THE NATURALIST'S VISION 343 



not attempt to elaborate the story again, but refer 

 the reader to the paper there cited. 



With the possession and study of these two 

 Baltimore orioles there began a definite plan on 

 my part to become more familiar with birds as 

 individuals, and to that end to keep some of the 

 commoner kinds of North American birds in 

 confinement. When the orioles w^ere about two 

 years old, and I had become fully aware of the 

 large field for investigation which they suggested, 

 in the spring I collected a few live birds ; a nest 

 of blue jays, a nest of rose-breasted grosbeaks, and 

 a nest of yellow-breasted chats, as well as an addi- 

 tional nest of Baltimore orioles ; in all some four- 

 teen or fifteen nestlings were the result of my 

 efforts. At the time of this writing, August, 

 1902, a number of these birds are still alive, 

 notably the blue jays, some of the grosbeaks 

 and orioles. 



From such a beginning gradually there has 

 developed what may best be described as a labo- 

 ratory for the study of live birds, and between 

 four or five hundred individuals are now installed 

 and under constant observation. These embrace 

 many North American species, and in addition, 

 European, Indian, and Australian forms, with 

 some representatives from African and South 

 American. All these birds are allowed as large 

 an amount of liberty as circumstances permit, 



