ORNITHOLOGY 



15 



way the range of their roost, which was 

 evidently not far to our westward in 

 the interior of the swamp. 



The shadows of the palms soon deep- 

 ened and the wonderful phosphores- 

 cence began to light up the water about 

 our launch, showing as a brilliant 

 streak Where it curled over the edges of 

 the waves cut by the prow of the boat. 

 Ere we realized it the sun had dipped 

 below the horizon and, seemingly 

 loathe to leave us, was reflected upward 



Bird Tragedies. 



June is the month when probably 

 more tragedies occur in bird life than 

 at any other season of the year. Young 

 birds in the nest are exposed to the 

 dangers of severe storms and to the at- 

 tacks of such enemies as crows, jays 

 and squirrels, while those which have 

 left the nest and are not yet fully able 

 to care for themselves are still subject 

 to marauding animals and birds of 

 prey. 



"THE SOFTENING SHADOWS OF THE PALMS." 



in a flood of golden glory, making 

 beautiful beyond description the west- 

 ern sky and the silhouetted palms along 

 its horizon. Into the glory of this sun- 

 set sailed the last straggling flocks of 

 the little herons. Like silent shadows 

 they passed over us and were gone. 



Forty-eight separate flocks or indi- 

 viduals, totalling four hundred and fifty 

 birds, were seen thus to pass over to 

 this roost within a half hour. But it 

 Was not the number of birds which I 

 saw that impressed me most. The 

 blue of the waters, the shadowy palms, 

 the glorious setting of the sun and the 

 silent home-coming of the little herons 

 at the end of the day, — these all went 

 to make up the beautiful picture which 

 now "hangs on memory's wall." 



Perhaps we notice most commonly 

 at this season the young robins just 

 after they have left the nest. We may 

 frequently see them along the roadsides 

 or in our yards. At this stage, when 

 they are little able to fly, many fall a 

 prey to the prowling house cat, which 

 is by far the worst enemy of nesting 

 birds. The extent of this destruction 

 may be somewhat realized by the re- 

 cent statement of one of our well- 

 known naturalists that seven hundred 

 thousand birds are annually killed by 

 barn cats in Massachusetts alone. 



The phoebe's nest shown in our il- 

 lustration contains the skeletons of 

 three young birds which evidently 

 starved to death, owing probably to 

 some accident befalling either one or 



