self on a level spot, free from grass, where 
there had previously been a campfire. The 
moon-light streaming through the tree tops 
gave this improvised stage a calceum light 
effect. 
He began the well-known call with the 
“cluck’’ closely following. A person would 
hardly believe the ‘‘cluck’’ came from the 
same source, as each ‘‘whip-poor-will’’ fol- 
lowed in such close succession as to seem 
one continuous call. After a few minutes 
he took short flights of about two to five 
feet verticlly into the air, hovering similar 
to the Kingbird, then dropping likea stone 
to his former position to resume his call. 
This continues until the female appears in 
the ring as suddenly and as silently as 
though she had come out of the ground. 
Now the scenes changes. Mr.Whip-poor- 
willassumes a ‘“‘turkey-gobbler’’ attitude, 
struttingaround his mate, and woz the notes 
change to the low guttural sounds discribed 
by.Mr. Galloway; sounding to me much 
like the notes of young Crows. 
Here our horse takes it into his mind to 
scratch his back on the wagon-wheel, mak- 
ing a racket which scares away our love- 
making pair. 
I felt very much impressed with the sight 
and grabbing my note-book wrote my 
inspirations of this rare opportunity before 
again retiring. 
WALTER A. JOHNSON. 
GALESBURG, III. 
~~ e 
Birds and Fire. 
NOTHER aarticle appeared in THE 
Th Nrponocis’? a short time since con- 
cerning birds being attracted by fire. 
I have a similar instance to record: 
It happened in Boone County, Iowa, in 
the fall of 1889, when there was quite a 
large prairie fire. After the ground had 
been burnt over, two haystacks that had 
caught continued burning. They were but 
a short distance from a fence, the posts of 
which remained standing, and a slough. 
While the stacks burnt a flock of Blue- 
winged Teal stopped at the pond and for a 
long time several Meadowlarks were singing 
on the fence posts, while overhead, inthe 
darkness, could be heard the cry of many 
Nighthawks and numberless Killdeers. The 
cries of these birds and burning smoky 
prairie made a scene, that midnight, I shall 
never forget. 
ARTHUR M. FARMER. 
CLINTON, MAss. 
THE NIDOLOGIST 
Iolr 
A Battle in Air. 
N JANUARY 21, ’96 while crossing 
the bridge that spans the Merrimack 
River at this city, I saw a Great 
Northern Shrike, having a set-to with an 
English Sparrow. They were in the air, 
about thirty feet from the ice, the river 
being frozen at the time. I of course, 
stopped to see the fun, and to note the re- 
sult. The Sparrow would dart in every 
direction, trying his best toevade his antag- 
onist, but go where he would, -Mr. Shrike 
was not more than three feet behind him. 
He did not seem to be trying to catch him 
then, but to tire him out. But finally, 
the Shrike, as if tired of fooling with him 
so long, rushed in, and dealt him a blow, 
and at the same time caught him with his 
claws. The Sparrow was evidently stunned 
as he did not move after that, but the 
Shrike did not drop him, and after circling 
around a few times quite heavily as if he 
had about all he could carry, flew across the 
river, and lit in an elm tree, and it being 
so far from the bridge, I could not see what 
was done after that. The Sparrow put up 
quite a fight for his life, but wasn’t ‘‘in it” 
with the Shrike, and I think it is safe to 
say that he will not be missed. 
Cuas. S. BUTTERS. 
HAVERHILL, MAss. 
—____» 9 —___ 
The Song of the Wood Pewee. 
9g OTWITHSTANDING we are told 
that the Zyrannid@ are ‘‘nou-melodi- 
ous,’’ I have un two occasions heard 
from the Wood Pewee what I would not 
hesitate to calla song. One was heard in 
June, 1893; the other in a different locality 
in July, 1894. 
The songs were similar; they had the 
usual plaintive tone of the Wood Pewee, 
and consisted of a miscellany of notes 
uttered easily and rapidly, without a pause 
from start to finish. The predominating 
expressions were ‘‘pewee,’”’ ‘‘pe-te-wee”’ 
and ‘‘peer,’’ the latter often uttered three 
or four times in succession, these notes 
being intermingled with many shorter but 
similar sounds. 
The duration ofthe entire song was about 
twenty seconds; not so short a song as you 
may think, unless you have timed a few 
bird-songs. 
Whether an account of the song of the 
Wood Pewee has been published, I do not 
