352 



Bird -Lore 



was found dead on our Main Street, hav- 

 ing perished in a sleet storm March i6, 

 igiy. The female was about until late in 

 May. 



On February i6, 191 7, the European 

 Starling made its first appearance in our 

 city in below-zero weather. It was found 

 in an exhausted condition on the porch 

 of the home of A. P. Wilbur, Gibson 

 Street. It was feeding on woodbine 

 berries. Bread-crumbs were thrown on the 

 porch floor. It partook of these freely. 

 It remained all day. The following morn- 

 ing, with mercury at six below zero, it 

 breakfasted at the same place. After 

 satiating its appetite it flew away and 

 was seen no more. 



Carolina Wrens (May 23), Saw Whet 

 Owls, a young Golden Eagle, and an 

 American Three-toed Woodpecker (May 

 20 to 23) were rare birds observed by 

 Ernest H. Watts and Addison P. Wilbur 

 about the grounds at Sonnenberg, Mrs. F. 

 F. Thompson's estate at the edge of the 

 city, during the spring migration. — 

 Georgia B. Gardner, Canandaigua, N. Y. 



Mockingbird in Iowa 



One day, about the middle of May, my 

 husband and I were visiting Cottonwood 

 Cemetery. It was a sunny afternoon, and 

 a number of us had gathered there to 

 clean up the grounds for Decoration Day. 

 As I was wandering about the grounds I 

 was attracted by a bird singing on the top 

 of a tall pine tree close by. I supposed the 

 bird to be a Thrasher and sat down to 

 listen to his song, but soon discovered that 

 it was no Thrasher this time. Becoming 

 more interested, I ventured nearer, and 

 after a long wait I found that my bird was 

 a Mockingbird, trilling, warbling, whist- 

 ling and calling like a Jay, a Crow, and 

 mocking many other birds. Being a bird- 

 lover, I stood spellbound as I listened to 

 the wonderful medley of song, and after 

 seeing the bird and his manner of flight, 

 color, etc., I was convinced that it was a 

 southern Mockingbird, and no doubt had 

 a nest in the pine and a mate sitting, but 1 

 could not discover the nest. On Decora- 



tion Day morning we visited Cottonwood 

 Cemetery, and what was my surprise and 

 delight to again see and hear my beautiful 

 bird. Although he seemed much excited 

 and nervous, he stayed by and bravely 

 sang. He sometimes gave an alarm-call 

 but soon seemed to gather courage and try 

 to assure himself and mate that all was 

 well in spite of the commotion going on, the 

 beating of the drum, the shrill music of 

 the fife, the marching of men, women, and 

 children, and the parting salute of the 

 rifles. I have heard since that the young 

 birds have hatched and are now out of the 

 nest. I hope to be able to go to see the 

 family again before they leave us. I claim 

 the honor of being the discoverer of these 

 Mockingbirds, the first I have ever heard 

 or seen. — Mrs. John Freeman, Lake 

 City, Iowa. 



Feeding the Blue Jays 



Since the days of John J. Audubon the 

 Blue Jay has been considered a thief, 

 robber, and undesirable citizen, but its 

 beautiful plumage and modest habits make 

 it really attractive. 



Last winter a pair of Blue Jays afforded 

 a great deal of amusement and taught me 

 many things of interest. Having observed 

 two Blue Jays flitting about in the trees, 

 and listening to their shrill screams, which 

 was a real pleasure to me, and thinking 

 they might appreciate a change in their 

 place of boarding, on October 14 I put a 

 small shelf on the sill of my window and 

 placed on it a few peanuts. On October 

 18 the Blue Jays visited the food-shelf 

 for the first time and ate or carried away 

 all the peanuts. They continued to fre- 

 quent the shelf as long as any feed was 

 placed on it. The birds were just social 

 visitors, frequenting the food-shelf at 

 irregular intervals and becoming rather 

 tame. Snow began to fall on the evening 

 of November 12. The next day there were 

 about two inches of snow on the ground, 

 and it was very cold. Early in the morn- 

 ing I placed about a dozen peanuts on the 

 food-shelf and noticed that the Blue Jays, 

 first one, then the other, then both, came 



