156 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Nov. 



usually, if not always, more warmly built late in the season, doubt- 

 less to protect the eggs and young from cold, though I have no 

 records tending to show that the habit is practised in the spring 

 when the weather is often equally cold. 



The young of the Osprey are said to have an inclination to 

 hunt birds and mammals. Some naturalists claim that they 

 are taught to abandon this habit by the parent birds, after which 

 they devote their time to hunting fish. I am always rather 

 skeptical about this "schooling" idea. It seems to me that a 

 certain modern class of nature writers attribute altogether 

 too much to this method of acquiring knowledge among wild 

 animals. I have observed that young Marsh Hawks have much 

 the same habits of differing from the adults in the matter of food. 

 The young, as soon as they learn to catch for themselves, devote 

 a large portion of their time to hunting young grouse which they 

 destroy in considerable numbers. This habit only lasts about 

 a month, after which small rodents form the bulk of their food 

 supply, as is the case with the adults. The question is, do these 

 young birds later find the grouse too strong and fast, and so are 

 obliged of necessity to turn their attentions elsewhere ; or are 

 they taught by their parents that grouse hunting is bad for 

 them? The question might be answered by another. If these 

 hawks can capture grouse to advantage why should they leave 

 them to seek other food of which a larger quantity would be 

 required to appease their appetites? 



There is no doubt, however, that parent birds do teach their 

 young certain habits. I have watched both the Marsh and 

 Swainson's Hawk teaching their young to catch the food that is 

 brought to them. The old bird would soar above the young, 

 which seemed keenly on the watch, and suddenly drop the food 

 to be caught. If it were missed the parent would swoop grace- 

 fully down and secure it again before it had time to reach the 

 ground, and the lesson was continued until one of the yoimg 

 accomplished the task. So we must admit the teaching of parents 

 in wild life. The problem is where to draw the line between 

 teaching, learning by experience, and instinct. 



The 45th annual meeting of the Entomological Society of 

 Ontario, will be held at the Ontario Agricultural College, 

 Guelph, on November Sth and 6th. Dr. E. P. Felt, New 

 York State Entomologist will deliver the evening popular 

 lecture. At the day sessions papers of economic and scientific 

 interestTwill be read. Dr. James Fletcher is the retiring 

 President. 



