Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Evening Grosbeak at Montreal

1890; Oxford University Press; Volume: 7; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/4067532

1938-4254

Art, Politics, and Modernism

I have, I presume, some 3000 individuals in the pond.I first observed this evidence of destruction early in May last, and it was not until late in July that I detected the cause of it.Large flocks of Quéscalus g. eneus make their home annually from early spring till late every fall, in the pine, spruce and hemlock groves which belong to my grounds; as I do not raise cereals, and devote my land to fruit culture, I regard these birds as the most valuable of their kind to me, and never have permitted them to be shot at or disturbed on my premises.Going down to my pond, as usual, in quest of Kingfishers, I happened to take notice of a Crow Blackbird in the act of striking quickly with its bill into the water at the edge of the bank.Wondering what it found there for food, I cautiously approached, sneaking behind the shelter of an evergreen and bed of flowering shrubs.This bird had struck a small goldfish as it came up to the water's edge-struck it in the centre of its head with the sharp point of its bill.This blow only stunned the fish, but rendered it unable to dart away, although it could still squirm and wriggle; the Blackbird was earnestly trying to land its prey by repeatedly striking the fish so as to get a beak hold, which it finally did after many failures.Catching sight of me, it at once flew away, leaving the writhing and mortally wounded victim upon the earth.The mystery of that peculiar destruction of my goldfish was thus solved.The habit of goldfish whereby they suck and bore at and into the grassy and mossy edges of a pond as they feed, renders them a comparatively shining mark for Quéscalus.-