. The birds about us . ore patient and intentin obtaining its fare. Like the Woodpeckers, it is content to searchover the same place for a considerable length of time ; the mechanismof its bill seems well provided for this purpose, and it is often seenin this way turning over stones and pebbles from side to side in searchof various worms and insects.—Nuttall. It is said that they make entertaining pets, andthrive very well under what must be very changedconditions for them. The Oyster-catcher, which TurnbuU says, in his Birds of East Pennsylvania, is also called the Flood-gull, is recorded as
. The birds about us . ore patient and intentin obtaining its fare. Like the Woodpeckers, it is content to searchover the same place for a considerable length of time ; the mechanismof its bill seems well provided for this purpose, and it is often seenin this way turning over stones and pebbles from side to side in searchof various worms and insects.—Nuttall. It is said that they make entertaining pets, andthrive very well under what must be very changedconditions for them. The Oyster-catcher, which TurnbuU says, in his Birds of East Pennsylvania, is also called the Flood-gull, is recorded as rather scarce. Itcertainly varies in respect to numbers from year toyear, and probably in the Middle States has perma- 2i6 The Birds About Us. nently ceased to be other than a rare bird. Thereare few people to be met with now along shore whocan recall these birds as occurring in any considerablenumbers, although they profess to know them. Nut-tails statement of their being common in NewJersey is no longer Herons, Rails. Etc. 217 CHAPTER XI. HERONS, RAILS, ETC. IT was as far back as 1851 or 1852 that I over-heard the remark that there was a freshet on themeadows and many strange birds about. My curios-ity was excited, for I had been taken to the meadowsand seen them under all their summer aspects. Butwhat of this wide reach of lowlands now with afreshet on them? It had recently been raining,that I knew; but the fields were dry and all aboutseemed just as usual, but fresher after the continuousdownpour that for three days had kept me house-bound. I was beginning to feel abundant self-confi-dence, and longed to be in some measure my ownmaster. I asked no questions, but early in the morn-ing stole off to the wonderful meadows. As I ap-proached I saw no change, but directly after per-ceived that familiar pastures were glittering withwater. I kept upon the higher ground and followeda path leading to the creek. It was all so strange,and in the brilliant sunshine of a Ju
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1895
