BIRD NEWS 



pluck, and manhood has triumphed 

 and the relics and experiences of the 

 great disaster are fast becoming 

 "memories" — simply events in the 

 stirring life of men and things which 

 are blended in the evolution of the 

 new city of San Francisco — indeed, 

 this spirit is not inaptly described by 

 the expression of an old bird man. A 

 few days before the calamity 1 visited 

 an old cobbler, a veritable "charac- 

 ter" and a "natural" bird fancier. 

 His store, a large big windowed 

 room; window and room rich in a 

 tapestry of cob-webs, dust and grime; 

 a dozen or more cages, piled high 

 with seed husks and droppings and 

 tenanted by canaries, native linnets, 

 California "gold-finches." and some 

 unclassified specimens hung upon the 

 wall — such was the picture pre- 

 sented. It is hardly necessary to 

 state his nationality, he was neither 

 a seentist nor an ornithologist, but his 

 "observaiton" and mother-wit af- 

 forded a not altogether unsuccessful 

 reserve. In a little grimy cage, sadly 

 forbidding in the bright beams of 

 California sunshine which filtered 

 through the network of cobwebs — 

 hung a solitary specimen of the So- 

 ciable Finch — the Bengalee hybird — 

 or as the old man said "soger" Finch. 

 He remarked "Watch him" — present- 

 ly the little bird burst into one of 

 those silent rhapasodies of song, ac- 

 companied by the expanded tail and 

 odd body movements, so familiar to 

 keepers of foreign finches. The old 

 cobbler with a gleam in his eye and 

 a broad, but ungraceful grin upon 

 his rugged face, exclaimed: "Look 

 at him! Look! He is doing his damn- 

 edest to be happy." A rude but 

 truthful commentary upon the spirit 

 that has "overcome." It is interest- 

 ing to note that in connection with 

 the recent terrible earthquake in 

 Southern Italy — large flocks of birds 

 suddenly appeared upon the coasts 



of the British Islaaos and North- 

 ern Africa — evidently refugees from 

 the disturbed "natural" conditions. 

 San Francisco, April, 1909. — Edi- 

 tor. 



THE SOUTH POLAR TIMES 



One of the most unique contribu- 

 tions to arctic ornithology, certainly 

 is the series of colored sketches of 

 penguin life, published in the South 

 Polar Times, the diary of the Nation- 

 al Antarctic Expedition of 1902-3. Dr. 

 Wilson is certainly to be compliment- 

 ed, as both the drawings and the text 

 are of exceptional merit. "A word 

 about their food. Apart from pebbles 

 and an occasional small fish, the food 

 of the Adelie Penguin consists entire- 

 ly of a shrimp-like Euphausia. The 

 Emperor on the other hand lives 

 principally upon fish, and cuttle fish, 

 and pebbles. Why these birds swal- 

 low pebbles habitually is unknown. 

 It may help them with their food, 

 though the stomach is in no sense 

 a muscular gizzard such as one finds 

 in the domestic fowl." 



"We have seen more of the move- 

 ments of the Emperor than any other 

 expeditions, but our observations are 

 inconclusive. Since we have been 

 frozen in we have seen Emperors on 

 six occasions, once to number of thir- 

 ty or forty, some of which are the 

 biggest that have been recorded. One 

 scaled ninety pounds, two scaled 

 eighty-seven and one eighty, and in 

 a series of thirty birds the range was 

 from sixty-two to ninety pounds." 



A ZOO PARK 



A committee of leading scientists 

 and aviculturists has been appointed 

 by Mayor Taylor of San Francisco 

 to consider the formation of a natu- 

 ral zoological park. We shall re- 

 port in our next issue. 



