30 



THE OOLOGIST 



There was plenty Red Heads but not 

 many Canvas backs. American Scaup 

 ducks came through in large num- 

 bers. I observed one bunch of mixed 

 ducks in the open water which I esti- 

 mated as five hundred. This is the 

 largest bunch that I saw this season. 

 Not very many geese showed up, a 

 few bunches and singles were ob- 

 served on the lake. A few white peli- 

 cans stopped over for a short rest. 

 Several Loons were seen. Quite a 

 few Pied-billed Grebes and a few 

 bunches of Sand Hill Crane were ob- 

 served in flight. Great Blue Herons 

 have been plentiful all season. Coots 

 are more than plentiful. A few singles 

 of American Bittern and Green Her- 

 ons were seen all during the season. 

 Black Crowned Night Herons came 

 in early and plenty of them. Snipes 

 of several kinds were noticed while 

 duck hunting, also Sandpiper's, and a 

 few Knots. Kildeers were plentiful. 

 I hope this finds all of the bird lov- 

 ers well, and that they have had the 

 chance as I have to be among the 

 birds during migration times. 



Raymond Graham, 



Ft. Worth, Texas. 



Birds Observed During Two Hours 



at the Susquehanna River on the 



Afternoon of December 15th. 



The distance covered on this trip 

 was not more than one mile and a 

 half. I walked about three-fourths of 

 a mile up the river and then return- 

 ed the same way. The following birds 

 were seen. 



AMERICAN MERGANSER. The 

 greater part of the river was covered 

 with ice, but there were also numer- 

 ous patches of open water. Wild 

 ducks were seen in almost all of 

 them, but the American Merganser is 

 the only kind that I identified. I 

 happened to be standing by a patch 

 of open water that was along the 



bank of the river. A flock of seven 

 mergansers came swimming down the 

 river with the current until they were 

 within 20 feet of me. I had a fine 

 opportunity to observe them. Most 

 of them were males. 



LARGE HAWK, which I believe 

 was an Osprey. While the mergan- 

 sers were in front of me, I glanced up 

 into the air and saw the bird flying 

 up the river. I had only a few sec- 

 onds look at it. 



DOWNY WOODPECKER. They 

 were common. Their sharp "peenk" 

 or a series of the same note would be 

 heard every few minutes. 



FLICKER. I only saw one, which 

 was flying through the woods. 



AMERICAN CROW. Very common 

 everywhere. 



SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. Rath- 

 er common. 



SONG SPARROW. Very common 

 everywhere. Almost every time 1 

 took a step, lots of them would fly up 

 in front of me, and there was scarce- 

 ly a moment when their "chip" was 

 not heard. 



CARDINAL. They were common 

 throughout the woods along the river. 



TOWHEE. I saw one male bird in 

 the woods along the river. I believe 

 this is a very unusual record as Chap- 

 man's "Handbook of the Birds of East- 

 ern North America" says the last rec- 

 ord for Towhee at Washington, D. C. 

 is October 21st, and there is also oc- 

 casionally winters. The weather here 

 has been exceptionally cold for De- 

 cember, and there was a snow storm 

 which has been the worst for many 

 years. The snow on December 15th 

 was about one foot deep in most 

 places. 



TUFTED TITMOUSE. Common. 



BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. 

 Very common. There was scarcely a 

 moment when their notes, usually a 

 "dee, dee, dee" or " chicw-.-dee-dee- 



