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FOR THE PEOPLE

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LIBRARY

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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM

OF

NATURAL HISTORY

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March. 1911

®li? Journal

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25 cents a copy
$1.00 a year

ifen? (irnttljolnijiral ^oriety

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Published by the Society at 97 1-2 Exchange Street, Portland, Maine

Entered as second class matter June 1 3, 1 905, at the post office at Portland, Maine, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1 879.

JOURNAL

OF THE

Maine Ornithological Society.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MAINE ORNITHOLOGISTS.

Issued every quarter on the first of March, June, September and December of each year.

Publication Office: 97 1-2 Exchange St., Portland, Maine.

Send renewals and matter for publication to the Journal of the Maine Ornith=
ological Society, 22 Elm St., Portland, Me.

Price, $1.00 per annum.

Single Copies, 25 Cents.

OPFICERS

President, J. Merton Swain, Farmington.

Vice-President, Dr. William C. Kendall, Freeport.

Secretary and Treasurer ; Dana W. Sweet, Phillips.

Councillors, Jed F. Fanning, Portland; Dr. A. L. Chase,
Bangor.

CONTENTS.

Page

Manly Hardy, 1

An Observation of the Development of the Social Instinct in Cedar

Waxwings, ........... 9

Notes on the Winter Birds of 1906-1907, 12

Time of Incubation of the Ovenbird, ....... 18

Notes on Washington County Birds, ....... 20

Editorials, 21

Bird Notes, 22

Manly Hardy

Courtesy of Forest and Stream Publishing Company.

®ljr Journal

of %

Mmm (irntttjnlngtral ^ariely

Published by the Society on the first of March, June, September and December

Vol. XIII MARCH, 1911 No. 1

Manly Hardy.

Manly Hardy, one of the older and most widely known natur-
alists of Maine, an honorary member of the Maine Ornithological
Society, died at his home in Brewer, Maine, December 9, 19 10, at
the age of 78 years and 28 days.

He was born in Hampden, Maine, November 11, 1832, the only
child of Jonathan Titcomb and Catherine Sears (Atwood) Hardy.
When four years old his parents moved to Brewer, and seven years
later they bought the house which has ever since been his home.

His father, Jonathan T. Hardy, was one of the progressive
business men of the Penobscot Valley, and had interests in shipping,
lumbering, timber lands and general trade, but particularly in the
fur trade. He had a wide acquaintance with those who dwelt in
the wilds, both whites and Indians. The son, Manly Hardy, was
sent to the public schools, and for the acquirement of the classics
and higher studies to the private school conducted by the Rev.
George W. Field, D. I)., in Bangor. Ill health and a very serious
affection of the optic nerves compelled him to abandon both his col-
lege course and his desire for service in the field of missions, though

2 JOl RNAL OK MAINE i >K M Tliol.ni ,K'.\I. SOCIETY.

his religious ideals were maintained throughout his life. December
24, 1X62, he was married to Miss Emeline Freeman Wheeler, of
Hampden, who survives him, together with four daughters and a '
son.

Turning through force of circumstances from his early ambi-
tions, he entered the business career of a fur buyer and became re-
markably expert in the judgment of the quality of pelts. In enter-
ing this career, his father's interests and acquaintance throughout
the wilderness afforded rare opportunities which he turned to most
excellent results. Fortified by the clean character built up in
youth, he acquired wide, close and sympathetic acquaintance with
the men of the wilderness. Many of these were Indians, and, enter-
ing heartily into their honorable pursuits, he became their rival in
canoeing, trapping and general woodcraft, and an authority upon
their language and history.

Respecting his life as a naturalist, the following sketch is fur-
nished by his daughter, Mrs. Fanny Hardy Eckstorm, well known
as a writer of articles and books on natural history.

"My father began being a naturalist very young. When about
nine years old he tried to learn what he could about the more bril-
liantly-colored birds. In 1844, when he was in his twelfth year.
Count Karl Luther, a Prussian nobleman traveling in America for
sport and pleasure, spent some time in this vicinity and noticed the
boy's interest in natural history. The Count gave such instruction
as he was able and left with him a recipe for mummifying small
birds, which we still have. In this way he preserved a few speci-
mens ; but he had neither books nor teachers.

"He never lost his childish desire to be a naturalist nor found
any opportunity to learn what he wished to know, until in 1861 he
had a chance to go upon the Maine State Scientific Survey.
Despite two bulky volumes of reports, the history of this expedition
never has been fully written ; it was one of the things which 'are
not what they seem.' On his part, though often urged to write his
account of the survey as a burlesque, my father used to smile and
say nothing. My father was given the position of assistant natural-

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 3

ist, being then in his twenty-ninth year, and one of the older men
upon the expedition, if we except Dr. Holmes and old Dean Murch.
He did not go because he thought he knew much natural history,
but because he hoped to learn something, particularly the art of
taxidermy. Dr. Kzekiel Holmes, editor of the Maine Farmer^ was
naturalist and head of the survey. He was a man of ability, but it
would be no libel to say that he knew nothing about ornithology ;
and about taxidermy he knew considerably less. He could not skin
a bird himself, nor tell anyone else how to do it, and had he not
been thoughtful enough to provide the expedition with a little pam-
phlet published by the Smithsonian Museum, not a bird could
have been preserved on the cruise. The chief part of the taxidermal
outfit of the survey consisted of a large coil of unannealed wire
about the size of hay wire. The Doctor planned to bring back all,
his trophies mounted, and for all of them the same wire was pro-
vided, Eagles and Hummingbirds to be treated impartially. The
rest of the naturalist's equipment was cotton batting and arsenic.
My father hunted assiduously for birds while the other men were
resting and eating, and as the survey was short-handed and the
water low, he abandoned his right to go as passenger and worked
as hard paddling and poling a canoe as any of the boatmen, besides
doing all the naturalist's work except writing the final report. The
results were not of great importance, and when the great Portland
fire burned up his collection of bird skins, I think he felt no regret
over the loss.

"Having gone on a State Scientific Survey to learn about birds,
and having found that there was nothing there to be learned, my
father's scientific aspirations were nipped by a severe frost. It was
many years before he made another attempt to study birds. Rarely
he had one mounted. In my childhood a great Horned Owl, a little
Acadian Owl and a pair of Goshawks, killed by his own rifle, were
all the mounted birds he had. About 1K74 he began to buy a few
birds of plumage and had one small case of them to look at evenings
when he could not read. It was not until 1877, when he was forty-
five years old, that he made his first attempt at mounting a bird.

4 JOURNAL OF MAIN!-: ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

"I very well remember that first bird. Though I was a child,
I assisted. We had Manton's little book on taxidermy, and I read
the directions while father tried to follow them. The victim was a
Robin. It would not have been so bad a bird had we, or the book,
not forgotten to make an artificial neck before inserting the body.
We have it yet, a first start toward large results.

"Once he had made a beginning, father resolved to do the work
thoroughly. People laughed at him for starting at his age to col-
lect all the birds in the United States. Vet since that day how
have the number of known United States birds increased ! And
from the United States alone, his ambitions spread to include all
North America and the parts faunally related. And yet he all but
completed this greater task, and the most of those which he lacked
were either extinct before he began his work or but one or two
specimens of them have ever been taken. Of the geographic races
he had by far the larger part, lacking comparatively few, and those
usually the commoner ones. In addition, he had some very fine
Pheasants and Birds of Paradise and a large collection of freaks and
albinos.

"I could hardly name the best of his collections. In some
cases the bird is valued for its rarity, in some for its plumage, in
some for its mounting. I doubt if there are in the world better
specimens of the Californian Vulture, the Guadalupe Caracara, the
Harpy Eagle, the Great Wandering Albatross, the Scaled Petrel,
and others, which were prepared by that artist among taxidermists,
the late Mr. Critchley, of Providence. Among the greater rarities
I should name the type specimen of the Black Merlin (adult),
Peale's Falcon, a pair of the Masked Bob-white, Cory's Bittern, the
Heath Hen, the Guadalupe Towhee, three fine Passenger Pigeons,
the Whooping Crane, a magnificent pair of the great Imperial
Woodpeckers, Ross's Rosy Gull, the Black-Masked Duck, and
many others very rarely found in collections. His specimen of the
downy young of the Scaled Petrel is believed to be unique.

"Father usually gave away his observations to' others. He
took no pleasure in holding any personal title to an observation, and

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 5

anything written by him in the Auk or the Ornithologist and Oologist,
or other journals, was quite as likely to be culled from his personal
letters to Mr. William Brewster or Mr. Joseph M. Wade, or others,
as to be directly contributed. He was able at times to report rari-
ties. For example, he had seen a Turkey Buzzard near home1, and
had heard of others being trapped or seen by hunters2; a few winters
since he saw a Black (iyrfalcon:i but three or four rods away (and
no gun); and he obtained some of the earlier nests of the Red-bellied
Nuthatch4, the Golden-crowned Kinglet and the American Cross-
bill, all near home. .Still these were in no sense discoveries. His
observation that the male of the Leach's Petrel5 more commonly has
the bare brooding spot than the female, was a better note.

"Birds, mammals, Indians were his hobbies. In ethnology he
established for the Peabody Museum of Kthnology the fact of can-
nibalism among our Maine Indians". However, he did more through
advice to others than by direct work. He was consulted upon all
sorts of matters, and whenever a strange mammal or bird was taken
within many miles it was quite sure to be referred to Mr. Hardy.

"Though not directly interested in other sciences, father was
observant in all. He could at once tell you whether he had ever
seen a given rock or flower, and when and where, so that, although
neither geologist nor botanist, he was a good adviser.

"There was never a time when he 'began going in the woods';
he was born to it. With Indians for his playmates and hunters for
his friends, he carried a gun from the time when another boy had
to go with him, to rest the muzzle on his shoulder while my father
took aim and did the shooting. He had an instinct for woodcraft,
though by reason of his very delicate health between the years of
sixteen and twenty, he was at that period less in the woods than
most boys of his age. But about that time his eyes failed him, and,

'Bull 3, Univ. of Maine, p. 57.

-Auk, XXII, p. 79.

sJourn. Maine Orn. Soc, III, p. 28.

4Bull. Nutt. Orn. CI., Ill, p. 196.

-Bull. Nutt. Orn. CI., VI, p. 125.

^Eleventh Ann. Rept. Peabody Mus. Am. Arch. & Eth., p. 197.

6 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

being unable to read at all for years, he spent much of his time in
the woods, gunning, trapping, or looking after the men employed
by his father in the woods and upon his large farm. As a general
thing, the gunning and trapping were merely incidental to some
real business.

''Yet. beginning at about the time of his majority, he took long
trips into the then unbroken forests of Maine, deer hunting, moose
hunting and trapping, as well as to the seashore, where he learned
with the Indians all their skill at seal and porpoise hunting, and the
art of sailing a birch canoe in a heavy wind and sea. From 1852
until 1898 he had from one to three trips in the woods or to the coast
each year. In September, 1897 he was taken very critically ill while
camping at Gassobeeis Lake and got out only by his own indomit-
able will and the devotion of the man with him. From that time on
he never dared go into the woods.

"Father knew intimately most of Aroostook, Piscataquis, Pe-
nobscot, Hancock and Washington Counties, and also much of
Waldo. The western part of the State was unknown to him and he
never collected outside of Maine. Indeed I may say that he made
but two real collecting trips that I can recall. These were both to
the seashore. He went into the woods in the fall or winter at the
season to hunt and cruise with most enjoyment. I have been off
with him a full month when we brought back not more than two or
three bird skins. Little insectivorous birds he would not kill, and
his collection is scantiest in the commonest kinds. He never had
but one Chickadee and not a female Robin. Of most of the com-
moner Warblers the collection has but a single specimen of each.
Killing little birds and stealing their nests never seemed to him
quite fit occupation for a man.

"I have no bibliography of father's writings. He never valued
them nor preserved copies of them. The most was done for Forest
and Stream and for Shooting and Fishing. To other periodicals he
contributed only under pressure from the editors. I do not remem-
ber his writing for anything before the eighties and then it was the
game wardens rather than natural history that led him to write for

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 7

the press. Of his writing I may mention one characteristic. He
never overstated. His two longest writings, each of which filled
several instalments of Forest and Stream, A Maine Woods Walk in
'61' and 'A Fall Fur Hunt,' might have been much expanded if he
had chosen to dilate upon his incidents. But he condensed as much
as possible even while telling a story. In the 'Fall Fur Hunt,' he
left out some of the most effective episodes, incidents full of color
and woods life. There was one day when he had had three hair-
breadth escapes, and he put in but one of them. I remonstrated
with him upon this and told him that the others were interesting,
too. 'I didn't want to make the broth too thick,' was his character-
istic response. Not more than an hour before he took to his bed,
dying the next day, he finished an article for Forest and Stream
upon the otter. He was in great pain ; he knew that the end was
probably near, but he felt that he must stick to this article and fin-
ish it. It is the last thing that ever will appear from his pen. He
left no notes, no manuscripts of any kind, and all his journals were
very brief.

"Nearly all that father wrote had to do with Indians, the
Maine woods or mammals. He wrote very little about birds unless
it was in reference to changes of habits or to their intelligence. He
felt that while birds were his special hobby, yet what he knew about
animals was the rare part of his lifetime's acquisitions. This was
unique, and though he did not enjoy the labor of writing he often
felt it a duty to record what he and he alone knew. But by far the
greater part of his information and almost all of his rich experience
in the woods never was committed to paper."

Mr. Hardy's writings were relations of observations on little or
obscurely known matters, and therefore stand as lasting contribu-
tions to the subjects on which he wrote. He also felt compelled to
write occasionally in criticism or correction of matters in print cal-
culated to prejudice or mislead readers of his favorite journals. In
such cases his word was usually, if not always, final. In writing he
responded to the generous impulses which governed his life and
quite as often wrote for the benefit of inquiring correspondents as he

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SCIETV.

did where his name would appear. He never concealed his iden-
tity, though in a few instances he signed himself "M. H." ; yet
these were brief notes, of statements not open to reply, and the name
of his town was given.

His first published writing seems to be on the •'Nesting Habits
of the Red-bellied Nuthatch," which appeared in the Nuttall Bulle-
tin in 1878, which we observe to correspond very nearly with the
period when his collection was begun. The same year Professor F.
W. Putnam, in his report as curator of the Peabody Museum of
American Archaeology and Ethnology, published the letter of Mr.
Hardy which established the fact of cannibalism among the New
England Indians. Professor Putnam made the statement that Mr.
Hardy would conduct further investigations in behalf of the mu-
seum, and that these explorations were carried out is shown by the
next (the 12th) report. Mr. Hardy's first letter in Forest and
Stream appeared in 1884, entitled "The Wolf Cry in Maine," and
stands as a valuable contribution to the history of the disappearance
of this mammal from our fauna.

Among his numerous friends was the late Major Charles E.
Bendire, with whom he maintained an intimate friendship, and to
whom he contributed freely during the preparation of his work on
the "Life Histories of North American Birds." The late Charles
K. Worthen was a friend of thirty years' standing, and he knew
well all of the most prominent field ornithologists of the West.
Indeed, as most of his collection was derived directly from the orig-
inal collectors, especially from those in the way of finding new spe-
cies and races of birds, it would be easier to name the working field
naturalists whom he did not know than those whom he knew.

While of a retiring disposition and averse to appearing in pub-
lic, he occasionally responded to the requests of friends or associates
and delivered talks upon natural history topics. On these occasions
his remarkable memory and wide experience as an observer came to
his aid, and, as he grew absorbed in his subject, he bore his audience
onward with him, attentive to the end and ready for more.

JOURNAL OF MAIM-: ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 9

In relation to his memory we must quote again from his de-
voted daughter :

"Few men have his quickness of retort and very few his mar-
velous memory. Everything he had ever seen or done was photo-
graphed there and kept forever. I have known him. without the
aid of any notes, to enumerate over two thousand Ruffed Grouse
which he had killed, for each one of which he could recall the place
and circumstances. ... It was this memory, which enabled
him to bring forward a great number of perfectly definite facts to
generalize upon, that made his observations so unique. All his
facts were his own. He did not quote other men's books. He
knew the books, usually very well, and he could cite page and vol-
ume when required to do so, but everything he said or wrote was
original."

As a man he was genial in his intercourse with men and with a
keen sense of humor ; steadfast and energetic in his purposes ; gen-
erous toward all mankind ; charitable in every way toward the un-
fortunate, giving freely and quietly ; modest in all well-doing, and
zealous for truth and justice.

An Observation of the Development of the Social
Instinct in Cedar Waxwings.

By Caroline M. Stevens.
In "Birds of Laysan and the Leeward Islands," Mr. Walter K.
Fisher gives an account of a most remarkable "dance" indulged in
by the Laysan Albatrosses. It is a long and complicated perform-
ance by any two birds, with bowing and circling and fencing, tuck-
ing their heads under uplifted wings, snapping bills, tiptoeing,
groaning, and so on, always in dignified and regular succession.
Mr. Fisher counts it not courtship, since it is carried on through-
out the birds' residence of about ten months on the island, but
rather an amusement, an extraordinary development of the social
instinct. Mr. Henry L. Ward, in an account of a Herring Gull

I" JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

colony 011 Gravel Island, Wisconsin, tells of a similar, though much
simpler, "dance" or "game."

Reading thus of distant colonial birds, one envies these fortu-
nate men their opportunities for observing such strangely interest-
ing traits. It is then especially a pleasure to discover that the
common birds around our homes may have a development of the
social instinct, if not so wonderful, at least nearly as fascinating to
watch.

Coming through an apple orchard one noontime in May, 1909,
I stopped to watch a large flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding on the
apple blossom petals, and then it was my good fortune to see as
pretty a sight as could be imagined among birds. The attention of
the birds seemed about evenly divided between eating petals and
playing a sort of game. Looking from tree to tree I saw it going
on all around me.

It was a game for two. One bird, taking the initiative, with a
petal in his mouth, suddenly flew to his chosen playmate, alighting
close beside him on the twig, at the same instant offering the petal ;
(once it was a bit of green leaf). The other bird, though appar-
ently taken unawares, was quick enough to catch it on the instant
it was offered. Immediately, with the petal, he hopped sidewise
just one small hop away from the first bird. After a pause of per-
haps a second, back he came close to the bird and offering the petal,
which the first bird on the instant caught from his bill, hopped away
with it just one hop, paused a second, then very suddenly hopped
back, offering the petal, all just as the other bird had done. And
so they passed the petal back and forth, not three or four times, but
twelve and fifteen times, until, tiring of the play, they flew apart, or
the petal, with much hasty snatching from bill to bill becoming tat-
tered and too small for use, was indifferently eaten by one of the
birds.

In the moments of pause before the always sudden re-offering
of the petal, each bird looked straight ahead ; the one with the
petal as if trying to conceal from the other the instant he meant to
come back with it, and the one awaiting the petal as if the rules of

JOURNAL OK MAIM' ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. II

the game forbade his watching to see when it was coming. Yet he
was plainly tense and watchful, and only once did I see a bird tail
to get the petal. In that instance the other bird gave him another
chance at it, when he got it all right, and the game continued. But
for this element of competition, this apparent keenness to take the
other bird unawares, which gave the spirit oi a sport to the perform
ance, it would have more the aspect of a "dance," for it was meas-
ured, dignified, and dainty, with the quality of an old-time minuet.

Certainly throughout the time I watched, it had no observable
connection with courtship, however indirectly the mating season
may be responsible for it. The choosing of a partner seemed wholly
casual and disinterested, and when the game palled, the birds sepa
rated as casually. So matter-of-fact were all these birds, and so
finished was their execution, that one might expect to find this
pastime a common habit among their kind. Yet I have not again
seen anything like it. (1 have not had another chance to watch a
large flock.)

Any mention of unusual development of the social instinct of
Waxwings by authors I have read has been merely reference to an
observation cited by Nuttall which Mr. Norton kindly sent me.
Mr. Nuttall writes: "An eyewitness assures me he has seen one
among a row of these birds seated upon a branch dart after an in-
sect, and offer it to his associate when caught, who very disinter-
estedly passed it to the next, and each delicately declining the offer,
the morsel has proceeded backwards and forwards before it was
appropriated."1

I saw nothing like this. Once three birds started to play, but
the game didn't go smoothly and after one or two passages they lost
interest and dispersed. Other than this instance, the performance
I watched was unvaried. It is gratifying to have seen it so per-
fectly. Aside from the scientific interest, the charm of those digni-
fied, dainty birds in graceful play among the sunny apple blossoms
is as pleasant to the memory as a glimpse at fairies dancing.

*A somewhat similar observation is recorded by K- H. Forbu.sh, in "Useful
Birds and their Protection," p. 210.

12 JOURNAL OF maim-: ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Notes on the Winter Birds of 1906=07.

By Cordelia J. Stanwood.

I.

Feeding the Birds.

When persons live in the country where the snow is deep and
the thermometer sometimes runs as low as 360 below zero, neces-
sarily there are days when the fireside is the most comfortable place.
This was particularly true in the winter of 1906-07, a winter that
the oldest inhabitants of Maine as well as scientific data affirmed to
have been the most severe in fifty years. At this time of year to
have the birds fly about the window and sing; as if it were the cheer-
iest day in spring is an unspeakable comfort. Summer seems almost
at hand.

To encourage my bird neighbors to visit me that winter, I kept
bits of suet tied to a nail driven in at the side of each window of my
room, and all over the large balm-of-Gilead tree in front of the
house. (1 made a sling by fastening a large piece of suet firmly to
each end of a strong twine about a foot long just as boys make
horse-chestnut slings to throw over telegraph wires. When I tossed
these slings over a branch, they struck with such force that the cord
was bound around the branch several times. The sling fastened
itself so securely that the fiercest gales were unable to dislodge the
suet.) After that one Chickadee came for a time, then two, next
six and a Red-breasted Nuthatch. These visited the tree perhaps a
dozen times a day.

The Nuthatch, for so handsome a bird, behaved very badly on
his arrival. In the beginning, doubtless, he saw Chickadees coming
to the woods with large bits of suet in their beaks. Perhaps he had
feasted on these same particles of suet that the Chickadees had stored
away in the bark. Next he followed the Chickadees and liked the
suet so much that he decided if a little were good all would be better.
Instead of eating, he spent most of his time in driving the Chicka-
dees away from the suet tree. The Chickadees allowed the Nuthatch

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [3

to take the largest and most juicy bits of suet for himself, and were
content with tiny crumbs in any out-of-the-way corner of the tree.
This did not satisfy the Nuthatch. He simply refused to allow them
a crumb. The Chickadees showed their optimistic spirit by viewing
tin.- whole matter as a joke, announced their arrival in a noisy
chorus, then fled precipitately before the tiny tyrant, smaller than
themselves. (The long, strong beak of the Nuthatch must have
had an awe-inspiring effect.) In time association with the Chick-
adees improved the manners of the Nuthatch somewhat. He al-
lowed them to feed, providing he did not want to partake of thstt
special suet lump. Still, even a Chickadee pursued a Chickadee
that had succeeded in filling his beak with a noticeably tempting
mouthful of suet and quite often drove a Chickadee away from a
desirable feeding place.

By March 12th the Nuthatch had selected a mate considerably
smaller than himself. They came to the suet tree together after
this, and were as belligerent as the first Nuthatch had been in the
beginning. The Nuthatches lingered around until May 17th, but
the Chickadees continued to come in smaller numbers while the suet

lasted.

II.

Greedy Chickadeks.

Sometimes a large lump of suet became loosened and fell to the
ground. If the Chickadees were around when I went to tie this
suet to the tree, they scolded me severely.

One day I sent two children to perform the task. The Chick-
adees perched within two feet of their heads and did not cease
Chickadeeing until the little people had completed their work.

Another day a large dog stood under the tree and sniffed at the

suet. Even it did not escape a severe reprimand from the greedy

little birds.

III.

The Shrike and the Chickadee.

One cold morning I was puzzled by the conduct of a Chickadee

that clung, back down, to the bottom of a large piece of suet. He

14 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

seemed utterly exhausted. I thought that the bird might be para-
lyzed with the cold. There he swung back and forth with the suet
in the wind, his beak rubbing against the suet, but made no attempt
to feed. He was apparently as helpless in the wind as the suet to
which he clung. He seemed to look upward without moving his
head. At last the Chickadee hopped to a branch, but still was a
wooden bird, with a peculiarly cunning expression in his eyes. Just
at this time I became conscious of a gray bird in the top of the tree,
one that had haunted the neighborhood for days. Then it was that
the Northern Shrike made a movement and the Chickadee quickly
came to life and darted away. The Shrike hovered in air an instant,
with wings and tail spread, and neck stretched forward and down,
then darted after the Chickadee.

The flight of the birds was out of range of my windows. It was
impossible to follow the birds through the deep snow without stop-
ping to put on overshoes. There was no time for that, so I remained
uncertain as to the actual outcome of the pursuit as far as visual
knowledge was concerned. I have no doubt, however, that the
Chickadee took refuge in the thick branches of a spruce at the
corner of the house where the Shrike could not easily follow. If the
little bird attempted the long flight across the open field, there was

no hope for him.

IV.

Feeding the Spring Migrants.
From December to April, the Chickadees and the Red-breasted
Nuthatches continued to visit the suet tree for a part of their food
supply. Occasionally a stranger bird, such as the Redpoll Linnet,
perched in the branches of the suet tree, or the White-winged Cross-
bills came to feed on the spruce cones in the tree by the house, but
nothing unusual happened until the first of April, when the two
warm days preceding the last day of March were followed by a
severe snow storm, accompanied by rain, hail and sleet. Then all
the little migrants — Song, Fox and Tree Sparrows, Juncos and Red-
winged Blackbirds — swarmed under my window to eat hayseed,
crumbs of white bread, suet, oatmeal, in fact anything that sug-

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 15

jested a seed. Soon the Sparrows and Juncos detected the suet on
the balm-of-Gilead tree. All day there was a constant stream of
visitors awaiting their turn at the suet lumps. Often a Sparrow or
J unco because so impatient that he administered a sharp peck at his
neighbor who reluctantly yielded up his place. One Crow appeared.
After eating the seeds for a time he observed the suet and flew to a
slender branch of the suet tree, where he slowly but firmly settled.
He was very awkward at keeping his balance and getting his long
beak so nearly under his feet as to snip off bits of suet, but he suc-
ceeded so well that the lumps of suet rapidly diminished in size.
The same day he returned with a friend, but I was such a conspicu-
ous object in the window that they contented themselves with rout-
ing the other birds and settling in the field opposite. A few days
later, before I arose, the morning after the fresh suet had been
placed on the tree, I heard a great cawing among the Crows around
the house. Upon looking out I found the suet had been pulled
from the tree and all of half of it carried away. I purposely tossed
it so high that it was out of reach of the cats. There was no wind.
I decided that the "robber Crows" were guilty of the theft.

It is said that everything has its "supreme moment." Surely
this spring the rough, coarse, awkward old balm-of-Gilead had its
"supreme moment." One of these white days it was clothed with
Blackbirds. Truly it was a gorgeous sight ! The black coats
against the white snow looked like black velvet, and the bright
splashes of scarlet and orange on their shoulders made them most
conspicuous in the white and grey landscape. While the Blackbirds
were here they were most peaceable. The small birds, however,
usually beat a hasty retreat before them. They ate nothing but
seeds.

The following brief pen-pictures are taken from my notebook :
April 9, 1907, 6.00 P. M. It is nearly 6.00 o'clock and the
Juncos, Fox vSparrows, Song Sparrows, and possibly other birds, are
feeding busily, while the rain and hail patter on them and the snow
is six inches deep. Often they stop feeding and crouch in the snow
to warm their feet in their feathers. These little birds teach one a

l6 JOURNAL OF MAINE nRMTHOLOGICAI. SOCIETY.

lesson of patience, for amid all these discomforts every little while a
merry song ascends to the Giver of all good gifts.

April 10. It snowed all night. This morning when I arose
there were many little birds in the trees in front of the house. Some
had already scratched where the food was yesterday until the ground
was in sight. I threw out some bits of bread. Soon the Juncos
and Song Sparrows were struggling all over the lawn. Suddenly
nearly all the birds took flight and disappeared. Simultaneously a
fine Northern Shrike swooped down on a J unco which he missed.
He made several other unsuccessful attempts and disappeared
around the house in pursuit of a Junco. Later a Junco, a female,
appeared with just two tail feathers. I wondered if it were she that
was pursued by the Shrike and if her chances in the spring mating
match are endangered. Later in the day, the little Junco lady
appeared again with her two tail feathers so awry that they appeared
as one. Fortunate lady that she does not possess a mirror ! Let us
trust that she has not an intimate and frank friend !

The Fox Sparrow, because of its size and dignity, takes pre-
cedence among the birds. He walks up, and, unless the treasure
is an unusually large piece of bread, the delinquent who possesses
it calmly surrenders it. If it is necessary, he delivers a vigorous
peck, but he seldom has to. He was so bad as not to wait his
turn at the suet tree to-day. The Song Sparrow that came to
the balm-of-Gilead for food was quite amusing. He was annoyed
by the cord that held the suet to the tree. As the cord would not
give way before the well-planned strokes of his beak, after pecking
at the cord he would dance upon it with all his might. He kept
this performance up for five minutes. Probably the dancing was an
effort to scratch on a branch. Roots on the ground that obstructed
his effort to obtain food gave way before such vigorous treatment,
I suppose he argued, why should not a root wound around a stick
in air.

At 5 o'clock P. M., more than sixty birds were eating seeds or
suet beneath the window. The space covered with seeds was about
two yards long and one and one-half yards wide. Over this space

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 17

the Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and J unco were more or less regu-
larly spaced — some three or more inches each way. If one intruded
upon another a vigorous peck put him in his place at once. The
seeds and hay were perhaps two inches deep in some places. Each
little bird pecked and scratched until only his tail showed. At 5.00
o'clock, sixty were feeding; at 5.45 o'clock, fifteen were feeding;
at s-.so o'clock, nine were feeding ; at 6.03 o'clock, one was feeding,
which immediately left. All but one bird flew in the direction of
the evergreens back of the house. The exception flew to a field
sparsely covered with bushes and evergreens. In the morning Ruth
found a little Song Sparrow frozen stiff under the telegraph wires.

April 1 i. Before 6 A. M., the birds were already uncovering
the remains of yesterday's feast. I threw out some pieces of
bread. They flew for it before it touched the ground. The birds
were more than grateful. They sang, they twittered, they hopped,
they skipped, they jumped, they dragged their wings, they flirted
their tails and — must I say it? — they fought for it. In fact, they
expressed their joy in every kind of language a bird can use.
I was sorry that morning that I had given all the suet to the
other birds when a little Chickadee came to both windows and
begged very sweetly for food. First he sang at one window, then
the other. Later he returned and sang a new song. I could not
resist such a sweet beggar and sent for a new supply of suet at once.

April 1 2th was such a mild day and there were so few birds
around, I threw out no more seeds.

It was the end of April before other varieties of birds began to
arrive.

Summary of Migration Report from December, 1906, to April, 1007,

Inclusive.

Pine Grosbeak,
American Crossbill,
Redpoll Linnet,
Northern Shrike,
Pine Siskin,

White-winged Crossbill,
Crows,

FIRST

SK hn.

LAST SEEN.

Dec.

13

Feb. 23

Dec.

16

Dec.

17

Apr. 21

Dec.

29

Apr. 10

Jan.

19

Jan.

23

Mch.

16

JOURNAL OF MAINE OKMITHOLOIIICAI, SOCIETY.

Junco, )

Robin,

Shore I^ark, )
Fox Sparrow,
Bluebird, |

Downy Woodpecker, \
Song Sparrow, I

Red-winged Blackbird, \
Woodcock,
Tree Sparrow,
Hudsonian Chickadee,
Hermit Thrush, |
Savannah Sparrow, S
Myrtle Warbler, )

Golden-crowned Kinglet, >
Tree Swallow, '

Yellow Palm Warbler,

Mch. 22

Mch.

24

Mch.

25

Mch.

30

Mch.
Apr.
Apr.

31
2
7

Apr.

27

Apr.

28

Apr.

3D

A pi. 21

Time of Incubation of the Ovenbird.

Age at Which the Fledglings Can Leave the Nest.

By CORDEIylA J. Stanwood.

June 26, 19 10, while passing from an evergreen growth to a
deciduous growth on moist land, I was startled by the call of two
little birds that fluttered around me, one dragging a helpless wing.
Immediately I recognized them as Ovenbirds. I was afraid I had
injured their nest. After examining a space for my feet in the dim
light, I got down on my hands and knees and went over the ground
minutely. The birds fussed a time, then left me. I saw no trace of
a nest. As I walked forward into an open space, I noticed a heap
of moss directly in the path I had indicated by broken branches a
few days before. But for the outcry of the little birds, it seems
probable that I should have stepped on the frail structure. Upon
examining the nest, I found that it had no lining.

June 29. The nest contained one egg.

July 2. 11 A. M., I felt four eggs in the nest. 2 P. M., bird
not incubating.

July 3. Did not visit the nest of the Ovenbird in the morning.
3 P. M., the bird was incubating. Her head extended outside of
the nest. She remained motionless. Apparently she thought she
was unobserved.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 19

July 13. 4.30 P. M., visited the nest of the Ovenbird. The
bird was entirely inside. One would never have suspected that a
bird was concealed within that little mass of moss and leaves.
When I knelt before the nest the bird flew forth with an explosive
report of the wings. She flew about two yards to a place of conceal-
ment, but made no sound. The eggs were still unhatched.

July 14. When I went to the nest in the afternoon the dam
drew herself in out of sight and remained perfectly quiet. At last,
when I became very close, she hopped with outspread wings to the
covert she sought yesterday. She uttered no sound. Four little
birds were within the dark recesses of the nest, but I could see
almost nothing as the entrance of the nest was toward the east.
This was the twelfth day of incubation. The young were undoubt-
edly hatched in the morning.

July 19. 2 P. M., visited the nest of the Ovenbird the begin-
ning of the sixth day. About all I could see was the yellow beak
of one young bird. The young seemed to be dark grey-brown in
color, similar to a young Nashville Warbler or a young J unco (I
am sure of their coloration, as in 1909 I found a nest of quite mature
birds, the entrance faciug the north and in a good light) . The par-
ent birds called cke/i, cheh, cheh.

July 22. End of the eighth day. On my way to the nest of
the Ovenbird in the morning, I was greeted by one of the parent
birds that flew through the trees with erected crest, calling. The
nest was empty.

There was a heavy shower the night before and the little domi-
cile was very wet. This may have hastened the exit of the young
birds. The fact that the parent birds knew that their nest was
discovered undoubtedly added to their anxiety to leave. The solici-
tude of the parent birds showed that the young were in the neigh-
borhood. The entrance to the nest had been disturbed in nowise.
A spray of moss still hung across it. Several masses of fresh excre-
ment just outside the nest would tend to indicate that the young
had but now come from it. The structure was so full of quill casings

20 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

that they not only filled the crevices of the nest, but sifted through
the bottom and covered the ground.

The nest occupied a cavity in the ground about one inch deep
in the centre. Around the edge of the excavation were maple
leaves and pine needles. (The ground around was swampy, covered
with sphagnum moss, white birch and maple leaves, sensitive and
New York ferns.) The saucer-like part of the nest, even with the
ground, was made of pine needles and dead leaves. It was roofed
with pine needles, white birch and maple leaves, Hypnum sc/ireberi,
fern moss, stipes of ferns and bracken, and the fruit stems of maple.
One or two sensitive ferns had grown through the nest and the little
mound of dead leaves and moss was not in the least conspicuous.

Notes on Washington County Birds.

By C. H. Clark.

I have recently added to my collection a pure albino Cuckoo,
which was shot in this town, October 24th, 19 10.

The most interesting thing of recent record is the occurrence of
the Mockingbird in this vicinity. The first appearance was Novem-
ber 19, 1 910, when one of the species was found in the village. At
first it was thought that it might be an escaped cage bird, but later
two were reported, and then a few days afterward three were seen
together and were observed at several places within the radius of a
mile. I closely and carefully observed them hours at a time on a
score of occasions, and at times would get within the distance of a
few feet from them. They spent most of their time in orchards and
about dooryards, where many people threw various things for them
to eat. I never knew of them being here before and I think their
late occurrence remarkable. They have remained here all winter
and the last report was February 26th.

Purple Finches have been very plentiful this winter. March
1st I had pleasure in watching a flock of seventy-five feeding in an
old grain field from which the snow had disappeared. About ten
per cent, were males in good color.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 21

Slif Journal
Mm\iy ©rnttluiUuural iwtrtit

A Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds

Vol. XIII Published March, 1911 No. 1

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: SI. 00 a year; 25 cents a copy

The Maine Ornithological Society comprises in its membership the leading
ornithologists and bird students of Maine. The membership is constantly in-
creasing and the interest in the Society was never greater than now . If you are
interested in birds and wish to know more about them you should by all means
send in your name for membership in this Society. The dues are one dollar a
\ ear, and payment of this sum entitles each person elected to membership to the
JOURNAL free of charge. Application for membership should he made to the
Secretary, Mr. Dana W. Sweet, Phillips, Maine. Mr. Sweet is also the Treas-
urer and the annual dues should be paid to him. All persons, both young and
old, are eligible to membership. It is not necessary for one to be versed in bird
lore in order to insure his election to this Society. The larger the membership
the more can be done in the way of improving the JOURNAL and increasing its
size. Send in your name without further delay. The Society will be glad to
welcome you to its meetings, which are held once a year in different cities.

It has been found necessary to hold the report of the proceed-
ings of the November meeting- of the society until a later issue of
the Journal.

The indexing- of the first twelve volumes of the Journal has
been carried out, and is now about ready to he put in form of manu-
script, therefore the completion of the work is practically assured.

A considerable number of ornithological publications and
nature magazines have been received, but mention must he deferred
to a later time.

During the current session of the legislature, upwards of one
hundred and twenty-three bills, petitions and other matters have
been referred to the committee on Inland Fisheries and Game.
Of these about a dozen relate in one way or another to birds.
.Space for a discussion of these is not now available, but it is gratify-
ing to note that the greater part of these are progressive. On the
other side we are reminded, by inquiring into the cases, that those
persons asking for the passage of retrogressive measures are insist-
ent to the last degree. It is pleasant to remark that the committee
is one from which excellent results on the side of progress are to be
expected.

JOURNAL OV MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Itrt NotPS.

Notes and observations upon bird life within our State are earnestly desired from all our readers
for publication in this column, and should be sent to Louis E. Leggre, 22 Dow Street, Portland, Maine.

An Ovenbird Incubating Two Eggs. — June 14, 1910, an
Ovenbird was incubating two eggs. June 18th, the bird was absent
from the nest, but the eggs were warm. June 20th, the nest was
deserted. One egg appeared to have been sucked. The other was
so sticky that a few of the white hairs of the perpetrator of the crime
were glued to it. The nest was conspicuously placed in an open,
deciduous growth, beside a pathway and only partially roofed. On
the opposite side of the footway was an evergreen timber. The
structure was rather loosely constructed of beech and maple leaves,
a little Hypnum schreberi, fern moss, a few pine needles, and a little
hay. It was lined with leaves and a few horsehairs. The eggs
were marked with rufous brown and chestnut. They were slightly
spotted all over ; one was wreathed around the larger end with dots,
the other had the spots on the crown. I discovered the nest by
hearing the bird fly as I was walking in the woods. While I was
searching for a possible nest, the bird flew back and forth among the
trees, but uttered no sound. — Cordelia J. Stamvood, Ellsworth, Mr.

Early Arrival of the Winter Yellowlkgs (Totanus
Havipes). — I saw a Winter Yellowlegs to-day, the first arrival here
this year, April 7, 19 10. — Fred S. Walker, Pine Point, Maine.

A Eate Meadowlark at Gouldsborough . — While at
Corea, in the town of Gouldsborough, Maine, early in November,
1910, I saw a Meadowlark on the nth, 12th and 13th. It usually
fed on a sea beach, and was wild, rising and taking a wide circle to
some other place, but soon returned to its piece of beach. Though
I remained until November 15th, it was not seen after the 13th. —
. Xrthur //. Norton, Portland, Maine.

Eatk Nesting ok the Hermit Thrush. — August 15, 1910,
I found a Hermit Thrush's nest with three eggs. The nest was in

JOURNAL OF MAIM- ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 23

the top of a spruce scrub, and was three feet above the ground.
The spruce was eight feet north of the highway, on closely fed grass
land, but there is a maple grove on the south side of the road. I
visited the nest August 24th and found three well-grown Thrushes.
I went to the nest August 29th and found it empty. This nest
was not far from where I live, and on one of the most traveled
roads in Avon. The Hermit's nest is built on the ground about
June 1 st, and has a set of four blue eggs, smaller than those of the
Robin. — Dana Sweet.

Notes on Feeding Winter Birds. — During the winter a
pair of Downy Woodpeckers have been in the vicinity. January
20th, 191 1, I saw one watching the Chickadees feeding on suet.
This I had tied to the tips of the most slender twigs on the top of a
lilac, quite out of reach of the cats. The following day 1 drove
nails into a telegraph pole close to the suet tree, and after wrapping
chicken wire about the pole hung suet there for the Woodpeckers.
( The loose rope of chicken wire seems to look dangerous to cats.
They never go near it.) The Woodpeckers found the suet early in
the morning and fed there and at the suet tree. February 8th, I was
surprised to notice the male Woodpecker hanging from the bottom
of one of the larger lumps of suet on the tree just as a Chickadee
does but after an improved fashion. His back was parallel with the
ground. He raised his tail at right angles to his back and pressed
it against the suet. When he pecked at the suet his beak was
parallel with his back, and his tail, pressed firmly against the suet,
prevented the suet from giving way before the blows of the bird's
beak. He hung there for some minutes. At the beginning of the
cold season, I filled a stump, formerly used by a Chickadee for a
nest, with corn, oats, apples and apple cores. I also threw some
corn on the ground. The stump was situated near the boiling
spring in the woods where I find the Pine Grosbeak, Chickadees
and Partridges drinking. The tracks around this stump have been
very interesting after snow storms. Squirrels, Partridges and Chick-
adees, at least, have fed there. After a severe snow storm, the

24 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Partridges always come and scratch up the corn. During settled
weather they seem to prefer to forage for themselves. One day I
followed fresh Partridge tracks in hip rubber boots, and flushed a
Partridge from the snow where it was burrowing to the green plants
under clumps of evergreens. The Chickadees may be seen at any
hour of the day eating from the grains of corn. They pick up a
^rain in the beak, carry it to a limb, and hold it there with both
feet while pecking out the germ. The rest of the grain of corn
they drop to the ground. At first I thought this was the work of a
squirrel. — Cordelia J. Stanwood, Ellsworth, Me.

Narrow Escape. — While out driving the afternoon of Febru-
ary 22nd, I noticed two birds flying at a height of about two hun-
dred feet and soon perceived that one of the birds was in pursuit of
the other, which was only about half as large. They were flying in
a circle, which gradually narrowed until the larger bird was quite
near, when the smaller bird dodged suddenly and flew off at a tan-
gent, pursued by the larger bird, and as the pursuer drew closer the
circling began again, the birds rising higher and higher with each
revolution. These tactics were gone through with several times,
and the birds rose to such a height that the smaller one was nearly
indistinguishable, and I watched with a good deal of interest for the
climax of the tragedy which I felt sure must soon ensue, when sud-
denly the larger bird gave up the chase and flew down and dis-
appeared among some evergreens, while the intended victim took
an opposite direction and was soon lost to view. During the time
neither bird uttered a sound and I was unable to identify the small
one, though it was probably a Redpoll. The large one I had no
difficulty in recognizing as a Northern Shrike.— Fred B. Spaalding \
Lancaster, N. H.

Young Chickadees.

U% Journal

nf t(|t

Mmm (inttli|olngtral ^orieiy

Published by the Society on the first of March, June, September and December

Vol. XIII JUNE, 1911 No. 2

A Study of Two Chickadee Families.

By Cordelia J. Stanwood, Ellsworth, Maine.

The gleeful chatter of Chickadees so intent on nest-building
that they forgot to be cautious, revealed their secret to me one mild,
bright morning in early spring. Making my way around brush
heaps, and through the firs on the border of an overgrown pasture,
I came upon the pair hollowing a graj' birch stump in a compara-
tively sunny spot. The stump was four feet high, sheltered by firs
and so decayed and rickety that a slight puff of wind might easily
blow it over. The birds were removing all the wood from the top of
the stump, leaving but a shell of bark. These Chickadees seemed
bent on constructing a well ventilated nest.

The following day, May 8, 1907, passing through a rather dense
evergreen grove near the house, I heard what sounded like a Wood-
pecker excavating a nest. It proved to be a Chickadee, hollowing
a poplar stump of quite solid, dead wood. Later, this domicile re-

26 JOURNAL OK MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL .SOCIETY.

sembled a Woodpecker's nest so closely that a bird student who eaine
to examine it declared that it was a Woodpecker's nest that the
Chickadees had appropriated, until I testified to watching the Tit-
mice day by day as they shaped the pouch-shaped receptacle for
their eggs.

As time went on, I found that not only were the two nests quite
different, but the two families were entirely unlike. The first nest
was located in a more or less open, sunny space, the second in a
comparatively thick, shady grove. The nest in the birch stump was
open, the nest in the poplar stump was roofed. The inhabitants of
the pasture nest were confiding and gentle, the occupants of the
grove nest were suspicious and timid. Since all Chickadees have
similar methods of constructing a nest and rearing young, it seemed
best to study details of Chickadee life in the unroofed nest and
annoy the timid little folk of the dark grove as little as possible.

The Chickadees, while at work on both nests, labored in the
afternoon at times, as well as in the early part of the day. The
method of procedure was as follows: One bird flew down, perched
on the edge of the nest, dropped to the bottom and returned with a
beakful of wood. This it carried to an adjoining tree and dropped.
Then it flew again to the nest, ready to take the place of the mate
that was repeating exactly its activities. Once in a while the first
bird lingered to pick up a grub, and both birds were perched above
the nest, ready for work at the same time. Usually, however, they
came and went, ascended and descended with the regularity of a
steam shovel. Often as I stood near the nest in the pasture, the
Chickadees flew over my head, almost touching it, but made no sound
save an occasional seep.

May 22, both sets of Chickadees were lining their nests. I
found later that the birds in the grove began to incubate a few days
earlier than the first Chickadees I discovered building. As the birds
laid their eggs, they covered them with the nest lining. It was only
when flushed from the nest that the incubating Chickadee revealed
her seven white eggs speckled with brown.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 27

June 14, when I attempted to drive the Chickadee from the first
nest, I was unable to do so, so I sat down a few feet away to wait
for developments. Soon I heard phee-bee, phce-bce in the distance.
The call sounded nearer and nearer. Then a faint peep came from
the nest. Next the plice-bec was answered by a phce-bce from the
nest and the sitting bird fluttered away to meet her mate. There
were two young just out of the egg. By afternoon all the eggs were
hatched, just twelve days from the time the bird began to incubate
the full set.

The following scenes at the nests will illustrate the difference in
behavior of the two Chickadee families toward an observer. June
23, I visited the nest, in the grove on my way to the more distant
nest. As I attempted to look into the nest, the young bird on top
uttered a sound, something between a hiss and a very small explo-
sion of gunpowder. It was so unexpected and given with such
force that I jumped. While I waited near, the parent birds came
with food. The male (as I supposed) refused to do anything but
scold during the time that I remained. The female brought food
twice, and carried away ordure once, but she acted with such trepi-
dation that I soon withdrew.

At the latter nest, the little birds opened their beaks for food,
and called and quivered as they do when the parents bring them
nourishment. These young birds never seemed to possess the same
sense of fear that the birds in the dark, close nest acquired. Soon
after I came to the pasture nest, I heard not far away peep, very
faintly ; again peep, a little nearer; then phee-bec just above the nest.
The parent bird had come with a long caterpillar and several moths
in her beak. These she fed the nestlings and hurried away. The
mate brought two moths at least, in his bill. Thus they came and
went constantly. When both met above the nest, they flirted their
tails, fluttered their wings and quivered all over in an ecstasy of
delight. The parent birds were always a-tremble when they entered
the nest.

June 26, the young birds in the house in the poplar stump were

28 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

perfect reproductions of the old bird. The nest was so full that the
parent birds fed the young from the entrance. The latter must have
rested one upon another, the diameter of the nest was so small.
Those at the top thrust up their heads on each side of the top bird,
but how the very bottom birds breathed was a mystery. The aper-
ture at the top measured but one inch by one and a half. That was
the only air hole.

In the home in the gray birch stump, the young birds arranged
themselves around the middle bird in much the same way as the
eggs were arranged, six around the central one. The opening at
the top was three times as large as that of the poplar stump, and
there were many air-holes in the bark cylinder that held the nest
proper.

Two days later the Chickadees of the grove were gone early in
the day.

The morning that the Titmice of the pasture were twelve days
old, I had them photographed. My idea was to cut off the top of
the birch bark cup and then replace it after the photograph was
taken. The nestlings adapted themselves to their new quarters admir-
ably. They snuggled down in the somewhat limited space as much
at home as they had been in the more roomy abode. The old birds
came and fed the young while we were arranging the camera, and
twice while the camera was being focused, alighted on the edge of
the nest with food. When once the top of the nest had been re-
moved, it was impossible to replace it again, but after cutting the
bark cylinder open, we fastened it at one side so that it sheltered
the nest somewhat.

In the afternoon the old birds were feeding the young just as
placidly as if no one had tampered with the nest, and as if there
were not an observer perched within a few feet of them. The fare
consisted of green caterpillars, an inch long, moths, spiders, an
insect like a flying ant, and white grubs one-fourth inch in diameter
and one inch long. All these were swallowed with apparent avid-
ity. Once the bird brought a caterpillar an inch and a half long.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 29

Putting the end in the throat of one bird, it tore off the other half
and presented it to another nestling. Each little bird, in turn (and
sometimes two strove for precedence), elevated itself to the backs of
the other birds. It first stretched one wing or extricated it from
the bird-tangle, then the other. Next it pecked vigorously at the
base of the tail and opened and closed its mandibles a number of
times as if to wet them with the oil it had obtained from the oil
gland on the rump. Taking each feather at the base between the
tips of the bill, it drew the feathers sharply through the beak. Thus
it provided itself with a waterproof coat ; thus it kept its feathers
smooth and tidy ; thus it removed, by degrees, those troublesome
feather cases ; thus it exercised every muscle in its small body and
grew strong. In the end the little wing looked as if it had been
pressed with a hot flatiron. The nestling remained on the backs
of the other birds until the parent came with food. After the old
bird had thrust a caterpillar or spider into the throat of the one or
two that seemed to respond most vehemently, she clung firmly to the
nest and held herself off as far as she could. The nestling then on
top, having been fed, deliberately stood with the front of the body
and head lowered, and expelled excrement which the parent bird
received in its beak. This act of the little bird was performed with
such force that the spaces between the feather tracts of the little
body became pink and the veins stood out full and purple particu-
larly on the thinly feathered extremity. I saw the young birds
exercise and refresh themselves ten times in the space of about a
half hour. The nestlings were quiet but a few instants at a time.
They used every muscle almost constantly. I never have seen such
muscular, well-groomed little birds in any other nest. The parent
birds both carried ordure from the nest. They received the excre-
ment in their beaks, bore it away to a branch, where they dropped
it and wiped their beaks on a limb or a lichen. No matter how
restless the little bird became while waiting for the care of the parent
bird, it never soiled the nest. At 7 o'clock at night the parent birds
were performing with unabated vigor the same round of duties that
had occupied them during the day.

30 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The following morning the Chickadees looked as if they were
really enjoying the greater amount of fresh air the modification of
their nest permitted. They were squirming about when I approached
but soon snuggled down into place as they saw me nearing the nest.
I seated myself on the ground less than four feet from the stump ;
occasionally a little head was thrust above the edge of the nest and,
a pair of black, beady eyes regarded me intently for an instant, then
the owner snuggled back into place. I counted six birds in the
nest, and after a while discovered a sturdy young Chickadee in a
tree just over the stump. Both parent birds devoted a great deal
of time to this morsel of Chickadee flesh. Truly, it was a most in-
teresting young bird. To be sure its Chickadee was in baby lan-
guage, and sounded a bit like tweedledee, but that was to be expected.
The first time I saw the bird move, it flew a yard and did very well.
In its next short hops among thicker branches, it almost lost its bal-
ance two or three times but always succeeded, at last, in grasping a
branch. Atom the second, I believe, fell from the nest, but it imme-
diately gained a footing by vigorously flapping its wings and grasp-
ing with its sharp claws. This tiny Chickadee had such a time
clinging to the branch that I put it in the nest again, for which it
ungratefully hissed at me.

Very soon after I took up my stand near the nest, the parent
birds came to the edge of the nest with beaks ladened with moths,
spiders, and caterpillars. While the eager nestlings were pleading
for food, they flew away to the fledgling in the tree and fed it.
They continued to bring this little fellow food until the young bird
refused to open its beak. At this early hour the parents seemed
intent on tolling the young from the nest. Probably my presence
so near the nest and in full view, made some difference in their plans.
At least, they made no further efforts to tantalize the young with
food while I was there.

Just at this stage one of the parent birds did a peculiar thing.
She plunged head downward, or burrowed would be better, under
the nest full of birds and lifted them all on her back. Before leav-

JOURNAL OF MAINK ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 31

ing the nest, the bird came up on the other side of the young and
remained for a few minutes facing in the same direction as the nest
lings, then flew directly from the nest. After the nest was vacated,
I found that the lining and soft wood beneath was full of large grubs.
I think that the bird was removing these from the nest, as the young
Titmice were very restless before the old bird cleansed the nest, but
afterward settled down for a nap.

That evening the most precocious nestling was still in the tree
above the stump. As it was cold and damp and the bird within
arm's reach, I attempted to return it to the nest. Twice it escaped
from me with a hiss. The third time I succeeded in bringing it to
the nest-side. It immediately turned as if in disgust, and, seemingly
choosing the lesser of two evils, hopped to my finger. Its claws
were so sharp it was painful to have the mite grasp my finger so
firmly. I put it in the nest again, but it scrambled like a flash up
the piece of loose bark into a dead tree. After resting and feeding
twice, it ran up an almost branchless trunk, flew to another naked
trunk and ran up that to the thick branches above. When it es-
caped from me the second time, it flew easily from twelve to fifteen
feet.

The morning of June 30, the rain fell in sheets, but I put on
overshoes, and, taking an umbrella, hurried to the woods. The nest
was empty but dry. The young birds were chirping in the treetops,
and the old birds were feeding them. I regretted that they had
such a wet day on which to celebrate their fifteenth birthday, but
they seemed strong, happy and hungry.

I turned over the lining of the nest. It was three inches deep
and contained plant down, rabbit's hair and moss. It was literally
permeated with grubs one-half inch long by one-eighth to one-fourth
of an inch in diameter. The odor of the nest this damp morning
was most offensive. I have found this to be true of five other nests
I have examined. The gray birch stump was excavated to the
depth of twelve inches. The stump was three inches in diameter.
A vertical section of the nest would represent a hollow cylinder with
rounded base. (Fig. 1.)

32

JOURNAL OF MAINK ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

?bs- — ^* **"?:;

I i The poplar stump, the abode of the second

family of Chickadees, was excavated to about the
depth of ten inches. The lining consisted of fern
down, fern moss, and hairlike fibres of cedar bark.
The mouth of the nest measured one by one and one-
half inches. The stump was two and three-eighths
inches in diameter. It looked as
if it were excavated to the bark at
the bottom. The bark was not
more than one-eighth of an inch
thick. A vertical section of this
nest was not unlike that of a pouch
drawn in at the top. (Fig. 2.)
In the first nest the wood was so
badly decayed I think it was im-
possible to remove any without
removing all. In the second the
wood was comparatively firm.
The nest reminded me of a Woodpecker's, as I
have said before, except that in all Woodpecker's
nests I have found the entrance has been on the
side, the tree trunk forming the roof. The en-
trance to the Chickadee's abode was in the roof.
It was also smaller than a Woodpecker's nest.

^ Fig. 2.

Fig. 1.

±^J

Fifteenth Annual Meeting.

The fifteenth annual meeting of the Maine Ornithological Soci-
ety convened at Portland, Nov. 25, 1910, in the lecture room of the
Portland Society of Natural History.

Vice-President, J. M. Swain, called the meeting to order.

Mr. Arthur Norton read a letter of greeting from the President,
Dr. H. H. Brock, who was unable to be present on account of
illness.

Chickadee's Nest in Poplar Stump.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 33

The reports of the Secretary and of the editor were presented
and accepted.

The following committees were appointed :

Auditing Committee: — Dr. A. L. Chase, Miss Helen Lewis
and Miss Sara Eastman.

Resolutions: — Mr. D. W. Sweet and Miss Sara Eastman.

Nominations: — Mr. A. H. Norton, Mr. I). W. Sweet and
Mr. Hiram Ellis.

Mr. Norton gave a report of progress on the Journal index.

The future policy of the Journal was taken up for considera-
tion, and remarks were made by Mr. Norton, Mr. Ellis, Mr. Sweet,
Mr. Swain, Miss Eastman, Miss Lewis and Mr. Rich.

On motion of Mr. Norton, voted that this matter lay upon the
table until to-morrow.

Mr. Swain brought before the Society the need of better bird
protection, and this matter was discussed by several of the members.

On motion of Mr. Sweet, voted that a committee be appointed
to consider changes in bird laws, with a view to bringing the need
of same to the attention of the Legislature at its next session.

The following committee was appointed :

A. H. Norton, Walter Rich and Silas Adams.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

The afternoon session was devoted to the reading of the follow-
ing papers and the exhibition of lantern slides :

"Two Chickadee's Nests," by Cordelia Stanwood, was read b}'
D. W. Sweet in the absence of Miss Stanwood.1

"An Observation of the Development of the Social Instinct of
the Cedar Waxwing," by Miss Caroline Stevens.2

Mrs. Sarah Abbott gave a talk on "Additional Observations on
Robins and Hermit Thrushes," illustrated by lantern slides.

^fhis Journal, XIII, p. 25.
2Ihid, XIII, pp. 9-11.

34 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Arthur Norton gave a talk on "Harlequin Ducks," illus-
trated by lantern slides. This was followed by many other slides of
special interest. Mr. Norton also gave a talk on bird banding.

The following interesting specimens were placed on exhibition
by Mr. Norton :

Turkey Buzzard, taken at Cape Elizabeth, Me.1

Little Gull {Larus minutus), taken at Pine Point, Me.2

FRIDAY EVENING.
The evening session was occupied by a talk on "Birds of Maine
and Their Nests," by Mr. Arthur Norton, and was illustrated by
about ninety lantern slides.

SATURDAY FORENOON.

Vice-President, J. M. Swain, called the meeting to order at
10.00 A. M.

The minutes were read and approved.

The Secretary read the following list of names of members who
had been admitted since the last annual meeting:

Harry Hathaway, Providence, R. I.; Harry Oberholser, Wash-
ington, D. C. ; Earle Knapp, Farmington, Me.

On recommendation of Mabel Daveis, May Baker, Bingham, Me.

On recommendation of Cordelia Stanwood, Annie Stockbridge,
Ellsworth, Me.

On recommendation of Bertha Brown. Madeleine Giddings,
Bangor, Me.

On recommendation of Dr. O. W. Knight, Arthur M. Winslow,
Worcester, Mass., and Cyrus Winch, Bangor, Me.

On recommendation of J. M. Swain, Miriam E. Brackett,
Phillips, Me.

Miss Elizabeth Russell presented the name of Miss Martitia M.

JAuk, XXVII, pp. 447, 450.
-Ibid, XXVIII, pp. 263, 264.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 35

Moore, of Gardiner, Me. The Secretary was authorized to cast

the ballot for the Society, and she was declared elected.

The Auditing Committee reported all accounts correct.

The Committee on Resolutions reported as follows :

Resolved^ That the Maine Ornithological Society extend its

thanks to the Portland Society of Natural History for the use of its

rooms for our annual meeting.

D. W. Sweet,

Sara Eastman.

The Committee on Nominations reported, and officers for 191 1
were elected as follows :

President: — J. Merton Swain.

Vice-President: — Dr. W. C. Kendall.

Secretary and Treasurer: — D. W. Sweet.

Councillors: — J. F. Fanning, Dr. A. L,. Chase.

Voted, that the council be empowered to fill any vacancies in
the offices.

The future policy of the Journal was taken from the table and
further discussed.

Mr. J. H. Emerton, Secretary of the New England Federation
of Natural History Societies, gave a talk on "Robins' and Phcebes'
Nests."

The meeting was then adjourned.

Dana W. Sweet, Secretary.

Henry A. Purdie.

Henry A. Purdie, one of the founders of the American Orni-
thologist's Union, a man prominently identified with the history of
New England ornithology, died in Boston, March 29, 191 1, in the
seventy-first year of his age.

Though for a number of years Mr. Purdie has done no literary
work in ornithology, he has always kept abreast of the times in this

36 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

field. While never a voluminous writer, he has contributed very
materially to the correction and addition of records of New England
birds, their distribution, and their habits. This is nowhere better
shown than in the pages of the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithologi-
cal Club, and The New England Bird Life, by Stearnes and Coues.

His principal published contributions to the ornithology of
Maine are as follows :

1876. Correction of the record of the Arkansas Kingbird, taken
at Eliot, Me.1 This appeared in his review of Dr. T. M. Brewer's
Catalogue of New England Birds.

1876. "The Nest and Eggs of Traill's Flycatcher as Observed
in Maine."2

187S. "The Nest and Eggs of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher"3
[at Houlton, Me.].

1879. "The Loggerhead Shrike Breeding in Maine."4

1879. "MacFarlane's Gerfalcon in Maine."5

1880. "The Purple Gallinule in New England"6 [at Boothbay,
Me.].

1882. "Pelidna subarquata [Curlew Sandpiper] on the Maine
Coast."7

These writings show that he was one of the early ornithological
visitors to the Umbagog and Houlton regions. He was probably
the first to point out in print what he designated (and we do not
remember finding any other name) as the St. Lawrence Maine Cen-
tral water route8 [of migration].

He was a man of a peculiarly amiable disposition, and his friend-
ship was cherished by all who came to know him.

aBu]l. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, p. 73.
2Ibid, I, pp. 75, 76.
•ibfcl, III, pp. 166, 168.

4Forest and Stream, April 3, and May 8, 1879. Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, If,
pp. 186, 187.

5Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, IV, pp. 188, 189.
6Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, V, p. 242.
7Ibid, VII, p. 124.
Win. Nat., Ill, 1S79, p. 331.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 37

Mark Young.

Captain Mark Young, a Maine warden of the Audubon Socie-
ties, died at Matinicus, April 3, 191 1, at the age of seventy-four
years and five months. Captain Young was appointed in 1900 as
one of the first wardens in Maine, and continued his service to the
time of his death. His colony of Herring Gulls, numbering up-
wards of ten thousand, with which several other birds were asso-
ciated, is one of the largest, most important and interesting bird colo-
nies in the State. While a man of ripened years at the time of his
appointment, he entered into the spirit of protecting these birds with
the zeal and enthusiasm of a boy. He was a man of sterling quali-
ties. Besides those of his own community, all who have enjoyed
the good fortune of a visit to the remarkable colony of birds under
his guidance will mourn his death.

38 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

®ljr 5mmtal

of %

iHaiur (§rmtl)olngtral §wt?tij

A Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds

Vol. XIII Published June, 1911 No. 2

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $1.00 a year; 25 cents a copy

The Maine Ornithological Society comprises in its membership the leading
ornithologists and bird students of Maine. The membership is constantly in-
creasing and the interest in the Society was never greater than now. If you are
interested in birds and wish to know more about them you should by all means
send in jour name for membership in this Society. The dues are one dollar a
year, and payment of this sum entitles each person elected to membership to the
Journal free of charge. Application for membership should be made to the
Secretary, Mr. Dana VV. Sweet, Phillips, Maine. Mr. Sweet is also the Treas-
urer and the annual dues should be paid to him. All persons, both young and
old, are eligible to membership. It is not necessary for one to be versed in bird
lore in order to insure his election to this Society. The larger the membership
the more can be done in the way of improving the Journal and increasing its
size. Send in your name without further delay. The Society will be glad to
welcome you to its meetings, which are held once a year in different cities.

The index to volumes I to XII inclusive of the Journal is
being put in shape for printing. The index is calculated to show
every specific name, scientific, common and local, every author and
title occurring in the first twelve volumes of the Journal, with
reference to every page where they occur. The index will make
about twenty-five printed pages of a size unifom with the Journal
of to-day, suitable for binding with it. The time of printing this
will be governed to some extent by the demand. Advance orders
are solicited on the basis of 50 cents per copy. These should be
sent to Journal, Maine Ornithological Society, 22 Elm street,
Portland, Maine.

During the recent session of the Maine Legislature, the follow-
ing measures relating to birds were passed :

An act creating a close time on Rider Ducks, from February
first to October first, with the bag and sale restrictions of the gen-

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 39

eral law relating to Ducks. The close time for Snipe, Sandpipers,
Plover and Shorebirds was made to commence on the first day of
December, instead of the first of May. Kingfishers, Herons and
Loons were restored to the list of protected birds, with the provision
that the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries and Game have authority
to destroy such of these birds as are found about fish hatcheries and
feeding stations. The bag limit for Ruffed Grouse was reduced to
five birds in one day, and the limit for Woodcock to ten in one day.

As an act, supplementing that, which prohibits the sale of birds
and game in the State, the purchase and sale of the various game
birds was made illegal. Also the sale by State officials, of game
seized, which had been illegally killed or transported, was forbidden,
the same to be given to the hospitals or other charitable institutions
and a receipt taken for the same by the officials.

Maine also joined the ranks of the other New England States,
New York and New Jersey, in protecting Wood Duck perpetually for
a term, of four years. All of Maine, except Oxford county ! Cer-
tainly, the gentleman of the most noted Oxford county town, that
town which has furnished the country some leading men, is to be
congratulated for distinguishing his county as the only spot in New
England where Wood Ducks, universally regarded as approaching
extinction, can be shot during the next four years !

The annual meeting of the New England Federation of Natural
History Societies was held in Boston, April 21-22, 191 1. An
exhibition of specimens had been arranged and was successfully car-
ried out. Two of the exhibits, birds in boxes for loan purposes, and
bird skins in transparent celluloid tubes, for a similar purpose, were
of especial interest to readers of the Journal. Reports of the meet-
ing can be obtained of Mr. James H. Emerton, Secretary, 194
Clarendon street, Boston, Mass.

Correspondents of the Journal will please note that they should
address Journal, 22 Elm street, Portland, Maine. The former
editor, Mr. Eegge, has moved out of the State, and is put to some
inconvenience to remail numerous communications sent to him.

4-0 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Recent Publications.

Report of the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries and
Game of the State of Maine for the Year 1910.

A pamphlet of one hundred and two pages, dealing with every
aspect of the work of the commissioners, devotes nearly four pages
to the Hungarian Partridge, and a colored plate of the same bird,
showing four individuals. There is also a colored plate of the
Mallard, together with the account of the same bird, the latter bor-
rowed from Knight's "Birds of Maine". Nine pages are devoted to
decisions of the Attorney-General pertaining to inland fish and game
laws. Part of these decisions relate to birds.

191 1. Heismann, Martin. How to Attract and Pro-
tect Wild Birds. Translated by Emma Buchheim, with an
introduction by Her Grace, the Duchess of Bedford. Second
edition, with many revisions and many illustrations. London,
Witherby and Co.1

This is a volume of one hundred pages octavo, profusely
illustrated by wood cuts, presenting what may be termed the
intensive methods of attracting wild birds at all seasons, employed
by Baron von Berlepsch, based upon a systematic study of the sub-
ject, conducted at his experimental station of about five thousand
acres, at Seebach, district of Langensalza in Thuringia, Prussia.

The chapters and their sections discuss The Present Position in
Regard to Protection, Reasons for Protecting Birds, History of Bird
Protection, The Experimental Station at Seebach, The Creation
and Maintenance of Nesting Places, Feeding Birds in the Winter,
Suppression of their Enemies, The Necessity for Co-operation, and
Calendar for Attracting and Protecting Birds.

Among other things, a good supply of water is mentioned as of
primary importance. The illustrations make plain what is said of
nesting places, and the numerous feeding devices. This forms an
excellent supplementary companion to Trafton's "Methods of Attract-
ing Birds".2

distributed by the National Association of Audubon Societies, New York.
2This Journal, XII, p. 75.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 41

191 1. Beal, F. E. Iy. Food of the Woodpeckers of the
United States. Bull. 37, U. S. Biological Survey.

Sixty-four pages are devoted to this subject, giving summaries
of the actual result of the material collected by the Biological Survey.
This material amounts to 3,453 stomachs, representing sixteen spe-
cies, and nearly twice as many sub-species of Woodpeckers taken in
all parts of the United States and a few from Canada.

Of the eastern Woodpeckers, the Hairy, Downy, Three-toed and
Pileated Woodpeckers are found to be positively beneficial and the
same is true of the Flicker. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is re-
garded as injurious.

The paper is illustrated by six colored plates showing seven
species of the birds treated, and three text figures.

1911. Rea.PaulM. A Directory of American Museums.
Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci., X:i.

A work of three hundred and sixty pages, presenting the mu-
seums of science, arts, history, and the zoological parks of the
United States, Canada, Bermuda, Mexico, Central and South
America, arranged alphabetically according to states and provinces.
The museums are arranged alphabeticaily according to cities or
towns. To each where the facts could be obtained is devoted a
description of building, administration, departments, number of
specimens in each department, historical sketch, financial support,
scope of work, number of types and figured specimens and collection
of especial interest or importance, also size and nature of library, if
any, and publications issued.

Fourteen museums are reported for Maine (this number is too
small), distributed at Augusta, Brunswick, Eliot, Hinckley, North
Bridgton, Orono, Orr's Island, Paris, Poland Springs, Portland,
Saco and Waterville.

By the aid of this work we are enabled to ascertain the strong
quality of any particular collection, the activity of any particular
institution, its location and usefulness to the public. The work is
of value to the investigator, the historian and the tourist.

42 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

1911. Mearns, Edgar A. Description of Fifteen New
African Birds. Smithsonian Miscell. Coll., 56:20.

This "fourteenth paper dealing with the results of Smithsonian
African Expedition, under the direction of Col. Theodore Roosevelt,"
presents but one new species, a Froncalin, Francolinus griscescens.
Fourteen sub-species are also described as new.

SERIALS.
Bryologist, The, XIII, Nos. 5, 6; XIV, Nos. 1, 2.
Cassinia, XIV.
Condor, XIII, Nos. 1, 2, 3.
Guide to Nature, III, Nos. 9, 10, n.
Jacob's Gleanings, second supplement to No. 5.
Ontario Natural Science Bulletin, No. 6, 1910.
Nature and Culture, II, Nos. 1, 3, 6.
Sketch Book, The, I, No. 9; II, No. 1.
Wilson Bulletin, XXII, Nos. 3-4: XXIII, No. 1.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 43

Notes and observations upon bird life within our State are earnestly desired for publication in this
column from all our readers, and should be sent to The Journal, 22 Elm Street, Portland, Maine.

Early Winter Yellowlegs (Correction).— Through an
editorial slip, the note on this bird by Mr. Walker, on page 22 of the
last Journal, was cited Totanus fiavipcs instead of T. melanoleucus . —
A. H. Norton.

The Yellow Palm Warbler Near Ellsworth. — Every
spring I look for the Yellow Palm Warbler on High Street in the
willows above the river. This year (1910), such a cursory glimpse
of them was not satisfactory. Donning heavy rubber boots, I fol-
lowed them to a swamp three miles away. Here I found them evenly
distributed and in song May 18. Last year they were common in
this same locality on Aug. 11. Undoubtedly they nest here, but I
was unable to find time to determine the fact this season. — Cordelia
J ' . Stanwood.

Spring Birds at Damascus, Maine. — Fifteen miles west of
Bangor, on the M. C. R. R., in the town of Carmel, lies the village
of Damascus. It is well divided into upland and lowland, and be-
tween the hills on each side the Souadabscook stream runs in an
easterly course directly through the village. There are numerous
old fields and partially grown up pastures, together with small open
pieces of woods, all combining to make a good field for one inter-
ested in bird study. It is the home of my boyhood, and about as
many of my vacation days are spent there (I think more real ones)
as in all other places of resort put together. I chanced to be there
on April 16th, 191 1, stopping with friends. At that time the snow
was not all gone. There were patches here and there in shaded
places, along the fences, and enough left in the woods to render
walking unpleasant. Many of the birds had arrived, and it occurred
to me to take a stroll over some of the places so near and dear to me
on account of early associations, and report the result of my observa-
tions to the Ornithological Journal. The following birds were

44 JOURNAL OF MAINB ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

seen: Song Sparrows, 32, Robins, 18, Rusty Crackles, 12, Bronzed
Grackles, 2, Juncos, 2, Bluebirds, 3, also what appeared to be a
pair of Wood Ducks, at a distance too great to make identity cer-
tain. The interest in these noble birds is now of such importance
to us that I made a second visit to the same locality two weeks later
for further investigation, when another pair of Ducks, still too far
off, was seen, but nearer, enough so to make me feel reasonably sure
of my birds. I shall endeavor to make another visit to the same
waters, and to try and find them nesting, and should I be so fortu-
nate will report the find in a later issue. The above observation does
not include the usual numbers of Crows. According to my best
judgment, based upon what little attention I have been able to give
the matter, and by talking with others, I should say that the birds
seemed to arrive later than usual this spring, say from one to two
weeks, but there are more than the usual numbers of almost all
kinds. — A. L. Chase, Bangor, Maine.

James Wood Brackett.

By courtesy of Maine Woods.

®ljj> Journal
Mmm 0§nttll|ologtral i>ori?ttf.

Published by the Society on the first of March, June, September and December

Vol. XIII SEPTEMBER, 1911 No. 3

James Wood Brackett.

Hon. James W. Brackett, chairman of the State Commission
of Inland Fisheries and Game, died at his home in Phillips, on the
morning of June 24th, of heart failure, as a consequence of acci-
dental poisoning by aconite.

Mr. Brackett, the son of Nathan Cook and Louisa Wood Brack-
ett, was born in Phillips, Maine, June 30, 1867. A part of his youth
was spent at Phillips, and part at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia,
where his father had moved. Owing to trouble with his eyes, he
was obliged to abandon the college course which had been planned
for him. Both at Phillips and at Harper's Ferry he became a leader
in various diversions, including horsemanship and athletics.

In the early eighties, while very young, he became owner of
the Phillips Phonograph. In this paper he gave an increasing
amount of space to matters pertaining to fish and game, and the
paper, which finally went forth under the name of the Maine Woods,
came to devote fully half of its space to these interests, and became
a recognized medium of publication by sportsmen and fishermen.

46 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Iii 1904, Mr. Brackett was appointed a member of the Commis-
sion of Inland Fisheries and Game by Governor William T. Cobb,
and on the 21st of June, 1910, he was appointed chairman by Gov-
ernor Bert M. Fernald. He thus became the third chairman of the
Commission as reorganized in 1895. He entered upon the duties of
this office July 1, 1910, so his term of service, brought to so untimely
an end, hardly compassed a year. It is fair to remember that this
was a year during which his political party was in retirement, yet
he worked in harmony with the administration, and handed down
to history a most creditable showing for the period.

If we may judge from a short acquaintance, Mr. Brackett was
a man of sanguine temperament, with faith that the good in the
human race is in the ascendency. With this faith, his motto seemed
to be, "The majority should rule, and it is the duty of those who
serve to learn the will of the majority." Certain it is, that the col-
umns of his paper were not only open to, but invited, full discussion
of all matters of interest relating to fish and game. To everyone
who sought his office he gave a respectful audience. Yet he was a
man of spirit and determination in matters he believed to be right.
His death brings to a close a most promising administration of this
office, in which ornithologists feel so keen an interest.

He leaves a widow, Mrs. Lucy Bean Brackett, a son, James
Scott Brackett, and a daughter, Miss Miriam Edna Brackett.

Notes on the Canada Warbler.

CORDELIA J. STANWOOD.

The spring of 1910 I varied my bird beat somewhat, and visited
wilder woodlands and more inaccessible swamps. To my delight I
came upon the haunts of new birds — the Canada Warbler, Winter
Wren, Veery, American Bittern, Green Black-capped Warbler, Yel-
low Palm Warbler, Black-throated Blue and Parula Warblers.

The Canada Warbler was very common over a wide extent of
territory. In fact, I found it common in three distinct swamps and

JOURNAL OK MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 47

the woods adjoining. I was quite surprised to hear it sing in a
swamp beside the Beechland schoolhouse. About two acres of alder
swamp and open mixed growth surround the schoolhouse. The
children play in these woods, and vehicles constantly traverse the
street that borders the swamp. In all other cases the birds seemed
to avoid civilization.

June 20, when walking carefully on the side of the lot farthest
from the swamp, I heard something like a mouse or a large moth
moving over the dry leaves under some young firs, booking sharply,
I caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a greenish-yellow, young
bird — so young that its legs could not support it — flying over the
leaves by the aid of its spread wings and tail. I concluded it was
one of the common Nashville Warblers and was tempted to give it
no further thought. Something impelled me to look more carefully.
I hastened around the firs to intercept the weak, inexperienced little
bird, and was really startled to find no trace of any bird anywhere
around. In the trees a short distance away were two fine specimens
of the Canada Warbler, but they were feeding leisurely and appar-
ently unaware of my presence. Utterly nonplussed, I went back as
nearly as possible to the point where I heard the sound and went
over the ground cautiously on my hands and knees. I saw no nest.
The ground was bare, the growth open. An examination of the
roots of the trees revealed nothing. It seemed impossible for a bird
to conceal a nest in this spot. Puzzled, I sat down some distance
away and watched. Before long the female Canada Warbler came
and caught insects from various perches near where I first noticed
the bird. At this time I could see the bird was watching me quite
as closely as the insects on which she feasted. I moved again, con-
cealing myself as nearly as could be behind a stump. After ten or
fifteen minutes the bird zig-zagged from the higher branches to the
lower and was lost on the ground. Waiting a few instants for the
bird to get well settled, I returned to the 'spot where the bird was
lost to view and flushed her from the nest. She flew silently from
the nest, then rustled away over the leaves as before. I had over-
looked a rare bird's nest in spite of all my care. The nest was rather

48 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL .SOCIETY.

large and contained four white eggs. The rufous spots were col-
lected either in a ring around the larger end or on the crown. One
egg was almost spotless on the sides. The bird called "cheh" once.

The following morning the female was again incubating. I did
not disturb her.

The third day she was still incubating. She left the nest after
I had lingered for some time. At first she trusted to her coloration,
but when she knew that I saw her, she left the nest in the same
manner as before.

On the fourth day the eggs were gone.

The outside of the nest was composed of dead poplar leaves,
with the addition of a few dwarf cornel leaves, and the inner bark
fibre of such young, dead trees as poplar, soft maple, and willow, a
few white pine needles, a few decayed fern stipes, and several skele-
tonized leaves. The lining consisted of more minute threads of the
inner bark fibre, and a few black horsehairs. Aside from the large,
dry leaves on the outside, the material was fine. It must have taken
a great deal of time to gather it. The nest was deeply cupped and
the interior well shaped. It was placed between a moss-covered
stump and the roots of a gray birch. When the gray bird was sit-
ting, the nest was quite indistinguishable. The fact that the cavity
was natural may have tended to make the nest less conspicuous.

The Canada Warbler has a tendency to keep low down in a
thicket, where from a perch on a dead branch it has perfect freedom
to catch insects on the wing. Frequently, however, it feeds in the
treetops.

The tone quality of its song suggests that of the Winter Wren.
It is liquid, bubbling, sparkling, clear, and irresistible. To me it is
one of the most beautiful of Warbler songs.

These are some of the Canada Warbler's songs as they sound
to me.

"Tit, tit, who is it?"
"Co, chit-u-it, chit-u-it."
"Chee, chit-u-it, chit-u-it."
"Chee, chit-u-it, wee, chit-u."

JOURNAL OP MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 49

"Chee, chee, swee, chee, chee."

"Chit, chit-u-ee, chit-u-ee."

"Chet-eh-wee, chet-eh-wee, tee."

' ' Wee-chet-te-wee, wee-cheh-te. ' '

"Chee, chee, wee, wee, chee."

"Chee, chee, wee, chee, wee, wee."
This Warbler sings all day long. I have had him follow me
about for a half day, singing all the time. Often he seems to sing
in answer to other birds. I have heard him sing in response to the
Redstart, the Black-throated Green, and the Magnolia. Sometimes
he varies his song so much and seems to sing so pointedly in response
to other bird songs that he has the appearance, at least, of engaging
in a conversation.

The Canada Warbler was in full song this season from June 1
to July 12.

The call notes are " 'tchip", "'tcheep", and "chuck".

5<D JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL .SOCIETY.

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54 JOURNAL OF MAINI-; ORNITHOLOGICAL .SOCIETY.

®ljr Jmtrual
HHatitf (intttltnlngtral Swtrty

A Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds

Vol. XIII Published September, 1911 No. 3

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: SI. 00 a year; 25 cents a copy

The Maine Ornithological Society comprises in its membership the leading
ornithologists and bird students of Maine. The membership is constantly in-
creasing and the interest in the Society was never greater than now. If you are
interested in birds and wish to know more about them you should by all means
send in your name for membership in this Society. The dues are one dollar a
year, and payment of this sum entitles each person elected to membership to the
Journal free of charge. Application for membership should be made to the
Secretary, Mr. Dana W. Sweet, Phillips, Maine. Mr. Sweet is also the Treas-
urer and the annual dues should be paid to him. All persons, both young and
old, are eligible to membership. It is not necessary for one to be versed in bird
lore in order to insure his election to this Society. The larger the membership
the more can be done in the way of improving the Journal and increasing its
size. Send in your name without further delay. The Society will be glad to
welcome you to its meetings, which are held once a year in different cities.

The sixteenth annual meeting of the Maine Ornithological Soci-
ety will be held November 24th and 25th, with afternoon and even-
ing sessions on the 24th, and probably a forenoon session on the 25th.
The annual meeting is a most suitable occasion for the members of
the Society to present some of their season's results. Even when
not able to be present, these contributions show an interest that is
of great importance to those who can attend, and who, in the past,
have been active in the preservation of the organization. The pro-
gramme and place of meeting will be duly announced by the Secre-
tary.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 55

The week of Jul}' 8th to 15th, Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, Secretary
of the National Association of Audubon Societies, was in Maine,
making a tour of inspection of the colonies of birds which the Asso-
ciation has been guarding by wardens. Mr. Pearson was accompan-
ied by Mr. Arthur H. Norton, of Portland. With a week of excellent
weather, the trip was pushed without interruption, and all of the
important colonies were visited. In general, the condition of the
colonies was found to be excellent. Mr. Pearson's report, together
with his impressions of Maine bird life, which will appear in the
annual report of the Audubon Society in Bird-Lore for November-
December, will be of much interest to all, and especially to New
England readers.

The autumn meeting of the New England Federation of Nat-
ural History Societies will be held at Lawrence, Mass. (R. R.
station, North Lawrence), Friday and Saturday, September 29 and
30, in connection with the societies of Lawrence and Andover. A
Natural History exhibition, to which all persons interested are
invited to contribute, will be open all day Friday and until noon on
Saturday, at the vestry of the Unitarian Church, corner of Jackson
and Haverhill Streets. The collections of the Lawrence Natural
History Society will also be open to visitors at their rooms in the
Central Building.

Friday evening at 8 o'clock there will be a public meeting of
the Federation at which the natural history of the water and sewage
of Lawrence and Andover will be discussed.

Saturday afternoon the meeting will be in Andover. Visits
will be made to the "Indian Ridge," a gravel hill near the town,
and to the Archaeological Museum of Phillips Academy.

Circulars are to be had of J. H. Emerton, Secretary, 194 Clar-
endon St., Boston.

56 JOURNAL OK MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Recent Publications.

191 1. Nelson, E. W. Description of a New Genus
and Species of Hummingbird from Panama. Smithsonian
Miscell. Collections, 56: No. 21, pp. 2.

This new Hummingbird, from the dwarfed forests of the moun-
tain, Cerro Azul, Panama, is named Goldmania violiceps. It is known
only from 2,500 to 3,000 feet altitude.

191 1. Year Book United States Department of Agri-
culture, 1910.

191 1. Cooke, Wells W. The Migratory Movements
of Birds in Relation to the Weather. Year Book U. S.
Dept. Agriculture, 1910, pp. 379, 390, and a map.

In this paper Mr. Cooke says, by way of conclusion: "The fore-
going facts show conclusively that the weather conditions are not
the cause of the migration of birds, but that the weather, by influ-
encing the food supply, is the chief factor which determines the
average date of arrival at the breeding grounds. Migration is under-
taken in response to physiological changes in birds, and the date of
starting, in the case of most species, bears no relation whatever to
the local weather conditions in the winter home. The weather
encountered en route influences migrations in a subordinate way.
. Spring migration usually occurs with a rising temperature,
and the movements of autumn with a falling temperature. In each
case the change seems to be a more potent factor than the absolute
degree of cold. . . . Each species, and each group of individ-
uals of a species, is a law unto itself."

191 1. McAtee, W. L,. Our Grosbeaks and Their Value
to Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletin No. 450, U. S. Dept. Agri-
culture, pp. 14, and three cuts.

Treats of the food habits of Rose-breasted, Cardinal, Black-
headed, Blue and Gray Grosbeaks, means of preventing damage to
crops by Grosbeaks, and how to attract and protect Grosbeaks.

In conclusion we are told, "The services of Grosbeaks in

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 57

destroying insect pests are invaluable. Each kind pays special at-
tention to certain pests, which if unchecked would cause enormous
losses. Few of our birds are to be credited with more good and
with fewer evil deeds."

1911. McAtee, W. L,. Our Vanishing Shorebirds. Cir-
cular No. 79, U. S. Biological Survey, 9 pages, with three full-
page figures.

In the summary of this brief paper Mr. McAtee says: "Shore-
birds have been hunted until only a remnant of their once vast num-
bers are left. Their limited powers of reproduction, coupled with
the natural vicissitudes of their breeding period, make their increase
slow, and peculiarly expose them to danger of extermination.

191 1. Oldys, Henry. The Game Market of To-day.
From Year Book U. S. Dept. Agriculture, pp. 11, with six maps.

191 1. Oldys, Henry, Brewster, C. E., and Earnshaw,
Frank h. Open Seasons for Game in the United States
and Canada, 1911. Poster No. 24, U. S. Biological Survey.

1911. Oldys, Henry, Brewster, C. E., and Earnshaw,
Frank L,. Game L,Awrs for 191 i. Farmers' Bulletin No. 470,
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, pp. 52, with two maps.

191 1. Palmer, T. S. Directory of Officials and Or-
ganizations Concerned with the Protection of Birds
and Game, 191 1. Circular No. 83, U. S. Biological Survey,
pp. 16.

1911. Palmer, T. S., and Oldys, Henry. Progress of
Game Protection in 1910. Circular No. 80, IT. S. Biological
Survey, pp. 36.

SERIADS.
Bryologist, XIV, No. 4.
Condor, XIII, No. 4.
Maine Woods, weekly, July and August.
Wilson Bulletin, XXIII, No. 2.

58 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

l&xrb Nnfra.

Notes and observations upon bird life within our State are earnestly desired for publication in this
column from all our readers, and should be sent to The Journal, 22 Elm Street, Portland, Maine.

Some Observations near Isle au Haut. — I have just
returned from a trip in Jericho Bay, with headquarters at Isle au
Haut, and thought the Journal readers might be glad to hear
about the birds in that section. I was accompanied by Mr. F. M.
David. Of the Eiders we saw a dozen nests with eggs or young.
The Gulls are in large numbers on Little Spoon Island. There are
numbers of Terns on both of the Spoon Islands and many Petrels
on Big Spoon. There are also Gulls on both of the Horse Ledges,
and Shags on the Black Horse. We saw a number of Ravens, and
in a nest on Big Spoon Island, from which the young had long since
departed, we found an infertile egg. We also saw a pair of Shel-
drakes and a pair of Old Squaws about the Spoon Islands.—/. Mcr-
ton Swain, Farming ton ^ Me.

Horned Larks near Hinckley. — The morning of July
26th, while driving to Hinckley to take the train, I saw a flock of
about twenty-five Horned Larks on the sandy plains east of the
Kennebec River. Although not able to identify the birds subspecif-
ically they were doubtless Prairie Horned Larks. — O. W. Knight.

The Natal Down of Chipping Sparrows. — Until this
summer (1910), I had never happened to see Chipping Sparrows
just out of the shell. The nest was very familiar to me, but I had
heretofore either found nests too high up to be observed easily or
they already held young when discovered. This season a structure
on the level with my eyes contained four eggs when I came upon it.
I visited the nest each morning and timed one observation trip so
that I saw three young that were just hatched. The nestlings were
so strong that they raised their heads for food and kept them in that
posture for a length of time. What astonished me most was the fact
that the young were nearly as well covered with burnt umber natal
down as the woolly bear caterpillar is with hairs. The four active,

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 59

thickly coated birds in the tiny nest made an interesting picture.
They grow so rapidly that the thick coat of down is not conspicuous
after the first few days. I presume the thick natal down on newly
hatched birds and the unusual strength indicate great vigor in the
Chipping Sparrow. — Cordelia J . Stanwood, Ellsworth, Me.

Why Woodpeckers and Chickadees are Prone to Use
Cedar and Poplar Trunks as Nesting Sites. — The "knot"
in resinous trees remains sound much longer than the trunk. From
this fact has arisen the old saying, "as tough as a pine knot".
There are no "knots" in cedar and poplar trees, merely knot holes.
These knot holes have suggested to birds from time immemorial
good nesting sites. Two sets of Chickadees this year (1910) began
excavating dead fir stumps. Soon such a deadly array of spear
points bristled at them down the sides of the cavity that they gave
up work on those stumps in despair. — Cordelia J. Stamvood, Ells-
worth, Me.

Late Nesting Hermit Thrush. — The following observation
on the eggs and young of the Hermit Thrush, owing to the late-
ness of date, I thought might be of special interest. The nest and
three eggs were discovered about July 15th, under a small witch-
hazel bush near the edge of the woods, about twenty-five feet from
my camp at East Pond, Oakland. They were not approached again
until July 22nd, when the young had hatched. The nest was not
approached again till Saturday, July 29th, after the heavy storm.
All three young birds were found dead on the ground about a foot
from the nest, and each one appeared to have been pecked or eaten
either in the head or the side of the breast. This, however, may have
been done by some worm or beetle. They had not been dead more
than a few hours. I wonder if the old bird would desert them, or if
the drenching, driving rain would have killed them under her wings.
This is the second family of Hermit Thrushes hatched on our
grounds this year. The other was about one week earlier in hatch-
ing.— C/ias. M. Lamprey, Oakland, Me.

6o JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Notes on Leach's Petrel and Other Birds. — I took my
vacation this year off the coast of Maine and visited the islands
known as Wooden Ball and Seal Island, off Rockland, Maine.
You may remember the short article in Bird-Lore which I wrote last
year, after visiting the first of the above-named islands, and in which
I described how the cats owned by the fishermen were killing all the
Leach's Petrels on the island, by catching them on their nests and
bringing the old birds to the door of the cabin to eat, and how the
ground before the cabin was black with the carcasses of the Petrels.
I believed then that the dog on the island was digging up the Pet-
rels also, from the destroyed burrows. We could not find au occu-
pied nest at that time, though in the height of the breeding season.
This year the lady on the island said that there were no Petrels on
the island that she knew of, and that she guessed that her cats had
caught them all. On Seal Island there was a considerable colony
of Petrels this year, and we went to see them, followed by one of the
two dogs on the island. We could see the burrows and also the
same dug and broken burrows as seen on Wooden Ball last year.
While we were looking the dog began to dig, and before we realized
what he was about he had the sitting bird and ate her alive, all but
her wings and some feathers. We drove him away and he promptly
started to dig again, but my companion was quick enough to take
from him the second Petrel before he had injured it. While we
were looking at the bird, the dog returned and pulled the young
bird from the burrow with his paw and with a few gulps swallowed
it, feathers and all. We could not stay long on the island, and as
we left I could see the dog still among the Petrel's burrows digging
after more. With the hand of man stayed by restrictive laws, and
the Petrels a supposedly protected colony, it seemed as though some-
thing should be done to stay the destruction wrought by the cats
and dogs on these islands. I found the Gulls on No Man's Land
in a prosperous condition, and also the Terns on Matinicus Rock,
in marked contrast to the Petrel on the aforementioned islands.
I imagine that you are helpless as far as law goes in this case, and I
know that the Petrels are in poor standing with the fishermen,
because of their noise at night and their smell, but still hope that
something might be done with the fishermen whereby their dogs, at
least, might be kept from destroying the nest and birds when away
from the cabins. — Wilbur Smithy South ATorwalk, Conn.

®l)p Journal

nf tljr

Mmxu (^nttttjolonjral §ortrtg

Published by the Society on the first of March, June, September and December
Vol. XIII DECEMBER, 1911 No. 4

Announcement.

With this number the issue of the Journal, as a regular publi-
cation, will be discontinued. This action is taken with the unani-
mous approval of the council and most of the members who have
been active in the Society.

In order to leave our Journal complete, so far as it goes, an
index, already announced, will be extended to cover this volume,
the thirteenth, and will be published as early as possible during the
current year. To provide for the publication of this index, the
annual subscriptions are now requested, and all subscribers forward-
ing the regular charge of one dollar will receive the index as soon
as issued. The same charge will be made to all others who wish a
copy. All subscribers who sent advance payments for the index in
response to an earlier announcement will, of course, receive the
index without further payment.

All members forwarding their assessments, and those failing to
respond will be understood to agree to the plan to discontinue the
Journal.

This is not to be understood as a dissolution of the Society,
which will continue as a social and scientific organization until
otherwise determined.

62 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Winter Breeding of the American Crossbill.

By Clarence H. Clark.

The date in the entry in my journal may make the item of
some interest to the readers of the Journal of the Society.

While a crew of lumbermen were at work about ten miles from
L,ubec, Me., on January 29, 1910, they noticed, to their surprise,
some small birds roll out of a tree which they had just cut down. On
investigation they found a nest and three small birds about three
weeks old, two of which had been killed by the fall. The living one
was brought to me and identified as a Red or American Crossbill.
It died two days afterwards and I had it mounted.

The eggs from which these birds were hatched must have been
laid during the latter part of December.

A Robber Baron.

By Cordelia J. Stanwood.

Walking in a lonely piece of woods I was somewhat startled by
a buzzing sound. A Hairy Woodpecker immediately struck against
one side of a tree, and the maker of the noise, a Humming Bird,
alighted on the other. There the big fellow crouched in abject
terror, while the little fellow jabbed at him, first around one side of
the tree, then around the other side of the tree. This one-sided
battle continued for some time, when the Hairy Woodpecker sought
another tree only to be closely pursued by his tormentor.

Probably the Woodpecker was goaded to his duty b}r necessity
— a nest of young waiting for food but a few yards distant. At any
rate, in spite of the jabs of his persecutor, he began to bore holes
for insects. When he had drilled a hole the Humming Bird
descended upon him and drove him away. I did not see that the
Humming Bird reaped any material benefit from this rough warfare.
After a time he left the Woodpecker to his work, but still lingered
in the neighborhood.

Not long since I saw a Humming Bird pestering two Black-
throated Green Warblers who were feeding young in the trees.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 63

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JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 67

Recent Publications.

191 1. Abbott, Clinton G. The Home Life of the
Osprey. Photographed and described by Clinton G. Abbott, B. A.,
Associate of the American Ornithologists' Union, with some photo-
graphs by Howard H. Cleaves, Associate of the American Ornithol-
ogists' Union. With thirty-two mounted plates. London : With-
erby & Co., 326 High Holborn, W. C. This work may be obtained
at Brentano's, 229 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Price, $2.00.

This is a most interesting and carefully prepared presentation
of the author's studies of the breeding habits of this large semi-social
bird of prey, conducted under the most favorable conditions afforded
in North America if not in the world. The fifty-four quarto pages
of text present a full, though not exhaustive, biography of the
Ospreys from the time of reaching their breeding places, in New
Jersey and Long Island Sound, until the young leave the nest.
The work, as implied, deals with the biographical aspect of the
subject, almost entirely, and though the observations center about
Long Island Sound, New Jersey and North Carolina, the treatise
amply represents the habits of the species, through judicious com-
parisons of records drawn from the literature.

The thirty-two mounted plates present forty-two excellent
photographs from life.

The work is one that can hardly fail to please the bird lover,
and, sad to say, in a large part of New England, where the Osprey
has been extirpated, is calculated to give a knowledge to many
readers of the home life of one more of the many birds now known
only in passage.

191 1. Buckland, James. Pros and Cons of the Plum-
age Bill. Printed by Edward Evans, Ltd., the Racquet Court
Press, London. S. E. [No date.]

In this pamphlet of nineteen pages Mr. Buckland says : "The
most plausible argument that can be brought against legislating for
the prohibition of the import of the feathers of certain wild foreign
birds is that it would divert the traffic in ornamental plumage from
London to the Continent; deprive thousands of British workers of
their employment; and not save the life of a single bird.

"My object in writing this pamphlet is to prove — as I believe I
shall be able to do— that the Plumage Bill, which is now in the
Commons, will not divert the traffic in feathers from London ; will
benefit materially, and not injure, the working classes; and, finally,

68 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

will rescue many a fast-disappearing species from utter annihilation."
The points of the argument are of general interest.
A limited number of copies are to be had at 22 Elm St., Port-
land, Me., on request, with two-cent stamp for postage.

191 1. Burns, Frank L,. A Monograph of the Broad-
winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) . By Frank L,. Burns, with the
co-operation of over one hundred American ornithologists, and the
compilation of the world's literature. Wilson Bulletin, Volume
XXIII, Nos. 3 and 4.

The September and December numbers, covering pages 143 to
320, of the Wilson Bulletin, are devoted entirely to the presentation
of Mr Burns' exhaustive study of the Broad-winged Hawk.

We find diagnosis of genus, species and subspecies, description
and synonymy of species and subspecies, vernacular names, geo-
graphical and local distribution, flight, food, voice, enemies, disposi-
tion in presence of other birds, disposition in presence of men,
disposition in captivity, migration, station, mating, nidification,
incubation, young, moult and renewal, and bibliography. Mr.
Burns has given much credit to authors consulted and to his own
correspondents. We may perhaps wish that he had generalized
more from the large mass of data examined. The bibliography
occupies nearly thirty-seven pages, and the author mentions that it
contains more than seven hundred titles. Fourteen half-tone figures
also accompany the paper.

That Mr. Burns' work is exhaustive can hardly be doubted.

191 1. Beebe, C. William. A Contribution to the
Ecology of the Adult Hoatzin. Smithonian Report for 1910,

PP- 527- 543-

Mr. Beebe here discusses the history, name, distribution, gen-
eral appearance, parasites, field notes in Venezuela and British
Guiana, food, nests and eggs, enemies, photographing Hoatzins,
and odor, and concludes with a bibliography of forty-eight titles.
Seven half-tone plates illustrate the paper. It also contains a map
showing the known distribution of the bird.

191 1. Cooke, W. W. Distribution of the American
Egrets. Circular 48, Bureau of U. S. Biological Survey.

Two species, Hcrodias egretta and Egretta candidissima, are
treated, each with a map of distribution.

191 1. Duerden, Prof. J. E., M. Sc, Ph. D., A. R. C. S.

JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL .SOCIETY. 69

The Plumages op the Ostrich. Smithsonian Report for 1910,
pp. 561, 571, with plates 1-8.

This paper deals with the "chick plumage, juvenal plumage,
and adult plumage" of the Ostrich, and is reprinted (with other cor-
rections) from the Agricultural Journal of the Union of South Africa.

191 1. Goldman, E. A. A New Kingfisher from Pan-
ama. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection, 56, No. 27.

This is a southern subspecies of Ceryle americana, named
isthmica, having a range from Guatemala to Panama, where the
type was obtained.

1911. Henshaw, Henry W. Migration of the Pacific
Plover to and from the Hawaiian Islands. Smithsonian
Report for 1910, pp. 545, 559.

This is a presentation of one of the very remarkable migratory
flights, of the many remarkable ones now known to be performed
by this order of birds, and it is considered and discussed from many
points of view. The points considered under the caption "Why the
Plover Migrates" are of very general interest, presenting, we
believe, the real reason why birds migrate; first, a failure of food,
and second, responding to physiological promptings, returning to the
place of birth to breed.

191 1. Henshaw, Henry W. Report of the Chief of
the Bureau of Biological Survey for 191 i. Annual Report
of the Department of Agriculture.

In this report of twenty pages, Mr. Henshaw has stated the
work accomplished during the year, and outlined that for 191 2.
The amount of work, both done and proposed, is large and important.

191 1. McAtee, W. L. Three Important Wild Duck
Foods. Circular 81, Bureau of Biological Survey.

Of the large variety of plants furnishing food for wild ducks,
Mr. McAtee considers three genera as of especial importance.
These are, to use his own order, wild rice {Zizania aqitatica),
wild celery (Vallisneria spiralis), and pond weeds {Potomagetcni) ,
a genus having a large number of species and a wide distribution.

Though many species of pond weeds are eaten, Potomageton
pectinatus, sago or fennel-leaved pond weed, and P. perfoliatus,
clasping-leaved pond weed, also known as redhead or duck grass,
are of especial importance. The illustrations show the distribution
of the plant discussed, figure of the species and of the parts eaten.

70 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

These are useful in identification. Methods of transplanting and
propagating the plants are considered.

iqii. Mearns, Edgar A. Descriptions of Seven New
African Grass Warblers of the Genus Cisticola. Smith-
sonian Miscellaneous Collection, 56, No. 23.

Two species and five subspecies are here proposed. This is
the fifteenth paper based upon the results of the Smithsonian African
Expedition, under the direction of Col. Roosevelt.

191 1. Mearns, Edgar A. Description of a New Species
of Sun-bird (Helionynipha raineyt) from British East Africa.
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection, 56, No. 28.

This is from the first lot of birds sent to the United States
National Museum by the Rainey African Expedition.

191 1. "Wright, Horace W. The Birds of the Jeffer-
son Region in the White Mountains, New Hampshire.
Proceedings Manchester Institute of Arts and Science, Vol. V,
pp. 1-126.

The author tells us that the region covered by this paper
includes primarily the territory of the town of Jefferson, also the
adjoining towns of Lancaster, Whitefield, Carroll, and Randolph
and the northern and western slopes of the Presidential Range to the
Crawford House Plateau.

Twelve pages are devoted to a description of the region, in its
features affecting the bird life thereof, ninety-eight pages to the
annotated list of the birds, nearly six pages to additional notes for
the season of 191 1, and eight pages to a good index. The annotated
list and the additional notes present 188 species and subspecies (or
names) of birds that have been found in the region. The annotations
are full, sometimes extended, and based almost entirely on the per-
sonal observation either of the author, or a number of his corre-
spondents, to whom credit is carefully given.

Published records seem to have been resorted to only where
more recent observations are wanting ; while this course may have
certain advantages in works of this kind, it eliminates oftentimes
interesting data. In the case of this list we might instance the
records of the Spruce Partridge for two seasons at Crawfords {Auk,
XXVI, pp. 428, 429).

Probably the White Mountain region, from all points of view,
affords the most interesting and important physical and biological
features of the State of New Hampshire, and Mr. Wright's con-
tribution to the bird life of the section will be deservedly appreciated.

Junc 1911

25 cents a copy
$1.00 a year

!A\t Journal

nf tltt

Mmm (irmthnlontral

wtr-tg

Published by the Society at 97 1-2 Exchange Street, Portland, Maine

Entered as second class matter June 13, 1905, at the post office at Portland, Maine, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1 879.

J O U RIN A L

OF THE

Maine Ornithological Society.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MAINE ORNITHOLOGISTS.

Issued every quarter on the first of March, June, September and December of each year.

Publication Office: 97 1-2 Exchange St., Portland, Maine.

Send renewals and matter for publication to the Journal of the Maine Ornith-
ological Society, 22 Elm St., Portland, Me.

Price, $1.00 per annum. Single Copies, 25 Cents.

OFFICERS

President, J. Merton Swain, Farmington.
Vice-President, Dr. William C. Kendall, Freeport.
Secretary and Treasurer, Dana W. Sweet, Phillips.
Councillors, Jed F. Fanning, Portland; Dr. A. h. Chase,
Bangor.

CONTENTS.

A Study of Two Chickadee Families,

Fifteenth Annual Meeting',

Henry A. Purdie,

Mark Young,

Editorials,

Recent Publications,

Bird Notes,

Pape

25
32
35
37
38
40
43

Sept., 1911

M}t Journal

of tt>

Mmm (irnttljflloatral

^"%<^~%<^~%~

25 cents a copy
$1.00 a year

•nrieitj

Published by the Society at 97 1-2 Exchange Street, Portland, Maine

Entered as second class matter June 13, 1905, at the post office at Portland, Maine, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1 879.

JOURNAL

OF THE

Maine Ornithological Society.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MAINE ORNITHOLOGISTS.

Issued every quarter on the first of March, June, September and December of each year.

Publication Office: 97 1-2 Exchange St., Portland, Maine.

Send renewals and matter for publication to the Journal of the Maine Ornith
ological Society, 22 Elm St., Portland, Me.

Price, $1.00 per annum. Single Copies, 25 Cents.

OFFICERS

President, J. Merton Swain, Farmington.
Vice-President, Dr. William C. Kendall, Freeport.
Secretary and Treasurer, Dana W. Sweet, Phillips.
Cozincillors , Jed F. Fanning, Portland; Dr. A. D. Chase,
Bangor.

CONTENTS.

Page

Hon. James Wood Brackett,

45

Notes on the Canada Warbler,

46

Migration Reports, 1910,

50

Editorials, . . . .

54

Recent Publications,

56

Bird Notes, .

58

Dec, 1911

25 cents a copy
$1.00 a year

®l|p Journal

nf %

Mmnt (Prnitlfnlogiral ^nrirtg

s~*£~-*arK.

Published by (he Society at 97 1-2 Exchange Street, Portland, Maine

Entered as second class matter June 1 3, 1 905, at the post office at Portland, Maine, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1 879.

JOURNAL

OF THE

Maine Ornithological Society.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MAINE ORNITHOLOGISTS.

Issued every quarter on the first of March, June, September and December of each year.

Publication Office: 97 1-2 Exchange St., Portland, Maine.

Send renewals and matter for publication to the Journal of the Maine Ornith-
ological Society, 22 Elm St., Portland, Me.

Price, $1.00 per annum. Single Copies, 25 Cents.

OFFICERS

President, J. Merton Swain, Farmington.
Vice-President, Dr. William C. Kendall, Freeport.
Secretary and Treasurer, Dana W. SWEET, Phillips.
Councillors, Jed F. Fanning, Portland; Dr. A. L,. Chase,
Bangor.

CONTENTS.

Page

Announcement, ........... 61

Winter Breeding of the American Crossbill, ...... 62

A Robber Baron, ........... 62

Migration Reports, .......... 63

Recent Publications, 67

Journal of the Maine Ornithological Society.

Complete Sets Cannot be Furnished.

Full volumes of I, VIII, XI, XII, XIII, can be furnished at
$1.00 per volume. The following numbers can be supplied at 25
cents per number.

Vol. II, Nos. 2, 4, Vol. VI, Nos. 1, 3, 4,

HI, No. 3, VII, Nos. 2, 3, 4,

IV, Nos. 2, 3, 4, IX, Nos. 1, 2, 4,
V, Nos. 1, 4, X, Nos. 2, 3, 4.

Index to the Journal, volumes I to XIII, to be published,
price, $1.00.

The Society will pay 50 cents each for a limited number of the
following numbers of the Journal:
Vol. III. Nos. 1, 2, 4. Vol. VI, No. 2,

IV, No. 1, VII. No. 1,

V, Nos. 2, 3, IX, No. 3.

ADDRESS

MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY
22 ELM ST., PORTLAND, ME.

Bird-Core

A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINI
VOL. XIV 1912

EACH VOLUME CONTAINS:

About 400 pages, with 12 full-page colored plates of our own birds, and many
photographs from nature.

Descriptions of experiences with living birds in their haunts, and helpful arti-
cles on how to study birds.

Migration tables, showing when birds may be expected at many places
throughout the country.

A list of prominent ornithologists who will help you in your study of birds.

Bird censuses by numerous observers.

Reviews of books and of magazine articles relating to birds.

Editorials on current questions in bird study.

THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

Edited by MRS. ALICE HALL WALTER

Occupies 10 or 12 pages in each number. It contains helpful editorials and
contributed articles on methods of bird study in the class-room, with practical
material for the use of teachers, a section for young observers, and a four-page
Educational Leaflet devoted to some familiar bird and illustrated with a colored
plate.

THE AUDUBON DEPARTMENT
Edited by T. GILBERT PEARSON

Secretary of the National Association of jjudubon Societies

Gives authoritative and recent news of the activities of the National and Affil-
iated Societies in maintaining and enforcing the laws, and opposing undesirable
legislation; reports from Audubon wardens in charge of bird reservations, and
numberless interesting details of the fight to preserve our birds.

BIRD-LORE, Harrisburg, Pa.

THE 00L0GIST THE ONTARIO

NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN,

is the only medium in the LTnited
States for the exchange of ideas and
specimens between those interested

in collecting birds, nests and eggs, Wellington field Naturalists' Club.

and is now owned and published by
R. M. Barnes, of Lacon, Illinois. It
has been greatly improved and is

now in its 27th year. Articles embracing all branches of

J natural history by many ot the leading

men of science in Ontario.

THE JOURNAL, OF THE

Devoted to the flora and Fauna of Ontario.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES, 50c. PER ANNUM

Price per copy, 50 cts.

» j j Address all subscriptions and

Auuress communications to

ALBION, NEW YORK j EATON HOWITT,

^^ Editor Ontario Natural Science Bulletin,

LACON, ILLINOIS O. A. C, GUELPH, ONT.

Bird=Lore for Christmas

Tell us to whom you wish us to send
Bird-Lore for you during 1911, and we
will forward a Christmas Card, giving
your name as donor, and a free copy of
our December number, containing two
full-page plates in color and many other
illustrations. These will go in time to
be received, with your greeting, on
Christmas Day, and Bird-Lore will fol-
low, as published, throughout the year.
A valuable present, easily made, whether
to a friend or to yourself.

Among the special features for 1911
(Vol. XIII) will be colored plates of our
Sparrows, by Fuertes, with migration
tables by Cooke and notes on their iden-
tification by Chapman; a series of illus-
trated papers on the "Birds of my Gar-
den," by Mabel Osgood Wright; a new
department for teachers and students,
edited by Alice Hall Walter, and Tea-
chers' Leaflets, with colored plates, by
Sawyer.

$1.00 a year; for Christmas, five subscrip-
tions for $4.00, three subscriptions
for $2.50

BIRD-LORE, Harrisburg, Pa.

ONLY
NATURAL
HISTORY
BOOKS.

Scarce, out-of-print Books on Botany,
Ornithology, Entomology, Forestry, and
all branches of the Natural Sciences.
, Also all the latest publications.
.?. Catalogues and Special Lists upon ap-
plication.

Knickerbocker Book Shop, "BEECHWOODS"

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

THE 00L0GIST

is the only medium in the United
States for the exchange of ideas and
specimens between those interested
in collecting birds, nests and eggs,
and is now owned and published by
R. M. Barnes, of Lacon, Illinois. It
has been greatly improved and is
now in its 27th year.

THE ONTARIO
NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN,

THE JOURNAL, OF THE

Wellington Field Naturalists' Club.

Devoted to the Flora and Fauna of Ontario.

Articles embracing all branches of
natural history by many of the leading
men of science in Ontario.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES, 50c. PER ANNUM

Price per copy, 50 cts.

Address
ALBION, NEW YORK

OB

LACON, ILLINOIS

Address all subscriptions and
communications to

J. EATON HOWITT,

Editor Ontario Natural Science Bulletin,

O. A. C, GUELPH, ONT.

Bird=Lore for Christmas

Tell us to whom you wish us to send
Bird-Lore for you during 1911, and we
will forward a Christmas Card, giving
your name as donor, and a free copy of
our December number, containing two
full-page plates in color and many other
illustrations. These will go in time to
be received, with your greeting, on
Christmas Day, and Bird-Lore will fol-
low, as published, throughout the year.
A valuable present, easily made, whether
to a friend or to yourself.

Among the special features for 1911
(Vol. XIII) will be colored plates of our
Sparrows, by Fuertes, with migration
tables by Cooke and notes on their iden-
tification by Chapman; a series of illus-
trated papers on the "Birds of my Gar-
den," by Mabel Osgood Wright; a new
department for teachers and students,
edited by Alice Hall Walter, and Tea-
chers' Leaflets, with colored plates, by
Sawyer.

$1.00 a year; for Christmas, five subscrip-
tions for $4.00, three subscriptions
for $2.50

BIRD-LORE, Harrisburg, Pa.

ONLY
NATURAL
HISTORY
BOOKS.

Scarce, out-of-print Books on Botany,
Ornithology, Entomology, Forestry, and
all branches of the Natural Sciences.

Also all the latest publications.

Catalogues and Special Lists upon ap-
plication.

Knickerbocker Book Shop, "BEECHWOODS",

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

THE OOL00IST

is the only medium in the United
States for the exchange of ideas and
specimens between those interested
in collecting birds, nests and eggs,
and is now owned and published by
R. M. Barnes, of Lacon, Illinois. It
has been greatly improved and is
now in its 27th year.

THE ONTARIO
NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN,

THE JOURNAL, OF THE

Wellington Field Naturalists' Club.

Devoted to the Flora and Fauna of Ontario.

Articles embracing all branches of
natural history by many of the leading
men of science in Ontario.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES, 50c. PER ANNUM

Price per copy, 50 cts.

Address
ALBION, NEW YORK

OR

LACON, ILLINOIS

Address all subscriptions and
communications to

J. EATON HOWITT,

Editor Ontario Natural Science Bulletin,

O. A. C, GUELPH, ONT.