124 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



alive with pheasants; they were along the fences, feeding in the 

 grass beneath the trees, and flying np into the trees to roost. 

 We carefully estimated their numbers, and from seventy-five to 

 one hundred pheasants were coming into that orchard for the 

 night. It was by far the largest number of birds I had ever seen 

 in one flock, and the sportsmen with whom I had been shooting 

 all agreed that it was the largest single flock any of them had 

 ever seen. It is also unusual to find these birds taking to the 

 trees to roost. 



FOOD OF THE LESSER SCAUP OR BLUE-BILL. 



On November 23, Mr. Botsford of Reed College, Portland, 

 found at the head of the south ravine leading into Crystal Springs 

 lake a dead female lesser scaup or blue-bill duck. The bird 

 might have been killed by flying against telephone wires, or it 

 might have been killed by a stray shot. Examination of the 

 stomach contents showed the crop well filled with small clams, 

 three varieties of snails which are found near the shores of the 

 lake and an angle worm. No green water plants or grasses were 

 traceable, though the lake affords duck weed and other water 

 growths. 



BIRDS AND LIGHTHOUSES. 



Every night during migration, thousands of birds, attracted 

 by the powerful glare of lighthouses, after circling for hours 

 about the lights, fall exhausted, and die. It is said that as many 

 as 1800 woodcock perished in one night at a single English light- 

 house. Prof. J. P. Thijsse found that if a lighthouse is fitted 

 with proper perches near the light, the birds will rest upon them, 

 and few will lose their lives. The lighthouse at Terschelling, in 

 Holland, has been thus equipped for the last three years. At this 

 lighthouse, which stands directly in a path of migration, multi- 

 tudes of birds formerly died every night; now the deaths do not 

 exceed a hundred throughout the whole season of migration. 

 Perches have recently been fitted to two English lighthouses, 

 The Caskets, in the English Channel, and St. Catherine's, on the 

 Isle of Wight. The birds fly to the lighthouses only on dark 

 nights. — Youth's Companion. 



