THE EDUCATIONAL HUMANE SOCIETY 



357 



1 want these articles to be of spe- 

 cial interest to boys. Some of the 

 "boys" in the fancy are not less than 

 three score years and ten, but they are 

 still boys in spirit. Every boy loves 

 pigeons. Why should he not be al- 

 lowed — and encouraged — to indulge 

 that natural longing? I can remember 

 my first pair as well as if it were but 

 yesterday that a friend of my fathers, 

 who seemed to take an interest in me, 

 brought me a pair of fantails in a 

 box ! And yet it was twenty-five long 

 years ago! I was the proudest and 

 happiest boy in the village that day, 

 and those delights are still fresh in 

 my memory. 



The fantails were "tail marked," i. e., 

 brown bodies (or properly called red) 

 and white tails, which I thought very 

 wonderful, and thinking so made it so 

 to me. The cock bird had a pointed 

 crest on his head, with brilliant, irre- 

 descent feathers which in the sunlight 

 reflected all the colors of the rainbow. 

 The hen had a "smooth" head and was 

 less "shiney" on her neck. 



It was early spring, when the first 

 warm days swell the buds on the trees 

 and start the green grass in sheltered 

 places, and I can still smell the spring 

 in the air, as I busied myself "rigging 

 up" a box for the newcomers on the 

 inside of the barn, and cutting holes 

 through the south side toward the 

 house" Incidentally I remember that 

 the latter was done without my father's 

 permission! But I believe he forgave 

 me. With what delight I watched the 

 cock bird strut about proudly, and coo 

 to his mate ! Soon they began to 

 gather straws from the ground in front 

 of the barn doors, and carry them to 

 their new home, and, as seen through 

 the crack in the door of the box, they 

 began carefully to build a nest ! 



Then something happened ; boy fash- 

 ion ("just my luck!") I had the 

 measels! And in spring vacation, too! 

 A week in a dark room and then when 

 no one was around I crept out on the 

 veranda to get a glimpse of my be- 

 loved pigeons ! I saw them, as I can 

 see them in my mind's eye now, and 1 

 returned for another week in bed. I 

 knew why, if the others didn't ! 



As for the birds, they lived happily, 



if not "ever afterward," at least a num- 

 ber of years, and increased and multi- 

 plied. That was the beginning, and 

 the end is not yet. To me the enjoy- 

 ment of taking care of the birds, watch- 

 ing the young develop, etc., is just as 

 keen and fascinating as when I was 

 a boy, and if any one should ask me 

 where to seek "perpetual youth," I 

 would answer unhesitatingly and con- 

 fidently, "out in the pigeon loft." 



The Herons of the Isle of Pines, Cuba. 



McKinley, Isle of Pines, Cuba. 

 To the Editor : 



The little blue heron, Florida caerulea, 

 is a fairly common bird here. In early 

 evenings or mornings they may be seen 

 flying to or from their feeding places, 

 and between times they can be found 

 feeding if one goes quietly through the 

 jungle along the arroyos and rivers. 

 From my observations it is rather soli- 

 tary, only one being seen at a time 

 most of the time and never more than 

 two. It feeds, like the rest of the her- 

 ons, upon minnows, small fish and little 

 green frogs. 



The snowy heron, Bigretta candidis- 

 sima, is also found here but rarely more 

 than one at a time. It is quite wary 

 because it offers a mark for the winter 

 visitors who shoot them for the sake 

 of shooting and then let them spoil. 

 It becomes attached to a certain local- 

 ity and even after it is cleared up still 

 retains its favorite feeding ground. 



The Louisiana heron, Hydranassa tri- 

 color ruficollis, is not seen as often as 

 the two preceding but I saw several 

 in a small lake or marsh together with 

 a couple of great white herons, Ardea 

 repens. 



I have but one record of the Ameri- 

 can egret, Herodias egretta, and that 

 was brought to me on June 27, 1909, 

 to preserve. It was a fine male. 



The Ward's heron, Ardca herodias 

 Wardi, is rather rare, but I have seen 

 it several times along the river. It is 

 extremely wary. 



During the winter the green herons, 

 Butoridis vircscens, are very common 

 and the least bitterns, Ardca cxilis, are 



fairly so: 



A. C. Read. 



