278 



Bird - Lore 



see. Williams chanced to be away but 

 .\llen and a boatman went in pursuit of 

 the plume-hunters, whereupon the raiders 

 commenced firing on them. 



They returned to the shore, and Allen, 

 securing a rifle, crawled through the 

 swamp to a commanding position and 

 returned the fire with about twelve shots 

 before the plume-hunters left the rookery. 



Seven Egrets and one Snowy Egret 

 had been killed and the men had secured 

 the plumes from five of the dead birds, 

 but in their haste to depart left the 

 Snowy Egret and two of the large Egrets 

 with the plumes still unstripped. 



Three brothers, by the name of Whid- 

 den, have been arrested, and Assistant 

 Warden .\llen has positively identified 

 Haynor Whidden as one of those doing the 

 shooting. The arrest of the fourth man is 

 confidently expected, and trial of the of- 

 fenders will be held at the September term 

 of the Circuit Court of Alachua County. 



At once, upon learning of the raid, the 

 National Association authorized Capt. B. 

 J. Pacetti, Inspector of the Florida Gov- 

 ernment Bird Reservations, to employ the 

 services of a competent attorney to see 

 that proper bail was fixed, and to push 

 the trial to a conclusion with all possible 

 vigor. — T. G. P. 



Starlings and Sparrows 



How may Starlings and English Spar- 

 rows be prevented from taking possession 

 of nesting-boxes erected for the use of 

 native birds, is a question asked us on an 

 average of once every week. Any light 

 thrown on this troublesome question, 

 which will tend to aid in arriving at a 

 proper solution, is therefore most welcome. 



One of the letters recently received is 

 from Dr. C. H. Townsend, Director of 

 the New York Aquarium. Referring to 

 his experiences with birds on his place at 

 Greens Farms, Connecticut, he says: 



"We put up our Bluebird boxes early 

 in March, and the Starlings were soon 

 noticed entering them. The Bluebirds 

 arrived about the middle of the month 

 and examined the boxes, but, as the 



Starlings were generally in the vicinity, 

 they soon disappeared and have not since 

 been seen. 



"As I had put up the boxes for Blue- 

 birds, I began to consider how to cir- 

 cumvent the Starlings, and decided to 

 kill and measure one. Fortunately the 

 cat came along with a fresh bird, probably 

 caught in the barn where they roost. I 

 bored holes in a thin piece of wood and 

 soon got the gage of the bird's body. It 

 stuck fast in a one-and-five-eighths-inch 

 hole, so I plugged the two-inch holes in 

 the boxes and bored others of one-and-five- 

 eighths-inch size. 



"I ordered a fine house for Purple Mar- 

 tins, but am not hopeful of keeping the 

 Starlings out of it by the same tactics. 

 Martins are larger than Bluebirds, and a 

 one-and-seven-eighths-inch doorway might 

 not accommodate their big wings. If 

 anyone gets an opportunity to gage the 

 body of a Martin, the information will be 

 acceptable to lovers of native birds in the 

 Starling belt. 



"During the nesting season of native 

 birds, our cat goes into imprisonment. 

 The household fully understands that if 

 the cat gets out during this period his 

 scalp will adorn my belt. Six nests of 

 fledging birds of various species were 

 destroyed on our place last year by 

 neighbors' cats, and they may have taken 

 all there were. I have no compunctions 

 about shooting, trapping and poisoning 

 cats allowed at large in May and June. 

 People who will not shut up their cats 

 during the birds' nesting season deserve 

 to lose them." 



Junior Work in the South 



The school year which recently closed 

 was attended with a larger enrollment of 

 Junior Audubon members in bird-study 

 classes in the southern schools than in 

 either of the two previous years since the 

 plan was first inaugurated. Twelve thous- 

 and, eight hundred and fifteen children 

 sent in their fees of ten cents, and received 

 in return ten of the Association's educa- 

 tional leaflets, ten colored plates, ten out- 



