THE OOLOGIST. 



strayed from its owner and was whining 

 pitifully would have possessed him. I wish- 

 ed to see and hear more, so I sat down up- 

 on a log and awaited her movements. Soon 

 she commenced to cluck, for all the world 

 just like a common hen, and utter a soft, 

 soothing and assuring purr. She kept this 

 up for several moments, hopping about on 

 the ground, then flying into the cedar bush- 

 es ; then she stopped. Soon she clucked 

 again, louder and with a tone of calling. 

 I heard a slight rustle among the leaves a 

 rod or so away, and caught a glimpse of a 

 little form as it darted under a leaf; then 

 it ran a little farther and darted under a 

 bush, when I lost sight of it. Another 

 little figure at the second call of the hen, 

 appeared from under a piece of decayed 

 bark to my left, and darting about from ob- 

 ject to object, was soon amid the leaves and 

 grass, lost to sight. I watched, and though 

 the hen clucked ten or twelve separate 

 times, I could not perceive any other chicks. 

 I suppose they must have been concealed 

 under the grass and leaves farther away. 



One afternoon, while engaged in prepar- 

 ing some eggs, I heard a peculiar twittering 

 in the direction of an elm tree a few rods 

 distant. As the cries continued and were 

 new to me, I laid down my eggs and drill 

 and approached the tree whence they issued. 

 Suddenly a Robin, followed closely by a 

 Least Flycatcher made its appearance, and 

 alit in the tree under which I Avas first 

 standing. The Flycatcher acted as if bent 

 upon driving the Robin from the neighbor- 

 hood, for it would dart at and fly about in 

 a very singular manner. Soon the Robin 

 again took flight, vigorously pursued by the 

 Flycatcher, until, deeming its enemy con- 

 quered, the latter returned to the elm tree. 

 The cause of the disturbance I suppose, was 

 the too close proximity of the Robin to the 

 nest of the Flycatcher, and which, from the 

 subsequent behavior of the latter and its 

 mate, must have been near by. I was 

 considerably surprised to see the Robin, a 

 bird nearly three times as large as the Fly- 

 catcher, attacked and driven ofi'by it. 



I was told the following of the Golden- 

 winged Woodpecker by a young man who 

 lives a short distance out of the city. I 

 had always supposed this family of birds 

 untamable, having tried myself to keep sev- 

 eral alive but without success :- He had 

 found a nest of this bird with six eggs, 

 and, leaving them, returned a short time 

 after, finding but five eggs. Some time 

 later he revisited the nest, and saw 

 two young birds sitting near the edge of the 

 hole. These flew off", and on rapping a- 

 gainst the tree, one flew from the nest. 

 Thinking perhaps there might be another 

 in the nest, he clambered up part way and 

 rapped again on the tree, at which another 

 flew out. There happened to be one re- 

 maining in the bottom of the hole, which 

 he secured and took home with him. It 

 soon began to recognize its home becoming 

 very familiar, and is now so tame that it 

 is at liberty to fly where it chooses, but in- 

 variably returns home. It will fly about 

 on the hands and shoulders of its master, 

 and manifests great affection for him. He 

 feeds iton grubs, caterpillars, bits of bread, 

 etc. Avis. 



Regarding the pursuit of the Lyre Bird 

 (yMenura superhcC) in Australia, Mr. G. 

 Bennett says : " Of all the birds I have ever 

 met with, the Menura is far the most shy 

 and difficult to procure. While among the 

 mountains I have been surrounded by these 

 birds, pouring forth their loud and liquid 

 calls, for days together, without being able 

 to get a sight of them ; and it was only by 

 the most determined perseverance and ex- 

 treme caution that I was enabled to effect 

 this desirable object ; which was rendered 

 more difficult by their often frequenting the 

 most inaccessible and precipitous sides of 

 gullies and ravines, covered with tangled 

 masses of creepers and umbrageous trees : 

 the cracking of a stick, the rolling down of 

 a small stone, or any other noise, however 

 slight, is sufficient to alarm it ; and none but 

 those who have traversed these hot and suf- 

 focating brushes, can fully understand the 

 labor attending the pursuit of the Menura." 



