Dear Birders

I have had such a large response about the letter I put in about my
Great-Aunt May, that I feel obliged to provide additional sagas into
birding in the days of yore. For those new chatters, Aunt May is the
wonderful person who got me started birding in life. This story involves
the rivalry between my aunt and her arch-birding-competitor Nettie James.
This is a long and involved, but very funny story. Check out now if you
are not interested!!

First some background information. My aunt, Mavis Craig was born in 1882
in Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. She was the oldest of three
children and her mother (my Great Grandmother) was Myra Jane White also of
Pittsfield. Aunt May had this giant Bible that traced the White lineage
back to the Mayflower's Peregrine White. I have noticed over the years
that almost every White in Massachusetts has this same lineage in their
own giant Bible, so I donUt know if these claims are really true. Anyway
soon after her birth, her family moved to Mayfield in Fulton County, New
York. Soon afterward my grandfather, Frank was born and then the youngest
Harry.

She began birding at a young age and my grandfather and her wandered the
Adirondacks making many notes and interesting expeditions. She was a very
tall and slender woman, and according to my grandfather she could keep up
with the best of them in the forest. She and my grandfather use to always
fight because she was deadset against hunting. And of course my
grandfather according to his claims was Buffalo Bill's best friend and
hunting partner in these parts (actually I finally learned that my
grandfather was once in a hunting party of 30 people hunting with Bill
Cody in Maine and thus the stories have flowed ever since from him and no
doubtless from the other 29). She once secretly buried, WITH FULL
CHRISTIAN RITES, 11 ruffed grouse and 2 woodcock which my grandfather and
his mates intended to eat, later that night. They were never seen again!

She married Day Herrick when she was 25 (yes thats right May and Day).
She was president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and he used to
sell apple jack and switchel which he made and stored in the basement.
But they got on famously. Uncle Day saw the entire extended family made
it through the Depression (according to my grandfather from liquor sales
and other sundry activities).

Around 1900, along with some women in Gloversville, Johnstown, Amsterdam,
St Johnsville and Canajoharie she founded an informal birding group for
Fulton and Montgomery Cos. They eventually affiliated themselves with
groups/friends in Albany, Pittsfield and Boston. They began to go on
outings all over the southern Adirondacks. Her favourite birds were
Canada Jays and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. She and Day had a nice cabin in
the deeper Adirondacks in Hamilton County. The entire cabin was
surrounded by innovative bird feeders most made by my grandfather who was
the family carpenter.

After the WWI, (my grandfather was in France where he took care of the
mule teams--he always said that growing up with May gave him deep insights
into dealing with mules!), Day got one of Mayfield's first motor cars
opening up the entire Northeast to May's birding aspirations. Day hated
birds but loved my aunt, so she always got her way!! I have photo albums
full of May and Day off on another birding trip in their fancy cars (Day
liked his cars as much as his switchel). She kept quite detailed accounts
of all her trips and they are very fascinating to go over.

Now May was one of these birders who not only knew every bird by sight but
could imitate any bird noise or song quite perfectly. Of course, this
made her quite famous at parties. My grandfather always told the story of
the fishing trip where May decided to make night heron noises one evening
and ended up scaring my grandmother to death. She was renown in many
parts for standing on the street making outlandish noises, twitters and
such. But never in my life have I ever met anybody who could imitate as
good as she could--she could put a mockingbird to shame.

Now its about this time 192? that the James moved to Mayfield. My aunt
had always been the supreme birder in those parts and wasn't one to
tolerate competition. But alas Nettie James was to become a rival
unequalled in the annals of birding history. My introduction to Nettie
was some 50 years later when, while walking down the road, My aunt grasped my
shoulder in a most strong fashion and said to my ear in her prim way--
'That's her, that's the woman who cheats on her bird list.' Now my aunt
was a tolerant woman, but she had an 11th commandment: 'Thou shalt not
cheat on thy birdlist'. Especially when the alleged cheating results in
breaking the myriad records that my aunt first set.

Now Nettie had several strikes against her from the beginning. Not only
did she alledgedly cheat on her bird lists, but she was a committee woman
for the Republican Party and, oh God no, a Methodist. In Mayfield there
are two churches Presbytarian and Methodist, and you were either one or
the other. No Balkan conflict was ever as ruthless as the annual Mayfield
picnic and sack-race, softball competition pitting Methodist against
Presbytarian. My aunt also had the proud distinction (or so she said) of
being the only democrat in all of the Adirondacks. She would joke
about what is the most endangered species in Fulton County--(A Red-Blooded
Democrat). She claimed her vote made up a full 1/2 of all votes recieved
by McGovern in Mayfield in 1972.

Now it seemed that Nettie set off the first salvo by claiming in 1924 that
she saw a Rose Breasted Grosbeak on February 10, a full three weeks before
my aunt's first record set in 1912. Since this was my aunts favourite
bird, this hit particularly hard. My aunt looked long and hard for that
early grosbeak and never saw it. Thus the die was cast. Nettie then began to
see more rose-breasted grosbeaks and other such rare and untimely birds as
the years went on. In the winter of 29, Nettie supposedly saw Fulton
County's first Northern Hawk Owl, a species which my Aunt May had never
seen. My aunt dragged my Uncle up to Quebec the following year because
she couldn't stand the thought that Nettie saw something she hadnUt. Two
weeks in Quebec and she finally found a Hawk Owl outside of Shawinigan,
Quebec. Uncle Day went on and on about getting bitten by every mosquito
in Canada looking for that God foresaken bird.

Anyway sometime during these events, my aunt started lecturing on the
morals of the 11th Commandment (not cheating on birdlists) at every bird
club meeting (She always joked that the Methodists had conspired to
remove this one from Moses's original version). On and on it went through
the years! Needless to say Rose-breasted Grosbeaks began coming earlier
and earlier every year!

I had my own experience with this rivalry in 1973. I had never seen a
Yellow-breasted Chat (the Adirondacks are a bit north of mainstream chat
territory but occured, according to my aunt, on odd occasions). I asked
at a meeting if anybody had seen any in their trips south (Catskills
etc.). Nobody had seen one until Nettie piped up that she had three in
her garden only yesterday. My aunt couldn't take it any more. In a
sarchastic voice that all could hear, she said--'Oh great, next month she
is going to have New York's first ostrich sighting'. My aunt who was
usually fairly reserved in meetings took everybody by surprise and nobody
knew whether to laugh or not. Anyway I fell off my chair and there were
several loud snickers. When the group did a field trip to the Natural
History Museum in New York City later that year, my aunt told me to guard
the ostrich in case it disappeared and later reappeared in a photograph in
her garden.

My aunt always got her own revenge. Harry, her youngest brother, had
gotten into Fulton Co politics and was considered a local bigwig. May
always invited his wife Eleanor to the birding meetings. Now Eleanor made
the best pie filling that you ever tasted but her pie crust was somewhere
between lead and cement. My grandfather used to say it took a 100 hp
chainsaw just to cut it. My aunt always insisted that Eleanor bring her
lovely pie to the meetings. My aunt used to hack out a particularly large
piece for Nettie and say, 'There Nettie, have a nice piece of Eleanor's
pie.' Nettie could hardly refuse with Eleanor standing there. May always
took great relish in watching Nettie try to make it through a piece (No
easy task). Such are the things that birding meetings are made of.

Anyway I have gone on too long-- by the way, of all my 3,500 species I
have yet to see a Yellow Breasted Chat. I will be returning to North
America later this year. I will do anything (and I mean it) to finally
see one of these darn things--WHERE DO YOU GO?


See you later

Kevin

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Dr. Kevin Vang: School of Earth Sciences or the School of History,
Philosophy and Politics, The Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2019,
AUSTRALIA

Director, Environment and Development Group International, 64/302 Burns Bay Rd
Lane Cove, NSW 2066 AUSTRALIA Email <kvang at laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au>

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