DEATH STALKS THE FEEDERS: by Neil Bennett ‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     One day we watched a crow trap a Mourning Dove in a feeder. This is a pivoting feeder with closed ends, 
     
     one opening with glass opposite, equipped with wind vanes which keep the opening a lee. The crow grabbed the 
     
     dove and carried it to the top of a tall spruce. Afier a few minutes both proceeded to the ground, one gracefully, one 
     
     plummeting. The crow proceeded to leisurely consume the dove on our back lawn. 
     
    

    
     We had attributed feathers near the feeder to predators, assuming Merlin, certainly we had watched the 
     
     Merlin attempt capture. This was our first viewing of a crow attack. 
     
    

    
     On another occasion a large hawk flew by the sun room window. Later we found a Mourning Dove, 
     
     seemingly stunned in fiont of the garage door. We moved it aside to give it time to recover. Upon returning from 
     
     cross country skiing, we observed said hawk carrying off the dove. 
     
    

    
     SeVeral days later the hawk made  
     
    
   
   
    
     [Editor's Note: Sally Bennett forwarded this article afier Neil's death. Perhaps it was fate that the ending was 
     
     missing] 
     
    
   
   
    
     BULLOCK'S ORIOLE REPORTED: by Ray Cooke 
     
    
   
   
    
     Eric Marcum originally identified this bird, a first confirmed 
     
     record for the Island. Afier he had told me, I managed to see the 
     
     bird on December 10, 1999. When he told me about this sighting, I 
     
     hoped to try and see the bird to confirm its identity, and to get some 
     
     pictures that would ensure confirmation as a new Island record. 
     
     When I arrived in St. Peter's the bird was very quickly located on the 
     
     North side of St. Peters Bay at the feeders he indicated. It was a 
     
     slim, long tailed bird with a sharply pointed thin beak. At one time, 
     
     it was perched beside an Evening Grosbeak and the slim build stood 
     
     out at that time, with the overall length not that different from the 
     
     Grosbeak. The bird was a dirty green, olive coloration over its back 
     
     parts. The belly was primarily white with a yellow color to the 
     
     upper breast and throat as well as the undertail coverts and the 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     underside of the tail feathers. Two obvious white wing bars were u v ’9 
     
     readily visible. The upper wing bar had dark markings protruding B uUOCk 8 race 
     
     into the wing bar and they corresponded to the “teeth” mentioned in male 
     
    
   
   
    
     the National Geographic field guide, third edition. A very obvious 
     
     eye line extended from well back on the birds head to the base of its 
     
     beak, and above this eye line was an area of light coloration that 
     
     contrasted with the eye line as well as the darker head color. This 
     
     was quite prominent under direct vision and showed up well in the 
     
     photographs that were done. The identification of the bird as an 
     
     oriole was straightforward but was it a Baltimore Oriole or a 
     
     Bullock’s Oriole? 
     
    

    
     The bird had such a prominent eye line and supercilium, that it did not seem to be in Baltimore Oriole. The 
     
     white area covering its underbelly, and the yellow areas of its throat and undertail area also seems to fit for the bird 
     
     not being a Baltimore Oriole. The " teeth " of dark feathers protruding into the scapular markings were quite 
     
     obvious and were demonstrated on some of the photos taken. The bird did not vocalize so this could not be used as