THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



69 



nimbus, the cumulo-nimbus, the cumu- 

 lus, the strato-cumulus, the alto-cumu- 

 lus, the altro-stratus, the cirro-cumulus, 

 the cirro-stratus and the cirrus being- 

 considered. In these one has before 

 him no end of beauty in many forms 

 and ever changing" forms and colors. 



Dew was next considered, and many 

 pictures of grasses, plants, insects, 

 spider's webs and other objects were 

 shown bedecked with jewels of dew. 

 These forms of beauty require close 

 scrutiny for detection in the open fields. 

 Grasshoppers, strawberry leaves, clo- 

 ver leaves and like objects which lie 

 close to the earth, are favored objects 

 on which dew may be found. The 

 beauty of a rain storm is concentrated 

 in the rainbow with its marvels of 

 color. 



Snowflakes were well considered and 

 in fact occupied the major part of the 

 lecture. The shapes that these small 

 particles are able to assume, are a reve- 

 lation of the minuteness and care with 

 which God shapes even the smallest 

 and most insignificant part of His 

 great universe. 



Many, slides were shown of the tabu- 

 lar crystals or thin plates of flakes, of 

 the columnar or prismatic flakes, and 

 of the compound crvstals which are 

 a combination of the first two types. 



These are truly among nature's mas- 

 terpieces showing both beauty and 

 variety. It gives one a deep sense of 

 wonder and delight to see the many 

 forms that nature may produce and 

 have no two alike. 



Hoarfrost next occupied our atten- 

 tion. This form of water is a crystal- 

 lization of moisture in air colder than 

 that in which dew usually forms. In 

 common with snow, hoarfrost largfelv 

 forms in two types, the columnar and 

 the tabular. 



A similar type is winter frost which 

 we so often find drawing its marvelous 

 pictures on the inner sides of our win-' 

 dow panes. There are fourteen dis- 

 tinct types of this frost, of which 

 twelve were shown. They assume 

 tree-like shapes, and also stellate, 

 rosetted, filamentous, granular and 

 many others. 



Some beautiful forms of window 

 frost in the shape of feather plumes 

 were shown. Last of all we turned 

 to the ice crystals of the two types, the 

 window and massive ice. And still we 



continued to see marvels of form and 

 beauty. In all from seventy-six to 

 seventy-eight slides were presented. 



Ciias. B. RrssEix, 

 Secretary and Treasurer. 



From a California Member. 



AN INTERESTING REPORT OX BIRDS. 



From Miss Phoebe Lowrie. 



• 



While waiting for the butterfly sea- 

 son to begin, I have been trying to 

 identify bird songs. First of all. there 

 was the thrasher with his rollicking 

 rag time song. He was such an "early 

 bird" that his singing time was almost 

 over before the other birds began, but 

 by the middle of March the canaries' 

 sweet, coaxing calls were heard, ming- 

 ling with the cackling of the dickers, 

 and the twittering of so many kinds of 

 sparrows that I have long considered 

 them hopeless. 



I am particularly well situated for 

 studying bird songs, for not a hundred 

 yards from my sleeping porch, rises a 

 brush-covered hillside, a paradise for 

 birds, and an oak in the middle dis- 

 tance seems to be a favorite place in 

 which to render their morning hymns. 

 So in the luxurious hour before rising, 

 I lie and listen and try to distinguish 

 the various choristers. About the mid- 

 dle of March I began to hear a sweet 

 and delicate song, which seemed famil- 

 iar although I was positive that I had 

 never heard it before. It puzzled me 

 daily for almost a week, and then sud- 

 denly it dawned upon me that it was 

 a thrush. Now, there is only one 

 thrush which breeds in this region, the 

 russet-backed, and he is the only one 

 that I had ever heard sing. He is not due, 

 however, till the first of May, but even 

 if he were to sing thus early, he could 

 never subdue his "organ music," as it 

 has been called, to this delicate strain. 

 Two other thrushes, the dwarf hermit 

 and the varied, winter here, and it re- 

 mained to discover which one was 

 singing. So when I heard the song 

 late in the forenoon one day, I creot 

 up with the field glass and there he 

 was, the dwarf hermit thrush, forag- 

 ing in the grass. Seeing me, he flew 

 into a dense oak and in a moment his 

 song came down to me from his leafy 

 retreat. I consider it a treat to have 

 heard him sing, as hitherto he has been 

 such a silent bird, his winter note be- 

 ing only a quiet "chuck." 



