NOV 3 ,, M 



BULLETIN 



OF THE 



/HMcbicjan ©mitbological Club. 



Vol. 1. No. 2. 



Grand Rapids, Mich., April, 1897. 



50 cents per year. 



OGGasional Bird-Notes in and 

 around Greenville. 



TT MONG the more uncommon birds 

 (5/Yi which I have noticed during the 



A. JL past year, is the Pileated Wood- 

 pecker. Once common enough, I am 

 satisfied that this bird is really rare now, 

 hereabouts, and although I have roamed 

 much in the surrounding woods for nearly 

 five years, always intent on natural 

 history, I have only met Avith it on two 

 occasions: In August, last, some five 

 miles up the river, and in December, near 

 Dickson's Creek, six miles north of the 

 city. I am not at all sure bat that it was 

 the same bird I saw each time, and a friend 

 reported to me having seen one the other 

 day near where I saw the last. 



On the 27th of January, a flock of seven 

 Pine Grosbeaks were feeding on the 

 maples in Cass street. They have, how- 

 ever, to all appearances, left the neighbor- 

 hood, for I can no longer locate them. 

 Last year they were very numerous, but 

 the first arrivals noticed by me were on 

 February 5th. As I secured some fine 

 specimens then, I did not molest these last 

 visitors. As an instance of the occasional 

 wide distribution of this bird, I may men- 

 tion that I have recently been informed of 

 its occurrence in France, where it goes by 

 the name of Durbec du Canada. 



A Northern Shrike (Z. borealis) has 

 for some time past frequented the trees 

 around my house and I have had an ex- 

 cellent opportunity of studying the habits 

 of this very interesting bird. Most of 

 these are too well known to need mention, 

 though one trait, allusion to which I have 

 seen in print, I had the satisfaction of 

 witnesssing the other day. A neighbor 

 has a Canary hanging in a cage in full 



view of the window, and I saw the Shrike 

 swoop down from the topmost twig of a 

 tall poplar and dash violently against the 

 pane. My neighbor tells me that it is the 

 second time that the same thing has 

 happened. 



While on the topic of the somewhat 

 unusual, perhaps the following may be 

 worthy of record. Last summer I had a 

 young American Bittern (B. lentiginosus) 

 brought me alive, and not wishing to 

 destroy it, I turned it loose in a small 

 marsh close to the house, in hopes it 

 might get full winged and depart. A few 

 days afterwards the same bird — I could 

 tell it by slight deformity of the bill — was 

 brought me again, and after feeding it 

 with some frogs I again put it down in the 

 marsh. The weather was now very hot 

 and the water all dried up, and as I saw 

 no more of my Bittern, I concluded that 

 frogs, etc., had played out and that he 

 had sought pastures new. However, 

 shortly afterward a ring and the greeting, 

 "Did you want to buy a bird?" met me. 

 It was my poor friend once more, but so 

 wretched and emaciated that I hardly 

 recognized him. No doubt the frogs were 

 no longer there, but feeling something 

 peculiar about the craw of the bird, I ex- 

 tracted — of all things — some huckleberries 

 and other berries. Is this not remarkable % 

 We all know that hunger will do much, 

 but 1 should have imagined that the 

 creature would have simply starved to 

 death rather than take to such a diet. 

 Can any of our members recall anything 

 similar, with so strictlv carnivorous a 

 bird? Feeling now, more than ever, an 

 interest in the bird, I fed him till strength 

 was regained, and then taking him up the 

 river, deposited him in a bayou where 

 batrachians were plentiful, and he would 

 be safe from the small boy. 



Percy Selous. 



