General Notes. 
181 
of English Sparrows which were quarreling among the foliage immedi- 
ately below me. Happening to want a specimen, I selected an adult male 
and shot it. Scarcely had it struck the ground when a Crow Blackbird 
(o ^uiscalus purpureus ceneus ) pounced upon it from a linden above, and 
with a few well-directed strokes of its bill put an end to its struggles. At 
this juncture a Robin interfered but soon retreated before the Grackle’s 
menacing front. The latter next seized the Sparrow in its bill and flew 
off with it to the lawn, a few paces distant. Here it deliberately went to 
work to eat its victim. Holding it between one, or sometimes both, its 
feet, exactly as a Hawk would do, it broke open the skull and feasted on 
the brains. I was near enough so see that its bill was reeking with blood. 
After watching it awhile I walked directly towards it when it again took 
up its prize and tried to carry it into the tree above, but its strength 
proved insufficient and it was obliged to drop it. Upon examining the 
Sparrow I found that its brains had been cleanly scooped out and the 
eyes as well as the throat devoured. Meanwhile the Grackle scolded me 
most emphatically for thus interfering and the moment my back was 
turned again descended and resumed its feast. 
Many of our native birds seem to have a standing grudge against this 
Blackbird and rarely let pass an opportunity to pursue and harass it. It 
would seem that this hatred is not without just cause. — William Brews- 
ter, Cambridge , Mass. 
Icterus baltimorei and Populus tremuloides. — Two specimens of 
the American aspen {Populus tremuloides') stand in my garden which I 
transplanted from the woods in the spring of 1876. During the latter 
part of May, 1878, I noticed that the trees were being denuded very rapidly 
of their leaves and I could not detect the presence of worm or fly by the 
use of a glass of twenty diameters. The leaves did not appear to have 
been eaten by insects but torn away piecemeal, leaving ragged edges, and 
not infrequently the leaf-stalks broken off or hanging loosely to the branch.-"* 
About three-fourths of the leaves disappeared in this manner in the space 
of fifteen or twenty days from one tree and nearly all from the other. A 
second set of leaves was produced in June and the trees made a strong and 
healthy growth during the remainder of the season. In 1879 the denuda- 
tion' was again commenced in like manner at the same season of the year. 
I could not charge it to the wind because other trees in the garden were 
not so affected and my meteorological record forbade any such cause. 
Upon careful watching while at work in the garden I detected a Baltimore 
Oriole eating the leaves with evident relish. The bird stood on a branch 
and picked at and tore off the leaves, eating them with as much apparent 
enjoyment as our domestic fowls eat the leaves of the plantain. 
I watched him closely for a while and upon going towards the tree he 
flew away, uttering his rattle in such a tone that it required no .stretch of 
the imagination to think that he was somewhat irritated at being molested 
in his. gastronomic proclivities. He soon returned, however, accompanied 
by a female, and the pair continued to eat for several minutes, interlarding 
