THE OOLOGIST 



51 



go about their business. I could only 

 see one corner of their home up among 

 the branches and was very much 

 tempted to go up the tree and examine 

 it, but after the excitement they had 

 just gone through I hardly thought it 

 fair or wise. 



Pour days later, when I thought 

 both of the House Wrens were away, 

 I scaled the tree to examine the barri- 

 cade. There was such a tangle of 

 branches up there that it necessitated 

 my putting my head within a foot of 

 the door. As I peered into Madame 

 Wren's front parlor, bedroom and 

 kitchenette combined, I was nearly 

 startled off my perch. A living bullet 

 shot from inside and stung me square- 

 ly between the eyes, far worse than 

 any bumble-bee's sting that I have 

 encountered. I caught my balance 

 just in time and half jumped and half 

 fell from the tree. The Wrens, both 

 of them now, began furiously scolding 

 me and I soon made myself scarce be- 

 fore I brought the whole bird popula- 

 tion after me. 



Ever since I have never disturbed 

 nests of any sort and House Wrens 

 especially, for this incident taught me 

 a lesson. I, unlike some landlords, 

 have never had any trouble collecting 

 the rent, although I have a multitude 

 of these tiny tenants since these first 

 two of mine. They have an original 

 but very beneficial way of squaring 

 their debt, and that is by keeping the 

 gardens and trees free from hosts of 

 pests. 



On January 24th of this year I was 

 in Stafford Co., Va., in a wild piece 

 of the country between Aquia and Po- 

 tomac Creek. I sat for a while on a 

 steep hillside watching a pair of Bald 

 Eagles repairing their nest. A move- 

 ment of the bushes on the opposite 

 hillside caught my eye and pretty 

 soon six wild turkeys came in sight. 



a fine big male bird with five turkey 

 hens. I watched them for twenty or 

 thirty minutes until they went over 

 to the top of the hill. The next day 

 I was on the other side of Aquia 

 creek walking down a deep gully that 

 led to the creek which is very wide 

 at this point. Almost on the bank of 

 the creek I jumped two turkey hens 

 and they staffed to fly straight 

 across. I watched them and saw one 

 hit the ice and start running for the 

 woods. The other bird tired before 

 it reached the ice and fell in the open 

 v-ater, about forty feet short of safety. 

 I got a boat as soon as I could and 

 started after the bird in the water 

 but when I reached her she was 

 dead. She was very fat for this time 

 of the year and weighed 8i^ lbs. If 

 the creek had not been frozen for a 

 quarter of a mile out I don't think 

 the other bird could have made it. 



I once saw nine l^obwhites try and 

 fly across this creek and all of them 

 fell in the water. I was in a speed 

 launch at the time and succeeded in 

 saving four of the birds. The side 

 from which I started the pair of tur- 

 key hens is not near as wild as the 

 opposite shore and I never heard of 

 turkeys being seen there before. I 

 think this pair belongs to the flock 

 I saw the day before and had come 

 across when the entire creek 

 was frozen or had flown across at a 

 point where it was much narrower. 

 It is hard to tell how many birds die 

 in this manner. 



E. A. Sikkem, 

 Hyattsville, Md. 



PRAIRIE HORNED LARK'S NEST 

 SNOWED UNDER 



The Prairie Horned Lark is a com- 

 mon resident of our fields and prairies 

 throughout the central part of the 

 state. This species is more or less 

 migratory, but on almost any winter 



