August, 1889.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



123 



A Swallow-tailed Kite at Saybrook, 

 Conn. 



Sitting at my window engaged in reading 

 one pleasant Sunday afternoon in June last, (the 

 Kith), my attention was called hy a member of 

 my family to a curious Hawk that was passing 

 over; leisurely turning my attention from my 

 printed book to the "Book of Nature" — for 

 the gyrations of a Hawk, Red-tailed or Cooper, 

 were no unusual spectacle — I was startled 

 from my serenity at beholding something new 

 to my vision, and in an incredibly brief 

 space of time was out gazing with wondering 

 eyes at the graceful evolutions of a Swallow- 

 tailed Kite {Elanoides forficatuft). 



I had read of this species "North to South- 

 ern New England," but had viewed that ver- 

 dict very questionable, as twenty years' close 

 observation had failed to confirm it, but in an 

 instant all my doubts were swept away, for 

 right before my eyes in plain view and near 

 at hand was an unmistakable specimen grace- 

 fully soaring in slowly receding circles; his 

 long pointed, narrow wings, fully expanded 

 tail with the outer featheis of great length, 

 pure white under parts in contrast with the 

 dark upper, presented distinctions so marked 

 from all other native species that recognition 

 was instantaneous and unmistakable. 



It was with covetous eyes that I stood and 

 watched as he slowly receded from view 

 toward the north, circling round and round 

 with scarcely a motion of his wings, and 

 drifting away with the gentle south wind. It 

 sometimes takes years to form theories, but 

 a moment suffices to sweep them away. 



John N. Clark. 

 Saybrook, Conn. 



Editorial. 



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 scriber. If you fail to receive it. notify us. 



The Council having disapproved of the re- 

 appointment, by Gov. Ames, of Mr. E. A. 

 Brackett as a Commissioner of Fish and Game 

 for this state, we are pleased to learn that a 

 petition has been put in circulation praying 

 for the appointment of Mr. W. W. Castle of 

 Wellesley, to fill the vacancy. 



This is a step in the right direction. The 

 manifest inefficiency of the commission, in the 

 past, has been fully set forth in our columns, 

 and is clearly apparent to every thinking citi- 

 zen of this Commonwealth, and it is gratifying 



to see that some one has awoke to the fact that 

 it is a matter of advisability, at least, to have 

 one member of the commission who knows 

 something about the subject, and this necessity 

 will be well provided for in the appointment 

 of Mr. Castle, who is an ornithologist of much 

 merit, and a naturalist in every sense of the 

 word.^ 



We sincerely hope that His Excellency will 

 at least open his ear to the voice of the pe- 

 titioners, and put a stop to the juvenile petti- 

 fogging tactics of this most important branch 

 of our government. 



Mr. Castle has had much experience in the 

 workings of the game laws in Maine and Ohio, 

 and ably defended the rights of the ornithol- 

 ogists at the hearings at the State House in 

 1886, when he was beset by the dude sports- 

 man, the marketman and the milliner in a 

 manner that was enough to upset the equanim- 

 ity of a man with weaker nerves, or a less 

 righteous cause, and the way in which Mr. 

 Castle held his own, against the attacks of the 

 combined forces, was sufficient to show that 

 he understood the subject, and would stand up 

 for the right and not allow himself to be bully- 

 ragged into a state of infantile inactivity, the 

 sole work accomplished by the late board be- 

 ing an observation on a few mummy-chogs 

 and suckers, and the seizure of a few short 

 lobsters, which the officers managed to squeeze 

 under the limit of the law by about 1-16 of an 

 inch, with rules whose accuracy would not 

 stand the inspection of the courts. 



The abortive attempt of a spotter, working 

 under the Massachusetts Fish and Game Com- 

 missioners, to make a case against a taxider- 

 mist for having a stuffed bird in his possession, 

 under the shadow of Plymouth Rock, was 

 quite novel for its freshness and is in true 

 keeping with the pronounced intentions of the 

 Commissioners. Had the case been pushed, 

 the result might have been quite entertaining, 

 and to others than the ornithologists. If all 

 who have stutfed birds in their possession 

 should be summoned, we think there would 

 be quite a procession? Every ornithologist in 

 the state should use his personal influence to 

 see the present Commissioners deposed, and 

 gentlemen who are capable of acting intelli- 

 gently and with fairness appointed. Let it be 

 paramount in the minds of all that Brackett, 

 Putnam, and Lathrop are not wanted, and let 

 political action be shaped accordingly. 



Another instance has come to our attention 

 of the arbitrary manner in which Commission- 



