178 



Bird - Lore 



and Flickers were Tree Swallows and Bluebirds. The Swallows were here in 

 great numbers, preferring a row of boxes along the lake. 



The English Sparrows have, in a most extraordinary way, been recruiting 

 their numbers. By late fall, they will again constitute a flock of from three 

 hundred to five hundred birds. I shall not attempt any more shooting, believ- 

 ing that here, at least, it is best to keep them tame, and "dose" them at appro- 

 priate intervals. 



Taken as a whole, the results are not entirely satisfactory. One thing is 

 certain, the person who places in position a number of these nest-boxes de- 

 voh^es upon himself a certain and never-ending responsibility, whenever 

 English Sparrows are present. A safe place to put them out is on dead trees 

 and stumps surrounded by water. In the thick woods, also, the boxes are left 

 alone by the Sparrows; but, unfortunately, in such places they have also been 

 disregarded by other species. If one wishes to increase his crop of bees, the 

 boxes will help him out, for they are favorite resorts for these insects. 



Wing-Bars as Field-Marks 



By EDMUND J. SAWYER 



. Illustrated by the author 



^HE white wing-bars of certain of 

 the Sparrows and Finches are com- 

 monly mentioned as good field- 

 marks, while similar marks in cer- 

 tain other members of the same 

 family are as commonly disre- 

 garded, or declared to be value- 

 less in that connection. 



The reproduction in Bird- 

 Lore of a Redpoll drawing by the 

 writer was criticised because the 

 figures of the birds, each and all, 

 distinctly showed two white wing- 

 bars. Yet this species certainly 

 has these two wing -bars, and 

 they are, in reality, of the same 

 kind as those of a Tree Sparrow, 

 or of even a so-called White-winged Crossbill. To be exact, these bars are 

 formed by the white tips of the greater and middle wing coverts. 



The fact is, such bars may or may not serve as field-marks, not according 

 to the species, but according to the mood, so to speak, of the individual bird, 

 of whichever of these white-wing-barred species it may be. The bars may or 



TREE SPARROW WITH BAR OX LESSER 

 COVERTS CONCEALED 



