ORNITHOLOGY. 



135 



sun ami its discovery is not possible 

 for a month or two. 



Profs. Hale and Ritchey, of the Car- 

 negie Solar observatory at Alt. Wilson, 

 California, have found a firm in Paris 

 willing to undertake the carting" of the 

 disk of glass for the mirror ioo inches 

 in diameter and the contract has been 

 let. It will be remembered that after 

 bringing the former disk a year ago 

 from Paris to Alt. Wilson, such bad 

 defects were found in it as to render 

 it worthless for telescopic purposes. 



The mirror five feet in diameter has 

 been mounted there, and preliminary 

 observations show it to be of magnifi- 

 cent definition. 



CONSTELLATIONS 



As usual the chart shows the sky 

 as it appears at 9 J'. M. on the first 

 of the month, at 8 o'clock on the 15th 

 or at 7 P. M. at the end. The four 

 prominent stars are Arcturus and 

 Spica west of the meridian, Vega and 

 Altair east. 



m 



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ORNITHOLOGY J 



The Cat and The Birds. 



BY ELIZABETH BREWSTER, SUMMIT, NEW 

 JERSEY. 



The sunny slope between the din- 

 ing room window and the old spruce 

 tree is a rendezvous for birds. Late 

 in the fall, the house mother hung a 

 piece of suet to a low bough and here 

 all winter came chickadees and wood- 

 peckers to feast and once a tufted tit- 

 mouse ventured shyly to try this fare. 

 The blue jays came too, but they were 

 less welcome. The house mother mis- 

 trusted them and feared their bullying 

 her other pets. 



But one day she changed her mind. 

 Spring had come. The robins and 

 song sparrows were busy building 

 their nests and the sunn}' slope by the 

 spruce tree gave them many a tuft of 

 dry grass for lining". 



Then came trouble. A black cat 

 with cruel yellow eyes found the spot. 

 She hid under the spruce bough or 

 climbed stealthily up the rough trunk 

 of the tree. The little mother threw 

 stones which never hit and the black 

 cat only smiled.. Even a broom only 

 made Mrs. Puss run a few steps. 

 Early one morning the little mother 

 heard a clamor. Robins and blue jays 

 were wailing and screaming. She of deep snows were very favorable 



looked out. The black cat was 

 crouched on a branch of the spruce 

 tree and circling round and round her 

 were two jays and three robins. 

 Nearer and nearer they flew, until 

 even the hardened cat could stand it 

 no longer. And slowly at first, then 

 faster and faster, she backed away and 

 at last gave one dash over the fence. 

 The next morning" back she came. 

 So did the birds and the result was 

 the same. The third day she came, 

 cautiously, and just one jay perched 

 above her, straightened out her strong 

 neck, gave a swoop and a cry, and the 

 black cat fled. May she never come 

 back. 



Notes on Spring Migrations in North- 

 ern New Jersey. 



BY R. C. CASKEY, MoRRTSTOWX, NEW 

 J ERSEY. 



The migrations of the present spring- 

 have shown some peculiarities. In 

 fact every migration season has its un- 

 usual features, due probably to unsea- 

 sonable weather either in the immedi- 

 ate vicinity or at some remote point. 



The- past winter was an unusual 

 one. The moderate temperature dur- 

 ing most of the time and the absence 



