THE AUDUBON NOTE BOOK. 



MEMBERSHIP RETURNS. 



The registered membership of the Society on 

 Jan. 31, 1SS8, was 43,683, showing an increase of 

 696 members during the month, due to the follow- 

 ing sources: 



New York 284 Missouri 13 



Massachusetts 114 Ohio 19 



New Hampshire 14 Michigan 13 



New Jersey 59 Rhode Island 2 



Maine 26 California i 



Connecticut 4 District of Columbia i 



Ver.-nont 6 Minnesota 13 



Pennsylvania 17 North Carolina 30 



Maryland 2 South Carolina 8 



Kentucky 13 Texas i 



Kansas 2 Dakota i 



Iowa 39 Colorado i 



Illinois II Canada 2 



C. F. Amery, General Secretary. 



THE DOG AND THE UMBRELLA. 



We had all told a story illustrating some traits of 

 •different animals, or recounting some curious fact 

 about them, all but one. He was an old gentleman 

 of almost eighty, but his eye was not dim, and if his 

 natural force was abated, he was yet a marvel of 

 physical vigor and of mental strength. His remin- 

 iscences were always interesting, many of them fas- 

 cinating. He told us a story about a dog. 



"About the year 1875," he said, "I visited in an 

 Illinois city and met with this adventure. I was 

 walking along a suburban street, where there was 

 but a single house beyond the corner I had passed. 

 I was carrying my umbrella in my left hand, untied, 

 but not unfolded. In the middle of the street I met 

 a large bulldog approaching. I am an admirer of 

 the well-developed bulldog, and this one was very 

 handsome. As we neared each other I smiled upon 

 him and said: 'You're a fine fellow.' The next instant 

 I was on my back on the ground, his feet on my 

 breast, and his face in mine. There was no one 

 near and all I could do was to call 'murder' as loud 

 as I could. The dog instantly retreated, going on 

 his way as before the attack. I arose from the 

 ground, and taking up my umbrella, was about to 

 resume my way, when the dog looked back, and see- 

 ing me up, turned and rushed at me again. My 

 action was the instinct of the moment. Presenting 

 my umbrella as a bayonet, I rushed upon him with a 

 loud outcry. It brought us close to each other — not 

 three feet apart — when lo! he turned and fled. 



"My coat was destroyed, my hand scratched, but I 

 suffered no other injury. Relating the circumstance 

 at the dinner-table, my friends persuaded me that I 



ought to inform the authorities. I did so, but leaving 

 that afternoon heard no more about it for that time. 

 "But afterward I learned that the dog was not 

 vicious, but that he had a dislike to an umbrella. 

 Having in the first onslaught knocked it out of my 

 hands he withdrew from me; when I took it up he 

 renewed the attack; and when I charged upon him 

 fear overcame him and he fled. I cannot tell how 

 sorry I was that I had informed upon him, nor how- 

 glad that he had escaped punishment and lived to 

 protest against other umbrellas than mine." 



Mrs. Geo. Archibald. 



AN ACCOMPLISHED BLUEJAY. 



An old colored man in this place owns a bluejay 

 that he raised from a nestling and to which he is 

 very much attached. Old Joe's jay cuts up some 

 very funny capers that are quite astonishing to one 

 that knows nothing more of him than what is seen 

 of him in the fields; he is an excellent whistler and 

 quite an imitator, he can call the dog so that you 

 would be sure it was some person whistling for him, 

 and, in addition to this, he can imitate the whine of 

 the dog, the chirp of other birds, and in fact the cry 

 of a baby. Joe lets his bird loose in his room, and 

 the other day while he was nailing something, he 

 stepped out for a few minutes, laying down a handful 

 of nails. On his return to the room not a nail was 

 to be found, nor have they been discovered up to 

 date. When found they will probably be in places 

 where no one would think of looking for them. 



Greenville, Pa. W. T. AlAN. 



CLOUDS OF BIRDS. 



The writer of "Under the Rays of the Aurora 

 Borealis" gives a vivid picture of a scene in the Arctic 

 regions. The steamer was passing the northern 

 shore of the Scandinavian peninsula, the great frozen 

 Nortli on the one side, and on the other what seems 

 a continuous mountain wall, falling straight into the 

 sea. 



"At length we round the cape of the peninsula, the 

 famous bird-mountain Svaerholtklub, jet black in 

 color, one of the most remarkable sights in the world. 



"Along every one of the innumerable terraces, 

 caused by the stratiform formation of the mountain, 

 and all of which run nearly horizontal, white birds 

 sit in rows, like the porcelain jars in a druggist's 

 shop, one above the other, so close that the mountain 

 in many places has the appearance of being covered 

 with snow. 



"A jet of smoke issues from the port side, and the 



