Page:Bird-lore Vol 08.djvu/173

 Notes from Field and Study i37 and fallen to earth exhausted. This theory complies well with the weather conditions. There was a northeast breeze driving in a fog from the ocean, and, whenever the fog lifted, hurrying clouds could be seen passing across the sky." This little incident took place near Mil- ton Hill, in eastern Massachusetts, at a point about four miles from the nearest sea- shore. Before releasing my chance captive, I determined to study him for a time. I therefore made a cage of fine wire, large enough to hold a pan of water and a little forest of ferns. The bird seemed happy in his new quar- ters, but the food question was at first a difficult problem. Knowing that his rela- tive, the sora, was very fond of wild rice, I tried him on cooking rice, but this he refused to eat. While I was watching him, however, he solved the question for me. Peeping timidly about the ferns, he saw a little insect on the under side of a leaf, and quickly snatched it. He was insectivorous! I went out to the garden and got some in- sects and worms; a few of these I dropped into his cage. The result was gratifying in the extreme; he rushed at them and, taking a large worm by one end, he quickly ate it. Two or three more worms followed, and, as each was taken as eagerly as the first, I emptied my can into the cage. By keeping him in a corner until all the worms had hidden, I made him hunt for his food in his natural manner. He lived in good health for three days, but on the fourth he died, after eating sev- eral hard bugs. It seems very probable that these were the cause of his death. During his period of captivity he only twice made any sound; both these times it was a hoarse cra-a-a, made when angry and frightened. I several times saw him run through the ferns a few inches from the ground, by grasping the stalks on right and left. He was always very stealthy in his actions, and to see him peering about among the green ferns, with his frightened red eyes, was indeed singular. He often flew around the cage, and at these times his flight was fluttering and as silent as that of a butterfly. He was a very attractive pet and, if he had only lived longer, some very interesting facts concerning this little-known species might have been discovered. — Stanley Cobb, Milton, Mass. Martins and English Sparrows While traveling in northern Minnesota during July and August, 1905, I noticed how common a practice it was with the farmers to put up boxes for the Martins, and all these seemed to be occupied. I questioned one man about his colony of Martins, and he told me he thought he must have thirty now (this was after the young had left the nest), but he came near losing them in the spring. A flock of about a dozen English Sparrows arrived about the time the Martins had commenced to build and started to drive them out, but he shot four or five and the rest disappeared. He said they were the first he had seen in this section of the country. I also found, at a house about two miles distant from this man's, that a smaller flock of Martins had been driven from a large house to a much smaller one near it by two pairs of English Sparrows which I saw nest- ing in the larger box. This man also said that these were the first English Sparrows he had seen in the country, although he had seen them at the nearest railroad station, which was thirty miles distant. This only helps to show in a small way how the English Sparrow is advancing from the large cities into the sparsely settled sec- tions of the country and its effect upon our native birds. — A. W. Honywill, New Haven, Conn. Do Snakes Charm Birds? In my reading on venomous snakes I again and again noticed the statement that snakes could charm birds. This summer I decided to look into this matter more fully and try and find a solution more satisfactory to myself if possible. I caught a young Cat- bird which had left the nest, and put it in a cage. I took a position near the cage and remained perfectly quiet, but did not try