THE OSPREY. 27 



The Mocking birds, apparently, are not persecuted by the people, and I did 

 not see a single caged bird. They were found in the orchards and especially 

 in the underbrush along the river. They were nest building at the time of 

 our visit, and I spent some hours in watching a pair at work in a tree under 

 which we had our camp. This tree, a cottonwood, had a large number of 

 small branches growing out of the trunk near the ground, and in the angle 

 formed by a thick bunch of branches and the trunk the nest was placed. It 

 was only about seven feet from tiie ground and the birds were very industrious 

 in building the foundation, which consisted entirely of small twigs. They were 

 perfectly fearless and continued work with several persons within fifteen or 

 twenty feet of them, and on one occasion one of the birds came to within 

 three feet of me for a particular twig that had attracted her attention. 



These birds were early risers and we were awakened at the first peep of 

 day by a chorus of a dozen or more in the low trees about our camp; and 

 they sang continuously until dusk, even in the hottest part of the day. 1 am 

 not enough of a musician to venture an attempt to reduce the song to a written 

 scale, nor enough of a linguistic acrobat to attempt portraying it by a jum- 

 ble of variously accented syllables, and will only say that it was the sweetest 

 and most varied bird song I have ever listened to. 



REMINISCENT AND RANDOM MAINE BIRD NOTES. 



By W. C. Kendall, Ass't U. S. Fish Commission. 



"Why does the Rooster crow, papa, 

 Why does the Rooster crow? 

 The reason why I'll tell to you: 

 Because the Rooster cannot mew, 

 And so he has to crow." — Father Goose. 



Why does the male Grouse drum? 



Bendire says that "while this drumming cannot be considered a love note, 

 as it may be heard almost every month in the year, and sometimes in the night 

 as well as in the daytime, yet it must have some attraction for the females and 

 I think is performed as a sign of bodily vigor and to notify her of his where- 

 abouts." In another place, quoting from Manly Hardy, "I consider that the 

 drumming is not a call to the female, as they drum nearly or quite as much in 

 the fall as in the spring, and I have heard them during every month in the 

 year. ' ' 



The first statement implies that the drumming is essentially a "love call." 



Mr. Hardy's observations were undoubtedly correct; but the fact that the 

 birds drum quite as much in the fall as in the spring does not detract from 

 the love call argument. 



