THE MUSEUM. 



305 



Tiiovements are accelerated behind a 

 red screen, not quite so strongly be- 

 hind a yellow screen, while behind a 

 green screen the movements practi- 

 cally coincide in time with those of ex- 

 posed plants, and are beautifully reg- 

 ular in sequence; under blue light there 

 is a distinct retardation of. the normal 

 nyctitropic period. Up to to 38 de- 

 grees C. , or even 43 degrees in some 

 species, heat rays appear to fail in 

 stimulating the tissues. The general 

 result of these experiments is that the 

 heat rays, the less refrangible rays, and 

 the more refrangible rays, are all effi- 

 cient up to a certain point in inciting 

 nyctitropic movements. Orange, yel- 

 low and green screen to the protoplasm, 

 whether in the form of pigmented 

 walls, pigmented cell sap, or chloro- 

 phyl, are of a protective character, 

 and permit the normal functions to be 

 carried on unimpeded by the injurious 

 action of the more intense blue-violet 

 rays. — Popular Science. 



An Hour With Baird's and Lecon- 



te's Sparrows Near St. 



Louis, Missouri. 



BY O. WIDMAN. 



Richfield, St. Charles County, Mo., 

 is a station on the Keokuk and North- 

 western R. R. 40 miles northwest of St. 

 Louis. I do not know who gave the 

 name to the station, but presume that 

 it was an ornithologist, since the vicini- 

 ty is an exceedingly rich field for the 

 study or birds. Oct. 13, 1894, I iden- 

 tified 55 species and added 15 more 

 the next day. In these two days I 

 had gone over only a part of the 

 ground, mainly the wooded portion, 

 adjacent to Cuivre River and Horse 

 Shoe Lake. The marsh had not been 



explored. To do this I returned on 

 the 1 8th, or rather, I was on the marsh 

 before daylight, watched the meadow- 

 larks, the Cedarbirds, the Robins, the 

 Blackbirds and Ducks leave their roost- 

 ing places in the marsh; and it was 

 here at the border of Mud Lake that I 

 found the Baird's Sparrow, two indi- 

 viduals, in company with other Spar- 

 rows, mainly Aviviodranius and Me- 

 lospirja. 



Not being a "shootist," I cannot lay 

 the b«trd before you. I have to beg 

 you to accompany me into the field to 

 the scene of the rencounter. Mud 

 Lake is one of a series of marsh lakes, 

 all of which are more or less connected 

 by sloughs and are the common recep- 

 tacle of the precipitation in the sur- 

 rounding country. In times of hig;h- 

 water in the Mississippi River the 

 whole system is filled by backwater, 

 pouring in through the Cuivre River 

 and overflowing the marshes, which 

 are on that account not cultivated, ex- 

 cept the highest levels, forming islands 

 in the ocean of grasses and weeds 

 which grow in profusion. Parts are 

 used for pasturing, and the whole land- 

 scape is richly dotted with trees, sing- 

 ly and in groups, mostly pine oaks and 

 honey locusts, with clusters of persim- 

 mons, which, shooting up as thickly 

 as weeds, are a peculiar feature of the 

 landscape. 



It is seven a. m., and the point of 

 observation is a clump of locusts at 

 the southeast border of the lake, so 

 as to have the sunlight in the back. 

 It is well to be in the shade; the Oc- 

 tober sun is pretty warm even at this 

 early hour. We had 80 degrees F. 

 yesterday and today promises to be 

 still warmer. 



