THE AUDUBON NOTE BOOK. 



MEMBERSHIP RETURNS. 



The registered membership of the Society at 

 June 30 was 47,095, showing an increase of 611 

 for the month, due to the following sources: 



New York 56 Mississippi 10 



Maine i Kentucky i 



New Jersey 61 Arkansas i 



Connecticut 36 Dakota 4 



Vermont 11 Wisconsin 157 



Rhode Island 7 Missouri i 



Massachusetts 45 California 20 



New Hampshire 5 Maryland 10 



Pennsylvania 69 Virginia 17 



Ohio 3 Florida i 



Illinois 21 Canada 29 



Michigan 2 England i 



Minnesota 8 East India i 



Nebraska 33 



C. F. Amery, General Secretary. 



611 



ROBIN LOTHARIO. 



Editor Audubon Jlagaziiw: 



Farmer Geo. P. Smith of , Pa., has been 



for years a staunch bird protector like his neighbor, 

 James Hixenbaugh, aged seventy. Two weeks ago 

 the writer was a guest of Mr. S. , and our after-din- 

 ner stroll included a visit to Jim's place. Jim's 

 crops were in excellent condition, being chiefly of 

 the cat and thistle bird varieties, interspersed with 

 robins; and these hedged in with thrushes, larks, etc. 



"You see," said Jim, "we've no cats or dog to 

 scare the birds, and I like to hear 'em singin' round 

 the house;" then he led the way to the subject of 

 this letter. 



Halting within ten feet of the front porch he 

 spread apart the top of a bush and exposed to view a 

 nest, on which lay three young birds; these infants 

 he tenderly removed, and we saw that the nest was 

 full of eggs. 



Now, three weeks before, two female robins com- 

 menced to build in this bush, and the work pro- 

 gressed smoothly enough until they met at the nest; 

 then sparring for an opening, they knocked the 

 building material from each other's mouths, clinched 

 and fell to the ground. Hostilities were suspended 

 by Sheriff Jim's approach, and work was presently 

 resumed; but they met again, and then another dis- 

 graceful affair, and a dozen or more such rounds 

 were fought before the nest was finished. A strug- 

 gle now ensued for first occupancy, and the unsuc- 

 cessful bird deposited her egg on the ground; but 

 friend-in-need Jim placed it in the nest. A third 

 egg was laid, and when the alternate bird arrived, 

 she saw that "raise," and went one or two better: 



and so the game proceeded, and the stakes increased 

 until the pool was valued at eleven eggs, by actual 

 count of Banker Hixenbaugh. Of course the 

 hatching was initialed by a row, and during this 

 scuffle an egg was jostled out, which Jim appro- 

 priated — his ten per cent, commission. In due 

 course of time three young appeared and now, for 

 the first time, Mr. Robin showed preference — for 

 the presiding mother, (and which one was it?) Oc- 

 casionally (and to his credit be it recorded) he fed 

 the children; and ever, while he sought the market 

 for fresh supplies, the jilted bird appeared with 

 worm in mouth, but forced (alas!) to retire on ac- 

 count of her savage rival. Thus affairs were pend- 

 ing that pleasant June afternoon. 



" What do you think of this, Jim?" 



" I believe," stroking his beard and looking" over 

 his spectacles at the speaker, " it's a clear case of 

 one man with two wimmin." 



No covert humor in his tone nor trace of any 

 smile upon his face; perhaps he, too, was touched 

 by the pathos of it all. Poor wifey No. 2! was she 

 not entitled to a portion of the brood ? or at least 

 she might have been allowed to cater to the nest; 

 that nest in which she held both stock and heart in 

 trust. 



"The nest is full now," continued Jim, "and I'm 

 going to rig up some grass about it; then if any 

 more eggs hatch out mebby the other female will 

 have a chance to do some feedin'." 



Fancy eight or ten such youngsters, all open- 

 mouthed, around that center table, impatiently wait- 

 ing there, and the mammas bitterly striving to serve 

 the first course of deliciously fat grub worms. 



Pittsburgh, June 16. R. H. 



SONG OF THE WHIPPOORW^ILL. 



Editor Audubon Magazine': 



We moved to our farm here in Northern Pennsyl- 

 vania this spring. We enjoy our rural home con- 

 stantly. The lovely views, the succession of beauti- 

 ful flowers in woodlands, meadows and by road- 

 sides, these with the birds are a constant delight. 

 A pair of kingbirds have their nest in an old pear 

 tree close to the house. The nest is on a large 

 limb, some distance from the ground, and near the 

 tip of the limb. We have enjoyed watching them, 

 sitting or standing in the open door; with the field 

 glass we were able to bring them very close to us, 

 so as to see every turn of the eye. The young 

 brood require a great deal of attention now. The 

 parent birds keep up a constant fluttering over the 

 nest, first one and then the other returns from gar- 



