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Bird's-eye View of a Paris Park 



iryou are in Paris, do not fail to see the 

 man who feeds the birds in the Garden of 

 the Tuilleries. Any day you will find him 

 there, the center of a little knot of inter- 

 ested spectators, talking volubly at a 

 crowd of House Sparrows which throng 

 about his feet, and even flutter into the 

 air to catch the crumbs he tosses to them. 

 With the Sparrows are generally a few 

 great Wood Pigeons, which perch on his 

 head and shoulders. He has gained the 

 confidence of the birds in a very wonderful 

 manner. But feeding the Sparrows and 

 Pigeons is general in the gardens, and 

 these birds are trustful of any one who 

 brings them crumbs. 



On this side of the Atlantic, we think 

 of the House Sparrow as but a noisy 

 intruder. In Paris he has the rights of 

 long possession. The Pigeons which share 

 the parks with him are not the domestic 

 bird, but another larger species, the Wood 

 Pigeon. They are more solitary and 

 weaker flyers than the domestic Pigeon, 

 which also occurs in small flocks in the 

 city, but is much less in evidence. 



When the sun comes out after summer 

 showers and the air is full of drifting bits 

 of white down from the poplar trees, like 

 flakes of snow against the blue sky or 

 contrasting dark cloud, the Garden of the 

 Tuilleries is indeed beautiful. A Starling 

 is walking hurriedly about in one of the 

 plots of grass, and, as the eye follows it 

 from there up to the roof of the Louvre, 

 one sees the white rumps of two or three 

 Martins, which, except for this striking 

 mark, much resemble Tree Swallows. A 

 couple of Blackbirds, suggesting the 

 American Robin, but weaker flyers, have 

 come from the trees and shrubbery into 

 the open. Theirs is the pleasant, un- 

 ambitious bird song frequently heard 

 from the trees in the Garden. The air 

 is cut by shooting Swifts, like our familiar 

 Chimney Swift, but larger, and their 

 forked tails look as foreign as their harsh 

 cry sounds. — J. T. Nichols, New York 

 City. 



The Bobolink in Montana 



In considering the westward extension 

 of the Bobolink's range, and the western 

 states in which it has been observed, 



WOOD PIGEONS IN A PARIS PARK 

 (198) 



