Notes from Field and Study 209 birds, a small two-inch telescope. This glass was intended for mountain climbing, and was fitted with a strap for carrying over the back, and I expected to use it for this purpose, but found, to my surprise and delight, that it was invaluable for the obser- vation and certain identification of distant bird life. Many birds are in the habit of perching, and remaining for little periods of time, on tall tree-tops; and, by resting the glass on the nearest stump or fence, it proved a most practical instrument for observing them. In the three short weeks of my vacation, I accurately distinguished 66 varieties, which, for the period of the year (August) and the well-known scarcity of birds in this region, seemed quite remarkable. A very pleasant feature was what might be called the naturalness of the bird action revealed. Owing to distance, they would pay little or no attention to my presence, and many pleasant pictures resulted, — a small flock of Grouse rolling in the dust of the roadway; an Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker hammering on a far distant tree; a large Hawk, pluming himself and even yawning as if he was tired and sleepy; a Ring-billed Gull, a vision of dazzling white; an Indigo Bird, standing sentinel on the top of a tall tree, in the midst of an old field, his nest probably near by, and a family of Purple Finches. Pine Siskins were numerous, but extremely shy, flying rapidly in small flocks, and alighting only in far distant trees, quite indistinguishable with the ordinary field- glass. The Cedar Waxwing, at this time of year, is much given to the tall-tree habit, flying high and rapidly, in small flocks of three or four, and hardly seemed the bird of our orchards we know so well. A Tufted Titmouse was the most unlooked for and unexpected find, while Kingbirds proved common around Buttermilk Falls and the Racquette river. I had hitherto thought of this bird only as one of pasture and farm, and to find him at home, in num- bers, along this lonely mountain stream, was quite unlooked for and unexpected. Occasionally, small flocks of Warblers and Vireos would appear, apparently begin- ning their fall migration, the natty and beautiful Black-throated Blue being quite common among them . I counted nine species atone resting-place, including. Chickadees and Winter Wrens. Yet bird life here is not abundant. The woods seem strangely silent, and to the or- dinary observer it must seem, what we so frequently hear them say, that "there are no birds in the woods." The hunter and the "boy with the gun" are the curse of this country, to the nature- lover. Where formerly the Fish Hawk and the Bald Eagle, and what we might call the natural wild life of the forest lake, and stream — the Herons, Kingfishers, Ducks, Loons and Gulls — were abundant, they have now nearly disappeared. Years ago, we could watch this wild life from the hotel piazza, but now not even the croak of the bullfrog can be heard; all have nearly or quite disappeared, a sacrifice to the craze to kill.— Wm. M. Stillman, Plainfield, N. J. Remarkable Flight of Red-breasted Nut- hatches During a vacation spent on Fire Island Beach, New York, in September, a remark- able migration of these birds was observed. Point o' Woods is a cottage settlement, on the barrier beach, at this point about one thousand feet wide, between the ocean and Great South Bay, which is here eight miles wide. The soil is sand-covered with a rank growth of weeds of various kinds, low bushes, scrub-oaks and small pines. On the night of September 20, it was very damp, with a moderate southwest wind and a num- ber of showers. On the morning of the 21st the wind still continued southwest, very moderate, with a temperature of seventy-four degrees at seven a. m. During the night there must have been a great flight of Red- breasted Nuthatches, for they were seen on the morning of ; the 21st in large numbers. They remained all that day, although there seemed to be a steady movement to the west, which here is the autumn direction of mi- gration. During the night of the 21st, we had more showers, and on the 22d, the wind was strong southeast, with some rain. There
