186 



THH OOLOOI8T. 



county. (See Bird Lore for Septem- 

 ber.) 



The licensed gunners of the state 

 would now form a grand army corps 

 of 12,'00'0 men. This may 'be a good 

 school in case of war with Japan, but 

 it means present death to bobwhite, 

 this year's chicken hatch, and many 

 an old "Biddy." Suppose all the Nor- 

 wich noble '5>O0 should "go" at once. 

 But just suppose two-thirds, or only 

 one-half of this home guard of woods. 

 Imagine the noisy scene! It would 

 belittle the War in Flanders or the 

 confusion attending the famous Bat- 

 tle of the Frogs at Windham. 



The law does not prescribe or limit 

 the battery to be taken afield by the 

 licensees. So presumably anything 

 can be carried from a toy pistol and 

 duck gun up to a Gatling cannon. 

 And some gunners are coming near 

 to a Gatling in the auto or pump gun, 

 which, when turned loose on a big 

 bunch of birds rising singly, does 

 murderous work. As I write, eight 

 reports in quick succession tell us 

 that the auto-gun is at work in our 

 woods, and I fear it means slaughter 

 of the innocents. There is a family 

 of grey squirrels feeding daily on the 

 nuts of the famous hickory in the 

 Boothby yard on Lebanon green, and 

 the raiders are welcomed by the fam- 

 ily. But who of the big Norwich con- 

 tingent will be the first to shoot at 

 the greys now living in the Little 

 Plain on Broadway? We freed a pair 

 there kindly given us by Mrs. .Thurs- 

 ton Lillibridge. As I foretold, the 

 country news-budgets weekly record 

 the shooting of great horned and bar- 

 red owls by the licensed shooters. 

 This is a pity, when these owls keep 

 down the vermin and red squirrels. 

 Several great blue herons have also 

 been killed, and in only one instance 

 has this illegal act been punished. 



A Woodcock came into the garden 

 of B. P. Bishop on Broadway in Aug- 



ust. I can recall the time when the 

 late S. T. C. Merwin — the crack local 

 of his day — used to get two or three' 

 woodcock every season near Apple- 

 ton Meech's sprang, now on the con- 

 vent ground at the foot of Otis street. 

 On Oct. 2 a Florida gallfnule was 

 killed by the wires on the Baltic road 

 and brought in to me by Selectman 

 Lillibridge. I have met this gallinule 

 once on Fisher's Island, twice at Say- 

 brook and sparingly on Long Island. 

 The waterbirds of this county are not 

 well written up and a chapter in their 

 life histories could be added by Nor- 

 wich observers. It would surprise 

 many to know that last June both 

 rail and marsh wrens were breeding 

 within 10 minutes' walk of Franklin 

 Square. Mr. 'Renno Blackstone found 

 a full set of incubated eggs of Grebe 

 right here at home. My own horned 

 owls are faring finely in their roomy 

 home near the Quail Trap. They rel- 

 ish their eight ounces of raw beef 

 nightly and are lively and in full 

 plumage. The heavy winter furring 

 on their feet is like that of the Arc- 

 tic owls whose advance guard is com- 

 ing to us soon. 



Of destroyers of bird life other 

 than the self-styled sportsmen, there 

 has been no lack at the Quail Trap 

 this summer. I surprised two black 

 snakes fighting over a nest of young 

 redwings and Cyril Paine killed a 

 five-foot racer with a female robin 

 in its mouth. In our meadow full of 

 redwings, few nests escaped rifling. 

 Huge snapping turtles have been 

 abundant this year and they get some 

 birds. One foggy morning in August 

 from the first car for Worcester out 

 of Southbridge, I saw the motorman 

 get several huge tortoises from the 

 tracks, and he made an honest penny 

 by selling the turtles to restaurants. 

 Since my warning about the Italian 

 aliens' these gentry have not only 

 been shooting on ? 





