One Year 25 Cents Single Copy 5 Cents 
Published by the Wisconsin Audubon Society at !¥Iadison, Wisconsin 
Entered as second class matter August 23, 1909, at Madison, Wis., under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879 
VOL,. XII. JANUARY, 1911 NO. 7 
— -- 
S 
V 
RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST 
One of the memories of my early 
; excursions is that of the time I learned 
to know the Ruby-throated Humming 
bird. I met the bright little fellow 
perched on the topmost branch of a 
thicket. There he was, resplendent in 
the early morning sun, so near that I 
hardly dared to breathe for fear that 
PI might scare him away. But hescarce- 
'Q ly noticed me; he was enraptured by 
r the beautiful spring morning with 
| which he blended so harmoniously. He 
|1! jj kept turning his head from side to side 
n as if to drink in the landscape, bathed 
in the mellow sunshine. But suddenly 
he seemed to remember that he must be 
up and doing, for he darted away, I 
know not whither. And when he was 
gone, I stood in wonder ; it was as if 
I had dreamt. 
I learned to know the Swamp Spar¬ 
row and the Fox Sparrow which play 
hide and seek among the rushes and the 
brush piles, and about the same time 
' I made the acquaintance of the Towliee, 
j Cheewink, or Ground Robin, whichever 
j you choose to call him. I met him 
\ where he is usually found and at his 
, usual occupation; he was busily scratch¬ 
ing among the leaves and mold of a 
l thicket. He is a most industrious 
r worker. He makes the “dirt fly” in 
a way that would do justice to a full- 
grown chicken that is many times his 
size. Sometimes this gives a clue as to 
his whereabouts; for it the leaves are 
dry the energetic upheaval to which 
they are subjected, produces an inter¬ 
mittent rustle which can be heard a 
hundred feet or more if the locality be 
quiet. 
It was about 9 :30 in the morning of 
a winter day that I was standing at a 
certain street corner, waiting for two 
friends who were to accompany me for 
that day ’s tramp when I became aware 
that somebody was near. I turned 
around: There stood a middle-aged 
man who had been evidently studying 
me. 
I said nothing until he asked me, 
“Are you a soldier?” “No”. I re¬ 
plied. “But you look like one.” he 
persisted. “Still I am not one,” I smil¬ 
ing returned, “I am merely out for a 
days tramp.” That day I came upon 
a flock of Prairie Horned Larks. A 
hundred or more had gathered in a bit 
of prairie like land. A light snow had 
fallen over the manure that had been 
dumped there. . The Larks were busily 
engaged in burrowing down to the 
manure to secure the grain tha" was 
scattered through it. If we startled 
