168 



THE OOLOGIST 



The chickadee's songs of "pewe" and 

 "chickadeee," after which the blue- 

 bird's "purity" was heard. Had this 

 bird lived near some body of water? 

 I was startled by the "peet weet, peet 

 weet" of the sandpiper. This was fol- 

 lowed by the peculiar notes of the 

 cuckoo. The meadow lark's "spring 

 o' the year" was repeated in rapid suc- 

 cession, as well as the resonant notes 

 of the red-bellied woodpecker. Only 

 once did he give the "wicki" of the 

 nicker. These songs were filled in 

 by the mockingbird's own song, which 

 is so varied it cannot be described 

 readily. 



This bird captured a good many in- 

 sects, always after them with wild 

 guinea fowl accompaniment. He al- 

 ways flew to a small brush pile, after 

 capturing the insect, so I proceeded 

 to investigate. He gave some harsh 

 "beat it, beat it," in titmouse language 

 and flew to a nearby telephone wire. 

 A careful search failed to reveal any- 

 thing of interest so I hid in some weed 

 and waited. He flew down to the same 

 spot and strutted around like a setting 

 hen, uttering the most wild notes 

 imaginable. I went back to the brush 

 pile, and tore it to pieces, but found 

 nothing. 



His mate was evidently brooding 

 nearby but any amount of my conceal- 

 ing myself, would not fool him to be- 

 tray the nest. I searched carefully in 

 the nearby stunted locust trees, but 

 found no indications of the nest. In 

 nesting, this bird shows a decided pre- 

 ference to locust trees here in this lo- 

 cality. What an hoar I had had! I 

 had heard twenty-two distinct bird 

 songs from the same throat, rendered 

 in beautiful tones. How I envy those 

 nature lovers living in the Southern 

 states. Well does this bird deserve 

 it's name of "Mimus Polyglottos ! " 



Perhaps it will not be improper to 

 mention here that while walking 



through the thick woods of the islands 

 in the river, I saw a beautiful speci- 

 men of partially albino crow. It had a 

 pure white tail, wings, and most of its 

 head, with a black body, showing pep- 

 pering of white. It was having a sorry 

 time of it, for the rest of the "gang" 

 seemed to think it was there for its 

 special pleasure. A blue jay, white, 

 excepting its wings, was also observed, 

 and was a most beautiful specimen. 

 Theodore R. Greer, 

 Aledo, Illinois. 



Reveille 

 Old Time 



3:00 A. M American Bittern 



3:10 " Purple Marten 



3:15 " Catbird 



3:22 " American Robin 



3:30 ' Baltimore Oriole 



3:36 " English Sparrow 



4:08 " House Wren 



4 : 40 " Mourning Dove 



Taps 



6 : 34 P. M Song Sparrow 



6:41 " Red Eyed Vireo 



6:45 " Grackle 



6:49 " Mourning Dove 



6:50 " ...Redheaded Woodpecker 



6:54 " Baltimore Oriole 



7:03 " House Wren 



7:26 " Catbird 



7:30 " Purple Marten 



7:55 " American Robin 



Geo. W. Vos Burgh, 



Columbus. Wis. 



WANTED 



A capable young man full of pep and 

 energy who knows a bit about cooking 

 and is used to roughing it and willing 

 to take the bitter with the sweet in 

 the wilds to start early next Spring 

 for a canoe trip to tl>e head waters 

 of the Peace River and down through 

 the Great Slave Lake. He must be 

 able to furnish his personal equipment. 



R. M. Barnes. 



