38 



Bird Notes and News 



surrounded the house with .86 nests. On 

 the north side, in a space of 25 feet, they 

 built fifty-six, on the south twenty-foxu-, 

 and on the east ?ix. So close are they that 

 in places they cluster in threes and fours, 

 and so near together are the entrance-holes 

 in some cases that neighboming birds have 

 liad to feed their young at different times 

 for want of space to get to the front door 

 at the same moment. It is pleasant to 

 hear that their persistence is to be rewarded. 

 The cottage is to be named " Martin Home," 

 and the occupant concludes ' ' we must now 



put up with the \yhite-stoc kinged little 

 gentry and the daily job of washing windows 

 and cleaning up." Reckoning five yomig 

 birds to each nest, the colony totalled 

 516 birds ; and reckoning even 2,000 gnats, 

 midges, winged weevils, and aphides as 

 the daily consumption of each family 

 (which is far below the estimates of 

 naturalists) this colony must have consumed 

 over a million of such pests. The sanitary 

 inspectors of Warwickshire ought to present 

 the tenant with a medal and unlimited 

 wash-leathers. 



Bird Protection in Canada. 



A TREATY between Great Britain and the 

 United States for the protection of insecti- 

 vorous birds on both sides of the Canadian 

 boundary, was signed on August 16, 1916, 

 by Mr. Secretary Lansing and Sir Cecil 

 Spring-Rice. 



This is said to be the first treaty of the 

 kind ever signed, and it constitutes one of 

 the most memorable steps yet taken for the 

 protection of mid birds ; for it means that 

 1022 species and sub-species of the most 

 interesting birds of North America will be 

 protected from the Gulf of Mexico to the 

 North Pole. In effect, it is an extension of 

 the Federal law recently passed by the 

 United States Government for the protection 

 of migratory birds throughout the States. 

 It provides (1) that no bird of value to 

 aofricultm'e in the destruction of insects 

 shall be killed at any time ; (2) that no open 

 season for any species of game-bird shall 

 extend for more than three and a half months ; 

 (3) that both coimtries shall so restrict 

 open seasons for game birds as to prevent 

 their being taken during the breeding 

 season. 



The work for obtaining this treaty was 

 initiated in the United States two years ago 

 by Senator McLean, who did yeoman service 

 in passing the Act prohibiting the importation 

 of plumage ; it was approved by President 

 Wilson, and by him transmitted to Congress 

 on August 22, where it was ratified after 

 only a few hoiu-s' debate on Aug. 29. " The 

 swiftness with which Congress did its part 

 in the matter amazed and delighted the 

 defenders of the birds," says Dr. Hornaday, 

 who has so powerfully supported every 

 movement for the protection of wild life in 

 the States. 



In Canada, the burden of the work was 

 borne by Dr. Gordon Hewitt, the Dominion 

 Entomologist (a name well known to readers 

 of Bird Notes db News), who toured through 

 the Dominion to explain and commend the 

 proposal. Before the treaty could be ratified 

 it was necessary to procm-e the assent of 

 every province, and for some time Nova 

 Scotia and British Columbia were hard to 

 convince. Dr. Hewitt's scientific knowledge 

 of the value of insect -killing birds, however, 

 at last won the day. 



