Chapter M: O. W (1)

Reports of Societies[A]

[Footnote A: The editor acknowledges the receipt from Mr. Witmer Stone, chairman of the Committee on Bird Protection of the American Ornithologists' Union, of a number of the following reports, which, before the establishment of an official organ for the Audubon Societies, had been sent to Mr. Stone for inclusion in his annual report to the A. O. U., from which, through lack of space, they were necessarily omitted.]

THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY

The Massachusetts Audubon Society has reissued the Audubon Calendar of last year and it is having a good sale. The drawings were made especially for the calendar by a member of the society; the originals are painted in water colors on Japanese rice paper, and are very artistic bird portraits. The same artist is now at work on drawings of new birds for a calendar for 1900, which the directors hope will be reproduced by a more accurate and satisfactory process.

The Bird Chart of colored drawings of twenty-six common birds, which the Directors undertook last spring, is now ready. The drawings have all been especially made for the chart by E. Knobel and are reproduced by the Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Co., on twelve stones. Some of our best ornithologists have seen the color proof and pronounce it good. The society has published a descriptive pamphlet to accompany the chart which has been prepared by Ralph Hoffmann. His sketches of the birds are delightfully written, and the book is valuable in itself.[B]

[Footnote B: See note on this chart and pamphlet in _Book News and Reviews_.]

The Directors have recently sent out a new circular mainly in Boston and vicinity, which briefly describes the work undertaken and asks for further coöperation from interested persons, and states that "in addition to our first object, the support of other measures of importance for the further protection of our native birds has been assumed by the Society." Among such measures may be mentioned:

1. Circulation of literature.

2. Improved legislation in regard to the killing of birds, and the better enforcement of present laws.

3. Protection during the season for certain breeding places of Gulls, Herons and other birds, which, without such protection will soon be exterminated.

4. Educational measures. This includes the publication of colored wall charts of birds, Audubon Calendars and other helps to bird study.

The response to this circular has been gratifying.

The society now numbers over twenty-four hundred persons, twenty-six of these are Life Associates, having paid twenty-five dollars at one time; four hundred and seventy-five are Associates, paying one dollar annually; the remaining are Life Members, having paid twenty-five cents.

While the rage for feather decoration is unabated, we feel that there is steadily growing a sentiment among our best people in condemnation of the custom. There is a noticeable decrease in the use of aigrettes and of our native birds, excepting the Terns and the plumage of the Owl; and a marked increase in the employment of the wings and feathers of the barnyard fowl. While the latter continue to feed the fashion they are harmless in themselves.

Harriet E. Richards, _Sec'y._

THE RHODE ISLAND SOCIETY

The Audubon Society of Rhode Island was organized in October, 1897, and has now about 350 members.

The purposes of the society, according to its by-laws, are: the promotion of an interest in bird-life, the encouragement of the study of ornithology, and the protection of wild birds and their eggs. Some work has been done in the schools, abstracts of the state laws relating to birds have been circulated throughout the state, lectures have been given, and a traveling library has been purchased for the use of the branch societies.

Nearly five thousand circulars of various kinds have been distributed, and it is evident that the principles of the society are becoming well known and are exerting an influence, even in that difficult branch of Audubon work, the millinery crusade.

Annie M. Grant, _Sec'y._

THE CONNECTICUT SOCIETY

A score of ladies met in Fairfield on January 28, 1898, and formed "The Audubon Society of the State of Connecticut." Mrs. James Osborne Wright was chosen president and an executive committee provisionally elected, representing so far as possible at the beginning, the State of Connecticut.

An effort was made to find every school district in the state, and a Bird-Day programme was sent to 1,350 of these schools. Care was naturally used to see that the rural schools, at least, should be reached. Through the kindness of Congressman Hill of this district, one of our vice-presidents, 740 copies of Bulletin No. 54, 'Some Common Birds in their Relation to Agriculture,' issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, were received by the secretary, and 600 of these have been mailed to individuals.

The Society has had two lectures prepared, one by Willard G. Van Name, entitled 'Facts About Birds That Concern the Farmer,' illustrated by sixty colored lantern slides, and one by Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, on 'The Birds About Home,' illustrated by seventy colored slides. A parlor stereopticon has been purchased for use in projecting the slides.

The lectures and slides are intended primarily for the use of the local secretaries of the society, and after these for such members of the society as desire to give educational entertainments in the interest of bird protection.

The only expense connected with the use of the lectures and slides will be the expressage from Fairfield to place and return.

Under no circumstances will the outfit be allowed to go outside of the State of Connecticut.

The oil lantern accompanying the slides is suitable for a large parlor or school room, and can be worked by anyone understanding the focussing of a photographic camera, but it is advised that when the audience is to be composed of more than fifty people the exhibitor should secure a regular stereopticon.

Applications should be made at least two weeks before the outfit is desired.

_No admission fee is to be charged at any entertainment at which the outfit is used_, the intention of the Audubon Society of the State of Connecticut being to furnish free information about our birds, and so win many, who may never have given the matter a thought, to a sense of the necessity and wisdom of their protection.

The secretary is glad to report on January 1, 1899, that the society has had practical proof of the success of its experiment in sending out these free illustrated lectures. Much interest has been awakened by them, and the State Board of Agriculture has listed both lectures for the Farmers' Institutes, held during the winter months. Much enterprise is being shown by local secretaries. An illustrated lecture by Mrs. Kate Tryon, having been given in Bridgeport, November 19, under the auspices of Miss Grace Moody (local secretary), Mrs. Howard N. Knapp, and Mrs. C. K. Averill. While Mr. Frank M. Chapman lectured before a large audience at the Stamford High School, on December 2, under the auspices of Mrs. Walter M. Smith, the local secretary of that city.

Harriet D. C. Glover,
_Cor. Sec'y and Treas._

NEW YORK SOCIETY

Since November, 1897, the society has distributed 13,465 leaflets, making a total distribution of over 40,000 since its organization on February 23, 1897.

In spite of this large circulation of literature, the society has only 529 members, including 9 patrons, 7 sustaining members, 356 members, 157 junior members.

Financially, the society is now in a sound condition.

During the year two public meetings have been held in the large lecture hall of the American Museum of Natural History, at both of which the hall was well filled. Addresses were made by Dr. Henry van Dyke, Dr. Heber Newton, and others.

A 'Bird Talk' was also given by Mr. W. T. Hornaday, at the house of one of the honorary vice-presidents, which was well attended.

In educational work we have secured the publication of a paper on 'The Relation of Birds to Trees,' by Florence A. Merriam, in the annual Arbor Day Manual of New York State, and Mr. Chapman, chairman of our Executive Committee, reports that in connection with Professor Bickmore, of the American Museum's Department of Public Instruction, and a committee representing the science teachers of the fourteen normal colleges of the State, he has prepared a course in bird study for the normal colleges for the present year.

Further interest in birds was shown by the science teachers of the State in their invitation to Mr. Chapman to address them on the subject of 'The Educational Value of Bird Study,' during their convention, held in New York City, December 29-30, 1898.

That the good work accomplished cannot be gauged by the number of members is proved by the constant reports received from local secretaries and others, telling of classes formed for bird study, of clubs that have taken up the subject, of bird exercises in schools, etc. If all these silent sympathizers would only realize how much the cause might be strengthened by open, concerted action, shown by a large membership roll of the Audubon Society, its influence would be greatly increased.

Emma H. Lockwood, _Sec'y._

NEW JERSEY SOCIETY

We have at present 124 members and have distributed over 1,000 general circulars in regard to the work, and 1,000 aigrette circulars written by Mr. Chapman. We expect to have new literature issued during the coming year, and are now having the State bird-laws printed for distribution.

Mary A. Mellick, _Sec'y._

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Mrs. John Dewhurst Patten, secretary of the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia, reports much valuable work. A course of six lectures was given by Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, and others by Mr. Chapman and Dr. Palmer.

A successful and fashionably attended exhibit of millinery was held in April. Nine of the leading milliners contributed hats and bonnets, which, of course, were entirely free from wild bird feathers. The society has designed an Audubon pin after a drawing of the Robin, by Mr. Robert Ridgway. This has already been adopted by the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts societies. At the suggestion of the secretary of the Pennsylvania society, efforts have been directed towards the establishment of societies in the south.

In response to a great demand for a cheap book of information about local birds, this society has been instrumental in issuing 'Birds of Washington and Vicinity,'[C] by Mrs. L. W. Maynard--200 pages 12mo, illustrated, which may be had for the small sum of 85 cents. The price placing the volume within the reach of teachers and pupils in the public schools.

[Footnote C: See a review of this book in _Book News and Reviews_.]

OHIO SOCIETY

Miss Clara Russell, corresponding secretary of the Ohio society, informs us that at a meeting held in Cincinnati on December 14 an Ohio Audubon society was organized with the following officers: President, William Hubbell Fisher; vice-president, William H. Venable; corresponding secretary, Miss Clara Russell; secretary, Mrs. T. B. Hastings; treasurer, Mrs. W. T. Armor.

On December 30 Miss Russell writes: "We have over fifty members, and feel much encouraged that we have aroused a sentiment in this locality to know more about our feathered friends, and to protect birds from being wantonly destroyed for pleasure, fashion, or the table."

* * * * *

Reports from the New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota Societies, will appear in the April number.

* * * * *

VOL. 1 20c. a Copy
No. 2 APRIL, 1899 $1 a Year

=Bird-Lore=

Edited by
FRANK M. CHAPMAN

The Macmillan Company

ENGLEWOOD, N. J.

NEW YORK LONDON

COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN _R. Weber_

=Bird-Lore=

April, 1899

CONTENTS

Frontispiece--Least Bittern, Nest and Eggs.
From a Photograph by E. G. Tabor.
The Camera as an Aid in the Study of Birds. Illustrated.
Concluded from February Number _Dr. Thomas S. Roberts_ 35
A Least Bittern Portrait. Illustrated _E. G. Tabor_ 39
Loons at Home. Illustrated. _William Dutcher_ 40
Photographing a Bluebird. Illustrated. _Robert W. Hegner_ 43
A Tragic St. Valentine's Day. _Annie Trumbull Slosson_ 45
Clark's Crows and Oregon Jays on Mount Hood. Illustrated.
_Florence A. Merriam_ 46

FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
Suggestions for Bird-Day Programs in the Schools. _C. A. Babcock_ 49
Summer Boarders for Boys and Girls. 51
A Bird-Day Program. _Elizabeth V. Brown_ 54
Migration Tables for April and May. _Dr. A. K. Fisher_ 52

FOR YOUNG OBSERVERS
The Legend of the Salt. Illustrated. _Frank M. Chapman_ 55
The February Walk Contest. 57
A February Walk in Central Park. _Floyd C. Noble_ 57
The Myth of the Song Sparrow. Illustrated. _Ernest Seton Thompson_ 59

NOTES FROM FIELD AND STUDY 60
Sparrow-Proof Houses. Illustrated. D. R. Geery; A Musical
Woodpecker, D. L. Burnett; An Ornithologist at San Juan.

BOOK NEWS AND REVIEWS 61
Sharpe's 'Sketch Book of British Birds'; Stone's Report on Bird
Protection; 'Journal of the Maine Ornithological Society';
'Bulletin of the Cooper Ornithological Club'; Maynard's 'Nature
Study in Schools'; A new book by Mrs. Miller; Ernest Seton
Thompson's 'Wild Animals I Have Known'; Clark's 'Bird Tablets';
A book by the originator of Bird-Day.

EDITORIALS 63

AUDUBON DEPARTMENT 64
Editorial; A Letter from Governor Roosevelt; Reports from the
Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota Societies.

×*× _Bird-Lore is published at Englewood, New Jersey, where all
manuscripts intended for publications, books, etc., for review, and
exchanges should be mailed in care of the Editor, Frank M. Chapman._

PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT

The unexpectedly large demand for the first number of Bird-Lore has so nearly exhausted the edition it has been deemed advisable to reserve the few remaining copies for subscribers to the volume.

Bird-Lore for June will contain an article by Olive Thorne Miller entitled, 'The Ethics of Caging Birds'; a poem by Edith M. Thomas; the conclusion of Miss Merriam's article; an account of a visit to Audubon's birthplace, by Otto Widmann; unusually interesting papers on the Cardinal and Chimney Swift, and some remarkable bird pictures, including one by Dr. Roberts.

Photographed From Nature by E. G. Tabor. (_See page 39_)]

=Bird-Lore=

A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE

DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS

Official Organ of the Audubon Societies

=======================================
Vol. 1 April, 1899 No. 2
=======================================

The Camera as an Aid in the Study of Birds

BY DR. THOS. S. ROBERTS

Director Department of Birds, Natural History Survey of Minnesota
With photographs from Nature by the Author

(_Concluded from page 13_)

Turning reluctantly from the attractive little Chickadee family, described in the preceding number of this magazine, we will next seek the acquaintance of a bird of entirely different feather, and, what is of more moment to the bird photographer, of entirely different disposition.

The Killdeer Plover, perhaps from his close kinship to the fraternity of game birds, has come to regard man and all human devices with deep suspicion, and to get on terms of close fellowship with him is no easy matter. While not himself an usual object of the sportsman's effort, owing to his lean body and indifferent savor, he is the immediate relative of those much sought-after birds, the Golden and the Black-bellied Plover. Unlike these more aristocratic members of the Plover group, the Killdeer does not retire to semi-arctic fastnesses to rear its brood, but nests wherever found throughout the eastern United States. Its ever-restless nature and loud alarm, "killdee, killdee," as it moves from place to place, or circles round and round, always at a safe distance, together with its common occurrence throughout populated as well as wild regions, makes this plebeian well-known to every country lad and the bane of every would-be stealthy Nimrod. So noisily persistent is its outcry that it has been dubbed by ornithologists _vocifera_--_Ægialitis vocifera_--and a most appropriate appellation it is.

Like many loquacious people, Mr. and Mrs. Killdeer have a rather lazy vein in their make-up, and spend but little time or effort nest building. A little depression lined with a few bits of stick or straw, a few pebbles or other handy materials satisfies their ambition. In the bare, exposed situation usually chosen, such a nest, with its four spotted eggs, is much less conspicuous than would be a well made one. The first of our pictures showed one of these nests located in a corn-field, which is a not very uncommon site, although bare pasture knolls and gravelly banks are more usually selected. The photograph of the nest and eggs was, of course, easily secured, and is chiefly of interest because it shows so well how an open nest with its eggs may be protected by blending perfectly with the general color of the immediate surrounding--protective coloration, as it is called. To secure the portrait of the wary old Killdeer, who left the nest the instant anyone but entered the large field, seemed a hopeless task. But the novice is ever ambitious, and the attempt was made in the following fashion, with what success the accompanying pictures will show. Placing the camera on the sharply tilted tripod, so that the distance from lens to nest was about four feet, the dreadful looking object was left in position for some time on the evening preceding the day on which the photographs were taken. The next day proved light and clear, and with the sun well up in the heavens we began operations, my companion and assistant on this occasion being Rev. H. W. Gleason, a bird enthusiast undaunted by any obstacle and fertile in devices. Arranging the camera as already described, omitting the green hood in this instance, as it would have been worse than useless, we retired entirely from the field, which fortunately lay on a gently sloping hillside. From our distant retreat we watched, with field-glass in hand, the maneuvers of the mother bird. The experience of the preceding evening had evidently helped to prepare the way, for after only brief delay the anxious bird began running in a great spiral steadily converging to the central point. Every clod of earth or little mound in the path was mounted and, with much craning of neck and turning of head, the dreadful engine glistening in the sunshine was closely scrutinized from all sides, but as it was motionless, it probably was regarded as some new-fangled contrivance for cultivating corn, of finer build than the hoes, rakes, and other implements left by the men in the field. Once satisfied, she made a last quick run directly between the legs of the tripod, and stood erect over her treasures. A long trolling-line, procured at a neighboring farm-house, had been attached to the lever arm releasing the shutter, as our seventy-five feet of tubing was not half long enough. Creeping to the end of the line, a quick pull made the exposure,--1/25 of a second, with wide open stop and rapid plate. Pulling up the slack of the line seemed to startle the bird more than the click of the shutter, and after repeating this procedure several times we were altogether uncertain as to whether the bird had been caught at all; and as it was impossible, there in the field, to follow the advice of an interested farmer spectator, who insisted that we "ought to look at them there plates and see what we had before going further," we cast about for some surer method. Carefully looking over the ground, I found that some seventy-five feet from the nest there was a shallow depression just deep enough to entirely conceal a man lying prone on the soft, ploughed ground. So the rubber tube was substituted for the line and the bulb end carried up the slope to the little hollow. As it would be impossible from this position to see the bird, and as we had discovered that a low whistle or noise caused her to leave the nest at once, some method of signaling had to be arranged. The trolling line suggested a way, as we found that it would reach readily from the bulb in the hollow to the edge of the field. So, attaching one end of it to my wrist, I took my position flat on the ground in the middle of the field, with a hot noon sun pouring down overhead, and awaited the signal,--a vigorous jerk on the trolling line, to be given by Mr. Gleason, who from a distance was watching with a glass the movements of our unwilling sitter. The signal soon came, and these complicated and rather juvenile tactics proved so successful that very soon Mrs. Plover did not so much as change position at the click of the shutter, and when driven away to rearrange the camera between exposures, came quickly back again. In a short time we had exposed all the plates that seemed necessary, and retired from the field conquerors, though leaving the foe in peaceful possession. Returning to the house for supplies for a new expedition, a lady member of the party, who, from a shady hammock, had been watching for several hours these rather boyish antics, saluted us with the withering remark, "About four years of age, I should think, instead of forty." But we hoped that the end would justify the means, and were anxious to inspect the developed results. This part of the work was accomplished a day or two later, and the pictures here presented show, I think, that our efforts were not entirely in vain. Several others were not so good. In one, the female sits quietly on her nest, back to the camera, and in coloration blends admirably with the surroundings. In another, she is crouching in a half uncertain attitude, while in still another she stands erect, revealing the four eggs directly beneath her, and with ruffled plumage seems a little resentful of the intrusion. In all, it will be noticed that the bill is partly open, either because it was a very warm day, because the poor bird was startled and ill at ease, or, it may be, because it was no easy matter for this always loquacious bird to keep its mouth shut even when posing for its picture.

A Least Bittern Portrait

BY E. G. TABOR

(_See Frontispiece_)

On the morning of May 27, 1897, equipped with an extra supply of patience and a 5 × 7 'Premo B' camera fitted with rapid rectilinear lens, my plate-holders filled with unexposed plates, and accompanied by my wife, who has been a partner in all of my successful trips, I started for Otter Lake, Cayuga County, N. Y.

It was a beautiful morning, with not a breath of air stirring (by the way, this is the hardest of all things to control, and is an absolute necessity if you are to make fine, clear-cut negatives of birds and their natural surroundings), and the lake looked like a mirror. It took but a minute to get the large, flat-bottomed row-boat ready for the start, and we were soon gliding along, an oar's-length from shore, scanning every tree, bush, and bunch of rushes, in search of nests, those of the Red-winged Blackbird being very plenty and placed both in bushes or rushes in about equal numbers. A pair of Kingbirds had selected as the place for their summer home, a large, low willow limb which projected over the water; a peep into the nest revealed three eggs, common, yet so beautiful in their bed of wool and feathers.

Our next finds were several nests of a pair of Long-billed Marsh Wrens, which looked more like mouse-nests than anything else I have in mind. As we could return to these later, if unable to find anything better, we had not yet exposed a single plate, reserving them for a rare or unusual find.

We were in search of nests of the Least Bittern, and as we were passing that part of the shore where they always nested, we soon located a nest, but as it only contained one egg, another nest must be found. A male Least Bittern flew up a short distance ahead of us and 'dropped in' back of the bushes. We rowed down to the place from which he flushed, and standing up in the boat looked around, and not more than a boat's-length ahead, we espied a female sitting on a nest. I pushed the boat very carefully to within a couple of feet of the nest, and prepared to make an exposure. The camera was set to focus on an object 34 inches from cap of lens, and I moved it back and forth until the focus was perfect, the diaphragm was closed to _f_ 16, and an instantaneous exposure with speed at 1/25" was made.

As most of my operations, preparatory to making the exposure, were of necessity carried on within three feet of the bird on the nest, she at several times started to leave it; but when the bird moved I kept still, and when she kept still I worked; in this way I finally completed my preparations. The peep I got of the eggs as she partly raised off from them, just as I finished, made me squeeze the bulb before I intended to; but the result I obtained fully satisfied me, for in no other way could I describe the results of this trip, and what I saw and learned of the habits and home-life of the Least Bittern.

Loons at Home

BY WILLIAM DUTCHER

I should like to say a few words to the readers of Bird-Lore on the subject of making good photographs of birds. Don't conclude at once, when you see pictures of nests, or birds in their wild state, that it is an easy matter to get them. A year ago, when I saw the fine exhibition of slides presented by Mr. Brewster and Mr. Chapman at the American Ornithologists' meeting, I at once concluded that it would be an easy thing for me to get similar results. So I forthwith invested much good money in purchasing a camera, and all the accompanying outfit; but not until I had worried all my photographic friends for advice of all kinds. With all the confidence of an expert I started on this unknown sea, and I must confess to you, patient reader, that my efforts were a brilliant string of failures, for from the more than one hundred and twenty-five plates that I exposed, I succeeded in getting only two good negatives. But I had lots of fun and plenty of experience, and am just as proud of my two good negatives as the celebrated old hen that had but one chick. If you want to learn to be patient and persevering, try photographing in the fields and woods. If you wish to learn more of the habits of birds than you can in any other possible way, try for hours to get them familiar enough with you and your camera to go on with their nest-building, or feeding their nestlings. Besides all this, in later days, whenever you see the photograph, it will recall to you every pleasant moment that you spent in getting the negative.

That you may share with me some of the pleasures that I experienced in getting a negative of a nest of eggs, from which the accompanying picture was made, let me tell you the following story about the Great Northern Diver, more commonly known as the Loon, and among the scientists as _Gavia imber_.

Those of you who are familiar with the Adirondack or Canada lakes can easily picture the surroundings of this nest, which I found in Higley Lake, Canada. This is a small body of water, hardly more than a very large pond. This section of Canada may be called a lake region, and is very beautiful. Most of the lakes are surrounded with forests, in which the contrasting colors of the evergreens and white birches add greatly to the natural beauty of the scenery. This nest was built in very shallow water, about eight feet from the shore. It was, at its base, about twenty inches in diameter, and at its apex about fifteen inches wide. It was about nine inches above the water at its greatest height, and composed entirely of mud, so far as I could determine, of a very dark color. The water where it was placed was not over six or eight inches deep, but it was really a very hard matter to determine exactly where the water ended and the mud commenced. This I ascertained to my sorrow and discomfiture when I undertook to set up my tripod. Standing in a very round-bottomed boat and trying to plant a tripod in silt of seemingly unfathomable depth is no easy job, as I found out. Finally, however, I succeeded in getting what I now have the pleasure of showing you; but I dare not tell you of the beautiful failures I made before this picture was obtained. When I first discovered the nest, the Loon was upon it, but as soon as she saw me she slid off into the lake and made every effort to dive. It is true that her head was under the water, but her back was not until she had gone some feet from the nest out into the lake, where the water was deep enough to entirely cover her. She did not then appear until she was well across the pond, where she was joined by her mate. The nest contained only one egg when I first saw it; but in the water, on the lake side of the nest, I found another egg, which the mother bird had evidently rolled out of the nest, perhaps in her fright and hasty departure when she first saw me. This egg I replaced in the nest by lifting it with the broad end of the boat oar, thinking, perhaps, that handling it might cause the Loon to desert the nest. The egg that was in the water was many shades lighter in color than the one found in the nest, which leads me to believe that the eggs of birds that habitually breed in damp mud nests acquire a darker color from stains.

In another pond of about the same size, and within half a mile of Higley Lake, I subsequently saw a pair of Loons that had but one young, so far as I could ascertain. If there was another it was kept well hidden. I was very much interested in watching the methods by which the old birds kept the little fellow out of danger. When I first saw the family group, both parents and the little one were together; but immediately on the appearance of my boat the whole group disappeared under the surface. The young bird soon came to the surface again in about the same spot, but the parents were some distance off on the other side of the boat, so that I was between them. Both parents were perfectly quiet until I undertook to row toward their offspring, when one of the parents uttered what was to me a very new and peculiar cry, on hearing which the little one immediately dove; the cry was entirely different from the usual loud, maniacal cry of the Loons. As soon as the young one appeared I again started toward him, when the old bird repeated the same cry, and down went the little fellow. It was very evident that he knew whenever he heard that warning cry he must disappear at once. I had so much sympathy for the lonely little chap that I left him, after I had tried the experiment a number of times. As soon as I drew away to another part of the pond the old birds uttered the usual well known cry of the species, but the little one then remained on the surface and was soon joined by the parent birds.

Photographed from Nature, by William Dutcher]

A few weeks later the same group acted in an entirely different manner; then they remained together, and as the boat approached, the old bird with its bill seemed to push the young one under the water before it dove itself.

If this bit of the domestic life of these two Loon families has interested you as much as it did me, I shall feel amply repaid for the thirty-two miles I had to drive each time I visited them.

Photographing a Bluebird

BY ROBERT W. HEGNER

With Photographs from Nature by the Author.

During the severe cold of January and February, 1895, most of the Bluebirds were thought to have perished. So it is with the spirit of a genuine Audubon that we hail their return in ever increasing numbers each succeeding spring. How sadly we should miss these little friends may be judged by the great commotion among ornithologists caused by their supposed extinction. In order to have more than a mere remembrance of their habits, I set out one day in the summer of 1898, at Decorah, Iowa, to obtain photographs of them in their haunts, and secured two interesting negatives of the female, as shown in the accompanying illustrations. The history of the case is as follows: A pair of Bluebirds, after several previous attempts at housekeeping, and subsequent removals by 'small boys,' at last selected an old, deserted, Woodpecker's hole in a fence-post, and built, as usual, a nest of dry grass with a softer lining of horse-hair. The birds had already begun incubating the three pale blue eggs, which formed the set, when I disturbed them. I crept within five feet of the post before the female left the nest and joined her mate, who had been keeping guard in a neighboring plum tree.

After focusing my camera to within three feet of the post, and arranging a string attachment, I concealed myself in some bushes about seventy-five feet away. I waited patiently for ten minutes before the female left the tree and flew down to the fence. The male followed close after, and they hopped about the post and wires, getting nearer and nearer the nest, until the female flew straight into the hole. A snap-shot, just before she reached the entrance, was only partially successful, but shows very clearly the pose of the bird's head and neck while it was in the air. It was made in a twenty-fifth of a second with the lens stopped down to sixteen. I disturbed the female several times before she gained the desired position at the nest-opening; but, finally, the snap of the shutter helped bring to life one of my best bird-pictures.

A knowledge of the bird's nesting habits is a prime requisite in avian photography. Much patience is needed, as failures are very numerous. A camera which may be focused to within two or three feet is an absolute necessity in order to make the picture large enough. Most of my failures have been caused by the lack of bright sunlight, under-exposure, or movement of the bird the instant the picture was taken; but one good photograph is sufficient reward for many trials.

A Tragic St. Valentine's Day

BY ANNIE TRUMBULL SLOSSON

The cold wave reached us at Miami, on Biscayne Bay, Florida, in the night of February 12, 1899. It was preceded by severe thunder storms in the evening. On the 13th, Monday, it was very cold all over the state, with snow and sleet as far south as Ormond and Titusville. Our thermometers at Miami ranged from 36° to 40° during the day. As I sat in my room at the hotel, about four in the afternoon, I saw a bird outside my window, then another and another, and soon the air seemed full of wings.

Opening my window to see what the visitors could be, I found they were Tree Swallows (_Tachycineta bicolor_). Several flew into my room, others clustered on the window ledge, huddling closely together for warmth. There were hundreds of them about the house seeking shelter and warmth. They crept in behind the window blinds, came into open windows, huddled together by dozens on cornices and sills. They were quite fearless; once I held my hand outside and two of them lighted on its palm and sat there quietly. As it grew dark and colder their numbers increased. They flew about the halls and perched in corners, and the whole house was alive with them. Few of the guests in the hotel knew what they were; some even called them 'bats,' and were afraid they might fly into their faces or become entangled in their hair. One man informed those about him that they were Humming Birds, 'the large kind, you know,' but all were full of sympathy for the beautiful little creatures, out in the cold and darkness. A few were taken indoors and sheltered through the night, but 'what were these among so many?'

The next morning the sun shone brightly though the weather was still very cold--the mercury had fallen below 30° during the night. But as I raised the shade of one of my eastern windows I saw a half-dozen of the Swallows sitting upon the ledge in the sunshine, while the air seemed again filled with flashing wings. I was so relieved and glad. Surely the tiny creatures, with their tints of steely blue or shining green contrasting with the pure white of the under parts, were more hardy than I had feared. But alas! it was but a remnant that escaped. Hundreds were found dead. Men were sent out with baskets to gather the limp little bodies from piazzas, window ledges, and copings. It was a pitiful sight for St. Valentine Day, when, as the old song has it,

"The birds are all choosing their mates."

Clark's Crows and Oregon Jays on Mount Hood[D]

BY FLORENCE A. MERRIAM

[Footnote D: Read before the American Ornithologist's Union, Nov. 16, 1898.]

Cloud Cap Inn, the loghouse hotel fastened down with cables high on the north side of Mount Hood, is too near timber-line to claim a great variety of feathered guests, but Oregon Jays and Clark's Crows or Nutcrackers are regular pensioners of the house. The usual shooting by tourists does not menace them, for the nature-loving mountaineers, who keep the Inn and act as guides to the summit, guard most loyally both birds and beasts. They like to tell of a noble Eagle which used to fly up the cañon and circle over the glacier every day, and they recall with pleasure the snowy morning when an old Blue Grouse brought her brood to the Inn, and the birds ate the wheat that was thrown them with the confidence of chickens. The Grouse were, apparently, regular neighbors of the Inn, and while there I had the pleasure of seeing a grown family. They fed on the slope close above me with the unconcern of domestic fowls, conversing in turkey-like monosyllables as they moved about, and two of them came within a few feet and looked up at me--that not forty rods from the Inn! The pleasure of the sight was doubled by the reflection that such things could be so near a hotel, even on a remote mountain.

It was delightful to see how familiarly birds gathered about the house. You could sit in the front doorway and when not absorbed in looking off on the three wonderful snow peaks--St. Helens, Rainier, and Adams--rising above the Cascade range, could watch Oregon Juncos, Steller's Jays, Oregon Jays, and Nutcrackers coming down to drink at the hydrant twenty feet away; while the Ruby Kinglet and White-crowned Sparrow, together with Townsend's Solitaire and other interesting westerners, moved about in the branches of the low timber-line pines; and Lewis' Woodpeckers, with their long, powerful flights, crossed over the forested cañons below. Crossbills had stayed around the house sociably for three weeks together, Mrs. Langille, the noble old mother of the mountaineers, told me. She said they would fly against the logs of the house and call till she went out to feed them. They left with the first heavy storms, though usually, she said: "That's the time when we have birds come around the house--when there are storms." And a friendly hospice the feathered wayfarers find it so long as the Inn is open!

The Oregon Jays and Clark's Crows are, as I said, the regular pensioners of the house. The Jays look very much like their relatives the Canada Jays, but are darker, and when you are close to them the feathers of their backs show distinct whitish shaft-streaks. The Crows have the general form and bearing of Crows, but are black only on wings and tail, their general appearance being gray. Speaking of the birds, Mrs. Langille said: "If I was in the kitchen myself I'd have them come right to the porch outside; when I'm in the kitchen I'm always throwing out crumbs for the birds and squirrels, and I've had the Jays come and sit right down on the block where I was cutting meat and take the fat right out of my hands." Clark's Crows, she said, would not eat from her hand, but would sit on the back porch and call for their breakfast.

When I was at the Inn, the Chinese cook used to throw scraps from the table over a lava cliff, and both Crows and Jays spent most of their time carrying it off. As the foot of the cliff was one of the best places to watch them, I spent part of every day there, and when the smell of coffee grounds got too strong, consoled myself by looking through the trees up at the grand white peak of Hood.

It was interesting to see the difference in the ways of the two birds. The Nutcracker would fly down to the rocks with rattling wings, and, when not too hungry to be critical, would proceed to investigate the breakfast with the air of a judge on the bench, for he is a dignified character. To touch the hem of his robe to the food would have been defilement, so he went about pressing his wings tight to his sides, sometimes giving them a little nervous shake. To smile at this sober-minded person seems most disrespectful, but the solemnity of his gambols was surely provocative of mirth. Not content with turning his long-billed head judicially from side to side as he advanced through the scraps, if the biscuit on his left was not to his mind, with one great ungainly leap he would box half the compass and plant his big feet before a potato on his right. This he would proceed to probe with a grave air of interrogation, and if he decided the case in the negative would withdraw his beak and pass to the next case on the docket. Once when the potato was half a waffle, he pried it up tentatively with his long bill, and at last, deciding in its favor, proceeded to fly off with it, his long legs dangling ludicrously behind him.

The Oregon Jays were quite unlike their Crow cousins. They would come flying in, talking together in sociable fashion, and drop down so noiselessly you could but be struck by the difference between fluffy owl-like feathers and stiff quills. Sometimes one of the Jays would touch the side of a tree a moment before dropping lightly to the ground. All their motions were quick and easy, if not actually graceful, and they worked rapidly, with none of the profound deliberation shown at times by the Nutcracker. The smaller pieces of food they ate; the larger ones they carried off, usually in their bills, occasionally in their claws. In eating, the Jay would sometimes adopt the Blue Jay style and put his food under his foot, where he could pull it apart, throwing up his head to swallow. When the food was soft and too large to swallow at one gulp, both Crows and Jays would carry it to an evergreen, lay it down on a twig before them, and there eat comfortably, as from a plate. Both birds often flew to the ledges of the cliff for food that had lodged there in falling, and it made a busy scene when eight or ten of the big fellows were flying about the place at once.

(_To be concluded._)

=For Teachers and Students=

Suggestions for Bird-Day Programs in the Schools

BY C. A. BABCOCK

(Originator of Bird-Day)

A Bird-Day exercise, in order to have much value educationally, should be largely the result of the pupils' previous work, and should not be the mere repetition of a prepared program, taken verbatim from some leaflet or paper. The program should be prepared by the pupils, under the direction of the teacher, and should contain as many original compositions or statements about birds, derived from personal observation, as possible.

Bird-Day should be announced some weeks beforehand, in order to give the children time to prepare for it. In the meantime, direct them to observe the birds, and allow from five to ten minutes each morning to receive the reports. Direct that crumbs be scattered in the back yards, and cups containing seeds be put up in the trees, or on the fences, and that bones from the table be fastened where they can be seen from the windows. Then, with an opera glass, if one can be obtained, results are to be looked for.

For directing the young observer, write upon the board a scheme like this:

ENGLISH SPARROW

Length from tip of beak to end of tail?

What is the shape, color, and size of beak?

What is the color of legs and feet?

How many toes? Which way do they point?

Gait upon the ground,--does it walk, hop or run?

Color of head and throat? Color of under parts?

Color and marking of back?

Difference in markings of male and female?

Describe actions which indicate its character.

Is it pugnacious? Is it brave? Is it selfish?

Does it trouble other birds?

Describe its voice or song. Does it utter notes indicating diverse
feelings, as joy, anger? What syllables best recall some of its notes?

For the younger pupils a few of these questions, perhaps two or three, will be sufficient for one exercise. Children will vary, and often contradict one another in answering the same questions. Dwell upon each question till it is answered correctly, and all agree upon the answer.

A similar plan may be followed for studying the Robin, Bluebird, Catbird, Oriole, or other birds as they arrive, or as they become accessible to certain of the pupils. In April, two years ago, one little girl had observed, and described accurately, seventeen different species of birds which she had seen in the little yard of her home. They had been attracted by the food she had put out for them.

The nest-building of birds is also a good subject for observation, the Robin being, perhaps, the best species for a first study.

QUESTIONS ON NEST-BUILDING AND NESTING HABITS

Which bird does most building, the male, or the female?
Do both carry material?
Does the male ever seem to be acting as escort or guard to his mate?
What materials are used? What is the appearance of the nest?
Its situation--sheltered or not?

After the nest is completed, watch it till the young are hatched.
Which bird sits upon the eggs? Does the male ever relieve his mate at
this task? Does he bring food to her? Does he spend some time singing
to her, as if he were trying to keep her cheerful? Does he protect
her from attack by birds or other enemies?

SOME QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED ABOUT ROBINS

Learn to distinguish the voices and call notes of the male and
female. Which bird wakes first in the morning and calls the other?
You may also notice, sometimes, in the night, that one bird wakes and
calls the other. Which one generally wakes first at these times?

Do Robins raise more than one brood in a season? If so, do they use
the same nest twice? If they raise two broods, what becomes of the
first, while the mother is sitting upon the eggs for the second?

Watch for a Robin leading out a family of chicks. Notice the feeding
after the birds are old enough to run and fly fairly well. The young
birds are placed apart by the parent, who visits each one in turn,
and rebukes any who tries to be piggish, sometimes nipping it with
its bill when it runs up out of turn. Notice this parent teaching the
young to sing,--it is a very interesting sight.

The teacher will need some good manual to aid in identifying some of the species, though much of the work the first season would better be upon common, well-known birds. The following are recommended:

'Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America,' by Frank M. Chapman, published by D. Appleton & Co.; 'Bird-Craft,' by Mabel Osgood Wright, published by The Macmillan Company.

FOR BIRD-DAY PROGRAMS

For the first Bird-Day in every school it would be well to have some one read Senator Hoar's petition of the birds to the Legislature of Massachusetts. This remarkable paper deserves reading by all friends of birds at least once a year.

_Compositions._--Have also original compositions, describing some
bird studied, or describing some of its habits, especially its habit
of feeding, and the actions showing its disposition.

_Personations._--Special interest will be awakened by having
'personations' of birds. These are descriptions of birds told in the
first person, as if the bird itself were telling its own story. An
accurate account of the bird's appearance, habits, feelings, and life
from the bird's view-point, is given, but without telling the bird's
name. At the close of the reading, the hearers vote upon the name of
the bird 'personated.'

_Audubon Society Literature._--The teacher should also obtain
circulars from the secretaries of the New York, Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania and other Audubon Societies. These will give information
concerning the rapid destruction of birds. Extracts may be read from
them.

_Poems._--Extracts from the poets naturally form an interesting
feature of Bird-Day. Poets are generally bird-lovers and bird-seers.
Among the poems peculiarly adapted are the following:

'Robert O'Lincoln,' Bryant; 'The Mocking Bird,' Sidney Lanier; 'The
Sky Lark,' Shelly; 'The O'Lincoln Family,' Wilson Flagg; 'The Rain
Song of the Robin,' Kate Upson Clark; 'The Titmouse,' R. W. Emerson;
'The Eagle,' Tennyson; 'To The Skylark,' William Wordsworth.

_Personal Experiences._--Another pleasant part of the program will be
the short statements of facts about birds, by the pupils, obtained
from their own observation. Birds of the Bible may also be given in
short extracts.

_Prose Selections._--John Burroughs' 'Birds and Poets,' and 'Wake
Robin;' Bradford Torrey's 'Birds in the Bush;' Olive Thorne Miller's
'Bird Ways,' and many other books, abound in suitable passages for
Bird-Day.

The pupils will enjoy preparing a Bird-Day program much more than learning little set speeches from one already prepared. The preliminary observation of birds will arouse an enthusiasm that will be of great value in all educational work.

Summer Boarders for Girls and Boys

The Bureau of Nature Study of Cornell University offers to assist all boys and girls who want to take bird boarders this season. By addressing this Bureau, at Ithaca, N. Y., one may receive a copy of an admirable leaflet entitled 'The Birds and I,' containing numerous designs for houses which may be constructed for the occupation of the expected 'boarders.'

A Bird-Day Program

BY ELIZABETH V. BROWN

Washington Normal School

Birthdays, red letter days, memorial days, arbor days and bird days!

The two hundred days of the school calendar are hardly sufficient to meet the special demands made upon them in the interests of history, literature, and philanthropy. After all, is not this call for specialization something of a reproach to both home and school? If the child is symmetrically developed, harmoniously educated, will not all these influences find their proper place and expression in his life in the _regular_ course of events?

But in the meantime since 'days' are ordained, it is highly important that they shall be celebrated in a manner to make lasting impressions on the minds and hearts of children. The mental hysteria resulting from the spasmodic, sentimental fervor worked up for this cause to-day, and for that to-morrow, is to be strongly condemned.

As in every other subject, an interest in _birds_ should be based upon the knowledge gained by the child primarily through his own observations and experiences, supplemented and enriched later by what he reads or has told him. The interest thus aroused leads to sympathy and love as enduring as life itself.

Hence the Bird-Day program should mark the culminating rather than the initial point of bird study for the year.

The children should be led to anticipate it, and should be prepared for it in as many ways and for as long a time as possible. All that nature lovers have written or poets sung will have deeper significance after the child's contact with the birds of his neighborhood, as seen in parks, woods, or fields. To see their pictures is not enough. Field work alone can give the stimulus which leads to fellowship, sympathy, love, and protection.