124 



THE OOLOGIST 



told how they destroyed forest-destroy- 

 ing insects. He said that insects caus- 

 ed an annual loss to the timber and 

 forestry interests of the country of 

 $100,000, and said: "We cannot hope 

 to preserve our timbered areas with- 

 out the exercise of proper methods of 

 conservation, nor can the conserva- 

 tionists hope for success in this direc- 

 tion without the co-operation of the 

 birds. 



"We can afford to spray those or- 

 chard trees which yield an annual di- 

 vidend in fruit, but, mechanical diffi- 

 culties aside, we cannot afford to 

 spray a tree which yields a crop only 

 once in a lifetime. The forester can 

 assist the birds but he cannot dis- 

 pense with their services. 



"Let me now present from a wealth 

 of data a few facts in support of this 

 assertion that birds are essential to 

 the continued existence of forests. The 

 extent to which trees are preyed up- 

 on by insects will be more fully rea- 

 lized when I tell you that forty-one 

 different species of insects infest the 

 locust, eighty the elm, 105 the birch, 

 165 the pine, 170 the hickory, ISG the 

 willow, while the insect toes of the 

 oak number over five hundred. 



"At no period of its life is the tree 

 exempt from insect depredation, and 

 every part of it is attacked, from the 

 tinest rootlet to the terminal bud, 

 blossom or fruit." 



Mr. Chapman asserted that "chief 

 among the enemies of birds is 

 woman." He referred to the slaugh- 

 ter of birds in the quest for feathers, 

 and spoke particularly of the passing 

 of the white heron of the southern 

 marshes. 



White Tailed Ptarmigan. 



I should be very pleased to hear 

 from any readers of THE OOLOGIST, 

 who may have any authentic eggs of 

 lagopus leucurus and any information 

 as to when and where they were taken 

 will be very much appreciated. I have 

 two sets of this species, one of six 

 eggs, and one of ten, with the latter 

 set I also have both parents. Both 

 sets were taken in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains west of this city, and in each 

 case the female showed remarkable 

 tameness. In the case of the set of 

 six eggs, the female sat while several 

 photos were taken of her, and was 

 then lifted off the eggs by hand (a 

 fact) after which she strutted around 

 making a clucking sound like an an- 

 gry hen. This is the statement my 

 collector gave me and I do not doubt 

 it. 



These two sets are the fruits of over 

 fifteen years endeavor to secure the 

 eggs of this bird. 



G. F. DIPPIE, 

 Calgary, Alberta, Can. 



WOULD SAVE BIRDS 



The Audubon Society at the Minnesota 



State Fair. 



The State Audubon society is mak- 

 ing an appeal to save the harmless 

 birds and its collection at the state 

 fair shows the various songsters of 

 Minnesota and tells their value. 



The society has been given a corner 

 in the horticultural building, where its 

 work is pictured and told by the at- 

 tendants in charge. The society is 

 aiming to prevent a slaughter of song 

 birds in Minnesota similar to that re- 

 cently in Tennessee where thousands 

 of robins and other harmless birds 

 were slain. 



