July 30. 1885.3 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



trees of tliis bird, and they may be found with almost abso- 

 lute certainty in the swamps dnring the first three weeks of 

 May. Timbered lands are also favored locations, while 

 shade trees in cities and the various fruit trees in orchard 

 and earden are often chosen. The blackburnian is a lively 

 bird, almost constantly on the move, and he nui>!t indeed be a 

 poor coHector who fails to secure one of these bright-colored 

 birds in a day's tramp in spring. In 1878 I became satisfied 

 that the birds nested in Kent and Ottawa counties, but 

 souaht in vain for the eggs. While noting the songs of our 

 warblers in the spring of 1880 I became familiar with the 

 pleasing song of this species, and was surprised at the number 

 of birds I heard in the tiiick-foliaged trees in Montcalm 

 county. A little later in the season, a number of females 

 vpere observed carrying materials for nests, but none of these 

 were found, owing to the density of the foliage. 



In 1881, Benjamin F. Sykc "secured a nest in a tall and 

 slender tamarack tree in a small swamp in Kalamazoo 

 county. It was about, forty feet from the ground, .situated 

 on a slender upward angling limb four feet from the trunk, 

 and contained four eggs and an egg of the cowbird. Incu- 

 bation had advanced to abo\it the iiiird day. The nest was 

 quite dense in structure, composed externally of small tam- 

 arack twigs held tu-mly in form by milk weed {Asclepia'S) 

 baric. Internally the principal material is horse hair, also 

 fine roots and woody fibers in its lining, and it very much re- 

 sembles inside, in tWm and appearance, the chipping spar- 

 row's nest, but is somewhat deeper. Externally, however, 

 it does not resemble any nest that I have met with. The 

 following .season in early June, the same collector secured a 

 second nest in woods of the same uatnre, the structure being 

 placed in a tamarack about thhty-five feet from the ground 

 on a small crotching limb next the body of the tree. In 

 make-up the nest was like the first, with the exception that 

 it contained more roots in the base, and hardly any horse- 

 hair Uning. It contained three fresh eggs. 



In addition to the several sylvicoline chirps and minor 

 notes, this species has a song olxonsiderable vivacity which 

 is quite characteristic. The song may be described by the 

 syllables GJieah-c/ieah, deMle-tleedle-clmiU, uttered in an ener- 

 getic manner, and is very agreeable. The singer is often located 

 with difficulty. I have never heard the song earlier than 

 May 33 and do not think the birds are tuneful on their ar- 

 rival, but only after the females arrive, which occurs 

 some days after the appearance of the more gaudy males, 

 and the mating is taking place. I have never heard the 

 song in autumn and judge that, like most of the birds of the 

 family, they are silent, with exception of the call notes. In 

 Southern Michigan the blackburnian again becomes abun- 

 dant in September, although a few appear late in August. 

 They do not all leave us for the south until late September. 



51. Deji drma dominim (ilbilora Baird, — WMtc-browed 

 Xdlgwjhroatfd-warbkr. 



Never common in localities in which I have collected, and 

 it is not reported as abundant by any authority. Mr. Jerome 

 B. Trombley, of Monroe county, in the extreme southeastern 

 part of the State, writes me that the birds, although rare 

 summer residents there, are .still seen in such numbers that 

 the habits may be observed. In his quarter it is one of the 

 earliest arrivals of the warblers, occasionally appearing by 

 April 30. Its favorite haunts are iu the wooded bottom 

 lands along the Raisin Eiver, where they confine themselves 

 to the toits" of the huge sycamores which skirt the banks. 

 The song is quite loud and spirited, and can be heard at a 

 distance of three or four hundred yards. Some a\itlior8 .state 

 that it resembles that of the indigo bird, and others that it 

 may be likened to the black and white creepers. According 

 to my expei'ieuce the song is a very characteristic one, and 

 bears no resemblance to anything I have ever heard. It may 

 be expressed by the syllaliles tee-o iee-o tee-o tow-tee, accented 

 on the syllable tee, and with a rising inflection on the final 

 syllable tee. This song is ;;epeated at intervals of ten or 

 fifteen seconds, and kept up' tor an hour or more. 



For several years m succession I seaxched long and dili- 

 gently for a nest, scanning the tall treetops in vain. Finally 

 1 observed a bird alight on the trunk of a tree with building 

 material in its mouth. In a few moments it flew to a partially 

 formed nest near the extremity of a small horizontal limb in 

 a tall sycamore not less than sixty feet from the ground, and 

 at least twenty feet from the trunk. This discovery was 

 made May l5,^l 880. By the use of a field glass I watched 

 the female at work on the nest which she completed and oc- 

 cupied. The birds depart for the south in late September, 

 and by Oct. 10 all have disappeared. 



I can add nothing to Mr. Trombley's remarks except to 

 verify his description of the location of the nest. One nest 

 came under my notice in late May which was buUt in a tall 

 sycamore, which grew on the bank of the river, and it was 

 situated on a small limb at some distance from the trunk. 

 The inaccessible nest which I found was in 43^ 30' north and 

 is the northernmost record in our State. My first specimen 

 was shot May tO, 1877, and one was taken as late as Sept. 

 3t, 1878. The whitebrow is not recorded by any of the 

 older lists, and was first brought forward in a list, in my 

 catalogue of 1879. It is fair to judge that its northern range 

 is limited, and we may consider 43" or 44^ as its boundary 

 with us. Mr. W. H. Collins has taken it twice, spring and 

 autumn, near Detroit. Contrary to its habit of keeping in the 

 tops of tall trees and far from the habitation of man, a speci- 

 men was once brought me which was f^und fluttering about 

 in a grocery store in the evening in September. It was a 

 mature specimen. 



53. Pendr ma mrens {Qmel.) Baird. — Black-throated green 

 warbler. 



A well-known, cheerful, abundant species. A transient 

 in the extreme southern part of the Lower Peninsula, but a 

 summer resident north of 43", and abundant as we go fui-ther 

 north. It is occasionally irregular in its appearance. In 

 1884 I did not see a specimen until after May 11, ahhough 

 one day, in what should have been the height of their migra- 

 tion, we walked ten miles in sections usually chosen by them. 

 It is generally well distributed, however, and quite regular 

 in movements. The earliest arrival noted by me in Southern 

 Michigan is April 23, but one season they did not appear 

 until May 4. The average arrival may be placed at April 39 

 or 30. The subject of this .sketch has a preference for the 

 tops of the trees while with us, and I think it is oftener shot 

 by mistake by collectors mistaking it for some rarer species 

 than any other member of the genus. It is small and on its 

 appearance silent, and frequently excites the ornithologist's 

 attention by its active movements in the treetops when it is 

 shot in haste. It is rarely heard to sing before May 15, and 

 usually at not so early a date, unless the season is an ad- 

 vanced one and the birds ia their- nesting haunts. It is not 

 often musical during migrations, and only the late stragders 

 are heai-d in the fully-foliaged trees. It may prove that it 

 remains during summer in the extreme southern part of our 



State, but such a record has not reached me, and as yet I 

 have not observed it south of 43° during June or July. In 

 Kent and Ottawa counties the birds often build, while in 

 more northern parts it appears as a very common summer 

 resident. On Mackinaw Island and in the northern penin- 

 sula I observed it as very abundant. 



This species is omitted by only two of the State or_ sec- 

 tional lists now before me, and is evidently one of our widely 

 distributed warblers. The song is very pleasing, and though 

 short and inclined to become monotonous in deep pineries 

 or cedar swamps, when a great many birds are constantly 

 heard, it is nevertheless agreeable in its intonation, and al- 

 ways listened to with feelings of pleasure. The notes may 

 be descj'ibed by the syllables zooi-zoai, toodk-dce, perhaps 

 the syllable sioee would describe the first part of the song 

 better, but as one accustoms his ear to certain sounds, the 

 changes which he makes from time to time as he studies the 

 notes become fewer, until finally the song is so firmly im- 

 pressed on his memory that no other series of notes will ap- 

 pear as natural to him excepting those which he has formu- 

 lated in his mind, and which appear as plainly before him 

 on paper as if expressed by tongue. 



But to return to the song of the black-throatod green, it 

 starts in slowly, the first two syllables being of even key, 

 then drops on the too, higher on die, and running up to quite 

 a high key on the last syllable. The song is oft repeated, 

 and may be heard all day in the thick foliage of the forest 

 without a bird being seen. 



On its return journey its appearance is first noted dmlng 

 the last of August or early September, while the last birds to 

 depart remain as late as October 5, in pleasant seasons. I 

 have never heard them sing during the fall migrations, and 

 only the peeping call notes are heard in the small flocks in 

 the tops of the trees as they gaily sport among the partially 

 bare limbs. 



53, DendTma, kirtlandi Baird — Kirtland's warbler. 



A rare irregular straggler in our .southern counties. Out 

 of the dozen specimens taken in America our State has rep- 

 resented herself by three birds taken during the last ten 

 years. The only fists recording this bird are Covert's lists 

 of the birds of the Lower Peninsula, 1878, and birds of 

 Washtenaw county, 1881, my fist of 1870, in which his ob- 

 servations were copied, and Stockwell's list, published in the 

 Forest and Steeaai several years ago. Mr. Covert secured 

 two specimens in the town of Scio, one on May 15, 1875, and 

 one May 16. 1879. These captures were duly recorded in 

 the Nutall Ornithological Bulletin. 



In the Auk of October, 1884, there is also a record of cap- 

 ture in Battle Creek, May 11, 1883 by IST. Y. Green, Esq. 

 This bird was incorrectly labeled D. piiius and sent East to 

 a naturalist. There is "reason to hope that this species will 

 become commoner within the next few years as in the case 

 of the Connecticut warbler and others with us. 



SITTING GROUSE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



"Special," in his note to Fokest and Stream (is.sue of 

 July 16) goes too hastily to a conclusion. 1 am alto- 

 gether of the opinion of the editor — that the bird which 

 "Special" thought the cock bird was in reality the hen which 

 he had first seen. She had tried one means of diverting him 

 from the spot where the chicks were concealed, and that 

 failing, she tried another. Having found that tufts of grass 

 were of no avail, she resorted to stones. It was my fortime 

 this spring to disturb a rufled grouse hen on her nest at the 

 time when the young were just begmning to hatch. She did 

 not attempt any "possum" tricks or pretend to have been in- 

 jured. Oq the contrary, she spread her wings, raised her 

 ruff, and attacked the stick which I had extended toward the 

 nest with manifestations of the greatest rage, in the mean- 

 time emitting a hoarse, hissing sound, very much like the 

 hiss of the domestic goose. There could be no pos.sible ques- 

 tion as to the sex of the bird. Last summer a hen quail 

 { Oriy.v virf/liiianus) was sitting in one of my coops on a nest 

 of eggs of her own laying. This bird, taken wild when full 

 grown, was not especially tame; but if I placed my hand be- 

 .side her while sitting she would pick and strike at it very 

 much as an ordinary "setting" hen. If I pushed her from 

 the nest, she would ruffle her feathers, lower her wings and 

 come toward me, making preparations intimating that she 

 was about to devour me on the spot. 



Allow me one or two suggestions, which, while they pre- 

 tend to advance nothing new, seem to be pertinent to this 

 matter. At the close of the laying period the female bird 

 (and particularly the females of the wild game birds whose 

 nests are made on the ground, gradually passes into a pecu- 

 liar condition which is indicated, as we say of common poul- 

 try, by a d&sire to "set." The incubating fever which de- 

 velops within a day or two of the incubation is a manifesta- 

 tion of this condition, but it is not all there is of the condi- 

 tion itself. The fever is an effect, not a cause. But it indi- 

 cates a temporary change in the mental actions of the bird 

 which bears about the same relation to its normal status, as 

 does the condition of a man who is fighting drunk with the 

 same man in his usual condition of sobriety. Perhaps the 

 illustration is a httle extreme. But as already intimated, 

 this condition seems especially marked in oiu' game birds, 

 and accounts for a great many ruanifestations which appear to 

 be and really are at utter variance with the habits and char- 

 acter of the same bird at other times. The game birds are all 

 faithful and persistent sitters and careful and devoted 

 mothers, but their courage or tameness while incubating or 

 with very young chicks, are transient, not permanent. Thus 

 when even so good an authority a.s "Mignon"' some months 

 ago told us in Forest and STREAii about a hen grouse that 

 was so unusually tame, he also explained the seiemiug phe- 

 nomenon by saying that the bird was sitting, although ap- 

 parently he did not take that fact into account at all. 



It would seem to be a natural supposition that this condi- 

 tion indicated by the incubating fever reaches its cidmina- 

 tion shortly after the chicks are hatched, and I venture the 

 opinion that "Special," at the time of which he speaks, dis- 

 turbed the mother of a very young family. Jay Bebe. 



Toledo, O., .July 32, 188.5. 



Gray SQcmHELS a]^v CHrPMirNKS.— About three years 

 ago I put a few gray squiri-els into a small grove of oak and 

 pig nut trees. At that time there were a large number of 

 ground squin-els or chipnnmks. The gray squirrels have 

 increased, and often come up to the house for nuts, but the 

 ground squirrels gradually decreased and have now entirely 

 disappeared. Have the gray driven out the i^round squir- 

 tels, or have they deprived them of food and ?ed them 

 o emigrate? — Long Island. 



§Hg mid gnif. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Go, 



A HUNT AROUND THE VINEYARDS. 



THE deer of Southern California becomes in the autumn, 

 when the leaves and twigs of the chapparal become too 

 old and dry to suit its taste, a great marauder, ravaging gar- 

 dens and orchards, and especially vineyards in a manner 

 that is often quite serious. It is especially fond of the white 

 muscat gra|)es of which the best raisins are made, and some 

 of the most easy and pleasant hunting now to be had in 

 Ainerica is sometimes found in the low hills surrounding a 

 California vineyard. Where deer are but little disturbed 

 with hunting they go but a little way back from the vineyard- 

 to spend the day, often lying down under some .shady brush 

 or rock within plain sight of it. Being well fed during the 

 night, they have little feeding to do during the day, and con- 

 sequently little roaming. Hence their movements are much 

 more regular than when feeding at large in the hills upon 

 the native vegetation; and when the hills are not too rough 

 or brushy, the labor required to find a deer is often reduced 

 to the lowest point possible in deer hunting, while the cer- 

 tainty of a shot rises to the highest point possible in that un- 

 certain amusement. 



No boy ever knows better when he is doing mischief than 

 this deer does. Hence it visits the vineyarcl only at night, 

 entering after dark and leaving with the first gray of dawn. 

 Sometimes deer may be shot in the vineyard at night; but 

 they are then so extremely watchful that they can hardly 

 ever be approached unless with fire, as in regular fire-hunting, 

 while lying in wait involves an amount of silence and fre- 

 quent disappointments, that is far more annoying than a 

 vain search in the hills by day. A more certain and pleasant 

 plan for a good hunter is to take in the morning fre,sh tracks 

 of their departure from the vineyard, and follow them back 

 into the hills where they have gone to spend the day. This 

 generally requires tracking upon bare ground, a thing' difficult 

 enough, but on the whole vastly more easy than it is repre- 

 sented by some writers, who would have us believe that the 

 Indian alone can do it. But the strong probability of finding 

 fresh tracks at once and overtaking the deer that made them 

 if you can only follow them more than compensates for aU 

 difficulties. 



One of the most pleasant hunts of this kind that I ever 

 had was at the vineyard of Mr. Maxey, near Bear Valley, in 

 the county of SanJDiegOi Cafifornia. It covers some twenty 

 acres of bottom land in a little valley surrounded by low 

 hills, forming a perfect amphitheater, of which nearly aU 

 parts are visible from the ranch house, a large adobe house 

 of the olden-time standing on the rising ground by a spring 

 upon one side of the valley, and well filled with comfort, 

 hospitality and good cheer. 



On a bright November morning my friend S. and I left the 

 house after breakfast and went to the vineyard to begin our 

 hunt. Everywhere upon the soft groimd were abundant 

 tracks of deer; traci^ of . every night for the past week 

 mingled with many .scarcely jive hoars old. Here a deer 

 had sauntered down between two rows of vines without stop- 

 piTig, and there one had stopped and eaten hait a. dozen 

 bunches of grapes before passing on. In the orchard h^yor. 

 the vineyard havoc was visible upon all .sides. Here, still 

 hanging on the trees, were large, luscious Japanese persim- 

 mons from which a whole side had been taken at a single 

 bite, and others lay scattered upon the ground in a still greater 

 state of ruin. Oranges and lemons had been pa.ssed, ap- 

 parently in disdain, but the late peaches, pears and apples 

 had suffered, and the twigs of plums, apricots, and other 

 deciduous trees had been freely nipped. Along the edge of 

 both orchard and vineyard were hundreds of fresh footprints 

 where the deer had come in and gone out, some having" 

 jumped the fence of barbed wire, others having crawled 

 under it. One would suppose that at least fifty deer had 

 been in during the night; but we had had enough experience 

 before to cause us to reduce the calculation to a dozen at the 

 most. Some had gone out, played around the adjacent slopes 

 and returned again, and some had passed in and out sevei-al 

 times, and all had made many more tracks than were at all 

 necessary. 



Starting at the western end of the orchard we made a cir- 

 cuit on the outside of that and the vineyard, so as to find the 

 tracks that it should be most advisable to follow. Three 

 deer, including a large buck, had gone out on the west, but 

 they had gone into a canon that was quite brushy. As the 

 wind was from the east our chances of a near approach were 

 so slender that we left that trail until afternoon, by which 

 time the wind might have changed. On the south two had 

 gone out. After following these a few hundred yards we 

 found that they too had gone westward, and as it was quite 

 certain some had gone out at the eastern end of the vineyard 

 we left this trail also on account of the wind. At the 

 eastern end we found that five had gone out — a doe, two 

 large fawns, and two other deer having foot prints a trifle 

 larger than those of the doe. These tracks were well mixed 

 with those of each night for the past week ; the groimd was 

 well covered with grass about an inch high that the first 

 rains had started. The deer had played about here and there, 

 making all manner of twists and turns. Altogether it was 

 no easy matter to unravel the tangle of trails. 



We finally followed the trail into the main valley that led 

 from the hills upon that side to the vineyard. At the first 

 branch of this valley the deer had a grand play spell. The 

 fawns especially had jumped and pranced around in all direc- 

 tions, running up the slopes and coming down again with 

 long jumps that tore up the soft ground in long'furrows. 

 Then the party had divided, the old doe going up the branch 

 while the fawns went with the other two deer up the main 

 valley. Some two hundred yards beyond this another branch 

 tiu-ned southward. Into this the tracks went; and so to onr 

 surprise did the wind. Coming a little from the north of 

 east this wind would be quite sure to follow this branch of 

 the valley, so we had to retreat as hastily as possible in order 

 to make a circuit and get out of the breeze, which would be 

 sure to bear our scent to the deer and alarm them. 



Retreating down the valley some two hundred yards we 

 ascended the hill on the west side of the little vafiey into 

 which the deer had gone, so as to be on the leeward side and 

 also be where we could see into the valley. But before we 

 had gone a quarter of a mile the brush became so high, dense 

 and stiff that it was impossible to see anything over it, or 

 get through it without making a noise that would alarm the 

 deer before we could get near enough to them for anything 

 like certainty in shooting. Nothing remained but to back 

 out and go around to the head of the little valley and come 



