Chapter M: O. W

The So-called Sparrow War in Boston

In the month of March, 1898, a committee organized by the American Society of Bird Restorers presented to the Mayor of Boston in person the following petition, signed by a host of representative Bostonians:

"_To Hon. Josiah Quincy, Mayor of Boston._

"The undersigned petitioners hereby respectfully represent that the presence in Boston of hosts of the noxious imported Finch, known as the English Sparrow, has come to be a public nuisance, general expense and serious esthetic injury, imperatively calling for prompt municipal abatement.

"Your petitioners would, therefore, most earnestly request that, as the Chief Executive Officer of the city, you direct the immediate reduction and suppression of this pest in such places (instancing the Common and, conditionally, the cemeteries of Boston) as may now be under, or may with this purpose in view be brought under, municipal control."

Under the law of 1890, the Mayor proceeded at once to take such measures as seemed advisable for clearing the Common, Public Garden, and city squares, of the Sparrow pest.

The work was done under the general oversight of the Committee on the English Sparrow, of which Mr. Fletcher Osgood, manager and organizer of the Bird Restorers, was and is the chairman. Five men, with Foreman Kennedy, proceeded to clear English Sparrow nests from the Common, by removing them from orifices in the trees, from openings in the Sanitary Building, and from electric hoods. The nest-boxes, put up years ago by misguided persons to accommodate the English Sparrow were all removed, and the Sanitary Building on the Public Garden was cleared.

In the progress of this work, thousands of small orifices in the trees of the Common (all known to exist) were cleared out and effectively closed with wooden stoppers, and much dead wood, inviting the breeding of the Sparrow, was removed. As a whole, great good in the way of arresting decay and generally improving the trees of the Common was done by Foreman Kennedy and his force, even if we leave out of account the checking of the breeding of the Sparrow. The work began on March 15, and ended April 5. During that period about 5,000 nests and 1,000 eggs were destroyed. No young birds were found. The protest against the work, based mainly on sentimental grounds, which Mr. Angell, of the S. P. C. A., put forth, resulted in two picturesque hearings at the City Hall. An account of these hearings, with some of their informal adjuncts, would certainly entertain and instruct the readers of Bird-Lore were it possible to embody it here.

Let it suffice to say, that the weight of common sense, of real humanity, and of economics, as well as of science in overwhelming measure, was, in the judgment of the best informed, wholly with those who would reduce the Sparrow. The Mayor, however, decided to suspend the work, assigning as a reason the difficulty and expense of continuing it. The committee sent to the Mayor a letter expressing its regret that the work should thus be brought to an untimely close, and fully outlining plans for its continuance. At the present writing, no definite prospect is in sight of the resumption of the work. The committee proposed, after the closure of the nesting orifices, to pull down by means of hooked poles such nests as were built by the Sparrows in the branches of the trees on the Common and Garden, timing visits so as to destroy nests and eggs only, thus preventing the hatching of young. With the onset of cold weather it was proposed to trap and destroy the Sparrow by devices which were already proved at once efficient and merciful. These two methods, aided, perhaps, by others, carefully planned to avoid cruelty, were the ones much relied on by the committee to do the needed work of clearance.

After the stoppage of the work the Mayor wrote to Chairman Osgood, asking his opinion as to the advisability of putting up bird-houses on the Common, so built, without perches, as to keep out the Sparrow and admit the White-bellied Swallow, Bluebird and House Wren. Mr. Osgood replied in effect that perchless bird-houses, judging from recent evidence, would probably invite and shelter the breeding of the Sparrow, and, with the Common still uncleared, would hardly aid in restoring any native bird. He was willing, under certain strict conditions, that the experiment should be tried purely as an experiment, provided that every box should be instantly removed upon proof that these perchless devices sheltered the Sparrow. He, however, expressed little hope that any good would come of such a measure beyond the absolute demonstration, once for all, and publicly, that perchless boxes were not Sparrow-proof. The "Sparrow committee" could not advise the putting up of bird-boxes under existing circumstances, and if any are erected the responsibility for the trial will not rest in any way with this committee. At this writing, the Sparrows shut out from the tree orifices are building to some extent in the branches of the trees upon the Common. To note how extensively this breeding is carried on this season, and to attain general information as to the presence of any native birds upon the Common and Garden, a patrol of the Boston Branch of the American Society of Bird Restorers has been assigned to observation work through the spring and summer.

Results will be officially reported to the National Biological Survey (U. S. Department of Agriculture) at Washington, D. C.

Fletcher Osgood,

Organizer and Manager of the American Society
of Bird Restorers.

Reports of Societies

MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY

In February and March, Mr. Ralph Hoffmann gave a course of eight lectures on birds, under the auspices of the Society. These were well attended, and not only increased the interest in bird study, but informed the public more fully of the work of the Society, and also added materially to the treasury.

March 22nd, the Society held a 'Hat Show' at the Vendome, which was a success. Many of the best milliners exhibited, and it served the purpose of interesting both milliners and public in the work of bird protection. In spite of bad weather, the room was crowded all day, and many hats were sold. The newspapers reported it with illustrations; the milliners were pleased; and the Audubon Society was talked about with renewed interest.

The Society has purchased the publisher's stock of the Audubon Calendar colored plates, without the Calendar numbers, and are offering them for sale at 25 cents for the set of twelve.

The large sale of the chart is very satisfactory, about 1,200 having been sold since Christmas. Appreciative letters are daily received, and the school teachers especially commend it.

New circulars have been purchased for distribution, from the University of Nebraska and Cornell University; also "A Letter to the Clergy," republished by the Wisconsin Society.

Harriet E. Richards, _Sec'y._

CONNECTICUT SOCIETY

The second annual meeting of the society took place on June 1, in the United Church Chapel, New Haven Conn., and was largely attended. It being part of the policy of the Society to hold its public meetings each year in different parts of the state.

The president made a short address, outlining the work for the coming season, which will include: (1) the consideration of a practical method for destroying the English Sparrow, as a bird distinctly injurious to song birds and others having agricultural value; (2) an effort to obtain legislation to stop the spring shooting of shore and water birds; (3) the addition to the societies' equipment of several small libraries of bird books, to be circulated free throughout the state where there are no public libraries, after the manner of the lecture outfits; (4) the addition of an illustrated lecture suitable for small children.

The report of the corresponding secretary-treasurer showed a membership in the various classes of 814; also, receipts of over $500 during the year, no debts, and a balance in the treasury.

The chairman of the committee on free lectures reported the great success of the undertaking. The two lectures, "Birds about Home," by Mrs. Wright, and "Some Facts about Birds that Concern the Farmer," by Willard G. Van Name, having been out over fifty times since early spring. These lectures, accompanied by sets of colored slides and oil-lanterns, are loaned free to any responsible person within state limits, and the Granges have lately taken them up with results most gratifying to the Society.

A few changes were made in the management as the election of officers. Mrs. H. S. Glover, the first corresponding secretary and treasurer, having resigned, received a hearty vote of thanks for her work, and Mrs. Wm. Brown Glover was elected as general secretary in her stead, Mrs. Howard H. Knapp being elected treasurer.

The event of the meeting was the lecture by Mr. F. M. Chapman, upon Photography as an Aid to Bird Study, all the beautifully colored slides used as illustrations having been photographed from life.

The detailed annual report of the Society's work will be mailed upon application.

Helen W. Glover, _Sec'y._

TENNESSEE SOCIETY

It is with great satisfaction that we report the organization in the court house at Ripley on May 26, of the Audubon Society of the State of Tennessee. Without the assistance of the southern states, the work of the northern section of the country must necessarily be hampered by the inability to protect the birds in their winter haunts and during the migrations.

It is also gratifying to note the common sense basis upon which the society is founded, the president, having stated in his initial address, that "the society had for its leading object the creation of a public opinion that would secure legislation in the interest of bird protection, that would spare our birds from threatened extinction."

_... JUST READY. PRICE, $1 NET ..._

Nature Study For Grammar Grades

_A Manual for the Guidance of Pupils below the High School in the Study of Nature_

BY

WILBUR S. JACKMAN, A.B.

Dep't of Natural Science, Chicago Normal School

Author of "Nature Study for the Common Schools," "Nature Study and Related Subjects," "Nature Study Record," "Field Work in Nature Study," etc.

REVISED EDITION

In preparing this Manual, it has been the author's aim to propose, within the comprehension of grammar school pupils, a few of the problems which arise in a thoughtful study of nature, and to offer suggestions designed to lead to their solution.

That pupils need some rational and definite directions in nature study, all are generally agreed. But to prepare the outlines and suggestive directions necessary, and to place these within the reach of each pupil, is more than any ordinary teacher has time to do, even granting that she is fully prepared for such work. The utter futility of depending upon oral suggestions during the class hour, when the pupils are supposed to be doing individual work, is easily apparent on a moment's reflection. With a manual of directions in hand, each pupil may be made strictly responsible for a certain amount of work, either in the field or in the laboratory. This removes all occasion for that interruption in his work, which is, otherwise, due to the pupil's attempt to _think_ and at the same time _hear_ what the teacher says.

* * * * *

"Practical, complete, and, all in all, is the best manual we know to fit the student to do really effective science work in the high school.... Altogether both teacher and pupils who use this book are to be congratulated, for we are sure that through its use the whole field of nature study will assume new definiteness, practicality and interest."

--_Southern Educational Journal._

* * * * *

"It is decidedly practical, and will be welcomed by many teachers who wish to respond in an intelligent way to the demand for nature study."

--_Inland Educator._

PUBLISHED BY

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, New York.

* * * * *

VOL. 1 20c. a Copy
No. 5 OCTOBER, 1899 $1 a Year

=Bird-Lore=

Edited by
FRANK M. CHAPMAN

The Macmillan Company
ENGLEWOOD, N. J.

NEW YORK LONDON

_R. Weber_

COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN

=Bird-Lore=

October, 1899

CONTENTS

PAGE
Frontispiece--Founders of the American Ornithologists' Union 142
The American Ornithologists' Union. Illustrated. _J. A. Allen_ 143
American Bitterns. Photographed from nature by _E. J. Tabor_ and
_F. M. Chapman_ 149
The Angler's Reveille. Illustrated by _E. W. Smith._
_Henry van Dyke_ 150
The Prairie Horned Lark. Illustrated. _Robert W. Hegner_ 152
Screech Owl. Photographed from life. _A. L. Princehorn_ 154
A Pleasant Acquaintance with a Hummingbird. Illustrated.
_C. F. Hodge_ 155
A Peculiarity of a Caged Skylark. _H. M. Collins_ 157

FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
On the Ethics of Caging Birds--Letters to the Editor.
{_Anna Harris Smith_ 158
{_C. F. Hodge_ 160

FOR YOUNG OBSERVERS
Oliver Twist--Catbird. _Isabella McC. Lemmon_ 163

NOTES FROM FIELD AND STUDY 166
Birds and Caterpillars, _Caroline G. Soule_; An Odd Nesting Site,
_L. H. Schwab_.

BOOK NEWS AND REVIEWS 167
Mrs. Miller's 'The First Book of Birds;' Knoble's 'Field Key to the
Land Birds;' Hodge's 'Suggestions for the Study of Our Common
Birds;' Book News.

EDITORIALS 169

AUDUBON DEPARTMENT 170
Editorial: Illustration, Quills to Avoid; Audubon's Seal,
illustrated; Report of the Society of the District of Columbia.

×*× _Bird-Lore is published on the first of the month, at Englewood,
New Jersey, where all notices of change of address, manuscripts intended
for publication, books, etc., for review, and exchanges should be sent._

PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT

Bird-Lore for December will contain, among other interesting articles, 'The Story of a Pet Sea Parrot,' by E. W. Nelson; 'A Search for the Reedy Island Crow Roost,' by Witmer Stone; 'A Large Family,' by Frank M. Chapman, all illustrated. An account of How the Central Park Chickadees were Tamed by Anne A. Crolius, one of Garrett Newkirk's admirable bird poems for children, etc., and a detailed Statement of the Plans of the Magazine for 1900, including an announcement of special interest to all bird students.

T. McIlwraith. J. B. Holder. D. G. Elliot. Chas. Aldrich.
J. M. Wheaton.
E. A. Mearns. H. W. Henshaw. S. F. Baird.
Geo. N. Lawrence. A. K. Fisher.
Nathan C. Brown. Robert Ridgway, _Vice Pres._
J. A. Allen, _Pres._ William Brewster. Elliott Coues, _Vice Pres._
C. F. Batchelder.
R. W. Shufeldt. C. B. Cory. C. Hart Merriam, _Sec'y._
M. Chamberlain. D. W. Prentiss.
H. A. Purdie. C. E. Bendire. E. P. Bicknell. H. B. Bailey.]

=Bird-Lore=

A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE

DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS

Official Organ of the Audubon Societies

=======================================
Vol. 1 October, 1899 No. 5
=======================================

The American Ornithologists' Union

BY J. A. ALLEN

(First President of the Union)

During the sixteen years that have passed since the founding of the American Ornithologists' Union, in August, 1883, the study of North American birds has advanced with constantly accelerated strides. That this progress has been due largely to the founding of the Union is beyond denial, as will become evident from the following brief history of its work and the causes that led to its formation.

In all lines of human endeavor, the union of kindred interests and individual effort toward a common end is the key to success. Before the founding of the American Ornithologists' Union, its nucleus existed in a local organization of bird students in Cambridge, known as the Nuttall Ornithological Club. At first its meetings were informal, and its membership was limited to a few individuals living in the immediate vicinity of Cambridge. Later it became regularly organized as a club, with both resident and corresponding members, the latter embracing most of the leading ornithologists of this country. The papers presented at its meetings were often of permanent value, and were later published in scientific journals. In 1876 these had become sufficiently numerous and important to warrant the club in establishing its own medium of publication, the first number bearing date April, 1876, with the title 'Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club.' As years passed it served not only as the official organ of the club, but as a medium of communication between American ornithologists at large.

This led to the consideration of the desirability of organizing a national society of ornithologists as a means of bringing the workers in this field into more intimate association and more thoroughly consolidating their interests. The advantages of such consolidation seemed so evident that a call was issued August 1, 1883, dated Cambridge and Washington, for "a convention of American Ornithologists, to be held in New York city, beginning September 26, 1883." The call was signed by the editor of the 'Nuttall Bulletin' (J. A. Allen), associate editor of the 'Nuttall Bulletin' (Elliott Coues), and the president of the Nuttall Club (William Brewster). The response to the call, sent to forty-eight of the more prominent ornithologists of the United States and Canada, was most cordial; twenty-five expressed their intention to attend the convention, and twenty-one were actually present, including several who came a thousand miles or more to attend the convention. Not only were by-laws adopted and officers duly elected, but, as will be noticed later, important lines of work were laid out and assigned to committees, the principle of coöperation being applied in a broad sense.

The Nuttall Ornithological Club is still an active and widely known organization, although upon the founding of the Union, it generously voted to discontinue its 'Bulletin' and to place its subscription list and good will at the service of the Union, which was already considering the desirability of establishing an official medium of publication. As a result, the 'Nuttall Bulletin' became 'The Auk,' which, in recognition of the generous action of the Nuttall Club, was officially designated as the _second series_ of the 'Nuttall Bulletin.'

Between isolated workers in any field, jealousies and misunderstandings arise which personal contact tends to obliterate. Such was the case with our ornithologists for some years prior to the founding of the Union. There were two rival check-lists of North American birds, each perhaps equally authoritative though differing in important details, which led to confusion, and a tendency to array our ornithologists into two somewhat hostile camps. This being recognized as a threatening evil of considerable gravity, one of the first acts of the Union was to appoint a committee on the Classification and Nomenclature of North American Birds, so constituted as to include the most competent authorities on the subject and at the same time safeguard all conflicting interests. The work of this committee long since became a matter of history. It was conducted with the utmost conscientiousness and care; personal interests and personal bias were generously waived, differences of opinion were settled by appeal to facts and the evidence, with a result that agreement was established in respect to all points of nomenclature and other technicalities, and a new impetus given to systematic investigation. Thus, through the work of this committee alone one of the primary objects in view in founding the Union was most happily accomplished. Not only a new check-list of North American birds was substituted for all previous check-lists, but a new 'Code of Nomenclature' was devised and adopted as the basis for determining the names to be used in the check-list. After more than two years of work by the committee the check-list, with its code of nomenclature, was given to the world in 1886, and became at once the accepted standard of authority with all American writers on North American birds; the 'Code' included important innovations in respect to certain principles of nomenclature, which have since become very generally accepted the world over. It is, therefore, to be regretted that a small faction has recently arisen in the ranks of the Union, that, objecting to certain rules of the 'Code,' is seeking to foment a break in the good feeling and harmony that have marked the last ten or twelve years of the history of American ornithology.

A second purpose of the Union was, as already intimated, to bring into coöperation and into personal acquaintanceship as many as possible of the workers in ornithology. In effecting this, the appointment at the first congress of the Union of a Committee on the Migration of North American Birds proved a most efficient means. This committee, with Dr. C. Hart Merriam at its head, began at once to issue circulars of instruction and schedules for the return of data to all bird observers known to the committee, whether members of the Union or not. Thousands of circulars were thus issued annually, reaching hundreds of earnest bird students who had before been working alone and without contact with the leaders in the science, who were thus not only stimulated and encouraged to fresh endeavor, but were placed in communication with a central bureau ever ready to aid their efforts. In a short time the work of this committee outgrew the financial resources of the Union, and led to the founding of a distinct division of the United States Department of Agriculture, designated the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, of which the chairman of this committee was invited to become the official head, and which has since become the United States Biological Survey. The data on the migration and geographical distribution of North American birds gathered by this committee was turned over to this new Division of the Department of Agriculture for collation and publication, and the work of collecting further data was continued on an increased scale by the Chief of the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy. This has resulted in the accumulation of an immense amount of valuable material, but little of which has as yet been published. In 1888 a preliminary report on 'Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley,' prepared by Prof. W. W. Cooke and Mr. Otto Widmann, under the direction of the chief of the division, was published, forming one of the most important contributions to the subject of bird migration that has yet appeared. A second report on 'The Land Birds of the Pacific District,' by Mr. Lyman Belding, was published in 1890, and, though issued by the California Academy of Sciences, was the outcome of the work of this committee. Eventually all of the vast accumulation of data inaugurated by the Union, and later carried on under the auspices of the United States Department of Agriculture, relating not only to the migratory movements of birds but to their distribution, will doubtless be published, with proper map and other graphic illustrations.

To another important committee appointed at the first congress of the Union was delegated the investigation of 'The Status of the European House Sparrow in America.' This committee issued circulars of inquiry, and made an elaborate preliminary report to the Union, which report was later, as in the case of the data accumulated by the Migration Committee, turned over to the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States Department of Agriculture. Under Dr. Merriam, the investigation was prosecuted with renewed activity, and a final and authoritative report was issued by the Department of Agriculture in 1889. It is needless to say that this impartially conducted report was strongly condemnatory of this burdensome pest.

At the second congress of the Union it appointed a Committee on Protection of North American Birds, which has been continued to the present time, and has been the guiding influence in this great economic and humanitarian work. It has done much to arouse and enlighten public opinion respecting the enormity of the destruction of birds for millinery purposes, and to guide legislation for the better protection of our birds. It early published two important 'bulletins' on the destruction of birds, and was the origin of the original Audubon Society, whose president, Dr. George Bird Grinnell, was long one of the most active members of this committee; through this society, with chapters throughout the country, the cause of bird protection was for several years immensely aided. Of late it has become practically the advisory committee of the existing Audubon Societies which have recently multiplied so gratifyingly throughout the country, and it publishes in 'The Auk' an annual report summarizing the work of bird protection for the year.

In extending a helping hand to casual and isolated observers, the Union has had a marked influence upon the recent progress of ornithology in America, as shown by the increase in the number of observers who have become contributors to 'The Auk,' and the constantly increasing number who have allied themselves to the Union by membership therein. The constitution of the Union provides for four classes of members; namely, (1) Active Members, limited to fifty, and to include only those who have distinguished themselves as original investigators in ornithology, and who reside in the United States or Canada; (2) Honorary Members, limited to twenty-five, and consisting of the most eminent of foreign ornithologists; (3) Corresponding Members, limited to one hundred, and consisting mainly also of eminent foreign ornithologists; (4) Associate Members, unrestricted as to number, but limited to residence in the United States or Canada. This class includes not only a large number of experienced field workers, but many college professors, educators, and persons eminent in other scientific fields, but who are not expert ornithologists. It is open to all reputable persons whose interest in ornithology is sufficient to prompt them to seek such a congenial alliance.

At the first congress forty-seven ornithologists were elected to active membership--presumably all of the satisfactory candidates available. Of these forty-seven original members, twenty-four were either present or took a prominent part in the organization of the Union, and are thus termed 'Founders.' (The accompanying photograph is a picture of these founders, made up from separate photographs, it being impracticable for the members to assemble to be photographed as a group.) This has remained about the average number, but, as years have passed, the choice for the few coveted places has become harder and harder each year to fill, through the rapid increase of not only available but desirable candidates; so that attainments that would in the earlier days of the Union have proved ample credentials for admission have now less weight, in the effort to select the best from a large otherwise desirable candidacy. The honor of the position has thus become enhanced through competition of merit. The two foreign classes have remained practically unchanged as regards numbers. But the class of Associate Members has increased from about one hundred in 1886 to nearly six hundred in 1898.

The revenue of the Union is derived entirely from the annual dues from members ($5 for active members and $3 for associate members) and subscriptions to 'The Auk.' As the ordinary running expenses of the Union are but a trifle, all of the proceeds from these sources of revenue are devoted to the publications of the Union. These include, besides 'The Auk,' now in its sixteenth volume, the original Code and Check-List of North American Birds (1886), an Abridged Check-List (1889), a separate reprint of the Code alone (1892), the second edition of the Check-List (1895), and nine Supplements to the Check-List (1889-1899), varying in size from about 8 to 36 pages.

'The Auk,' issued quarterly, consists on the average of about 420 pages per year, with at least four fine colored plates, and a greater or less number of text figures, including of late numerous half-tone illustrations of birds in life. As practically all of the funds of the Union are devoted to its publications, and mainly to 'The Auk,' its prosperity as regards its size, the frequency and character of its illustrations, and its influence in promoting the study of ornithology, is limited only by the proceeds from memberships and subscriptions. As it aims to meet the interests and the necessities of both the scientific and the non-scientific reader and contributor, the general articles, comprising more than half of each number, are about equally divided between popular and technical papers, while its department of General Notes (embracing some 15 pages in each number), is about equally acceptable to both classes, as with more or less technical matter for the benefit of the expert are blended notes on the habits and distribution of the lesser known species of our fauna, often of a highly popular character. The department of Recent Literature gives more or less extended notices of the current literature of ornithology, including general works, popular and technical, and of all the principal writings relating to American birds, whether faunal, economic, popular, or technical.

The meetings of the Union occur in November of each year, and heretofore have been held alternately in New York, Washington, and Cambridge or Boston. The present year the meeting, which will be the seventeenth congress of the Union, will be held in Philadelphia, Nov. 13-17, 1899. As usual, the public sessions, beginning on the 14th, will be open to the general public, to which all who are interested in birds are cordially invited.

Two of a brood of four birds about one week old, at which age they showed no fear of man

Photographed from nature by E. H. Tabor, Meridian, N. Y., May 31, 1898]

The four members of the brood, of which two are shown above, about two weeks old, when they showed marked fear of man

Photographed from nature by F. M. Chapman, Meridian, N. Y., June 8, 1898]

The Angler's Reveille

BY HENRY VAN DYKE

What time the rose of dawn is laid across the lips of night,
And all the drowsy little stars have fallen asleep in light;
'Tis then a wandering wind awakes, and runs from tree to tree,
And borrows words from all the birds to sound the reveille.

This is the carol the Robin throws
Over the edge of the valley;
Listen how boldly it flows,
Sally on sally:

_Tirra-lirra, down the river,
Laughing water all a-quiver.
Day is near, clear, clear.
Fish are breaking,
Time for waking.
Tup, tup, tup!
Do you hear? All clear.
Wake up!_

The phantom flood of dreams has ebbed and vanished with the dark,
And like a dove the heart forsakes the prison of the ark;
Now forth she fares through friendly woods and diamond-fields of dew,
While every voice cries out "Rejoice!" as if the world were new.

This is the ballad the Bluebird sings,
Unto his mate replying,
Shaking the tune from his wings
While he is flying:

_Surely, surely, surely,
Life is dear
Even here.
Blue above,
You to love,
Purely, purely, purely._

There's wild azalea on the hill, and roses down the dell,
And just a spray of lilac still abloom beside the well;
The columbine adorns the rocks, the laurel buds grow pink,
Along the stream white arums gleam, and violets bend to drink.

This is the song of the Yellow-throat,
Fluttering gaily beside you;
Hear how each voluble note
Offers to guide you:

_Which way, sir?
I say, sir,
Let me teach you,
I beseech you!
Are you wishing
Jolly fishing?
This way, sir!
Let me teach you._

Oh come, forget your foes and fears, and leave your cares behind,
And wander forth to try your luck, with cheerful, quiet mind;
For be your fortune great or small, you'll take what God may give,
And all the day your heart will say, "'Tis luck enough to live."

This is the song the Brown Thrush flings
Out of his thicket of roses;
Hark how it warbles and rings,
Mark how it closes:

_Luck, luck,
What luck?
Good enough for me!
I'm alive, you see.
Sun shining, no repining;
Never borrow idle sorrow;
Drop it! Cover it up!
Hold your cup!
Joy will fill it,
Don't spill it!
Steady, be ready,
Love your luck!_

The Prairie Horned Lark

BY ROBERT W. HEGNER

With photographs from nature by the author

At intervals throughout the winter, but more often after the first of February, flocks of hardy little brown birds may be seen about Decorah, Ia., wandering from place to place in search of food. They are the Prairie Horned Larks, harbingers of approaching spring. Some weeks later, when the snow has melted, they seek their favorite haunts in the pasture lands, select a slight elevation from the surrounding surface, and proceed to build their nests. They first dig a hole three inches wide and three inches deep in the softened ground, and then line it on the bottom and sides to the depth of an inch with dry grasses, making a warm nest, level with the surface. I accidentally discovered the first one this season on April 9. It was nicely lined with vegetable down in addition to the usual lining of dry grasses, and was finished ready for the eggs. I returned in a week, but, as the mother bird was not at home, had to content myself with a photograph of the three finely spotted eggs which it then contained. Some children who observed my movements may be held responsible for the destruction of the nest, as two days later I could find nothing but the hole from which it had been torn. After a short search another Lark flushed from a nest of three eggs almost identical with the first and about 300 yards from it. Unless incubation is far advanced they seldom flush from directly under foot, nor do they run along the ground first, after the manner of a great many of the ground builders, but keep a good look out, and fly straight from the nest when anyone comes within fifty feet of them. It is needless to say that it takes sharp eyes to discover their exact position.

At my arrival on the bright, sunny morning of April 24, the Lark was at home, and I had another opportunity of trying to photograph her. I focused the camera three feet from the nest and retired to the end of my 60-foot rubber tube. The gophers seemed to be less afraid of me than the Lark, and several of them played together some ten feet away. One little striped rascal began gnawing at the rubber tube, and I was forced to frighten him away. This tube greatly puzzled the Lark, for in running around the camera she always came to a halt upon reaching it, and it was only after repeated trials and much excitement that she screwed up courage enough to hop over. Twenty minutes seemed to be sufficient time to reassure her, and with head lowered she hastened to the nest, looked in, and settled down upon the eggs. An exposure of one twenty-fifth of a second with stop 16 shows her as she was looking into the nest. While I reset my shutter and put in a new plate the Lark left the nest, but this time it took her only two minutes to return. A photograph of a young bird was taken on May 7. The pair of birds that were feeding this young one had already built a second nest, thinner and more loosely put together than the first, and were incubating four eggs.

The enemies of the Prairie Horned Lark seem to be very numerous. The nest and four eggs mentioned above were plowed under to facilitate corn planting, while innumerable nests are destroyed earlier in the season, when the farmers 'break sod.' The first nests in March and April are often subject to great changes of temperature. Although they may be built in warm, sunny weather, a sudden cold wave often covers them with snow and imbeds them in ice.

While waiting for the Lark to become accustomed to the camera, I had an excellent opportunity of observing its song flight. Lying there on my back, I enjoyed a splendid exhibition of one of this bird's peculiar traits. From a point a hundred yards from where I lay a happy songster suddenly arose, flying upward at an angle of 45 degrees, not continuously, but in short stretches. When at a great elevation he began to sing, taking short, quick wing strokes, and singing while he sailed. In this way a circle 300 yards in diameter was crossed and recrossed until fully five minutes had passed, when, suddenly closing his wings, he shot downward like a bullet, slowly catching himself on nearing the ground and curving outward to his starting point. Several similar exhibitions were carried on in exactly the same manner, the time not varying by half a minute. Though the song lacks many of the fine qualities of other birds, it clearly expresses the joy and happiness of the singer. With thrills of pleasure we hear it echo over the hills, and bless the little creature, hoping that in the 'struggle for existence' he may thrive and wax exceeding strong.

Photographed from life by A. L. Princehorn]

A Pleasant Acquaintance with a Hummingbird

BY C. F. HODGE

Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

IN the Nature Study course of the Summer School, a little time was devoted to the honey bee, life of the hive, care and management, and especially the work of bees in cross-pollination of flowers and fruits. The closing "laboratory exercise" in the subject consisted in a honey spread, the honey being removed from the glass hive in the window of the laboratory, in the presence of the class, and distributed with hot biscuits and butter, cream and fresh milk. The spread was pronounced the most enjoyable "laboratory work" ever done by members of the class, but to crown the event in the most exquisite way possible, a Hummingbird flew into an open window, and darting, unafraid, in and out among the noisy groups of fifty or more busy people, it rifled the various flowers with which the laboratory was decorated. In closing the windows for the night it was accidentally imprisoned, and on visiting the room next morning (Sunday), I found it still humming about the flowers. Thinking that it might be a female, with nestlings awaiting its return, I gently placed an insect net over it with the intention of passing it out of the window. It proved, however, on closer inspection, to be a young male, so I thought it could do no harm to keep it a day or two for acquaintance sake. No sooner was my finger, with a drop of honey on it, brought within reach, than it thrust its bill and long tongue out through the net and licked up the honey with evident delight. Releasing it from the net, I dropped honey into a number of the flowers, sprinkling water over them at the same time, and it immediately began feasting and drinking. As it flew about it taught me its bright little chirp, evidently a note of delight and satisfaction. When I visited the laboratory again at noon, I took in my hand a few heads of red clover and a nasturtium with its horn filled with honey. On giving the chirp a few times, it flew straight to the flowers in my hand, probed each clover tube, drank its fill from the nasturtium, and, perching contentedly on my finger, wiped its bill, preened its feathers, spread out its tail, scratched its head, and for the space of a minute or two looked me over and made himself the most delightful of tiny friends. The next time I entered the room, about two hours later, he flew to the door to meet me, and this time I took him home, the better to care for him during the afternoon and evening. In the course of the afternoon about a dozen friends called. Each one was provided with a nasturtium into which a drop of honey had been placed, and nearly the whole time the little bird was flying from one to the other, perching on fingers or sipping from the flowers held in the hand or buttonhole, to the delight of everybody, none of the company having ever seen a live Hummingbird so close by.

Situated in an apple tree 8 feet from the ground

Photographed from nature by E. G. Tabor, Meridian, N. Y., June 16, 1897]

In the evening he went to roost high up on a chandelier, and in trying to catch him with the net to put him in a safe cage for the night, he fell like a dead bird to the carpet. I held him warm in my hand, thinking that he was about to breathe his last, but anxious to save the precious little life if possible, I very gently opened the bill and inserted a pellet of crushed spiders' eggs as large as a good-sized sweet pea, following it with a drop of water. He had been feigning, probably, as they are known to do; at any rate, in a minute he was as bright and lively as ever. His room for the night was a large insect cage of wire screen filled with convenient twigs and a large bowl of flowers. At five in the morning I fed him honey and young spiders, and again at six. At eight I had a lecture, the subject of which happened to be the taming of wild birds and attracting them about our homes. Removing all flowers from his cage to let his appetite sharpen for the two intervening hours, I set the cage on a table by my side on the lecture platform. I had taken pains to have two fresh nasturtiums in my buttonhole, one well loaded with honey, the other filled with the juices of crushed spiders and spiders' eggs. On reaching the topic of approaching birds in the right way, appealing to them along the lines of their tastes and appetites, appealing to the "right end" of a bird, I had only to open the door, give the familiar chirp, and the little charmer was probing the flowers. Then, as if anxious to show off, he again perched on my hand and went through his _post prandial_ toilet, thus giving the class an idea of bird-taming which no amount of books or anything I might have said could have possibly equaled. Many expressed themselves as never having seen so successful a "demonstration." Some said that I must be in league with higher powers, and it all must have been "providential." This may be true, for anything I know to the contrary. But it may have been simply improving the opportunities of a happy accident; and 'accidents,' we know, "never happen among the Hottentots." If flowers and honey can do it, at any rate, such accidents shall be more frequent about my home in the future.

A Peculiarity of a Caged Skylark

BY H. M. COLLINS

Do birds reverse the usual order of things, and from a serious and stolid youth develop mature playfulness? I have been led to ask myself this question by observing the extraordinary playfulness exhibited by a pet Skylark in extreme old age. Upon hearing the owner of the bird declare, "Dickie has reached his dotage, and, is now in a state of second childhood," it occurred to me that birds have no season of youthful frivolity such as Mother Nature accords to her other children. We are accustomed to associate the idea of youth with playfulness: we picture to ourselves the lamb frisking in the meadows, the frolicsome kitten playing upon the hearth, and we groan inwardly when we meditate upon the destructive propensities of our pet puppies, but we think of our young feathered friends as lying inert in their nests, gaping wide open their yellow-edged beaks incessantly for food, and apparently interested in nothing else.

A caged Skylark is a deplorable object generally, but the Lark of which I am about to write was a bird 'with a history,' and one, whose cage was not a prison but a home. While his native meadow (in Ireland) was being mowed, one of his wings was struck by the mowing-machine and the last joint terribly mutilated. One of the workmen picked up the poor little sufferer and gave him to a little boy whose father was something of a naturalist and a great lover of birds. Examination of the shattered wing revealed the fact that amputation of the last joint would be necessary if the bird's life was to be preserved. The operation was performed, and the little patient was placed in a very large cage carpeted with fresh, green sods. He was well supplied with food and water; the injured wing healed rapidly; he became surprisingly tame, and soon appeared to enjoy life thoroughly. Occasionally, he was permitted to enjoy his freedom in a large room, but after running about awhile, always seemed glad to return to his cage, the door of which was left open, so that he might go home when he pleased.

He was a beautiful singer, and used to stand in the long grasses and fresh clover of his sod, quiver the poor pinions that could never again soar skyward, and burst into the glorious carol with which he had been wont to salute the sunrise, when, high up among the fleecy clouds, he had appeared an almost invisible speck of personified melody to the enchanted listeners below.

As the years sped by, this much-indulged bird craved petting and attention to an abnormal degree, could be coaxed at any hour into singing, and formed the strange habit of trilling a low, sweet carol at ten o'clock every night, which his mistress called his "good-night song." When he had been caged for twelve or thirteen years he became as playful as a kitten, and was particularly fond of going through what his mistress called the "jungle tiger act," which consisted of crouching down out of sight in the grasses of his sod, and then springing suddenly forward to bite in a gentle way a finger poked between the wires of his cage. He never wearied of this game so long as he could induce a child or grown person to engage in it with him, and before he died, a year or so later, he developed a degree of playfulness that almost amounted to imbecility.

=For Teachers and Students=

'On the Ethics of Caging Birds.'

[As stated in our last issue, Mrs. Miller's paper on 'The Ethics
of Caging Birds,' in Bird-Lore for June, brought us numerous
letters, from which we have selected two, representing both sides
of the question, for publication. As a further contribution to this
discussion we publish in this number of Bird-Lore several papers
describing experiences with caged birds.--Ed.]

To the Editor of Bird-Lore,

_Dear Sir_:--I have always been such an admirer of Mrs. Miller's writings that I confess to a feeling of great disappointment in her article concerning caged birds, which appeared in your June number of Bird-Lore. Will you allow me to comment on it briefly?

Mrs. Miller starts out with the position that while she disapproves with "all her heart" of caging wild birds, yet since "birds are caged we must deal with circumstances as we find them."

Undoubtedly Mrs. Miller is right in sounding a note of warning for those who keep birds as pets, by impressing upon them the care that should be given these utterly helpless little creatures. She says, "Not one bird in a thousand is properly cared for," and she might add to that the fact that thousands die every year of hunger, thirst, lack of care,--forlorn prisoners, utterly unable to help themselves. These facts being true, the inconsistency of her position is that she gives the slightest encouragement to the bird traffic which results in so much cruel suffering. She says that the discomfort they suffer in the bird stores is so great that she feels it to be "a work of charity to purchase them," yet she does not seem to see that every purchaser is in a measure accountable for this suffering. If no one would buy the birds, the traffic would soon cease.

But Mrs. Miller appears to be utterly hopeless as to the cure of this evil, for she says: "If a bird-lover should worry and fret himself to death he could not put an end to their captivity." It is exceedingly fortunate that there have been, and still are, and probably always will be, a few men and women in the world who believe with Emerson that "Nothing is impossible to the man who can will," and who, in spite of the perplexing outlook, go forward, and bring about the world's great reforms.

The first step in repressing any wrong is for some individual to take a firm stand, even in the face of the greatest discouragement. Another will follow, and then another, and by and by, when we have hardly begun to believe anything has been done, a wave sweeps over the country, and the wrong is righted. This, however, can never be brought about unless by individual action and the abiding faith that every one counts.

Mrs. Miller advances as her "strong argument" the great value of caged birds as pets in the education of the child, and upsets her own argument by saying: "Nothing is more important than the training of our youth in humanity, and respect for the rights of others." "Respect for the rights of others" means justice to all the dumb or helpless creation. Even a child can reason out for himself that a bird was created for freedom in the upper air, not for confinement in a cage, and that, even if it is bred in a cage, it is no more just or right to put it to such purposes than it would be to keep a dog chained all day, or a horse tied in a stable all his life, or a man confined within the narrow limits of prison walls.

Children have ample opportunity to be taught kindness, and, what is even better than kindness, justice to the animal creation by having the care of cats or dogs, yet how few mothers or teachers take pains to teach the right care of these common animals, which are to be found everywhere, and are dependent on man for their happiness. A child will not discriminate between the bird bred in a cage and the bird taken from the mother's nest for the purpose of being brought up in a cage, and while birds are given as pets to children, not only the traffic in canaries is encouraged, but the snaring, or the capturing by other means, of our own song birds will continue. It seems to me there is but one lesson to teach children in relation to birds,--that they were made to be free, and to have space to use the wings that surely cannot have proper exercise even in the confined space of a house.

Let those who already have birds take good care of them, by all means; give them the right food and plenty of fresh water, and as much freedom as possible in the limits of the house; but let those who are true bird-lovers discourage the traffic in birds in every way possible, no matter how hopeless it may seem just now to endeavor to put a stop to it, for the influence of every individual counts.

Anna Harris Smith.

* * * * *

To the Editor of Bird-Lore.

_Dear Sir_:--In the main Mrs. Miller's statement of the case is the one that I have come to adopt. In fact, my prejudices against the practice of caging birds were entirely banished and the whole subject revealed in a new light by reading Mrs. Miller's 'Bird Ways.' Such wonderful possibilities of bird happiness, child culture and education, and bird study were opened up by this little book that, from being opposed to caged birds, I was converted to believe that the cage might be made one of the most important factors in the great new field of bird study, and, I hope, actual bird culture, which seems to be dawning before us.

The subject has a number of ethical bearings which Mrs. Miller does not touch upon, two of which I may point out.

Which lives out of doors, all over the house, and in his cage

Photographed from nature by C. F. Hodge]

First: We may not only have a "right" to confine a bird, but it may become a duty which we owe not only to the bird itself, but to the community as well. The moment before beginning to write this a young Robin was sitting warmly in my hand gulping down earthworms and blackberries. He is now sleeping quietly in a cage by my side. I picked him up this noon on the ground under the nest, unable to fly, and I love to think of him safe and cosy instead of fluttering in the jaws of some miscreant cat. Some days ago a boy came and told me that a neighbor's wife had taken a young Robin away from her cat "and put it on top of the shed" (to fall down into the cat's mouth again). At my request he brought the bird, but it was so lacerated that it died that night. Of two nests of Robins I have known this season, in spite of me, the cats got seven of the young, and the eighth would have gone the same way were it not sleeping safely in another of my cages. In all, I have three young Robins, all picked up from the ground, unable to fly, all, without the shadow of a doubt, saved from the cats. None have died in my hands, the one killed by the neighbor's cat not counted, and they seem to be fairly happy little birds, though it is to be hoped that they will grow happier as they grow wiser. My point is simply that in the present exigency of our rapidly decreasing bird life, every child should learn how to care for fledglings of different species and have suitable cages where they may be kept until, at least, they are able to fly. This may often be done by hanging the cage near the nest, where the parents will feed it. Our children owe this work to the community, to themselves and to the birds. I am aware some will say that this will lead to the death of more fledglings than now go to feed the cats. And under present conditions, I regret to say, there is a good deal of truth in it. In trying to get children interested in this work, I have been surprised to find so many who say, "Oh yes, I would like to have some tame Robins so much; but you can't keep them alive. I have tried it, and they all died." "What did you feed them?" "Oh, bread crumbs;" now and then one will say "worms and berries." "Did they eat?" "No, I never saw them eat anything." "Did you give them any water to drink?" "No, I didn't think of that." "How often do you feed them? Do you know that birds are flying appetites? Did you feed them regularly about every hour?" "No, I put in some stuff generally about once a day." And so it goes. But shall we be content with this state of things when any bright child can be given the necessary instruction in an hour by which he can succeed in keeping alive and taming practically all the fledglings that fall in his way?

Second: We owe it as a duty to both the birds and ourselves to learn the facts of bird life. We do not adequately know the life story of a single one of our most common species. Every fact that can be discovered as to the good or the harm that birds do _ought_ to be found out. Every fact so discovered will act as just so much more motive force to bring about proper relations with our birds. A few birds have been killed, and the stomach contents analyzed, to obtain facts about bird foods which have changed our sentiments and even legislation. Somebody owed this as a duty to both birds and community. But this method is not well adapted for use in elementary schools, and its results might be infinitely extended and the subject of bird foods made a matter of practical public education, by having classes in nature study throughout our schools make feeding tests with tame birds of different species. Cages will have to play at least a temporary role in work of this kind. More than this, a knowledge of bird ways, habits, methods of feeding and caring for their nests and young, their songs and calls, "their manners for the heart's delight," are great æsthetic and educational values. These might all be developed and enhanced by a proper use of caged birds. Instead of collections of stuffed birds, the ethics and educational value of which I wish might be discussed in Bird-Lore, each city might have, possibly maintained by some ornithological society, a fine collection of pairs of a few of our most valuable species. These could make the rounds of the schools each year. This, too, need only be a temporary expedient, useful until sufficient general interest and knowledge is developed so that we may have, properly appreciated and protected, an abundance of our native birds tamed sufficiently to come close about our homes.

The above are but two points among many, and I bring them forward to bespeak a little intelligent favor for the proper use of the cage. We owe the birds duties of protection and acquaintance, and the cage may help us in the performance of both.