THE OOLOQI8T 



9 



with 21 species known to breed. We 

 liave tlie boldest bird that flies. The 

 Ruby-tliroated Humming Bird, to the 

 regular midsummer visitors, and the 

 comparatively timid Bald Eagle. 



On;jf)ct. 15 is recorded a great wave 

 oi" migrating birds at Patter Swamp. 

 Here we found hundreds of birds but 

 most remarkable of all was the great 

 wave of Bluebirds They swarmed on 

 the ground, on weed stalks, in tree 

 tops, bathed in the stoney brook and 

 warbled excitedly in the barren 

 bushes on their journey to the south- 

 ern climes. 



Here I spied a Red-bellied Wood- 

 pecker and desiring it to adorn my col- 

 lection I shot and brought it down in 

 a heap. But when I went to pick it 

 up it uttered a shriek flying to a lofty 

 stub top. I hit it again but life was 

 dear, and the Woodpecker clung to a' 

 tuft of twigs in a crotch and fluttered 

 and uttered such gasping choking 

 sounds that it quite hoodooed me all 

 day. I do not wish to witness the dy- 

 ing agony of another Woodpecker. I 

 would remark here that I do not want 

 to skin another Woodpecker either, 

 for this one was hide bound from one 

 end to the other. 



With this army of Bluebirds were 

 hundreds of White-crowned, White- 

 throated Vesper, Fox and Field Spar- 

 rows, Juncos and Myrtle Warblers. 

 The dense fog that lasted all forenoon 

 caused these migrating hosts to con- 

 gregate and tarry for several hours. 



On a certain March 17th I went in 

 quest of a nest of Great Horned Owl. 

 Upon my return I wrote "I am still 

 questing." On the way of the slope I 

 noted dozens of Bluebirds as they 

 flitted along stumps, fences and 

 warbled from upturned prongs. The 

 fields were quite barren of snow and 

 the warbling Bluebirds made it seem 

 spring-like, but over the crest of the 

 hills it was mid-winter in aspect, with 



snow two or three feet deep. And in 

 keeping with this wintry altitude were 

 large flocks of Snow Bunting, dashing 

 about in the storm from field to field. 

 Their flight is peculiar. They give 

 several energetic flips then close, 

 their wings. Doing this causes their 

 flight to be undulatory like the Flick- 

 er, except it is more zigzag. Again ou 

 March 31, I made this same four mile 

 hike, recalling an old nest that a Red- 

 tailed Hawk had built many years be- 

 fore I visited it. It looked too small 

 and shaky for an Owl to stand on, say 

 nothing about rearing young ones. 

 While I stood knee deep in the water 

 near the big elm tree not a' sign of old 

 Bobo could I discover except a downy 

 feather signal fluttering on a branch 

 and that was there on March 10th. 



However that little feather kept up 

 such a vigorous flutter that I decided 

 to climb up. With the first climber 

 ja;b I was greeted with pleasure, for 

 out went a scared Bobo., with con- 

 siderable more haste than dignity. 

 The two eggs were fresh and lay on 

 a fragile nest bottom of twigs with 

 downy feathers stuffed in the cracks 

 to keep the wind out. The nest was 

 old and weather worn, measured but 

 four inches thick, the bowl being 9 

 inches in diameter. 



One day in June while in a hillside 

 clearing full of Warblers, Towhees 

 and Chats, I discovered a nest of the 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler full of one 

 Cowbird, and when I lifted him from 

 the nest which fiitted him so snugly, 

 his peevish cries caused to gather 

 around me all the Warblers that lived 

 near by, — many Crestnut-sided, Red- 

 starts, a pair of Black and White and 

 a female Worm-eating Warbler. 



I could not but be astonished that 

 this juvenile Cowbird uttered the 

 genine "chip" of the Chestnut-sided 

 which indicates that they learn the 

 notes and cries of their foster parents, 



