88 



THE OOLOGIST 



linois, containing very readable ar- 

 ticles on the subject of Bird Protec- 

 tion; not the least of which is "The 

 need of forest and game preservations 

 in Southern Illinois," illustrated by 

 photographs taken by Robert Ridge- 

 way. 



Old Observations 



July 1915 — Great Blue Heron on 

 Averill Park, Renneselear Co., N. Y. 

 standing at edge of pond, got up and 

 flew clumsily away. 



August 1915 — Black Crowned Night 

 Herons at Freeport, Long Island, flew 

 in flocks of four and five after sunset 

 making a quacking noise. 



September 1915 — American Short- 

 eared Owl at Neponsit Rockeway 

 Point, Long Island, sitting on a real 

 estate sign at the edge of the town. 

 Allowed me to approach closely. 



April 1916— A flock of about 100 

 ducks (not identified) sitting in the 

 water of the Susquehanna River near 

 Williamsport, Pa. These birds were 

 of some specie that dive for their food. 

 They were close to the Market St. 

 bridge over which men and wagons 

 passed all during the day. Seemed to 

 know spring shooting was stopped and 

 they were safe. 



I received a Barrows Golden Eye 

 from Maine in January 1918 to be 

 mounted. They are said to be un- 

 usual for that state. 



Mounted a Woodcock from Long 

 Island last season, they are getting 

 very scarce there. 



M. J. Hoffman, 

 Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Ducks Are Scarce This Year 

 After my rich (Uncle Sam) has 

 given me a final discharge and a 

 check for my trouble, I am back at 

 dear old Lake Worth again, and will 

 do some collecting as usual. 

 I have noticed this year that the 



flight of ducks was not up to its stand- 

 ard. From my observation and other 

 reports they are getting scarcer or 

 have changed their migration routes. 

 I hope and long for a closed season on 

 all water birds for ten years. I like to 

 hunt ducks as well as anybody but 

 their is a limit to all things, and this 

 willful slaughter of ducks must be 

 stopped or we will have no ducks in 

 the next few years. There was not 

 one third as many ducks on the lake 

 this year as before. During the fall 

 and winter ducks were observed in 

 bunches of from twenty-five to a hun- 

 dred. But there are small bunches of 

 ducks to what has been observed 

 here in the last year or two. This 

 spring I saw one large bunch of about 

 five-hundred ducks of different kinds 

 and this is the most ducks observed 

 this year at any one time. 



The ducks most plentiful this season 

 were Ruddys, Scamp, and Mallard and 

 if they don't learn what bullets and 

 shots are, there won't be any left. 

 They will let a boat loaded with hunt- 

 ers run right through them and not 

 fly but- dive, then when they stick 

 their heads up, bang goes off a duck 

 head. 



I have observed many Robins, but 

 not as many as usual. I argue with 

 these small bird hunters. I ask them 

 what's the use for you to shoot a 

 Robin or Waxwing and they say, "Oh, 

 there is plenty of them." There may 

 be plenty of them but I have migration 

 lists for a few years back and they 

 sure differ and the number of birds 

 are scarcer every year. If the bird 

 ^nd animal slaughters ate every 

 thing they killed, it would be different 

 proposition. What is the use to kill 

 them for the flies to blow. I kill 

 mighty few but what few I kill not a 

 one goes to waste. I prepare them 

 for future use to study, so this will be 

 of some benefit to the world. 



