tints of blue violets 'round — 

 And I gather again for the rock-work, 



And mantle anew the steep mound. 

 And I hear the sweet concert of black-birds 



And the trill of the blythe little wren. 

 And the silvery warbling of orioles 



Adown in the buttercup glen. 

 Most gladly we welcome thy presence, 



O, thou of the dainty blue wing ! 

 For dost thou not herald the coming 



Of all that is lovely in spring ? 



The Rambler Noticed 



The first Blue-bird for 1896, 

 on the 23d of February and that 

 they are now about as plentiful 

 as they were in the days of long 

 ago. 



That Carl Fritz Henning was 

 out in the woods near Boone, 

 la., and collected a Great Horn- 

 ed Owl and two eggs. He says, 

 "How is that for an early record.'" 



That in the March "Oologist ', 

 there was an article on "The 

 Finding of Owls' Nests", from the 

 pen of a Hawkeye collector. 



That the Ducks are very scarce 

 this spring along the small 

 streams. Possibly they are mi- 



