VOL. II JUNE 1914 NO. 1

Official Organ of the

SOMERSET HILLS BIRD CLUB ~

BERNARDSVILLE, N. J. ©

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THE ORIOLE

VOL. II | JUNE, 1914 NO. 1

CONTENTS

VONEO (CTD GLEE Ce 1
Somerset Hills Bird Club Membership................. 2
List of Officers IME 3
Red-winged Blackbird (colored plate)........... to face 3

Opportunities of Bernardsville, by William S. Post 4
A Few Friendly Foreigners in Feathers,

by Nenilian ‘Gillette Cook: =. 8
louse Gem(colored plate icce.c222- n-ne -ee2 to face 9
The Destruction of Bird Life in Bernardsville
Oy Mere clitiny Felem layanie sea 13
Why Study Birds? Its Practical and Esthetic
Value, by John Dryden Kusert......... 15
Nesting of the Merganser in 1913,
Dye NWallivannni Sen eOSte:e eee 18
Intenstve Freld Observation, by C. William Beebe 24
(BOO MTANILCLNCGOLONEd PIGLA) anon neers to face 25

The New Jersey Audubon Society
by Beecher S. Bowdish, Secretary..... 28

EGER Ee chs Cee eee OT 30

CO STILUTIGIn Gd VBI=/G1O eaten ee tee. SOL

Copyright 1913
By Somerset Hills Bird Club, Bernardsville, N. J.

SOMERSET HILLS BIRD CLUB

MEMBERSHIP
Active Members ($1.50 annually)....................00.... Dy)
Patrons ($25.00 paid at one time).........-......22.....: 5
Life Members (10.00 paid at one time) ................. 5
Contributors ($5.00 annually)............4.0.....22...... 7
Subscribers to the Oriole ($1.50 annually)............ 34.

Total number; members and subscribers 78

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Bavee rhoysf Av )—.

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RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
(UPPER FiGuRE, MALE; LowER FiGuRE, FEMALE)

Order—PASSERES Family—IcTERIDA&
Genus—AGELAIUS Species—PHENICEUS

National Association of Audubon Societies

OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE
SOMERSET HILLS BIRD CLUB.

TRUSTEES

Joun Drypven Kuser, President and Editor
Miss Marise Buair, Vice-President
J. B. Cuarxk, Vice-President

Miss Rutu Buss, Secretary

Miss Corne ia SacGe, Treasurer
Miss Epviru Buatir, Associate Editor
C. Merritt CuHapin, JR.

Miss Mary S. CuHapin

Miss CaroLineE STEVENS

ALAN HarrIMANn

Water F. CHappEe.ty, JR.

ACTIVE MEMBERS

Kinestey Kunuarpt, Associate Editor
Eno CaMPBELL

Miss Satrty Sace

Miss Tatrine BuIss
Merepiryw H. Pyne

Puinie S. GRAHAM

Miss Letra H. BurpEN

Miss Mary VY. R. Lorituarp
Miss Dorotuy DrypEN
SwitHiIn J. NIcHors
PRENTICE TALMAGE
Frances BERGEN

Miss Rosatiz Moran

Miss Heten Bury

C. R. Harpin

FREDERICK CroMWELL, II

PATRONS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Mrs. Joun F. Drypen Miss Cynruia G. Kusrer
Mr. Antuony R. Kuser Joun Drypen Kuser
Mrs. AnruHony R. Kuser

LIFE MEMBERS

Mrs. Water P. Buiss Mr. Watrer Graeme Lapp
Mr. Dean SAGE Mrs. Water GRAEME Lapp
Mrs. GrorGce Buiss

OPPORTUNITIES OF
BERNARDSVILLE
By William S. Post

From New Brunswick to Florida and west to Colo-
rado I have found few places more favored for bird
study than Bernardsville.

Here the Alleghanian and Carolinian avifaunae
overlap. Here also we have dry uplands, rocky
wooded hills and streams, and great open swamp
lands close at hand. Within two or three miles at
most are to be found the Crested Titmouse, Acadian
Flycatcher, Worm-eating Warbler, and more rarely
but regularly Henslow Sparrow. Louisiana Water-
thrushes abound along our streams, a pair or two
near the head waters of each, while the lisping drawn
out z-e-e of the Blue-winged Warbler can be heard
around the edge of almost all our old neglected fields
and thickets. These represent the Carolinian fauna,
yet the general list is of the Alleghanian.

One day in May, within a space of 100 yards, I
found a pair of Carolina Wrens and a Saw-whet Owl.
This was a case where extremes met; both were far
out of their usual range, particularly the Owl, which
seldom nests further south than the Adirondack
mountains.

Our upland, hill and woodland birds are well known
to all “Oriole” readers, but if you have never in
early June waded out into the “cut off” of the Great
Swamp below Basking Ridge, it is well worth while
to do so. Here all changes! Before you leave the

4

road, a Red-headed Woodpecker may flash by, the
sight of whose matchless coloring will surely arouse
the enthusiasm of the bird lover. Across the field
comes the true clear note of the Crested ‘Titmouse.
You may whistle back, for it is easy to imitate, and he
will answer, and soon will come nearer, and you can
with reasonable care approach close enough to see him
unconcernedly at work perhaps picking at something
held between his feet in the same manner as does the
Jay. The fields about resound with the song of the
Bobolink, that most buoyant and joyous of all bird
sounds, and with it also comes the plaintive whistle of

the Meadow Lark.

The open swamp beyond is a new country. In
it all sounds are strange. Chief among them, be-
side the constant scolding of the Red-winged Black-
bird overhead, is the tinkle of the Swamp Sparrow,
like the singing of the Junco, but more liquid and
not quite so thin and bell-like, and ever mixed with
it is the jolly little gurgle of the Marsh Wren. Is it
association merely, or is there something in it that re-
calls the salt marshes of the seashore. With this
sound all around as in the “cut off” I can never quite
believe that I am still inland. The round ball lke
nests of the Wren are conspicuous in the clumps of
rose bushes on all sides, but do not be fooled, these are
only decoys, the true nests are well hidden in the long
swamp grass and generally are green in color.

You will surely hear the tick-tick of a Rail, or its
peeping like that of a young Turkey, which latter
generally indicates that the nest is in a bog close by.
Should you find it, with its ten or a dozen beautiful
egos, the sight is recompense for a long day’s work.

5

Bitterns, Green and Night Herons and young
Black Ducks fly off, Red-shouldered Hawks scream
over the woods beyond, between which and you is a
line of high bushes and stunted oaks. In these if for-
tunate, you may find a Least Bittern’s nest, that queer
little-big bird that Audubon says can squeeze between
two books placed one inch apart. In these bushes the
Yellow Warbler is common, which strangely enough
we almost never see in our highlands.

With half a mile of open marsh around, no build-
ings or cultivated lands in sight, and with these birds
about, one can easily believe himself to be in an unex-
plored spot, and who among bird or nature lovers has
not always the desire for this experience!

If you know this section well, try a day in the open
country toward Somerville and west of it. Upland
Plovers commonly bred here not along ago and some
do yet. Their long drawn out rising and falling call
is one of the most wonderful bird notes. The Kill-
deer is also found more commonly in the flat lands
than in the hills, and the Henslow Sparrow is there.
Also among the sluggish streams the Acadian Fly-
catcher is abundant. I have found three nests in as
many hours, yet I do not think the species ever stays
in our upland swamps. It is one of the most interest-
ing and individual of birds. On the way home, if you
live on Mine Mount, stop in the “Ravine” where the
Worm-eating Warblers were a few years ago locally
abundant, and doubtless some are there each year
now. They nest on the steepest pitches of the hills on
both sides of the Lake opposite and below. If you
think you hear a Chipping Sparrow’s song in the

6

woods, investigate, for the Worm-eating Warbler’s
twitter is almost identical with it, though a little
clearer and truer.

About Hopatcong in the north are other chances
well worth a day’s time. In places there is sufficient
Usnea Moss for the Parula, and there are other birds
that the great expanse of water attracts.

Besides all these, a local race of Great-horned Owls
used to exist In our very midst and I have no doubt
that some are still about. I have found three nests
with eggs or young on Mine Mount, and one in the
Ravine as well as two in the Great Swamp; but for
them you must look in February as the eggs hatch out
about March Ist. Broad-winged and Sparrow
Hawks are regular summer residents, though they,
hike all the other Raptores, have decreased in num-
bers very greatly.

The above opportunities should not be neglected
as conditions are changing—the breeding Hawks and
Owls, Plover, Woodcock, Ducks and Grouse, are
already reduced by guns and by the constant march
of progress, and the Great Swamp may perhaps some
day be drained as the spring-runs on Mine Mount
have been. ‘The thickets are being cleared, old fields
reclaimed, orchards kept clear of dead-wood, fruit
blossoms and consequently the insect food of orchard
birds poisoned, and these changes have already caused
a considerable difference in the relative abundance of
the species. At present none, or very few at least,
are entirely lost to us, but we should lose no time in
recording the habits of those that are becoming rare,
remembering that the same species may have quite
different traits under other circumstances and in other
places, and that therefor observations neglected now,
may be opportunities forever lost.

7

A FEW FRIENDLY FOREIGNERS
| IN FEATHERS.

By Lilian Gillette Cook.

All of the world to whom it is possible, does at one
time or another, as did the man in the old Ballad,
when he went forth strange countries for to see, and
the things that interest one at home widen to include
the similar interests abroad. |

Many a time I am asked about birds seen by travel-
lers on the Pacific Slope in the Canadian Rockies, the
southern states, through the British Islands and up
and down the continent of Europe, while a few in-
quiries have come in regard to the feathered inhabi-
tants of Africa and farthest India.

It has entertained me in travelling abroad to notice
how some of the birds went travelling with me, so to
speak. These, of course, were among those more
common in different countries, and perhaps it would
be nearer the facts to say that I travelled with the
birds, as they were keeping to their usual ways, with
which my general plans of travel coincided.

In England’s west-country, in mid-June in the
summer of 1913, birds were everywhere, and they are
more frequently found in medium-sized towns in
England, than with us perhaps. Many rare species
were seen, together with common ones, but no Night-
ingale glorified an hour. It is said that they do not
enter Devonshire and Cornwall and even were they
found there, their singing for the season would end
about the middle of June. In steaming past Land’s

8

% 5 ears i
ee yey

yA ee a i

HOUSE WREN

Family—TROGLODYTID&

Order—PASSERES

Species —AEDON

Genus—TROGLODYTES

National Association of Audubon Societies

End and along the coast of Cornwall to Plymouth
the ship was followed by crowds of Gulls, mostly the
Herring and Great Black-backed.

Lovely Exeter, around its cathedral’s close, and the
parked streets and private gardens near, was vocal
with bird songs. ‘There the large Thrush, often called
the Stormeock, which is so like our Thrasher in ap-
pearance and song, was always flinging his phrases
afar, from some tree-top; while his smaller cousin,
the Throstle or Song-thrush gave almost the same
notes, less vehemently from some more _ secluded
perch. Browning said of these Thrushes:

“Hear the wise Thrush repeat his song twice over,
“Lest you should think he never could re-capture,
“That first, fine, careless rapture.”

And I had supposed that with Mr. Browning’s great
accuracy, this marked a difference between the song
of our Thrasher and the European Song-thrush, but
in listening to the foreign Thrushes I found them as
varied in the number of their repetitions as in the
Thrasher that repeats his phrases twice, thrice, or
many times. ‘These two birds have what we recognize
as Thrush plumage, smooth brown above, and white
or whitish below, more or less spotted with brown; but
another bird classed with the Thrushes looks as little
like them as does our Bluebird, which is included in
our Thrush family. This other Kuropean Thrush is
the Yellow-billed Blackbird, well called by someone
a black Robin, for in size, manner and some call notes,
especially the “Tut-a-tut-tut,” which our Robin so
often gives, the birds are almost identical. The Yel-

9

low-bill will stand head side-ways, downward watch-
ing or listening and then make a sudden dive for the
worm exactly as the Robin does—but when it comes
to real song, the notes of our Robin—charming as is
its “Spring song” when heard on a March day—can-
not compare with the full, deep, liquid notes the
Blackbird can give at its best. I have heard the
“best” of the Blackbird only once, when he was on a
branch overhanging the narrow path around Rouge-
mont Castle, Exeter, just above that wonderful
downward sweep of the turf, studded with great trees,
that was once the moat of a castle—so long ago that
now giant cedars of Lebanon grow where water used
to be.

In and out of the shrubbery along this same path,
a bright-eyed Wren kept watch of me, as I of him.
This little bird was a Wren like unto our Wrens, and
I use the word for only such birds, little saucy brown
bits of feathers and audacity—but in books on Eng-
lish birds a number of different kinds of birds are
called ““Wrens’—with which the rapid traveller need
not, at first, concern himself.

Down near the cathedral the Great Titmouse lived
and would have passed easily for our Chickadee to
one who has not studied the difference. In song the
Titmouse gives several rich finch-like notes as an in-
troduction to his “dee-dee-dee” but he lacks the clear
two-note whistle with which our bird makes the woods
musical. His actions are the same—those of a tiny
acrobat, and it gives one a homelike feeling to watch
his performances—if one is well acquainted with the
Chickadee. Chaffinches were here, too, and around

10

the cathedral towers Swifts circled and chattered, con-
testing rights of ownership with the noisy Jackdaws.

At Tintagel, on the west coast, up on the barren
austere cliffs overlooking the “Cornish” seat is a great
modern hotel, utterly at variance with that land which
is filled with legends of King Arthur, but very com-
fortable for a tired tourist. Across a deep chasm, on
the jagged rock opposite are ruins, called those of
KKing Arthur’s Castle and in the great hall of the
hotel is a “Round Table.” Just below the hotel is a
wild tangle of shrubs and vines and weeds and here
was a veritable birds’ paradise. Many species were
seen, there for the first and last time, such as the bril-
liant Stonechat in his livery of black and white and
red; the Bullfinch, which we know as a cage bird, the
little White-throat (not at all like our White-throated
Sparrow and of a different family) and other small
birds hardly to be found on a traveller’s list. It was
at Tintagel I heard the first Skylarks in England, as
they sprang from the short grass, singing away into
space. Chaffinches were there and everywhere; birds
well known to many in America from some domes-
ticated here, the Chaffinch being one of the most lov-
able of feathered creatures. In coaching between the
high hedge-rows of Cornwall and Devonshire, bril-
hant in June with a rose-colored valerian blossom,
Chaffinches trilled and sang above and around us,
walking at times with their quaint mincing step
along the road before us—gay little companions.
Other companions by the way were the small dull yel-
low colored birds called the Yellowhammer. Their
song is a very simple performance, but rather sweet

11

and pleasing, if not so carelessly happy as that of the
Chaffinch.

A queer black and white bird about seven and a half
inches long, with, seemingly much more than half the
whole length in the tail, is the Wagtail. No bird
could be more appropriately named, as the tail wags
constantly and seems as if it would wag itself off. Up
at the English Lakes I saw another Wagtail which
was gray and white, and indeed I quite often met
them later, and always near water. Swallows were
common in a great many places, the one most often
seen being like our Barn Swallow, but having a black
breast. At Clovelly with many other birds seen be-
fore I found a tiny Blue-gray Titmouse; “Bleuthy”
the country people call it, and a fascinating little per-
son itis. All through England I found the Robin so
different from ours, much smaller and with a breast
more ruddy but not red.

When I was in Touraine, in France, I was very
anxious to see what birds would be there and those
that I found were Thrushes, Yellow-billed Black-
birds, the Great Titmouse, the Blue Titmouse, Swifts
and Swallows;—just the same birds that had been
common in England. Again in Switzerland, high up
above the Lauterbrunnen valley, I thought I should
surely have new birds; and there it was the Yellow-
bill and the Great Titmouse that lived in the hotel
garden below my windows, coming every day to pick
up crumbs dropped by people around the garden
tables. One day a familiar note in the tree close to
my windows made me look out, and the “ti-ti-ti” had
come from just such a little bird as our Golden-
crowned Kinglet, which there is called the “Gold-
crest” or Golden-crested Wren.

12

Outside my windows in Florence, during the
autumn, I heard a note so like our Robin’s scolding I
knew it must be the Yellow-bill, and there he was and
there he stayed week after week with his friends and
relations. ‘There too was the Great Titmouse, and
one day a flash of blue showed the little ‘Titmouse.

I had hoped to see the Kuropean Goldfinches often,
and I looked for them everywhere, listening in all
possible places for their music, but the only Gold-
finches I saw were some in a cage on the Ponte Vec-
chio in Florence, for sale! although their sale is for-
bidden by Italian law. Italy is very careless in re-
gard to her feathered inhabitants and at present
blocks the bird-protection of the world.

The last bird that I saw in Italy was in the Forum
in Rome—on a day in mid-November and the bird
was the tiny five-and-a-half-inch long “English”
Robin, the “Pettirosso” (Redbreast) of Italy. In
among the majestic ruins of that marvellous place the
little creatures seemed even smaller than ever, but
quite at his ease was he finding the same protection
amid the historic stones which he had known, perhaps,
beside some English cottage.

THE DESTRUCTION OF BIRD
LIFE IN BERNARDSVILLE

By Meredith H. Pyne

There are more moments of danger than of peace
in the life of a bird. From the time the egg is laid to
the time of his death he is going through a series of

13

narrow escapes. ‘Though it may seem strange, the
place in which most danger awaits him is our back
gardens and near our houses. There he is exposed
to the savage cat and the terrors of tree-climbing
children.

It is up to us, therefore, to guard him as much as
we are able. We should above all things build him a
safe place in which to make his nest and bring up his
young. The German Government, two years ago,
realized this fact and they experimented to find out
just what kind of a house he liked best. After two
years’ trial they came to the conclusion that the only
kind the birds really liked was the “open box.” ‘The
open box consists of a box open on three sides; the
closed side is a slanting roof which forms the roof as
well. This is put on a pole about six feet from the
ground and is therefore safe from all cats, snakes and

children.

We, who enjoy seeing the bright-colored birds and
hearing their song, owe it to ourselves to save the lives
of our feathered friends. ‘Take Bernardsville itself,
for example: ten years ago the country was swarming
with birds of all sorts; to-day there are very few left.
What is the cause? it is plain; ten years ago the coun-
try was fairly wild; to-day lofty mansions stand where
there were nothing but woods. If then our bird life
is being killed off like this, it is up to us to do all in
our power to preserve them, and as the German gov-
ernment will tell you: “First of all build them a
house.”

14

WHY STUDY BIRDS?
Its Practical and Esthetic Value.
By John Dryden Kuser

Generalization is an easy way of accusation, vin-
dication or explanation. Specific examples and care-
ful and reasonable arguments are more difficult and
therefore naturally more infrequent. Because of their
rarity they are all the more treasured.

One of many cases where generalities are over-
abundant is in the attempts made to answer my titled
question. So rare is an answer found which is of the
slightest benefit to such persons as ask the question,
that it is certainly to be considered worthy of note
when one is discovered which in a clear, comprehensive
way, actually explains to the inquirer why birds
should be studied. Many times I have been asked the
query by those who were not interested in birds; and
in each case I knew by the words and looks of my
questioner that my explanation in no way appealed to
or convinced him. Nevertheless, although fully real-
izing: the difficulty of treating the subject and realiz-
ing also my inability to do so successfully, yet I will
try here to show a few reasons why I think we should
study birds.

To me there appear two distinct classes into which
the various values may be grouped: class one contain-
ing all practical values including economic and intel-
lectual benefits; class two containing all esthetic
values, chiefly derived through the channels of
esthetic pleasure and sport. I consider these classes

15

to be equally valuable as regards the resulting bene-
fits; though necessarily those coming from class one
are more tangible and easily stated than those from
class two.

CLASS ONE. To say that the avian forces of
the world are the most valuable allies of the farmer,
the fruit grower, the forester and all others whose
occupation relates to any form of floral-growth,
would, I think in this case, be merely a farce. Surely
everyone who studies ornithology at all and many
who know nothing about the science will admit this
statement to be true. My reason for offering no
proof is the sweeping and overwhelming abundance
rather than the scarcity of it. It has been proven
beyond a doubt that the vast majority of birds are
beneficial, many to an incredible extent; but some
species are harmful. You will immediately ask what
these species are. In some cases we do not yet know
and in others we are still shghtly uncertain on ac-
count of the lack of trustworthy information. The
direct cause is the scarcity of credible observers. Cer-
tainly this is one excuse for the existence of ornitho-
logical study, 1. e., the determination of the value of
each species—whether it is beneficial or harmful and
to what degree.

This is not all the value of Class One, however. A
nearly equally important factor is its intellectual bene-
fit. Asa study for the training of the mind, it should
certainly stand high—all sciences should, because of
the need for care required in their study. Then is this
not another cause which makes it worthy of study?

16

CLASS TWO. One may not be able to recognize
statistically the benefits from this class so easily, but
nevertheless I believe them to be just as real and valu-
able. Were birds actually worthless economically yet
their beauty in appearance and song would still war-
rant their protection. The esthetic is certainly one
of the greatest of esthetic realities. |The study of
ornithology has been said to destroy the student’s ap-
preciation of the subject of his study’s beauty and
charm. I do not deny this to be true in certain cases,
but I am sure that this will not hold in the average
case. And, moreover, unquestionably study of a
species is needed for its adequate protection, so that it
may increase and we may derive from the study,
through the protection, a still greater amount of that
beauty.

To attempt to show the value to the world of beauty
in ornithology is practically impossible to such per-
sons as have not themselves the appreciation for such
beauty; and to those who are capable of esthetic ap-
preciation in birds, explanation is not what is needed
—merely a chance for individual and original observa-
tion is required.

Then there is one more value to be derived from the
study, through the resulting protection and that is the
saving for a constant, but moderate use, the birds of
the world for sport. Were we not to protect birds
from an immoderate killing it would be only a matter
of a few years before there would be no sport, because
there would be no birds; and were we not to study
birds, we would not be able, as I have shown, to afford
them an adequate protection and preservation from
extinction.

17

NESTING OF THE MERGANSER
(Mergus Americanus) In 1913.
By William S. Post

The last place one would think a duck would choose
for a nesting site would be a hole in a tree.

We have all read of the little Wood Ducks’ pref-
erence for the hollow top of a large dead stub, or a
hole in a tree not far from a river or lake, and we can
with some effort extend the thought to include the
Golden Eye or the little Buffalo Head, both small
birds and quick on the wing without evoking an invol-
untary mental protest, but when we find the Ameri-
can Merganser, the largest of the Sheldrakes, in fact
from its size sometimes called the Goosander, select-
ing a Pileated Woodpecker’s hole forty or fifty feet
high in the broken off dead limb of a live elm, it must
be acknowledged that it is a strange choice of a place
in which to hatch a brood of ten or a dozen hungry |
and energetic young ducklings, fully equipped at the
start with powers and knowledge of how to swim and
dive even in the most rapid water, but totally without
wing feathers or means of getting to the water from
this lofty home.

The entrance to the hole itself seems far smaller
than the feathered body of the Merganser and the
old duck must dive into it in full flight; but while this
adds to the inconvenience to her, it is second in 1m-
portance to the problem presented after the young are
hatched, which I have twice seen solved in a most un-
expected way.

18

The Merganser does not always select such a site,
for undoubtedly it is as easily satisfied as the other
ducks above mentioned, as well as its cousin the
Hooded Merganser (a much smaller bird) and is
equally pleaced with an entirely open hollow in a tree
stub some ten feet high or less. Audubon in fact
states that he had found several nests on the ground
and not one in a tree.

Perhaps the tree building habit was first formed
through the selection of the top of a very low stub.
Two Black Duck nests which I have found were
placed on hammocks or small elevations in swamps,
one of which was undoubtedly the remains of an old
stump, and Mergansers nests when on the ground
are probably similarly situated. From this the next
step would be for the duck to make use of the open
top of a low stub perhaps three feet high, and after
this a higher one, until gradually the selection might
include a closed in hole at a considerable elevation.

It was my good fortune to witness twice the emerg-
ing of a young brood of Mergansers from an extreme
_ situation of this kind, an old Pileated Woodpecker’s
hole about forty feet high in the limb of a live elm,
standing about fifteen feet from the edge of the To-.
bique River in New Brunswick.

On June 18th, 1910, I fished the famous salmon
pool at the fork of the river, and having incidentally
run the canoe close to the shore near where this old
elm stands, I landed and rapped several times sharp-
ly on the tree with a stick, for I had been told that a
wood duck—which on the 'Tobique means a Golden
Kye—nested there the previous Spring. The female

19

Merganser immediately flew out and having circled
about over the river, alighted on the water. After
assuring myself of the identification, which caused me
some astonishment on account of the size of the bird in
proportion to the entrance of the hole, I returned to
my fishing.

In a few moments I noticed a small! bird drop down
apparently from the hole, and in a few more seconds,
another and then a third. My first thought was that
a Bank Swallow, of which there are many on the
river, had flown up near to the hole and down again
three times in succession. ‘This caused me to stop
fishing and to watch, when to my astonishment, a small
bird with white breast appeared in the hole, jumped
out, and was followed by another, and again another.
I then lost no time in reaching a point in the river
opposite the tree, where I saw in the water against
the bank, swimming around, a brood of eleven young
ducks. I was much surprised, as I had been under
the impression from what I had read, that the old
duck would certainly carry down the young from such
an inaccessible position, and though I believe the
young birds must have landed in the water, I was yet
astonished that they could withstand the shock of such
a drop, and [ presumed that by rapping on the tree
I had caused the old bird to leave in such fright that
her fear had been communicated to the young and
they had followed her example, and that the whole
procedure was therefore an unnatural one.

The Club House is situated directly across the river,
and on June 12th, 1913, two years later, I was sitting
on the piazza when my attention was attracted by see-

20

ing something large drop from the top of this same
elm into the water. I immediately saw that it was the
old Sheldrake and that she was swimming around
close to the shore.

In a few seconds another dropped from the hole to
the ground and I could see it run down the bank and
join its Mother who was calling loudly and turning
round and round in the water. This one was quickly
followed by others in succession until there were seven.
By this time I had called my guide and in company
of one of the members of the Club was crossing the
river, provided with trout landing nets.

The old bird seeing us immediately swam up stream
around the point with her brood and this was the last
we saw of her. We landed and stood under the tree
where we could hear distinctly more young ducks
peeping in the hole. Looking up we saw one totter-
ing on the edge, and before we could take stations
where we could properly observe the actual drop he
had struck the ground close to my friend and made
such rapid progress toward the water that he escaped
_ in spite of landing nets. In a few seconds anothef,
which proved to be the last, followed, falling on the
other side of the tree, and I promptly made him cap-
tive. The first bird was in the water and had imme-
diately dived.

It is strange that he should have known enough to
seek the water, and also to dive immediately.

He could only have known which way the water was
by looking before he fell to the ground, for once on
the grassy bank it would seem impossible that he could
have seen which way to go, and he had no mother to

21

guide him by her calls as the others did, she having —
some minutes before gone out of sight and hearing.
The water of the river is exceedingly swift, yet his
swimming and diving was so strong and so expert
that in spite of the efforts of two men with pole and
paddle he leads us a chase of several hundred yards
before I finally secured him with the landing net.

Their great strength and vitality encouraged me to
think that I could rear them and add them to those
captive ducks which are being maintained by one of
the friends of our birds, in the hopes of thus learning
how to propagate them in confinement and save the
species from possible ultimate extinction.

The two young birds appeared to have quite dif-
ferent individual characters; one was tame but the
other savagely bit at me each time I tried to touch
him or offer him food. Both refused entirely to eat,
until finally on the second day I placed small parti-
cles of trout meat in the bottom of a large can of
water. This after an hour I found had disappeared
and the moist condition of the birds’ breasts told the
story that they had swam in the can and picked the
food from the bottom. The next morning, alas! both
were dead, lying on their backs, indicating that they
had not died peacefully but with a struggle, and I
fear that the fresh fish was too strong a diet for them.

It might be thought that the shock of the fall from
the tree contributed to cause their death were it not
that the old bird and her brood were observed several
days later in the mouth of one of the back waters of
the river, locally called Bogans; and also that the

22

brood of 1910 was observed by me for four days, and
it is my opinion now that they also fell on the ground
and not into the water.

There are a few bushes under the tree, but in gen-
eral the ground is covered with grass which is kept
fairly close by cattle, and is very similar in character
to that of any ordinary grazed meadow. ‘The first
bird that fell while we were under the tree struck
fairly on the smooth ground and the fall of the other
was partly broken by one of the bushes. I think it
quite certain that they had received no food up to this
time, for I had been at the Club House directly across
the river for a week and had not before seen the old
bird and if she had been feeding the young her doing
so could not have escaped my attention.

Nuttall wrote of his chasing and capturing in 1832
a young bird of this species on the Susquehanna River
not larger than a goose egg, which he described as
generally gray with a rufus head and neck and the
rudiments of a growing crest. This description was
- quoted by Audubon, and later by Baird, Brewer &
Ridgeway, yet it hardly agrees with the two I captured.
These were greyish black on the back and white below.
The little wings showed the white patch of the species
and there was a spot of white in the dark color of
each side of the body above the legs. The head
showed the rufus distinctly only around the sides of
the neck, and it was not clearly defined as to outline.
The grey of the back extended over the-top of the
head but was there slightly more brownish and I
could observe no indication of a crest.

23

INTENSIVE FIELD
OBSERVATION.

By C. William Beebe

Two questions were recently put to me, neither of
which I could answer. Nor could several well-known
fellow ornithologists to whom I propounded the same
queries. Does the male Song Sparrow assist in incu-
bation? Does the female Wood Thrush ever sing?
The answers to these and to hundreds of other prob-
lems relating to our commonest birds would be real
contributions to science, of as much value as the dis-
covery of an entirely new species, or the more or less
complete list of birds of any one locality.

The time is near at hand when the most significant
contributions to ornithology must come from careful
observation in the field. The majority of the more
recent books completely sustain this assertion. ‘Two
have recently appeared which deal respectively with
the Infancy and the Courtship of animals and another
is concerned wholly with the intensely interesting life
of the Antarctic Penguins. For further verification
one may consult Theodore Roosevelt's newly pub-
lished volumes on the “Life Histories of African
Game Animals,” especially the chapter on coloration,
while his article dealing with his South American trip
in the May Scribner’s is replete with similar senti-
ments.

We are all too apt to think that worthy scientific
discoveries can be made only in the wilderness or in
foreign countries, whereas the history of our common-

24

)
ait ‘ie |

Rigs ONE os alain ci el aa eel

BOB-WHITE
Order—GALLINA Family—ODONTOPHORIDA
Genus—Co.inus Species —VIRGINIANUS

National Association of Audubon Societies

est bird has not yet half been recorded. Mr. H. Eliot
Howard has recently completed a work on the British
Warblers which contains a multitude of remarkable
new facts and shows that the life of the most sombre
bird is full of absorbing interest.

Wherever one travels one finds the same state of
affairs. In India the Tailor-bird is the commonest in-
mate of the compounds about the bungalows. Its
wonderful nest, held between two leaves neatly
stitched together, is one of the marvels of avian archi-
tecture and may readily be found in low bushes. Yet
no man has ever seen one of these little birds at work;
we have no knowledge of the method of sewing, of
the way the fibre thread is passed in and out of the
regular rows of holes.

In gathering information in the Orient concerning
the lives of Pheasants I found that I must put definite
questions to people in order to elicit information of
value, and a set of inquiries became imperative. With
the help of a similar set formulated long ago by Mr.
Ernest Thompson Seton, I drew up the following,
which I reproduce here because I feel sure that they
will be of suggestive value in any attempt to work out
the life history of our more common American birds.

25

x

ss

10.

QUESTIONS

Concerning the Natural History
of the

Hasitrat: Is it found in dry uplands, dense woods, open
grass lands, marshes, or near water?
What reason is there for its choice of locality?
Voice oF Mare: What are its call notes, song, alarm notes,
and variations of the same?
Are they given on the ground or in trees?
Time of day; time of year?

Voice oF Fema.e: As above.

-Vorcr oF YounG: As above.

Care oF YounG: What devices do the parents use to pro-
tect the young?
Hasitrs: Does the male fight?
Time of day; time of year?
When does it feed?
Where is the heat of the day spent?
Describe its flight?
Siegnats: What sounds other than vocal are made?
Time of day and of year?
Before or after singing?
Senses: Does it rely on its eyes or ears?
Success 1n Lire: Effect of the increase of civilization on
the species?
Does it adapt itself to deforestation?
Is the species decreasing and why?
Roosts: Where does it roost; singly, in pairs, in a family or
several birds together?
Foop: Does it feed only on the ground and how?
Does the food change with time of life or time of year?

Is it fattened or affected in other noticeable ways by any
food?

26

We

13.

29.

PiumaGe: Is the colour affected by altitude or by atmo-
spheric conditions ?
When does it molt?
Do any special feathers replace the Summer plumage
of the male?
When is the adult plumage acquired ?

Martine: Describe the courtship?
Is it monogamous or polygamous?
Is it found in pairs throughout the year?

NestinG: Data as to materials and position of nest?

Eaees: Number of egss laid; time of year; variation in size
and colour?

Broops: Number each season and time of year of each?
Average number of chicks seen with parents?
How long do the chicks of the first brood remain with the
parents?
Youne: Data as to habits; plumage, food?
Comreetitors: With what other birds does it have to com-
pete for food?

Enemies: What animals, birds, reptiles or insects cause its
death?
How are these avoided or combated?

Frienps: Does it ever associate in a friendly way with
wild animals or birds, domestic creatures or mankind?

DisEasE: To what diseases is it subject?
Does it bathe or in any other way attempt to get rid of
parasites?

Micration: Is there any season or annual migration, and
for what reason?

Protection: Is it protected by law at any season?

Capture: What months is it shot and by what methods?

Uses: To what use is it put as regards flesh, feathers, ete. ?

Lrecenps: Are there any legends or superstitions about it?

Names: What are the local names for the species?
What is their etymology or evident application?
Captivity: Data in regard to birds in captivity; length of
life, breeding, ete. ?

Hysripizinc: Data regarding crossing with other birds?

27

THE NEW JERSEY AUDUBON
SOCIETY.

By Beecher S. Bowdish, Secretary

To the Somerset Hills Bird Club the New Jersey
Audubon Society sends greetings. We rejoice in the
formation and prosperity of all such organizations,
because they contribute materially to the encourage-
ment of the study of bird life and a more general
appreciation of the economic and esthetic value of
birds.

The Audubon Society was organized and incorpor-
ated in December, 1911, to take the place of the Au-
dubon Society of the State of New Jersey and to vig-
orously prosecute the work of bird protection and en-
couragement throughout the State. It now has a
total membership of more than twenty thousand, of
which more than one thousand are adult members.

The key-note of the Society’s work is education.
We cannot believe that the destruction of such a val-
uable natural asset of the State as its bird life can have |
its explanation in anything but ignorance. Quite re-
cently an Italian near Atlantic City who had shot a
song sparrow and purple finch as “game,” murderous-
ly assaulted the warden who attempted his arrest.
This was but one example of the killing of thousands
of song and insectivorous birds which takes place
throughout the State every year, because thousands
of foreigners who pour into the port of New York and
settle in the neighboring State of New Jersey have
been accustomed to regard birds as of value only to

28

the gunner and taught to believe that in this country
they will have far greater freedom to pursue their
amusement than they had at home. And foreigners
are not alone in such killing of birds. Many of our
American men and boys go out with guns and the con-
viction that anything that flies is legitimate game.

Through our published and widely circulated liter-
ature, by our Junior Audubon Classes in the schools,
by means of articles in the press and lectures in
schools, granges and public halls, we seek to spread
widely among the people of the State the knowledge
of the necessity of conserving our valuable birds. Nec-
essary, protective laws are advocated; vicious meas-
ures are vigorously opposed.

By means of our permanent educational exhibit of
the economic value of birds at Atlantic City, we have
placed before the eyes of thousands of visitors from
every part of the globe, every year, an object lesson
unique, so far as we are aware, in the history of bird
protective organizations throughout the world.

The field that this Society is endeavoring to work
is wide and important, beyond the belief of those who
have not given the matter careful study. At the pres-
ent time it is limited only by the moral and financial
support that we receive. Depending on the influ-
ence wielded by an adult membership of little more
than a thousand and on financial resources provided
by the membership dues of an even smaller number,
we are handicapped in a work that should command
the unstinted support of the whole people of the State.
Ina State as rich and intellectual as New Jersey such

29

an organization as ours should have an active member-
ship of at least ten thousand. It should be generously
endowed.

We invite investigation of this subject on the part
of the readers of the Oriole. We shall be glad to
send our Annual Report, Bulletins and other matter
to anyone requesting same. Every dollar member-
ship helps the cause by so much.

We feel confident that the time will come when
some wealthy and philanthropic individual will put an
endowment fund at the disposal of the Society, the in-
come from which will make possible the realization of
achievements far in advance of those which we have
yet attained. We only hope that such a happy con-
summation may come in time to save some of our
vanishing species and to contribute to the happiness
and welfare of the present generation.

EDITORIAL.

Bird-protectionists are not such severe and prohib-
iting characters as they may seem to their adversaries. -
We wish to allow all the privileges we can to the
Sportsmen, the Milliners, the Oologists and those who
kill birds in the name of science. We are not against
their business; we are not against their conducting
that business. Only—birds and their preservation
come first to us.

All we wish to succeed in is the modification of such
business to a basis where it does not become an actual
total destructive bird force; 1. e., where the destruction
so caused is not more than the increase beyond a fair

30

average—an average which is beneficial to the species
itself; where the result is not destructive. Of course
singly, they cannot be considered, but as a whole, the
whole amount caused by the destructive forces versus
the natural or naturally caused increase. Where the
increase beyond the standard which I have spoken of
is less than the total destruction, as is the case with
regard to most species at the present time; then the
destructive force which is greatest and yet also least
useful in other ways—this force should be reduced,
at least temporarily.

This is not a question which can be settled and
adjusted once and for all time. It is a matter re-
quiring careful attention, careful consideration and
a carefully drawn conclusion and basis for control.
Modification, not abolition, is what we are fighting
for. No one cause is to blame for the present lament-
able rarity of wild-life; but together the result of the
various destructive forces is appaling.

The Somerset Hills Bird Club is greatly indebted
to the National Association of Audubon Societies,
through the General Secretary, Mr. 'T. Gilbert Pear-
son, for the use of the colored plates of the Oriole
(cover), the Red-winged Blackbird, the House Wren
and the Bob White.

31

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE I. Name.

The name of this organization shall be the “Somerset Hills

Bird Club.”

Articte II. Objects.

The objects of this club shall be: To protect and study birds,
and to increase the interest thereof chiefly in the Somerset Hills.

ArticLE III. Amendments.

Amendments to this constitution may be made by a two-thirds
vote of the members present at any regular or called meeting of
the society, provided a notice of such change shall be mailed to
all active members five days prior to date of said meeting.

BY-LAWS.

ArTICLE I. Membership.

There shall be four classes of members, who shall be known
as: Patrons, Life Members, Associate Members and Active
Members.

Any person may become a Patron upon payment of twenty-five
dollars at one time.

Any person may become a Life Member upon payment of ten
dollars at one time.

Any person may become an Associate Member upon payment
of one dollar and fifty cents annually.

Active Members shall pay one dollar and fifty cents annually
and shall have all rights of membership except that of voting on
new members of the club or any other of its affairs.

Failure to pay dues within four months after they become due
shall cancel membership.

32

ArticLE II. Trustees.

A Board of Trustees shall be elected from the Active Mem-
bers consisting of ten members to have full power of all the affairs
of the club, elect its members, officers, have the right to increase
the membership of their own body, etc.

ArticLEe III. Officers.

The officers of the club shall consist of a President, two Vice-
Presidents (a boy and a girl), a Secretary and a Treasurer, who
shall be elected by a majority vote of the Trustees. Their term
of office shall be one year.

Honorary Vice-Presidents not to exceed ten in number may be
elected.

The President shall preside at all the meetings of the club,
shall execute all agreements of every nature and shall perform
all the usual duties incidental to the office of President.

The Vice-Presidents shall act in the place of the President
in his absence.

The Treasurer shall receive all dues and fees and shall have
the custody of all moneys and books of account belonging to the
club and shall make a full financial statement of the affairs of the
club at the meetings.

The Secretary shall keep a record of all meetings and pro-
ceedings of the club; shall conduct the correspondence of the
club, shall give legal notice of all meetings and shall perform
such other duties as belong to the office.

ArticLte IV. New Members.
New Active Members may be elected by a majority vote of the
Trustees at any regular or called meting.
ARTICLE V.

Quorum for business at a meeting of the Trustees shall be five.

The Board of Trustees may appoint committees to report on

desired subjects.

Lectures shall be given as often as is determined by the

Trustees.

33

ArticLte VI. Meetings.

The regular meetings of the Society shall be held during the
last week of June, July, August and September.

Notice of such meetings must be sent to each member five days
in advance of the date of said meeting. Special meetings may be
called upon a day’s notice by the President, or upon request of
any five Trustees.

ArtTIcLE VII.

After the regular order of business at a meeting, viz; roll-
call, reading minutes of last meeting, election of new members,
and miscellaneous business shall come “Items of Interest,” when
each member shall be requested by the President for a few mo-

ments talk.
ArticLe VIII.

The club shall publish a paper, entitled “The Oriole,” on the
first of June and August. It shall be sent free to Patrons, Life,
Associate and Active Members and Honorary Vice-Presidents.
The Editor of this paper shall be elected at the same time and in
the same manner as the officers of the club. The Editor has the
privilege of appointing two Associate Editors.

No Active Members may hold more than one office at the same
time except the editorship of “The Oriole.”

Three copies of “The Oriole’ shall be sent free to all those
who have contributed articles to it. =

Subscriber’s dues to “The Oriole” are $1.50 per year.
ArticLte IX. Amendments.

These By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those

present at any regular or called meeting of the club.

34

Valen

ae The
ses

9