r 
UILM I HUliiMi m i 
— AMD — 
OOLOGIST. 
$1.00 per 
Annum. 
PUBLISHED BY THE FRANK BLAKE WEBSTER COMPANY. 
ESTABLISHED MARCH, 1875. 
Vol. XVIII. HYDE PARK, MASS., JANUARY, 1893. 
Single Copy 
10 cents. 
No. 1. 
The First Spring Outing. 
The winter and spring of 1S92 will 
long be remembered for the visitation of 
the Russian epidemic, La Grippe. Un- 
sparing in its infliction, it numbered its 
victims in every household and in every 
avocation. Even the ornithologist was 
made to realize how it felt, and the walls 
of my house echoed and re-echoed to the j 
form of expressing the presence and effect 
of the detested plague in all its variations, j 
When one has passed through these ex- 
periences week after week and week after 
week, the things that charmed before lose 
much of their attraction ; even life itself 
bears a different aspect. What though 
the almanac indicated the near approach 
of spring, with its fascinations to the col- 
lector, I guessed that I shouldn’t do much 
collecting this year and then suspended 
thinking long enough to sneeze a few 
times. 
But one morning the sun came out 
bright and warm, the winds were hushed 
and I didn’t hear anybody sneezing. 
How different one feels at such a time; 
the world looked more attractive, the 
fields seemed inviting and a thought of 
the woods reviving. I gently suggested 
the possibilities of a trip to that old hollow 
tree, where the Barred Owl had been ac- 
customed annually to prepare a set of eggs 
for me, to my boy, and his eyes danced 
and sparkled with animation. But then 
he hadn’t been through the Grippe, and 
of course was all ready to start, with one 
foot up. “O, let me climb to the nest!” 
Of course I don’t think I shall ever climb 
another tree if it be over two feet up to 
the branches. 
It was a pleasant morning for a pleasant 
trip ; it seemed to put new life into one 
debilitated by the epidemic. The drum- 
ming of the Grouse, and the startling 
whirr when we flushed one, stirred the 
blood, and we stopped to listen to the 
sweet song of a Purple Finch as, perched 
in a tree top, he repeated his delightful 
lay. Little families of Chickadees, cheer- 
ing each other with pleasant notes, were 
intent on the important business of secur- 
ing a breakfast, while one member of the 
family in different garb from the others 
showed that he had not been adopted long 
enough to learn the family language when 
he tried to join them in singing, his notes 
sounding more like the tinkling of a tiny 
bell. What a melodious whistle sudden- 
ly burst on the ear, loud and clear and 
startling in the quiet of the forest, and 
while the boy looked at me with inquiring 
wonderment expressed on his face, a flock 
of Fox-colored Sparrows began springing 
up from the ground and darting away one 
after another. How they can sing and 
what splendid voices they have. Wouldn’t 
it be delightful, when they get home, to 
be there with them and listen to their 
chorus? I wonder where the enchanted 
spot may be. 
A turn of the path brought in view the 
place we sought and a surprise awaited us 
! — the spoiler had been there with the 
Copyright, 1892, by Frank Blake Webster Company. 
