Walter Deane (1848-1930) Papers; Journal Jan-June 1900. Botany Libraries, Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, Mass.

5 Drive to Brookline, Mass. 1890 Feb. 16

The afternoon was clear and cool, the ground entirely bare of snow as has been the case all winter with the exception of a very few days. At 2 P.M. Will and I drove over to Miss Blanch Kendall's, Brookline to see a little bird that has been wintering there and was thought to be a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Miss Kendall & her sister welcomed us and we sat in the parlor for some time watching the two lumps of suet hanging on the porch. The birds are numerous and tame. Continous woods and groves keep them. We did not see the strange bird, out from Miss Kendall's description. Will thinks it is an Orange-crowned Warbler, a hardy bird that has wintered here before. It is uncommon at best. Mr. Kennard has seen the bird and he says it is not a Kinglet. We saw two Red-breasted & some White-breasted Nuthatch feeding in the suet, beside several Chickadees. The latter are very tame, and I took some broken bits of nut in my hand, and went out to the piazza and held out my hand. Immediately a Chickadee fly down from the vine, and alighted on my hand, and feed. It was a pretty sight to see the trusting little bird and to feel the pressure of its little claws.

We returned home by 5 P.M.

6 Sportman's Show. Boston, Mass. 1900 Feb. 21 to Mar. 10

I have been to the Sportsman's Show three times already, Feb. 22, Feb. 27 & Feb. 28 and I have been so intensely interested and instructed that I shall record a few facts relating to it.

The Show is under the auspices and personal management of the Massachusetts Sportsmen's Association and is held in the Mechanics Building, Boston from Feb. 21 to Mar. 10 — The exhibition consists of exhibits of living wild animals and fowl of North America, taxidermists' displays, camps fitted out naturally as in the woods, and in the large hall, aquatic and athletic exercises of various kinds. I spent all my time mainly among the live animals, and displays of taxidermy.

First I shall describe the games birds mainly Ducks & Geese, which was truly fine. A trough, four feet wide, and eight or ten inches deep, raised about three feet from the floor runs for a distance of some one hundred feet. This trough is almost full of pure running water gushing in through pipes at each end and running off some where in the centre. On either side of the trough a sloping bank three feet in width and covered with soil, afford a landing place. The whole is enclosed by wire netting, while at intervals of ten feet on an average, strips of wire netting divided the long interior into compartments. Thus there is a constant circulation of water throughout the whole.

7 1900 Feb.21 to Mar.10 (2)

In the first compartment as you enter the building is a flock of noisy Teal, some fifty in number. They are as dainty little creatures as I ever saw, darting about hither and thither and uttering their odd sharp notes, a sort of whistle, while I heard some of them at times distinctly quack. There are three species, the European Green-winged Teal (Nettion crecca) distinguished from our species by the absence of the white bar in part of the wing. The male is a very beautiful little creature, the deep rufous and green on the head forming a vivid contrast. The next species is the Blue-winged Teal (Querquedula discors), more modest in color than the former, but none the less attractive. The broad white marks on the head form a conspicuous mark. The female of these two species are very modest in coloration and very similar in appearance when the wings are hidden by the body feathers, hiding the colors, but the Blue-winged is considerably larger than the Green-winged. The third species is the Garganey of Europe, a kind of teal (Querquedula circia). It's general color is brown, but a white stripe runs over the eye and curves down on the side of the head. The female or immature bave the same stripe of a much duller hue. Some Teal were alseep on the water shore with head buried in the feathers of the back. Others were swimming or running about in every direction

8 1900 Feb. 21 to Mar. 10 (3)

In the next enclosure are four species. There is a solitary Coot or Blue Peter as he was labelled. His white bill and broad webbed toes, the webs or lobes not connecting the toes are marked characteristics. Once I saw him asleep. He stood on one leg with the other drawn up out of sight, while his head and upper neck were buried under the feathers on the side of the back just above the base of the wing. He was a singular looking individual. It is Fulica americana.

In this same pen there are some pure white and some brown Ducks called White and Gray Call Ducks (Toy). I take it that they are merely domesticated birds.

Next comes a flock of Mallards, exquisite creatures, the males resplendent with glossy green heads, white ring, about the neck and beautiful markings on the sides. The females, white modest in appearance, are a fine looking birds with the white bordered green speculum of the males. Anas boschas is a near relative to the Black Duck.

Anas obscura that occupy another large compartment. There are about thirty birds in the flock and I should think they had been picked up from Fresh Pond where I have so often seen them and transferred to this scene. Their quacking has a very familiar sound.

9 1900 Feb. 21 to Mar. 10 (4)

The most remarkable exhibit of Ducks is the Mandarin (Aix galericulata) of China and Japan, and they certainly look as if they had been taken out of a Chinese or Japanese print. The males are very gaudy in character and coloration of plumage. One sees at a glance that they are a very exagerated Wood Duck, and indeed, the Mandarin and the Wood Duck are the only two representatives of the genus Aix. The male has a very copious crest of head feathers, flat on top with sharp right angles at the sides, which are snowy white, and below that, feathers the color of old gold flow over the sides of the neck. The most remarkable feature of all consists of the inner feather of the inner primary of each wing. The outer web of this primary is narrow and green but the inner web is about two inches wide, and of a rich rufous hue. Owing to the bending of the shaft of this feather these two webs meet over the back along their inner edge, forming a roof as it were over a portion of the back. The effect is very strange and I was at first much puzzled to know where these remarkable feathers belonged. The whole bird is a mixture of brilliant colors from its head to its feet of which the toes are yellow, and the webs black. This