62 



THE OOLOGIST 



on the finding of a suppositious nest 

 of the Alder Flycatcher having eggs 

 with black spots. Students of much 

 experience have learned that the eggs 

 of the Alder Flycatcher are spotted 

 always with cinnamon, never with 

 black. 



A late issue interestingly deals with 

 a pendent nest of the Wood Pewee. I 

 am inclined to believe that this nest, 

 like one of my own finding, years ago, 

 in Minnesota, was just a hurried nest 

 that bagged, at bottom, with weight; 

 and was gradually re-inforced. 



An article in the April, 1917, issue 

 of The Oologist was of great interest 

 to me. It dealt with the breeding of 

 the "Wilson" Thrush. Now, it so 

 happens that the undersigned made 

 two separate trips to the Leech Lake 

 Region of Minnesota to settle the stat- 

 us of the "Veerys" of that part of the 

 United States. My own material cor- 

 roborated the conclusions already 

 formed by men of greater knowledge 

 than myself, in this domain, namely, 

 that the Veerys of Minnesota are all 

 of them Willow Thushes. Moreover, 

 quite frequently, the eggs of these 

 thrushes are faintly specked. I found 

 one such set, beside Leech Lake; and 

 received, from Wyoming, three such 

 sets. 



The writer of the article in question 

 has made one or two errors. He 

 speaks of the Towhee as being 

 "Transient," in the Leech Lake 

 region; whereas, it is a summer hab- 

 itant. I, myself, found one nest. He 

 also speaks of certain species of birds 

 as "going further North to spend the 

 winter," a statement, of course, to be 

 exactly reversed. 



P. B. Peabody, 

 Blue Rapids, Kansas. 



Ducks Spend the Winter in Maine 

 By H. H. Johnson, Pittsfield, Me. 

 Every fall from the great flocks of 

 Black Ducks, Wood Duck, American 



Golden Eye, Buffle Head, American 

 Merganser, Teals, etc., there remains 

 in scattered locations throughout the 

 central and southern part of the state 

 some ducks which winter here. These 

 ducks winter in small open patches of 

 water which seldom if ever freeze en- 

 tirely over. Those which remain in 

 the open water of the rivers are the 

 so called 'River Ducks' consisting 

 mostly of American Mergansers, 

 American Goldeneye, and Buffle- 

 head locally known as 'Whist- 

 lers.' These ducks are fish eaters to 

 a large extent. The Merganser, whose 

 long bill with its rows of sharp teeth 

 projecting backward from the tip is 

 especially adapted for catching and 

 holding its slippery prey. These ducks 

 fly from one open patch of water to 

 another,which abound on the swift 

 rivers of our state, which with its 

 many falls and rapids are only a few 

 miles apart at most. These 'River 

 Ducks' stand the intense cold of our 

 climate; often 40 degrees or more be- 

 low zero. At the same time fare fair- 

 ly well as to food I think. One may 

 see them diving, standing nearly up- 

 right and flapping their wings, pad- 

 dling and floating on down the strong 

 current until the solid ice of the 

 smoother water is reached. Then it 

 is up and away with that whistle 

 of wings which makes the true sports- 

 man nerves tingle and jump and he 

 can not help thinking 'what a shot' 

 though he is there to watch and not 

 to shoot. . Up stream they go to the 

 head of the rapids where they alight 

 to float down the current again. Thus 

 they play and fish for food. But some- 

 times these ducks meet with accidents 

 when flying from one feeding ground 

 to another. At our village there is 

 swift water both just below and the 

 upper or north end of the village. The 

 dams making smooth water between 

 these open patches of water, with the 

 telephone and telegraph wires cross- 



