THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 25 



1923, we saw a Rough-legged Hawk twice, so we felt sure we 

 could not be mistaken. The same day we saw the Chickadees, 

 Tree Sparrows and a Hairy Woodpecker. 



December 24, 1922, I saw a large flock of Geese going north. 

 I succeeded in counting seventy-three. Last winter we had a 

 number of White-breasted Nuthatches, but this year they did 

 not return. This spring we have seen from our own yard, Hairy 

 Red-headed and Downy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Juncos, Mea- 

 dowlarks, Cedar Waxwings, Song Sparrow, Bluebirds, Hermit 

 Thrush, Tree Sparrows, Robins, Grackles, flocks of Geese, Gol- 

 den-crowned Kinglet, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Killdeer Plov- 

 ers. We can hardly wait until our Warblers return as we usually 

 have most of them right here at home. 



Blue Island 



Mr. Otto Bueter, an ardent devotee of out-of-doors, reports 

 the following episode : 



For several years our small "home made" birdhouse has been 

 the home of Martins. The house is situated in the center of the 

 back yard about eighteen feet above ground on a small post. 

 Close by are telephone wires and electric light wires, affording 

 very convenient perches. 



The bird-house being on the hill gives it a prominence of about 

 forty feet above buildings at the foot of the hill, with an open 

 space to the south approximating one hundred feet, trees and 

 shrubbery surrounding its base. As the capacity of the house 

 seemed taken, from year to year upon storing it for the winter 

 to avoid the sparrows filling it up, I added a story until it now 

 contains three stories, totaling eighteen compartments. Last 

 year I counted fifteen pairs of Martins nesting in it. 



I put the house up on the tenth of April, taking it down on 

 the tenth day of August, painting the house each year and mak- 

 ing sure that all compartments are' tight. The openings are 

 placed to one corner on a level with the floor landing. 



One Saturday morning a sudden strong wind blew down the 

 house which fortunately landed on a tree, only a few landing 

 shelves being broken. My neighbor phoned me what had hap- 

 pened, he having a seven compartment bird-house in his yard 

 about seventy-five feet to the north, now containing two pairs 

 of Martins. 



Arriving home about noon, we hurriedly replaced the broken 

 landing shelves and supplying a new post, started to put up the 

 bird-house again. It had been raised no more than forty-five 

 degrees when two Martins alighted on the house and remained 

 until it was upright, and before we could put in the lag bolts a 

 dozen or more Martins were back on the house, all lustily telling 

 the world that "ALL WAS WELL". There are now eight pairs 

 nesting 1 in the house. 



