144 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-No. 9 



The Mystery Solved. 



Ye Editor lay on his lonely bed, 



His thoughts would not let him rest, 

 The " can't bes " and " why nots " were filling his head, 



And swelling his heart in his breast. 

 And as he tried vainly to quiet his brain. 



With thoughts more conducive to peace 

 He remembered some letters, which had come by the 

 train, 



Too late to be read at t\\2 office. 

 So he rose from his couch and lighted his lamp, 



And opened the first " bitlet donx," 

 And noticed the writer ilid not send a stamp 



To return if not checked " I approve." 

 These words met his eye : " I have shot 20 shrikes 



And examined their stomachs with care. 

 They all contained insects, bugs, and the like, 



JUit of birds not a feather or hair." 

 The next, strange to say, was of tenor the same 



A long liftt of Lanius, taken in crime 

 From another poor mortal, thirsting for fame. 



Who thought to i)rocure it at some future time. 

 He shot all his, while capturing birds. 



Their stomachs contained their remains, 

 They all held Sparrows, and other small birds. 



On this he rested his claims. 

 Now the editor, he was ambitious too. 



He wanted his share of the fame ; 

 He wanted to see at some future time 



An alphabet tacked to his name. 

 So he said to himself, I will settle this thing, 



I'll make two sub-species of these; 

 I'll take Mr. A.'s, which feed upon bugs 



Which they glean from the ice-covered trees. 

 And call it the /.. b. insec-ti-voroics, 



And the other will then follow on, 

 It shall be the L. b. ornitho-vorous. 



And the thing be regarded as done. 

 Xow all ye august and mighty A. B.'s 



Who hold our fates in your hands. 

 Assemble your conclaves, and get out your " Keys" 



And loosen the tightly drawn bands. 

 Regard this poor mortal thus thirsting for fame. 



He's anxiously waiting the Tail 

 Which a letter will bring, to affix to his name 



By the next "U. S. S. D." mail. 



By Another * 



[This poem (?) is like the Shrikes, mighty poor 

 me(a)tre.] 



Correspondence. 



FAitor of O. & O. : 



I think Mr. Alden Loring's curious double 

 Oriole's nest (described in your June number) 

 is an instance of a bird's attempt to build in 

 the same place where her brood was raised the 

 year before. The new nest was probably 

 fastened to the other as a matter of con- 

 venience. Last year I found what seemed at 

 first a whole colony of Oriole's nests, built 

 close together on hanging branches. Looking 

 closer I saw there were five nests with a 

 gradation in looks from the oldest dilapi- 



dated structure down to the last nest, which 

 was new, and contained eggs. They were all 

 somewhat beyond the reach of a person on 

 foot, and the bird (or birds) had perhaps 

 nested there undisturbed for years. 



However, I am very chary of expressing 

 any positive opinion on the freaks, so called, of 

 that strangely intelligent workman, the Oriole. 

 I have no doubt they have their reasons for 

 things, which we know little about. 



I have a nest of Bullock's Oriole {Ictertiit 

 bullocki) taken May 7, from pendant twigs 

 forty-four feet up in a eucalyptus tree, which 

 is a puzzling curiosity. The nest proper is 

 built chiefly of horse-hair, in the usual fashion, 

 but the siugular thing about it is, that woven 

 to one side of the top is a long irregular flap, 

 built also of horse-hair with fibres of rope and 

 string. This remarkable appendage formed in 

 the tree a sort of jjlatform, at a slightly oltlique 

 angle, stretching back from the nest. Its length 

 is 9% inches, and its shape .somewhat like that 

 of a decanter, with the larger part next the 

 nest. From this platform there is a gradual 

 slope into the nest, very like a stair-case, 

 with a protecting bulwark on the side, two 

 inches high, which was evidently built on 

 with the platform, after the completion of the 

 real nest. 



That the mother-bird had an object in 

 building her nest as described I feel certain. 

 What was the trend of her thought (?) in its 

 construction I leave the reader to determine. 

 I have my own opinion. Harry R. Taylor. 



Alameda, Cal., July 17, 1889. 



FAitor of O. tfc O. : 



I received your postal and will give you 

 any information I can. On the afternoon of 

 August 15, while riding through the town of 

 Marshfield, I saw a bird fly from a tree, which 

 from description, I judged to be a Mocking- 

 bird, and thus it proved. I immediately 

 started in pursuit, and while climbing a fence 

 three others started from some bushes ahead 

 of me. I thought I saw another one to my 

 left, but was not certain. They were rather 

 shy and kept hidden in the bushes. I followed 

 them, starting first one and then another, for 

 some time, and finally obtained a shot at one 

 and killed it. It was a young female, having the 

 under parts speckled. 



This bird as well as some of the others must 

 have been reared near by there. 



I will look sharp for them next season. 



//. A. Torrey. 



Rockland, Mass. 



