THE OSPKEY. 



15 



MAY 15th, while "riding-" himie 

 from a collecting- trip, I picked up 

 fourteen Red Phalaropes lying- 

 dead on a road through a tule swamp. I 

 thought someone had shot them and had 

 been frigfhtened away, as "Xo tresspass- 

 ing-" and "No shooting-" were numerous, 

 but I noted that none of the birds showed 

 visible wounds, and further along- laN' a 

 dead Ruddy Duck. Then it occurred to 

 me that these birds had struck the tele- 

 g-rapli wire. There was quite a svath 

 wind blowing, and the}- had come in con- 

 tact with the wires on the south of the 

 road. I tied the Phalaropes by the legfs 

 and hung the bunch over the handle-bars 

 of my wheel, and it being- closed season 

 for ducks, tucked the dack under my coat. 

 Upon making skins, all the Phalaropes 

 were found t> have contused skulls and 

 blood-clotted brains and necks, while a 

 few had broken wing-s in addition, and 

 two had necks entirely severed. Two 

 had struck the wires just so the top of the 

 skull was dented. The front of the 

 duck's skull was cut open, and the neck 

 badly clo.ted, and three claws from one 

 foot as neatly severed as if clipped off 

 M'ith a pair of scissars. These birds must 

 have attained a great velocity flying with 

 the wind, and judg-ing- from the distance 

 from the wires to the north side of the 

 road (about thirty feet ), were instantly 

 killed. 



Micnioan Ornitlioloolcal Glub. 



C.KAND RAPIDS, MICH. 



July 10, 1896. — Meeting- was called to 

 order by the President, A. B. Durfee. 



Ten members were present. 



Mr. W. A. Davidson presented a paper 

 entitled: "Vireonidrc of Wayne County, 

 Michigan." His article contained notes 

 on three species — the Red-eyed, Warbling- 

 and Yellow-throated \"ireos. 



The article was read by Mr. Newton in 

 the absence of the author. 



An article entitled: "What Can We Do 

 With the Birds of Michig-an," by Dean C. 

 Worcester, Professor of Zoolog-y, Uni- 

 versity of Michig-an, was read throug-h 

 the courtesy of Dr. Morris Gibbs. 



The article was written for the Michi- 

 g-an Academy of Science, and was read at 

 the December meeting-, 1894. It was full 

 of useful hints, some of which will prob- 



ably be improved by the club. 



Mr. R. R. Newton g-ave a talk on the 

 "Ouails and (xrouse of America," which 

 brought up a discussi(m of the subject, 



Mr. A. H. Jones, of Greenville, was 

 elected an active member, after which the 

 club adjourned. 



W. Eaki.e Mi: Lin ken, 



Secretary. 



To the Ornitholog-ists of Oh'uf, lUinjis, 



Indiana, and Wisconsin: 



The mig-ration of your States is closely 

 related to that of Michigan, and v.jur ob- 

 servations ( probably l^'ing- in some d "awer 

 at home, and of no use to anyone, > will 

 be of much value to the Migrati m Com- 

 mittee of the Mich. Ornithological Club. 



Due credit will be g-iven for all notes 

 sent in. A card to any of the persons 

 mentioned below will bring- you blanks 

 on which to record your notes in a sys- 

 tematic manner. 



L. Whitney Watkixs, 



Manchester, Mich. 



W. E. MULLIKEX, 



191 First Ave.,. Grand Rapids, Mich. 

 T. L. Haxkixsox, 

 Ag-ricultural Colleg-e, Mich. 



GorrespoiKlence. 



Editors The Osprey: 



There are one or two reasons that I think I can see 

 why many publications de\oted to our friends, the 

 birds, "die a-bornin." 



First and chiefest, I would place their falling into 

 the hands of persons who run them for selfish ends, 

 cither enlarge some particular collection, to boom 

 some certain set of ornithologists, and next, the lack 

 of strictly accurate field observations 



A few days ago 1 had occasion to read up with some 

 care on the nesting habits of our little screech owl. 

 and while I have a library of about 150 volumes of 

 ornithological work, mostly standard works on the 

 subject, you would hardly believe me were I to tell 

 you that but two books in my library pretended to 

 even give anything like an accurate statement of the 

 dates on which or at which this bird nests. Most 

 writers, I find in the published works, as well as in 

 our magazines, are too anxious to tell how many eggs 

 they got or how many birds they shot, to tell us much 

 about the dates on which it was done, or the condition 

 of the weather, or to make any effort whatever at in- 

 troducing us into the surroundings where the bird 

 robbery or murder was committed. 



As for myself. I get far more pleasure, and am cer- 

 tain I get much more information, from carefully ob- 

 serving the bird, its habits, and actions, and the date 

 of its arrival, departure, and nesting, and the eflfect 

 that the weather has upon it, than I do either taking 

 its eggs or putting an end to its existence. Yours 

 truly. K. M B.arnes. 



Lacon. Ill 



