EDITORIAL AND GENERAL 



379 



bunches entirely. Also, in the early 

 morning", crows and frequently, the 

 blackbirds made meals of the grapes, 

 but never once, have I seen a single 

 starling guilty of such offences. 1 

 think the starling is almost, if not 

 equally as useful as the housewren and 

 instead of condemning him, we ought 

 to protect him, wherever we can. 



Another proof that the starling is not 

 a seed eating bird, I have gathered, 

 during this winter. I have set out 

 numerable bird tables, some entirely 

 with seeds and grains, others with 

 meat scrap and suet. The snowbirds, 

 the tree sparrow, will always be gath- 

 ered around the tables where grain 

 and bread crumbs are offered, but the 

 starling, never, without any exception, 

 has been at any other table, but the 

 one which contained the meat scraps 

 and suet, the same as the chickadee, 

 the wood-pecker, the nut-hatch and the 

 tree-sucker, all these latter ones would 

 only touch meat scraps and suet. 



I wish you would speak a few kindly 

 words in defence of the starling, who 

 is certainly an indefatigable songster, 

 who becomes very friendly, who is a 

 natural born enemy of the English 

 sparrow, attacking him, wherever he 

 can and never, have I seen him attack 

 any other bird and according to my 

 observation, he is one of the most won- 

 derful destroyers of insects. I wish 

 I had more starlings on my place, than 

 I have. 



With best regards, I remain. 

 Sincerely yours, 



John C. Uhrlaub. 



circumstances. That is, some individ- 

 uals of the species will. Others, when 

 pursued, will run right by a tree and 

 not seem to realize that it might be a 

 means of escape. Like the woodchuck 

 they are awkward climbers, and can- 

 not jump from branch to branch, or 

 from tree to tree, as a tree squirrel 

 can. My observation is that the strip- 

 ed prairie squirrel will never climb a 

 tree. Perhaps he is not so near a re- 

 lative of the tree squirrels as are the 

 gray ones. I will leave Mr. Burroughs 

 or any other reader of The Guide to 

 Nature to explain the reason for these 

 things. The statements here given are 

 from actual, personal observations 

 made in the state of Iowa, where the 

 squirrels are plentiful, and wood- 

 chucks reasonably numerous in wooded 

 portions. 



Burt Stone. 



Woodchucks and Ground Squirrels 

 Climb Trees. 



Harrison, Arkansas. 

 To the Editor: 



Whether it is instinct or reason that 

 causes a woodchuck to climb a tree, I 

 cannot say, but climb he will, as I 

 know. On three different occasions 

 I have seen him so behave. He is not 

 a skillful climber, and my conclusion 

 is that he thus acts only when away 

 from his regular habitation. The gray 

 ground squirrel of the prairie will do 

 the same as the woodchuck in the same 



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God made the glow worm as well as the 

 star; the light in both is divine. — George 

 McDonald. 



