202 



THE OOLOGIST 



were but mere specks in the evening's 

 blue. And when the flock was the 

 largest — just about twilight-fall — their 

 exhibitions of flight was a marvel to 

 the eye. 



Thousands of birds there were, fly- 

 ing about with no apparent leader. 

 Up and back, round and round they 

 would go, and to keep from "side-slip- 

 ping" on these fast turns, instead of 

 "banking steeply" as a plane must do, 

 they would commence a rapid flitter- 

 ing of the wings. Now they would 

 sweep over the building in one grand 

 rush, the flock breaking in two to the 

 left and right; a short distance be- 

 yond, after they had swung back, they 

 meet again in a mass of whirling and 

 twisting birds, resembling nothing so 

 much as autumn leaves whirled about 

 by a lively breeze. 



All the time these flights are going 

 on, birds could be seen flying head- 

 long into the mouth of one of the big 

 furnace chimneys. Some, failing to 

 get a foothold, would come back out 

 for a swing around again and another 

 try. The last bird would generally 

 be inside by the time darkness fell 

 and one wonders how all those active 

 little creatures could find a place to 

 cling on the sooty interior of the great 

 chimney. And would not there be a 

 great confusion if a net should be 

 placed over the top before they came 

 out on the morrow — quite a kiddish 

 thought, that, is it not? 



The first week in October found the 

 Swift flock greatly diminished and by 

 the 15th they were all gone. 



Ralph Donahue, 

 Bonner Springs, Kansas. 



Oct. 20, 1919. 



saw where the squirrels had been cut- 

 ting acorns and pecans, so I sat down 

 here and kept a sharp lookout for a 

 squirrel to show up. While I was here 

 a pair of Wood Ducks lit out in the 

 water about three hundred feet from 

 shore. There was lots of dead timber 

 all through the water where they lit. 

 But they could be easily seen from 

 time to time, so I thought to myself 

 that I would make a noise with my 

 mouth and scare them. I made all 

 kinds of racket and different sounds; 

 the more racket I made the closer 

 they would come to the bank. The 

 female was in the lead, with the drake 

 following. I sung them a song and 

 closer they came. I whistled them a 

 tune. I hollered at them, quacked 

 like ducks and everything that you 

 could think of. They would not fly 

 away, but came right up to the bank 

 and took a look at me. I was sitting 

 down and they could not figure out 

 what I was. So I said, "Well, I am 

 going to scare them somehow." I 

 popped my hands together and the fe- 

 male said "Let's go, mate," and away 

 they flew, squaking for five minutes 

 after they flew up. This proves, no 

 matter how wild any duck is, it can be 

 decoyed by a curious note, and they 

 will come up to investigate at the risk 

 of their life. 



Ramon Graham, 

 Lake Worth, 



Tarrant Co., Tex. 



The Curiosity of the Wood Ducks. 



On October the fourth I was up the 

 lake about five miles, hunting Fox 

 Squirrels, I came to a nice grove of 

 squirrel timber near the lake shore, I 



A Snake Story. 



Some doubting Thomases may not be 

 inclined to believe the story, but C. 

 M. Wells, Belen, N. M., says that the 

 gratitude of New Mexico rattlesnakes 

 is quite well known, and to substan- 

 tiate Mr. Smith's story he relates the 

 following: 



While doing certain topographical 

 work along the line of the Eastern 

 Railway of New Mexico, Jerry Mosko- 



