December, 1881.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
77 
Almost a Suffocation. 
John Wallace, of New York city, who 
resides near Paterson, N. J., has gained an 
enviable reputation as a taxidermist, and is 
also a man of hobbies, and were he not a 
man of strong will, he would find but little 
time to devote to them, but “ where there 
is a will there is a way,” and he finds time. 
Among his hobbies are a rare collection of 
“Hummers,” “Birds of Paradise,” and 
last but not least, a fine greenhouse with a 
valuable collection of Orchids, and here is 
where the trouble came from. The boiler 
that warms the greenhouse is in the base¬ 
ment of the house. The night of the first 
cf November being warm, the dampers 
were closed, and too close, as the sequel 
will show. John and his family retired as 
usual, and all went well until near four 
o’clock A. M , when his oldest daughter 
called out to know the time, which was giv¬ 
en as near four o’clock A. M , when she got 
up to dress, and when partially dressed 
fell to the floor, cutting herself severely. 
The children began to rise one by one, but 
no sooner got to their feet than they fell to 
the floor helpless. This was a fearful posi¬ 
tion for John and his wife, who, thinking 
the children were poisoned, began adminis¬ 
tering oil. The son, John’s assistant in the 
city, was called to go for medical aid, when 
he was found to be so near gone as to be 
black in the face. Here was a family of 
seven children all sick and the sickness 
unknown, and up to this time the gas had 
not been noticed ; but the severe headache 
and general depression began to tell, when 
the discovery was made that it was gas 
from the greenhouse stove, when the fam¬ 
ily was removed to fresh air as rapidly as 
possible and with medical aid they were 
soon pronounced out of danger. John 
and his son suffered severely but started 
for the depot to reach the city, but the de¬ 
pression and a feeling of being weighed 
down by a heavy load forced them to 
return, but later in the day they both found 
their way to the city and are now appar¬ 
ently no worse for the severe ordeal they 
went through. The fortunate waking of 
the eldest daughter, no doubt, saved the 
entire family from suffocation, and we con¬ 
gratulate them on their narrow escape. 
American Bittern —This bird is quite 
rare here, yet one or more nests are found 
each season; two nests are all I have known 
about. Nest one was made near a lake 
and in a" swamp. It was made of damp 
reeds matted together, making a flat top on 
which were three eggs nearly hatched. 
Nest two was found July 12th, 1879. Bird 
flushed and shot. After picking up the 
bird the nest could hardly be found. This 
was in a swamp some distance from lake or 
stream, and built up out of the shallow 
water with damp reeds, but was dry on the 
top. It contained three eggs partially 
incubated This ne.st was made entirely 
of reeds and a few stems, and stalks of 
weeds. These birds do not breed near 
each other here, and do not come back to 
the same locality to breed, as this swamp 
has been looked over thoroughly every sea¬ 
son since without finding a nest. A bird 
shot in April was in fine plumage, and 
another shot in June was very far from 
handsome. They arrive about April 15th, 
and leave about October loth. Has anyone 
noticed them standing very straight with 
the bill high in the air ? While doing this 
they seem absorbed, and I have rowed 
within a few feet of one while thus 
occupied. —(7. Saratoga, N. Y. 
Phcebe’s Eggs Spotted. —On May T5th 
I found a set of Phoebe’s eggs, two of 
which were slightly spotted with very faint 
light brown spots on the larger end. Is 
this a common occurrence ? [Occasion¬ 
ally spotted sets are found.] 
Brown Thrasher’s Nest on the 
Ground —May aad, found Brown Thrash¬ 
er’s nest on the ground, in a grove thinly 
scattered with oaks, but in which there was 
no underbrush. Was not this an unusual 
event }— Will. R. Ide, Evanstoti, III. 
[We have often found them in similar 
positions. Ed.] 
