April 16, 1910.] 
613 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
The Woodcock’s Song. 
New York City, April 3. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: In Forest and Stream for April 2 Mr. 
Ernest L. Ewbank says in relation to the wood¬ 
cock’s song: “l 5 is song is more and more rapid 
as he swiftly mounts higher and higher.” 
I am interested to know if the woodcock has 
a habit in North Carolina that is different from 
his habit here. In this vicinity the woodcock 
seems not to sing while mounting, but during 
the latter part of his descending flight. Just be¬ 
fore mounting he struts about on the ground, 
bleating very much like the night hawk for a 
few moments. Then he springs swiftly into the 
air, swinging in circles sometimes to a height 
of 100 yards and twittering very loudly and 
clearly with his wings. The next part of the 
flight consists of a sweeping descent, somewhat 
like the night _ hawk’s, but with two or more 
slants at different angles. The w'ing twittering 
now ceases and the sweet musical vocal warb¬ 
ling takes its place. This whole performance 
is repeated over and over again. Last night I 
watched one close to my farm house not far 
from New York, and then went down the road 
a bit to a point where another is usually sing¬ 
ing, but the second one was not performing last 
night. 
At this time of the year they begin to 
sing at about a quarter before seven in the 
evening and keep it up for about forty-five 
minutes ordinarily, but longer on moonlight 
nights. In former years I have heard them very 
early in the morning when out for trout, but I 
am getting too old to need every trout in the 
stream, and fishing begins comfortably after 
breakfast, too late to hear the woodcock’s morn¬ 
ing salute to his mate. 
If any of my friends who read this are par¬ 
ticularly desirous of hearing the woodcock’s 
song* and watching the “performance,” I will 
have my superintendent take them to several 
places on the farm where they can take notes. 
Woodcock began singing early in March this 
year. I think it was in the first week in March. 
Robert T. Morris. 
New African Mammals. 
John J. White, of Washington, D. C., who 
spent the season of 1908 in British East Africa 
hunting big game, recently presented to the 
United States National Museum a number of 
large mammals collected during that time. 
, Mr. White, who during his absence wrote on 
African travel to Forest and Stream, left the 
Uganda railroad in early May at Nakuru and 
traveled northward by way of Ravine Station to 
Sirgoit Rock. Here for more than a month he 
hunted over the Guas Ngishu Plateau. In July 
he visited the Laikipia Plateau and hunted there 
and about Mount Kenia, and later on the Elmen- 
teita Plains. 
Among the specimens brought in was a Roth¬ 
schild’s giraffe, which is very nearly a record 
specimen. Hastily measured in the rain, it ex¬ 
ceeded \jy 2 feet in height. Among the great 
number of -antelope brought in are a new oribi 
(Ourebia microdon ) and a new species of oryx 
(Oryx annectens) , which seems to be midway 
between the Oryx callotis of the South and O. 
beisa of the North. Not only is the new oryx 
different in color from either of these, but its 
skull shows considerable differences. 
Of the new things discovered perhaps the 
most interesting is a new red monkey ( Erythro- 
ccbus whitei), collected on the Nzoia River and 
apparently very different from any of the pre¬ 
viously described species. These red monkeys 
were found in this neighborhood in small groups. 
They were usually seen in parties of three or 
four to a dozen animals, traveling on the ground 
in open country and were very hard to approach. 
The paper describing the animals is by N. 
Hollister, of the United States National Museum, 
and is illustrated by two plates showing different 
views of the skulls of the new oribi and the new 
red monkey. 
Mr. White is just leaving for another trip to 
Africa to visit the country hunted over before 
and other regions not previously seen. 
Oswego River Gulls. 
Oswego, N. Y., April 5 .— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The larger picture showing the rail¬ 
road tracks is right in the rear of our club and 
at the time the photograph was taken some of 
the members were throwing crackers out of the 
upper windows and the steward took the photo¬ 
graph through the cellar door. The wall be¬ 
tween the two bodies of water is at times thickly 
covered with gulls resting. 
The other picture where the gulls are bunched 
is the result of somebody throwing over bread 
crusts, crackers and other eatable material from 
the bridge, and it shows how tame these birds 
become when hungry. 
There is such a current in our river that for 
the most part it is open during the winter sea¬ 
son and these birds, together with numerous 
ducks, at certain times congregate right in the 
river. The ducks rarely come into the river ex¬ 
cept when the ice fields in the lake are blown on 
to our shore, so that they extend out into deep 
water where the ducks cannot reach the bot¬ 
tom. The birds, therefore, come into the river 
and feed. They are mostly diving ducks, whist¬ 
lers, butterballs and caweens—old wives. Me: 
Biltmore Students Returning. 
The Biltmore Forest School, whose director 
is Dr. C. A. Schenclc, is about to visit the tree 
nurseries of New York State. The students 
with Prof. Schenck have been spending the win¬ 
ter in the woods at Darmstadt, Germany, where 
the well-founded forestry methods existing there 
were carefully studied. A cablegram received 
from Dr. Schenck by Commissioner Whipple 
states that the students will arrive on one of 
the Holland-American line steamers April 18 
and will locate at Coreys, Franklin county, which 
is near the center of the Adirondack forests and 
in close proximity to the State’s largest tree 
nurseries. 
This visit is the result of negotiations between 
Dr. Schenck and Commissioner Whipple which 
have been carried on with the idea of mutual 
benefit. New York being the furthest advanced 
of any State in the Union in tree propagation 
and reforestation projects, will afford opportunity 
for observation and instruction. On this account 
Prof. Schenck desired to add a review of our 
nurseries to his itinerary, which includes Bilt¬ 
more, Star Lake, Wisconsin, and Darmstadt, 
Germany. Commissioner Whipple believes that 
in bringing the students who have studied Ger¬ 
man conditions at first hand into close relation¬ 
ship with our tree nurseries, technical advan¬ 
tages in German methods will be brought out 
and the general forestry work of this State 
thereby benefited. 
Passenger Pigeon Nest Reported. 
On Thursday, April 7, Prof. C. F. Hodge re¬ 
ceived a telegram from a town in Ontario, Can., 
declaring that C. A. Patience has found the nest 
of a passenger pigeon and asking for instruc¬ 
tions. A letter received on Saturday, April 9, 
gave some details, of the discovery, together with 
a description of the nest and eggs and the nest’s 
location. 
The question of identification now comes up 
and will be awaited by naturalists with the great¬ 
est interest. If the nest is actually that of a 
passenger pigeon, the fortunate discoverer will 
presumably receive the award of $1,000, accord¬ 
ing to the terms published in Forest and Stream. 
Clark University, Worcester, Mass., April 10. 
—Editor Forest and Stream: The first report of 
a passenger pigeon’s nest came in from Ontario, 
April 7, by wire, reading: “Found wild pigeon’s 
nest; female setting two eggs; send instruc¬ 
tions.” The letter following a day later stated 
that the pair of pigeons were the first seen in 
the locality for over thirty years, that they had 
been about the premises about three weeks and 
that informant had found the nest that day. The 
nest is located in thick evergreens, well protected 
from storms, about twelve or fifteen feet above 
the ground. My informant states that he has 
killed all the cats in the neighborhood and is 
doing his utmost to protect the nest and birds. 
He takes for granted that he can distinguish 
pigeons from mourning doves, but offers no evi¬ 
dence by way of size, markings or call notes to 
render it certain that he is right. Identification 
literature has been sent and I shall have an ad¬ 
mission of error or confirmation of his former 
report, backed by the $5 forfeit by April 12. 
It has been thought best to withold exact loca¬ 
tion and names of finders in all nestings reported 
until the young birds have safely left the nests. 
I take this course much against my own inclina¬ 
tion and even against my best judgment on seri¬ 
ous warning that certain of our American col¬ 
lectors cannot be trusted to take the fine stand 
of Mr. Rothschild who, since this agitation 
began, has written me that he will not—by col¬ 
lecting specimens for the Tring Museum—be a 
party to the extermination of a species. 
A second report arrived by misdirected letter, 
April 9 (but dated April 7) also from Ontario, 
stating that the nest with two eggs had been sent 
me by express (“undisturbed”). This is in part 
perhaps a result of heedlessness of the finder, 
but certainly more probably due to utter lack of 
sense and conscience of the newspapers which 
cut out the most essential point in all my an¬ 
nouncements, viz.: that all awards are offered 
solely and only for undisturbed nesting birds. 
In all cases the confirming party must find both 
parent birds and eggs or young undisturbed be¬ 
fore any award will be paid. 
I shall be able to report definitely next week. 
C. F. Hodge. 
Game Bird Eggs? 
A correspondent asks where he can procure 
fertile eggs of the bobwhite quail. Who can 
answer this? 
