ORNITHOLOGY 
1 1 1 
Bird Notes Around Stamford, Conn. 
BY PAUL G. HOWES, STAMFORD, CONN. 
It is gratifying that the birds are 
coming back; that civilization is not to 
exterminate them all, and that the 
widespread and general sympathy for 
real rigid bird protection is bringing 
great results that are truly great in 
every sense of the word. Witness this : 
A few years ago it would have been 
impossible to find black-crowned night 
herons meeting anywhere near Stam- 
ford where I live. My house stands 
less than three hundred yards from the 
water of Long Island Sound with a 
clear view of all its beauties. At low 
tide three years ago an occasional 
heron of the species in question flew in 
for the purpose of feeding, but they 
were scarce at best. Since that time 
they have increased very remarkably 
until they now are common birds, as of 
yore. Several stayed all winter last 
year, owing to the mild season, and 
the culmination came during the spring 
of 1921, when I found a breeding col- 
ony, a real old time rookery, and near 
by were fifteen nests of the green 
heron to boot ! For the good of the 
birds that nesting place will remain an 
ornithological secret for the present, at 
any rate. 
Late in the summer (end of July) I 
visited the place and found two fine 
American egrets in company with 
other herons. This is my second rec- 
ord of this bird and a mighty pleasing 
one. 
In 1911 I recorded the breeding of 
the killdeer at Long Ridge, Connecti- 
cut, nine miles from my house. Last 
year (1920) a pair bred in the same 
field that I found the nest in. They 
raised their young successfully. This 
spring they were back there and un- 
doubtedly bred, while a second pair 
nested on the sands a few hundred 
yards from my house. 
At Long Ridge, a pair of black duck 
have returned to a certain swampy 
thicket on my brother’s farm for two 
seasons. They spend the summer and 
undoubtedly breed, but so far I have 
been unable to locate the nest. Their 
actions and the fact that in the fall 
there is a small flock of the ducks, sub- 
stantiates this supposition very strong- 
ly. I have no doubt but what I will 
find the nest next year, as the birds 
return to the identical spot in the 
spring. 
For the first time in many years a 
pair of red-headed woodpeckers raised 
their young near my house this year. 
On August first the two old ones and 
four noisy young were living in some 
dead oaks near by. This is good news 
indeed ! 
Here is the biggest surprise of all. 
In June I was calling on a friend in 
Stamford. Near the house at which I 
was calling stood another one wi th 
large columns supporting the spacious 
porch on which several people were 
sitting. These columns were hollow 
and so placed that from the top near 
the porch roof an entrance could be 
gained to the inside of any one of them. 
As I sat on the porch of my friend’s 
house I heard a loud squawking noise 
coming from one of the columns of the 
other house, and as I turned to look in 
that direction, a female sparrow hawk 
arrived with a garter snake and was 
greeted by four half grown young that 
piled from the column to be fed on the 
ledge. The birds paid no attention 
whatever to the people on the porch 
nor the automobile that entered the 
driveway. As far as I could see the 
entire family of hawks were as tame 
as robins. I have never seen anything 
like it before. 
These few observations give a fair 
index to the ultimate results of bird 
protection. The laws that we have to- 
day, mean that in twenty years condi- 
tions will be as they used to be. We 
devastated Easterners won't have to 
go to the far northwest to see gulls 
and shore birds and the other ones that 
make the heart leap when they lay 
their eggs. 
As for the smaller birds, they are 
undoubtedly increasing also. Orchard 
orioles breed commonly in the sapling 
maples along the streets where new 
houses have been built. They seem to 
prefer these little trees that have been 
transplanted and have been set back 
in the process. Again I have noticed 
that the warblers are easier to find 
than they used to be and the martins 
are coming back occasionally. 
I have been convinced that gulls 
breed near Stamford for some time 
past, because more of them stay each 
summer when the time for departure 
northward comes. Since the breeding 
