84 THE NIDOLOGIST 
swimming around, diving, and flapping their 
wings before disappearing in the rushes. They 
are very courageous little birds, continually 
pecking my hands and each other while I was 
carrying them, and also pecking the dogs who 
came up to sniff at them. I intended to ob- 
serve them while they were in the pond, but 
when I went there the next day they were very 
shy, going into the rushes at once, and not 
coming out while I remained there. 
I think steel traps would be very useful to 
secure the parent bird when collecting the eggs 
of Ducks or other fair-sized birds. They are 
much surer in operation than a gun, as the 
owner of a valuable nest might get away from 
the latter, badly wounded, and never come 
back. The trap is always ready, its patience 
is inexhaustible, and the bird which puts 7¢s 
foot init has to stay there. If the bird is not 
wanted to preserve, it can be set at liberty, after 
it has been identified, suffering no injury ex- 
cepting a little temporary pain. The trap 
should be set with the inner jaw almost touch- 
ing the eggs, covered carefully up, and tied so 
that it cannot be moved off the nest. It should 
be looked at in about half an hour, in order to 
release the bird from its uncomfortable position 
as soon as possible. A No. o trap with slightly 
padded jaws would probably be the best kind 
to use, as it would be easier on the bird. By 
the use of traps I found that the Pied-billed 
Grebe not only would not, but could not fly in 
this section of the country, during the month of 
July at least. A. D. HENDERSON. 
Barrie, Ont. 
———o. 
Some Bluebird Notes. 
HAT a pleasure to contemplate with 
renewed interest the recent winter 
records of our Eastern Bluebird! 
For it is evident, no doubt, or doubtfully cer- 
tain, at least, that our gravest fears of the pre- 
vious year may have been not well considered— 
even possibly a trifle premature! 
By its destruction of Sza/za we could easily 
recognize the brutal and cruel work of the Frost 
King; but, as to its alarming nature and the 
extent thereof, may it not be said that perhaps 
we have erred a little in our calculations? To 
this the writer would say, Yes, though of course 
it may be taken as an optimistic view of the 
situation. However, writing to me under date 
of January 25, 1896, my friend, Otto Widmann, 
of Old Orchard, Mo., has discovered on one of 
his recent trips, that the Bluebirds are winter- 
. ng successfully, and in respectable numbers in 
'Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri, 
especially so in the neighborhood of Paragculd, 
Ark., where in the course of an hour he had 
counted twenty-four! From Mount Pleasant, 
S. C., Mr. Arthur T. Wayne, writes me (Feb- 
ruary 26, 1896) that “ Bluebirds have been here 
in numbers all winter, and I see forty or fifty 
every day around my house.” 
In view of these facts, coupled with the ap- 
parent mortality visited upon the ranks of Svadza, 
during the severe and protracted cold spell of 
last winter, throughout the Southern States, it 
has been thought advisable to publish a few 
items of last season’s gathering. 
It seems hard to explain row the conditions 
as then existed; indeed, it is quite difficult to 
even harmonize them, but, judging from present 
indications, the results plainly show the remark- 
able recuperative powers of our blue-backed 
favorite. 
Doubtless the readers of this journal are 
familiar with the article prepared by Mrs. 
Louisa M. Stephenson, of Helena, Ark., entitled 
“Why are there so few Bluebirds?” which ap- 
peared in the December 14, 1895, issue of Horest 
and Stream, the paper consisting in the main of 
a compilation of records from various localities, 
the observers with but few exceptions reporting 
a very noticeable falling off in numbers of Blue- 
birds. To those, however, who have not seen 
this paper, the few following records may be of 
some interest. 
Here at Glen Ellyn, in Northeast Illinois, 
the work of annihilation seemed all but com- 
plete the past spring, and what few Bluebirds 
that did occur arrived here on widely separated 
dates, namely, March 27, 619; May 7, 6; 
May 27, and June 19. No breeders were ob- 
served the season through, and no birds seen in 
the county (Du Page) outside the immediate 
vicinity of my home at Glen Ellyn. Letters 
from Dr. Murchison and Mr. W. E. Loucks also 
testify to the great scarcity of Bluebirds in their 
respective localities, Kewanee and Peoria, this 
State. 
Mr. Ruthven Deane, of Chicago, writes of 
seeing a single male in Lincoln Park some time 
im June, and although his letter was dated 
August 7, none were seen since July 1 at or 
near his summer home at Kenilworth, fifteen 
miles north of the city. Outside of the State 
he had recorded but two specimens seen during 
Sunday visits to English Lake, Ind. 
Bluebirds were scarce all spring and summer 
near Old Orchard, Mo., so Mr. Widmann 
writes me, as well as in his favorite “ Peninsula’”’ 
in the southeastern corner of the State. Thatso 
few were observed in the last named locality ap- 
pears quite remarkable, taking into consideration 
the number of favorable nesting sites offered by 
the numerous “deadenings ” in that section. 
But he writes that Sza/a is under the ban 
there, that Bluebirds are killed by the farmers 
