11 



-si 



TIE mmm advertiser. 



Vol. 1, DANIELSONVILLE, CONN., AUGUST, 1890. No. 1, 



DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF OUR NATIVE BIRDS. 



THE BURGOMASTER GULL.* 



BY CELIA THAXTER. 



Thk old- wives sit on the heaving brine. 



White-breasted in tlie sun. 

 Preening and smoothing their feathers tine , 



And scolding every one. 



The snowy kittiwakes overhead , 



With beautiful beaks of gold. 

 And wings of delicate grav outspread, 



Float listening while they scold . 



And a foolish guillemot, swimming bv, 

 Though heavy and clnrasv and dull. 



Joins in with a" will when he hears their cry 

 'Gainst the Burgomaster Gull. 



* « » * 



'^^A J^fickduck gather, with plumes so rich, 

 Ajid the coots in twinklng lines; 

 w *^® swift and slender water- witch, 

 Whose neck like silver shines. 



Big eider ducks, with the'r caps pale green 



And their salmon colored vests: 

 And gav mergansers, sailing between. 



With their long and glittering crest^i. 



But the loon aloof on the outer edge 



Of the noisy raeetinsr keeps. 

 And laughs to watch them behind the ledge 



Where the lazy breakers sweep. 



They scream and wheel, and dive and fret. 



And flutter in the foam; 

 And ftsh and musselsblue they get 



To feed their young at home: 



Till, hurrving in. the little nnk 



Brings tidings that benumbs. 

 And stops at once their damarous talk, — 



"The Burgomaster comes '." 



And up he sails! a splendid sight, 

 With '■ wiugs like banners" wide , 



AikI eager eyei, both big and bright, 

 That peer on every bide. 



A lovely kittiwake flying past, 



With a slippery pollock fine. 

 Quoth the Burgomaster, "Not so fast, 



My beauty! This is mine!" 



His strong wing strikes with a dizzying shock; 



Poor kittivakc. shrieking, flies; 

 His booty he takes to the nearest rock, 



To devour it at his ease. 



The scared birds scatter to left and right, 

 But the bold buccaneer, in his gleo. 



Cares littleenough fortheirwoeandtheirfright 

 '••Twill be your turn next!" cries he. 



He sees not hidilen behiml the rock. 

 In the sea-weeil a small 'joat'shuU, 



Nor dreams he the gunners have spared th^ 

 For the Burgomaster Gull. [flocK 



So proudly his dusky wings are spread. 

 And he launches out on the breeze,— 



When lo! what thunder of wrath and dread! 

 What deadly pangs are these! 



The red blood drips and the feathers fly, 



Bown drops the pinions wide; 

 The robber-chief, with a bitter cry. 



Falls headlong iu the tide! 



They bear him oft' with laugh and shout; 



The wary birds return,— 

 From the clove-bi own feathers thatfloat about 



The glorious news they learn. 



Then such a tumult fills the place 



As never was sung or said; 

 And all cry, wild with Joy. "The base 



Bad Burgomaster's dead!" 



And the old wives sit with their caps so whit"» 



And their i)Tetty beaks so red. 

 And swing on the billows and scream with de- 



For the Burgomaster's dead! [light, 



*The Burg;omaster or Glau- 

 cous Gull is one of the largest of 

 the gull family, and inhabits the 

 Arctic regions of both the Old 

 and the New World. In North 

 America this bird is found as far 

 south as Long Island sound, 

 breeding about the first of June. 



Written for The Oologist's Advertiser. 



BIHDS^ NESTS. 



On an early spring morning, 

 while yet the sun lingers below 

 the blushing horizon, our song- 

 sters, in their native wilds, are 

 seen flitting by, here and there, 

 and appear as if everything is 

 busy with them. Indeed every- 

 thing is, for they are building up 



