352 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



waited just outside the door, although 

 one of these would frequently dart in and 

 drive away the feeding hird, usurping its 

 place at the seed. On several occasions 

 we noted two, and in one instance three, 

 of these birds within the cabin at the 

 same time, and they seemed not at all 

 alarmed or disturbed by our presence a 

 few feet away. 



Mr. Walton then sat upon the edge of 

 his chair near the open door, and holding 

 out some seed, again called to the chick- 

 adees, a number of which showed their 

 confidence by alighting upon and feeding 

 from his hand. Several others and a tree 

 sparrow were meanwhile busy at a 

 doughnut and other food just outside 

 upon the ground, while a number were 

 also feeding upon the pieces of suet sus- 

 pended from a long pole between two 

 trees in the dooryard. 



When the hermit first came to Glouces- 

 ter he was in exceedingly poor health, 

 but has been completely restored by his 

 life in the woods, and is now hale and 

 hearty. He is a man of education and 

 considerable experience, and a firm be- 

 liever in animal intelligence. While 

 ornithologists generally do not agree 

 with Mr. Walton in many of his views, 

 his long life among the wild creatures 

 must be considered and he may have seen 

 many unusual incidents pertaining to 

 their lives not elsewhere recorded. ^^ e 

 have found his book delightful reading 

 and would recommend it to all interested 

 in wild life. 



These bird friends, with others in their 

 season, bring a great deal of pleasure to 

 the hermit in his solitary cabin, and our 

 trip was a happy reminder of the remark- 

 able confidence which may be won from 

 our feathered guests, with kindly treat- 

 ment and a little effort to attract them by 

 offering food and shelter. 



and while it was preserved for awhile ,it 

 was unfortunately destroyed by mistake 

 before it could be sent to this depart- 

 ment to be inspected and photographed. 

 A short piece of rusty, twisted wire, 

 about the size of that used for paper 

 clips was sent us as a sample of the nest- 

 ing material. The nest is described as 

 rough and scraggly, with little or no 

 attempt at weaving the material together, 

 but concave sufficiently to hold the eggs. 

 This is indeed a curious nest, and the 

 reason for using such material seems one 

 of those vagaries of bird life for which 

 we cannot account. 



Wren's Nest Built of Wire. 



Mr. Henry F. Xorcross, of P.ridgeport 

 Connecticut, writes of a nest of a house 

 wren, which was built in a tomato can 

 attached to a tree on the farm of Mr. 

 Wells W. Lewis of Munroe. and com- 

 posed entirely of wire. Clarence An- 

 drews, the lad who made the nesting box, 

 which was covered with birch bark, knew 

 nothing of its contents until the matter 

 was called to his attention. For some 

 unknown reason the nest was apparentlv 

 deserted when it contained but one egg. 



Brush Hill Bird Club Report. 



The first report of the Brush Hill Bird 

 Club of Milton, Massachusetts, describes 

 a very complete exhibit held by that club 

 in the public library and should be found 

 useful to other organizations contem- 

 plating such exhibits. Much valuable in- 

 formation is also given regarding state 

 and federal laws relating to the birds, a 

 map of the state bird reservations, and 

 numerous lists and references of value. 



This report contains one hundred and 

 twenty-three pages and several half-tone 

 illustrations and should be of interest to 

 l:)ird-lovers generally, especially those 

 ha\'ing to do with the organization of 

 Inrd clubs. 



A few copies may still be obtained by 

 application to the general manager, Dr. 

 Harris Kennedy, Readville, Massachu- 

 setts, at fifty cents per copy. — H- G. H- 



"The Bluebird," formerly published by 

 Eugene Swope, is now issued under the 

 auspices of The Cleveland Bird Lovers 

 association, with Mrs. Elizabeth C- T- 

 Miller of Cleveland, Ohio, as owner and 

 editor. Interesting articles bv Dr. R. W. 

 Shufeldt of \\'ashmgton, T. Gilbert Pier- 

 son and Winthrop Packard of the Na- 

 tional Association of Audobon Societies 

 and others make up an attractive number 

 of this little magazine for januarv. 



Twenty-eight species of birds are 

 known to feed upon the cotton boll wee- 

 vil, which destroys such an immense 

 amount every year in our southern agri- 

 culture. This is only one instance of the 

 great value of birds in economics, and 

 the more thev are studied the more use- 

 ful th.ev are found to be. 



