THE OOLOQiST 



17a 



and again, he would rise a trifle on 

 upward loop, without perceptible in- 

 crease of speed in the wing-beats; 

 and often with tail not spread. How 

 utterly this vision blighted the bud- 

 ding theory that the winnowing of the 

 Snipe was caused by the friction of 

 air, through the stiff outer feathers of 

 the tail! You heard that sound often, 

 and largely in afternoon. From two, 

 three, and even four birds, in the air 

 all at once, the sounding came. 



There came a day when an anxious 

 male Snipe began to circle about you 

 not many yards away. Now and then 

 he would perch on a stack-fence post 

 and eye you, piercingly, ten minutes 

 at a time. Yet, search as you might, 

 not a female could you flush; neither 

 could you validate the dictum that de- 

 clares the female Snipe to answer the 

 sounding of her mate while sitting on 

 her nest. 



But ah, the second day as you 

 floundered among the bogs where a 

 male Yellow Rail had been most per- 

 sistently clicking, a thing happened. 

 Back and forth you had gone explor- 

 ing that rail ground, with rows of 

 flags, rod by rod, yard by yard. Then 

 suddenly, up there fluttered from a dry 

 bog, high-crowned with dead grasses, 

 a female Snipe, gasping, fluttering, 

 moaning! 



Scanty, indeed, the nest, and rare of 

 beauty, to be sure, the eggs! One of 

 them splendid in its umber-olive coat, 

 was capped with what I call, not ir- 

 reverently, a crown-of-thorns, a circ- 

 let of intertwined straight lines. 



All this, three times, has been my 

 ecstatic experience, on the Cheyenne 

 Basin, in three different areas, five 

 and forty miles apart. Do any of you 

 wonder that I long to go again, that I 

 am boyishly flinging up my hat today 

 at knowledge that the trip has already 

 been financed for the June of 1922? 



A GOOD APPOINTMENT 



R. W. Tufts, of Wolfville, Nova 

 Scotia, than whom no better Oologist 

 exists nor many that are more widely 

 and more favorably known, is now 

 Chief Federal Migratory Bird Officer 

 of the Maritime Provinces, of Canada. 



We congratulate the Canadian au- 

 thorities upon the securing of such a 

 man for this position. Beyond any pos- 

 sible question he will make a good 

 officer in that position and will look 

 at the subject in a broader and less 

 technical light than one who had no 

 experience as a collector or acquaint- 

 ance with collectors. We are delight- 

 ed to know that he could be induced 

 to accept this position. — R. M. B. 



ALBINO BLUE BIRD 



A newspaper clipping forwarded to 

 us giving information that Chester C. 

 Gardner, a farmer living near Dallas, 

 Oregon, reports "A snow-white bird in 

 a flock of Blue Birds, that gathered on 

 his farm in early November this year." 

 Whether this is the Western or Moun- 

 tain variety is not stated. — R. M. B. 



IN CUBA 



A letter from our friend, G. A. Ab- 

 bott, dated at Habana, Cuba, contains 

 a few words concerning the birds of 

 that territory as follows: 



"I was surprised at the abundance 

 of the Yellow Palm Warbler. They 

 dart among the flower beds of the 

 city parks. Sparrow Hawks perch 

 about the tropical foliage. Kill-deer 

 and Meadow Larks stay about the 

 suburbs. Black and Turkey Buzzards 

 are as tame as domestic Pigeons. A 

 few Osprey have been observed on 

 the Gulf of Mexico, also Man-o-War 

 and tropical birds. Mocking Birds, 

 Quail Dives, Grassquits and Parrots 

 are plentiful." 



