rilE OOLOGIST. 



3G1 



eil the heu from the iiost, I found not 

 three, uor four, nor live, but eight moie 

 little partridges. Every egg had 

 hatehetl. So far very well. Now, be- 

 gins "luy tale of woe." 



From the very first the little ones 

 seemed afraid of tielr foster mother; 

 they neither understood her clucks and 

 cries of alarm uor her atttmpts at l)rood- 

 ing them. All were transferred from 

 the nest to the pen in the open air and 

 ants, flies, beetles, larvae of various 

 kinds, angleworms, crumbs, etc., were 

 put before them but they took no notice 

 of tlie food although the hen called their 

 attention to it in her most coaxing 

 tones, picking up morsels and dropping 

 them again and again before them, but 

 not one would even deign to notice her 

 discomfiture, lu fact they never ate, 

 that I am aware of and their crops were 

 found to be entirely empty after death. 

 The old hen was true to the last and 

 never did a mother do more for her 

 l)rood but they were apparently as 

 much afraid of her as of me. Round 

 ami round the pen they walked in sin- 

 gle tile, peeping much like young turk- 

 eys, though not so strongly, until one 

 by one the}' dropped by the way; the 

 victims of starvation in a land of plen- 

 ty. I must confess that, though hardly 

 to be at once reconciled to so summary 

 a disappointment in the death of the 

 young birds, I was relieved to know 

 that the little sufferers were at rest. 

 The continuous and plaintive peei), 

 peep, peej), haunts me still. There is 

 undoubtedlv a better way than that in 

 which I handled these young Tai fridges. 

 That they must be confined, however, 

 I am certain or all would at once stray 

 from the hen and be lost. They seemed 

 totally incapable of receiving any care 

 whatever from the hen; thci" never ate, 

 they never rested. Although after 

 studying the "ways and means" of the 

 subject thoroughly, I 'intended to try 

 again, I am convinced that some course 

 very dilferent from any common meth- 

 <n\ of procedure with wild l)irds must 



be found, if success be possible, in rear- 

 ing the young of the RutYed Grouse, 

 known more popularly with us as part- 

 ridge. Could we but rear one brood in 

 continement, p irtial domestication, at 

 least may not be impossible. 



With the Bob White or Quail my 

 work was far more satisfactory. 



L. WUITNEV W ATKINS,. 



Manchester, Micir. 



(TO BE CONTINUED.) 



Protest Against Bird Slaughter. 



At tlae November meeting of the Coop- 

 er Ornithological Club of California, 

 held at San Jose, Cal., resolutions wei'e 

 adopted condemning the practice of 

 slaughtering many beautiful birds for 

 millinery purposes. The resolutions- 

 are as follows : 



Resolved, That the Cooper Ornitho- 

 logical Club deplore and condemn the 

 l)ei'verted taste and cruelty of the 

 fair se.x in fostering the slaughter of 

 tlioiK^auds of Egrets (for their plumes) 

 and countless numbers of other birds, 

 of song and boaut3^ for millinery pur- 

 l^oses; and that we especially condemn 

 the shooting of Gulls and Terts on the 

 siiores of San Francisco Bay, as well as 

 Snowy Plover and other shore birds a- 

 long the coast, and the wholesale slaugh- 

 ter along the (Colorado River, the breed- 

 ing grounds of numerous species, which 

 are being exterminated l)v Indians em- 

 ployed by nuscrupulous whites; that we 

 view with alarm the appalling fact that 

 more birds are destroyed annually iit 

 the United States for each large mil- 

 linery firm than are contained in the 

 conil>ined collections of bird students in 

 this country— Ihe acruiriuhition of .gen- 

 erations. And be it further 



Resolved, That every means lie put 

 forth to influence legislation for the 

 protection of birds, and to discournge- 

 the wearing of bii'ds, resulting in such 

 shamefid annihilation of the beautiful 

 creatures of the air, the common, ina- 

 lienable heiitngcof all who love Nature, 

 and her children of hill and valley,, wood' 

 and shore. And be it further 



liesolced, That a co])y of these resolu- 

 tions be sent to the inltdiigcnt and gen- 

 erous press, who may assist in the eli- 

 mination of this execrable evil of fash- 

 ion. 



