ORNITHOLOGY 



391 



tions that the bluebird and woodpeckers 

 are doomed unless action is taken against 

 the starlin:g. 



I believe that the cause of the great 

 indifference of the people in these sub- 

 jects of national importance is that 

 nature study is not playing a sufihciently 

 important part in our educational sys- 

 tems, even including the high schools. 

 The great bulk of our eastern population 

 is interested in the pursuit of the 

 almighty dollar through mechanical in- 

 dustries, but a greater proportion of the 

 rising generation must be interested 

 mainly in a happy and healthful life, in 

 the production, from natural resources, 

 of their daily bread, or there will always 

 be war. 



My appeal is for your assistance to 

 save ovir native birds from the invading 

 starling. 



Lester W. Smith. 



Unfortunately many who claim an in- 

 terest in nature have no vital interest 

 which stirs them to action- They are 

 only superficially interested and do not 

 care to make any effort in this great 

 w^ork- They want the w^ork done and are 

 often loud in their praises, but they will 

 not exert themselves to share in it, much 

 as it may affect them or their future 

 living. An amount equal to more than 

 ten dollars for every man, woman and 

 child in the United States and its posses- 

 sions is the annual loss by destructive 

 insects to our agriculture, yet how many 

 bestir themselves to any serious consider- 

 ation of this fact and that bird conserva- 

 tion and proper laws would eliminate a 

 large part of such loss? 



Our magazine has a present circulation 

 of about three thousand copies, spread 

 over the United States and some to 

 foreign countries. 



During the past six months an effort 

 has been made to secure the help of or- 

 nithologists in making this department of 

 lively interest and a practical help to our 

 magazine. Considerable expenditure has 

 been put upon it and Dr. Bigelow has 

 been generous in allowing us space. We 

 greatly appreciate the response from our 

 contributors. We can increase our use- 

 fulness by having more items from a 

 wider source- Original observation is 

 what we want. Let us all help. 



The "starling question" is by no means 

 settled, and it is not yet too late to settle 

 it. Notes covering a wide range by many 

 observers are necessarv to determine 



practical results. Never mind what you 

 think about the starling, but write Mr. 

 Smith what you have seen and what you 

 kiun,' about it.— And DO IT NOW. 



— H. G. H. 



Swifts and Weather. 



West Devonport, Tasmania, 



Australia. 

 To the Editor: — 



Some notes under this heading ap- 

 peared in The Guide to Nature for 

 August. 1915. On the evening of the 

 twenty-fourth of February, 1916, a 

 considerable flight of the spine-tailed 

 swift was noticed from half past six 

 until seven o'clock, the birds passing, 

 not in a compact mass, but in a strag- 

 gling way, as is their wont. I could 

 detect them in the west, rising as it 

 were from the horizon, coming gradu- 

 ally overhead, then passing away to east 

 and southeast, feeding as they went, 

 as could be observed by their move- 

 ments. They flew at various heights, 

 from thirty feet up to three or four 

 hundred, and must have devoured 

 large quantities of insects during their 

 passage. Their appearance was coinci- 

 dent, as before, with atmospheric dis- 

 turbance, a heavy thunderstorm having 

 occurred on the previous day. On the 

 afternoon of the dav on which they 

 were seen, heavy black clouds were 

 visible to the westward, from which 

 direction they came. By the papers 

 next day we learned that a tremendous 

 dampness had been experienced in 

 that quarter. 



H- Stuart Dove. 



More Wrens' Nests of Wire. 



Benton Harbor, Michigan. 

 To the Editor : 



One of the first things that I noticed 

 in your April number was the article on 

 wrens' house furnishings of wire. For 

 tw^o years wrens have built in .some bo'ttle 

 or dipper gourds of mine, also in a small 

 box house, and in all cases the nest was 

 mostly constructed of wire. I never read 

 of a similar instance until your magazine 

 came to hand. In the gourds a big hand- 

 ful of wire^staples much twisted wire 

 (as from chicken fence netting), hair- 

 pins, nails tw^o inches long and appar- 

 ently as heavy as the birds themselves — 

 also a little yarn that I had put out for 

 them and a few twigs were used. It 

 was suggested that the gourds were so 



