THE BAY STATE OOLOGIST. 



19 



I might add, that the nest occupied by ihe Bubos, was in my judgment an old 

 crow nest. I found no other nests of particular interest in these woods at this time ; 

 but subsequently found another nest of the Red-tail from which I obtained two 

 eggs. 



I found many Crows' nests in different stages of completion ; but not caring 

 much for their eggs, I did not wish to spend time climbing to them, except in one 

 instance, when my attention was attracted by the peculiar material in one nest, 

 which presented much the appearance of a large ball of tow. Prompted by curi- 

 osity, I went up to it and found it constructed almost entirely of the fibres of the 

 Indian hemp, which grew profusely near by at the edge of the prairie. The nest 

 contained four fresh eggs which I took. 



I now started to return home, having eggs enough to fill both mittens. I found 

 that I had been absent from town two and one-half hours; distance not less than 

 eight miles ; one professional visit made; four trees climbed. Sets secured, Swain- 

 son's ^3, Red-tail J/3, Great Horned Owl y z and American Crow How is 

 that for rapid collecting? 



Correspondence, 



[Editor of Bay State Oologist.] 



Dear Sir: — 



I noticed in the February issue of your valuable paper, Mr. A. M. 

 Shields, in his article on the Long-billed Curlew, says: "should a hunter be suc- 

 cessful enough to first wound or wing one bird of a flock, the rest will continue to 

 hover and circle around the crippled one, paying no heed to the fated crack! crack! ! 

 of the hunter's fowling-piece." Now on most parts of the Pacific coast, the Cur- 

 lew is wild and wary, approaching the stools suspiciously and seldom returning 

 when shot at. The only way I am able to get within gunshot is by concealing 

 myself behind a cow or horse and then force the brute slowly toward them. The 

 Curlew is a highly prized game-bird. It feeds mostly during the morning and 

 evening. 



The lively little Eskimo variety is far more numerous, comes to decoys more 

 readily and will return once or twice at the hunter's call. I have heard of instances 

 where as many as 200 were bagged by one sportsman in a single day ; but such bags 

 were only taken years ago. Spring shooting has thinned them out considerably 

 of late years, however, a law against spring shooting has been in force, which is 

 of great benefit to many of our large and less wary game birds. 



J. Claire Wood, Jr., Detroit, Michigan. 



