Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1911-05-27
The QUAIL TRAP
Brown Partridge Scores Again F1ycatchers and Quail
Traps-Aunt Kezias Pets-Her Birds, Spiders and
Destruction of Grouse-Roadside Census and
Cabinet Afeld.

hand over Eand, four pound sucker!
A tw Give ounce trout dropped from my
hook into the edge of the water and my
partner, with amazing dexterity, jump
cd over it into the middle OF the stream
and the frightened fish jumped two feet
out of water on to dry land.
A devoted worshippsr at Natures
shrine was Aunt Ksxia, who lived not
far from the Quail Trap. A companion
in many of nay early rambles, sire
showed me where to get the best arbu-
tus, checkerberries and b1ackcaps, and
and spicy roots for her famous small
beer. She kept me from shooting small
game and held back my pflferfng nm
gers from the nests of many a bird OF
the Wildwood She retrieved a brace
OF wounded quail shot by city men,
and. as she tenderly stroked the bloody
plun,age, gave the gunners lecture on
"killing Gods innocent creatures"
which they never forgot. For two days
trar,ped the white birch and maple
parrot, and was rewarded by falling
into a ceep 1itt1e-known spring filled
with egflt ounce trout. She had
house filled with strange pets and IL
lowed nothing killed on her premises.
She fed her waif cats four times
ddy SO t40y WOulQ UOl iIlOlSSt liz PCT
rats, no spiders webs must be swept
away, AMI I can recall my first shud-
ders at the great "sure DEATH golden
sriders. A pet black snake and
weasel got into the partitions and har-
riei the rats. Kezia would not let us
interfere, and while at the supper table
we would hear overhead piercing
squeaI or horrid "whop' as serpent or
bioodsuokel got in their deadly work
A huckIeberry party at Mt. Misery,
guided by Aunt kexia, was busily fill
ing pals. when an eleven-rattled pine
barren snake disputed our right OF
way. A schooner captain, who had
boldly faced storms at sea, turned
pale and actually veu.ited at the odor
Of the crotalus horridus, but, recov-
ering from his funk. killed the snake
with a club. dragged it home with
string and hung it outside the house
Aunt Kezia forgave the captain for
killing the first diamond-back, but
would not let us kill another monster
that in the night had followed the
track of it's dead mate a mile through
the woods. A pet dog in the family,
bitten by rattler. was buried in the
ground over night. and recovered. A
pet rattlesnake. kept in a barrel by
Aunt Kezia, was given for exhibition
to- an old city billposter, named Major
Dunton While being fed his snake
key saved his life then, the Major said
that on the anniversary of the bite
the bitten arm would swell, turn black,
and give intense pain which whiskey
alone would alleviate. These are not
fish stories, but snake stories, and tr.v.
The canaries, cats, rodents, and other
pets, found less loving keepers when
our Aunt Kezia, who was light as this
tledcwn, blew. away. carrying with her
the secret of the excellent tea she
made. resembling English breakfast,
from plants she gathered in June near
the Mt. Misery cedar swamp.
A 1911 avian census would show en-
couraging gains, but for the forest
fires which are far more destructive
to bird-life in spring than fall. Does
it occur to you how appalling the loss
in breeding ruffed grouse alone must
be? For two nights and three days
we could see from our hill the flame
and smoke of the Douglas burning
woods and outlying tracts. The sitting
hem grouse would not leave their nests
till the last moment, and never desert
the tiny chicks, so, allowing a conserv-
alive count of one old bird to five
would mean two thousand burned
mother grouse, not reckoning the
chicks. The loss IN small ground
builders like chewink and oven-bird
would also be very large. A fire fight
er from Putnam told me that he saw
a hawks nest, thirty feet high. take
flame, and. through rift in the
smoke, was seen to be ball of flame.
While looking after our breeding part
ridges on the 22d. Mrs. R. found a
snow white lady's slipper. which we
left till other seasons shall determine
whether it is a freak albino or sport
which may again appear in this ex-
tremely rara dress
BY long drives carly in the morning
and walks in the woods towards night
with eyes and ears open, We find that
hummers preceded kingbirds two days
here, and that cuckooS came on the
crest of the torrid wave last week !;
that house wrens are very few in num-
Der. and orchard orioles, great crested
flycatcherS. and veeryS are rare in this
neighborhood. Orioles, tanagers, gros-
beaks, thrashers, robins and bluebirds
more than hold their own kingbirds
show decided increase, and Il never
saw bobolinks so plenty is common
remark by observers this season. On
the 22d, after trying in vain for an
hour to disentangle a hanging string,
weed canes and. peeling off long strips
of the gray fiber wrapping, deftly
wove them into ner exquisite cradle
A farmer in Woodstock, angry because
a few hills of corn had been disturbed
went through a long range of meadows
on a Sunday and broke up all the red
wings nesting in his vicinity. / once
said to group of farmers that
would pay for every chick and fowl
carried away from their farms by the
three large buteous, but wisely hedged
on the accipters, as both coopers and
sharpshinned got in their fine work as
soon as the hawklets appeared-one
farmer losing 80 chicks; one cooper
lost a tail and leg by squirrel shot
but the raids continue. / have been
asked by farmers to show them my
buteos' nests, but declined as it would
mean four old females shot from brush
houses and over dozen young hawks
left to die by slow starvation.
The egg drill and blow-pipe are rus
ty souvenirs of a bygone fad in many
places, but if q ruthless collector had
followed me for the last few seasons
he could have made a fair collection
from the sets, some largely duplicated
recorded in my field notes: Barred
and great horned owls; red tailed, rec
shouldered, broad winged, cooper
sharpshinned, sparrow and marsh
hawks; woodcock, quail. grouse ano
Monaghan pheasant; bittern, heron
and Carolina rail; crested fIycatcher
nuthatch. and redheaded woodpecker:
hummer and yellow throated vireo
Louisiana water thrush and black
tnroated blue warbler. c. L. r.