244 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Song of the Thistle-bird. 



I can think of no bird that has such 

 a light-hearted song as the American 

 Goldfinch, and yet it seems to carry 

 with it a sad feeling at the same time. 



The bird seems to have had some 

 heavy sorrow that it is trying to get rid 

 of in song. 



In its flight this same thought is also 

 suggested. It seems to dart, up ward 

 with a sudden determination to be hap- 

 py, and utters a joyous note, when it 

 falls on its wings as if its sorrow was 

 getting the best of its light heart, but 

 again taking courage it rises with an- 

 other happy note, and remembering it 

 was on a particular errand suddenly 

 turns and darts off to some thistle top 

 where it sits a minute rocking to and 

 fro in the breeze befoi'e setting to work 

 at it's morning meal, or gathering the 

 downy thistle blows for the lining of 

 it's dainty nest. W. S. J. 



MAY CONTEST. 

 Seventy-three Judges. 



1. Scenes from the Life of Alexan- 

 der Wilson, 389. 



2. My Broadwings of '92 and '93, 

 231. 



8. A Collecting Trip in North Dako- 

 ta, 143. 



4. A Pair of Bubos at Home, 141. 



5. Wilson's Snipe, 102. 



The Judges' prizes were awarded as 

 follows: 



1. No. 47— R. P. Gillespie, Stark- 

 ville. Miss. Exact. 



2. No 59— H. L. Heaton, Oberlin, 

 Kans.. 1, 2, 4, 3. 5. 



3. No. 52— Raymond C. Osburn, 

 Vanatta, Ohio. 1, 2, 3. 5, 4. 



4. No 11— H. W. Kerr, Omaha, Neb., 

 1, 2, 5. 4,3. 



5 No. 15 — H. J. Giddings, Sabula, 

 Iowa, 1, 2, 5, 4, 3. 



The following Judges named the 

 winning articles in exactly the same 

 order as No's 11 and 15 — hence we 

 award each a fifth prize. 



No. 16— Millard Van Wagner, Gretna, 

 N. Y. 



No. 36— W. A. Achilles. Austin. Tex. 



No. 39— Hevey Smith, Smith's Ferry, 

 Ohio. 



The following also named the win- 

 ning articles: 

 No. 1— E. Doolittle, Ohio. 

 2— J. G. Smith, N. 1'. 



10— R. McPherson, Mass. 



19— J. F. Parkhurst. Ills. 



23— F. H. Nutter, Minn. 



24— C. Crosbv, N. Y. 



25— H. L. Bellowe, La. 



30— A. H. W. Norton, Tex. 



31— C. Irvine, Tex. 



32— C. Luther, Ark. 



33— A. H. Smith, N. Y. 



38— J. E. Houseman, N. W. T. 



50— O. J. Westcott, Ills. 

 - 60— C. B. Parker, Kaus. 



62— F. Mc Allister, Mich. 



64— F. C. Beall, Tex. 



66— J. M. Hatch. Calif. 

 All prizes were mailed on June 20. 



Collecting for an Aquarium. 



Collecting for an aquai'ium is great 

 sport. Equipped with baskets contain- 

 ing tin pails or preserve jai's, a com- 

 pany sets out treasure-seeking. Old 

 clothes must be worn, since sea- water 

 will spoil new ones; and old shoes, for 

 salt water ruins leather, and it is neces- 

 sary to protect your feet from sharp 

 shells and stones. A slip or two, or 

 even a tumble, amid the slippery, weed- 

 covered rocks, will not matter, but onlj* 

 be provocative of fun and laughter. In 

 addition to your jars or pails, you must 

 be armed with an old table-knife, a 

 hammer, perhaps a chisel, and, neces- 

 sarily, with a dip-net made of mosquito 

 netting or some loosely woven material. 

 Children are the best collectors. They 

 have not the same instinctive dread of 

 wetting their feet or hands that older 

 people have. Extreme low tide is bj' 

 all odds the best time to go hunting. 

 "As soon as you reach the beach, Avade 

 right in to your work; look under the 

 stones, scoop up with your net the sand 

 or mud from the bottom of the pools 

 left by the tide, examine every promis- 

 ing-looking bunch of sea-weed, and be- 

 fore the tide comes in you will have ma- 

 terial enough to stock'forty aquariums. 

 When your hunt is over, sort your spec- 

 imens, discard all weak and sickly ani- 

 mals, and put the healthy ones in flat 

 earthenware dishes filled with ses- 

 Avater, where thej' can be examined at 

 leisure, and the proper ones taken out 

 and put into tin pails with perforated 

 lids, aloug with salt water and sea- 

 weeds, to be carried home for the aqua- 

 rium." — F7'07n ''Ocean Life in Inkmd 

 Seas;" DemorcsVs Magazi^ie for July. 



