51 



THE OOLOGIST 



Bird Life at Kelley Field 



I am another of the young birdmen 

 who have answered his country's call. 

 1 enlisted on January 4, 1918, at Kan- 

 sas City, and after passing through 

 Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis, Mo., 

 I was sent here to Kelley Field. I 

 have lived in Texas before but never 

 in these localities. Of course I brought 

 with me my Pocket Bird Study by 

 Reed and at every chance I had I made 

 notes on the bird life in and around 

 camp. 



I had thought the aeroplanes would 

 frighten away all the birds and I . 

 would find the field birdless, but such 

 is not the case. In fact, the birds here 

 pay very little attention to them at all. 

 I have seen aeroplanes land directly 

 in the midst of a flock of cow birds 

 who, as the machine got almost upon 

 them, merely would rise in a flock 

 and fly but a short distance away and 

 began feeding again. I have seen 

 Meadow Larks feeding on the ground 

 as if unconscious of the many ma- 

 chines whirring overhead. I have 

 seen planes and Turkey Vultures fly- 

 ing about in the sky together. 



Though these birds I have mention- 

 ed are not afraid of the planes there 

 are those that are. Just let a flock of 

 wild geese or ducks start flying over 

 and a machine scares them in fifty- 

 seven different kinds of fits. All for- 

 mation is lost and they break in all 

 directions; flying widely and seeming- 

 ly with but one thought — to get as far 

 away as possible. 



I went on a short hike this morning, 

 March 4, and enjoyed myself very 

 much in observing the bird life of 

 cacti and bush at this season. Vesper 

 sparrows were not uncommon along 

 the edges of the brush. I got a glimpse 

 of the white on the wings of the mock- 

 ing bird as it fled before me. I also 

 saw several female cardinals, a couple 

 of common House Wrens and two Log- 



ger head Shrikes. On my return trip 

 two flocks of about 40 birds each of 

 Lark Buntings flew down and alighted 

 on some low bushes and let me get a 

 good view of them before they depart- 

 ed. Most of them were in their winter 

 plumage but several had new suits of 

 black and white. 



My hike took me through a field of 

 cacti where the "Common Prickly 

 Pear" was very abundant, growing in 

 bunches together. The "plum pud- 

 ding" species was not absent, neither 

 was the "bush" variety. One thing 

 that struck me as being rather queer 

 was the abundance of little white 

 snails around and on the different 

 species of cacti and mesquito bush. 

 They seemed to be getting some sort 

 of nourishment from the cacti for they 

 would be thickest around some wound 

 in the wide leaves of the "Prickly 

 Pear" where the sap of the plant 

 would be running out. Some of the 

 bushes were so loaded with these 

 peculiar, slow moving bits of animal 

 life as to look as if they were full of 

 buds about to burst into bloom. The 

 ground around these places would be 

 covered with whitened shells of those 

 that had perished and died. 



As spring advances more and more, 

 birds arrive and I shall write to the 

 Oologist from time to time as long as 

 I remain in the U. S. A. 



My folks read The Oologist at home 

 and send it on to me for I find I can- 

 not get along without it even in the 

 army. 



Ralph J. Donahue, 

 626 Aero Squadron, 

 Kelley Field No. 2, 

 San Antonio, Texas. 



Winter Snipe in Philadelphia 



The Wilson's Snipe occurred in 

 small numbers during the winter 1916- 

 17, at Aramings, in the 45th ward of 

 Philadelphia. 



